That would be subconscious. Or - maybe not.
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?
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Stay engaged when you write—make sure what you’re sharing is meaningful and useful to fellow Audiogon members. Listening to “Soweto Sorrow” from “Carnet de Routes: Suite Africaine” by Aldo Romano & others can help you relax and get into the right mindset. From my experience experimenting with higher-end cables, analog interconnects matter more than their digital counterparts. You can check with AI if you want to explore the theoretical side behind this. Within the digital realm, I²S cables seem to matter the most. I’ve compared everything from a $5, 6-inch well-shielded I²S cable (decently made in Germany) to a DH Labs HDMI 2.1 cable and Veritas Optimus used for I²S, and the sound quality difference was night and day. However, when comparing a stock Schiit USB cable to a DH Labs Mirage, the difference in my system was barely discernible. A similar result was observed when comparing a $30, 75-ohm Mogami RCA digital cable to a $300 DH Labs D-750—the difference was subtle. In contrast, the analog side shows much more pronounced changes. Moving from a $40 Mogami XLR interconnect to a $300 Veritas Magus resulted in a significant improvement in sound quality. Stepping up further from the Magus to the $600 Veritas Argentum R brought another level of improvement, though not as dramatic as the initial jump. It seems that R, L, and C properties, along with construction quality and cable geometry, have a much greater impact on sound in the analog domain than in the digital one.
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I live in the mostly mid-tier cable world from Audioquest. I inherited a half-meter pair of high-end (more than a $1,000) RCA cables. I use these between my preamp and amp. Since all the other cables are not close in quality, I don't think the priceya Kimbers do much. I have no doubt that if I could afford to buy high end in almost any well-known cable brand (when I look at them in comparison, they all seem to use the same basic materials and techniques) my system would sound better. But $20,000 plus on cables is not going to happen. Just one note on whether an expense (that you can afford) is worth it. When we A/B cables or anything else, we listen very closely for minute differences we then exagerate in our minds. My bottom-line is this: Would I know the difference if I left the house for half an hour and came back to my stereo. Would I notice if one streamer (for example) was playing instead of a more expensive one. When I bought my Moon 280D streamer, I could not tell the difference in a five-minute test between it and much more expensive streamers. If the sales guy prompted me to listen to the cymbal decay or whatever, I might have noticed. But I don't think I would have noticed at home, even when I was listening to a piece with both my conscious and unconscious minds. In other words, not worth the extra $6K. |
@audio-b-dog Try the pricey cables between your source and your preamp and then see if you can hear a difference. |
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