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Do I need an expensive digital cable?

I have been using a fairly inexpensive optical cable to connect my CD transport to my Moon 280D streamer. I was told that an SPDIFcoax cable would sound better. For an experiment I purchased an inexpensive Pangea coax cable. It didn't sound at all because its terminator ends did not fit snugly in my equipment. I consulted chatgbt who often gives me audio advice. It advised that for the short run of 1 meter, an RCA interconnect would work. It did. And sounded much better than the optical. Chatgbt said that RCA interconnect was good enough.

Now, there is a twist to this story that might make those doubters think twice. A digital cable carries packets of information that are rechecked to assure that the streamer is recieving correct information. There is the timing concern, though. But my Moon 280D has an asynchronous DAC with a clock as part of the DAC. Any information sent by my transport, whether it is clocked by the transport or not, will go through the Moon's asynchronous DAC's clock. So ;there shouldn't be a timing problem. Should there?

Can anyone make a case that I should buy a "better" coax cable?

audio-b-dog
audio-b-dog's avatar
audio-b-dog OP
876 posts
 

The RCA 50 ohm analogue interconnect smears the bass, which sounds soft and pleasant at first. With the 75 ohm digital interconnect the bass is tighter, but the big difference is in the treble. Listening to Bebel Gilberto's first album, there is a lot of breathyness to her voice. Much of that is lost and becomes metallic sounding with the RCA interconnect. Also the bells are not nearly as sharp with the RCA interconnect versus the digital cable.

audio-b-dog's avatar
audio-b-dog OP
876 posts
 

The $14 digital cable arrived. First reaction: it is not as smeared as the analogue 50 ohm RCA cable, but it is smeared in the bass. Immediate reaction the $249 cable is far better. But I will keep testing. One thing that throws me, though, I associate smearing sound with jitter, and since the Moon 280D reclocks the signal, should there be jitter? Could electrical interference sound like jitter?

dirkbusche
26 posts
 

You do not need an expensive digital cable, only a good sounding one. Try any cables with different prices and then trust your ears, please dont forget, to burn in 20 to 60 hours before you listen to them

audio-b-dog's avatar
audio-b-dog OP
876 posts
 

The "expensive" Purist Genesis Luminist digital cable is considered their first step into their very high end. I bought it used, so it should be burned in, but I will leave it in my system and see how it sounds after a period ot time. I am not sure why it sounds better than the other cables, since the Moon 280D has an asynchronous DAC, but that is above my pay grade. John Atkinson?

jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,926 posts
 

emi and jitter can both cause harshness in the rendered audio signal -- in the treble and mids -- and give a sense of lack of focus, a loss of spatial cues, imaging specificity, and weak bass

regardless if a dac is asynchronous or not, the signal needs to get from a to b -- the clock signal is but a small subset of what is being relayed by the cable -- and a poor cable can certainly harm the signal and as a result, make the music sound worse, subtly or not so subtly

each system has different resolution, each listener has different hearing acuity... there is simply no shortcut to trying different cables and setups, to see if it makes a noticeable or meaningful difference in YOUR system

same thing with everything -- equipment, room setup, cables, front end digital isolation, linear power supplies, cartridge and tt setup, mechanical isolation, and so on and on

 

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