1. Home
  2. digital
  3. 198165-107

Why aren’t BNC jacks common?

Digital connection between a source component and DAC calls for typically other a 75 ohm impedance or 110 ohm impedance cable. Sourcing a 110 ohm cable is easy- it’s very common. But a 75 ohm cable? Not so much primarily because just about every RCA terminated cable is not a 75 ohm cable, however, true 75 ohm cable is a snap with BNC terminations. BNC is not expensive and arguably it’s a more secure connection than is RCA. I therefore do not understand why components with BNC jacks are very rare. Perhaps you can argue the ommission of a BNC connection is justified on mass market gear but on high end gear?  Can someone provide an explanation that makes at least some sense? My DAC supports BNC (Bricasti) but my CD transport (Simaudio) does not. Thanks!! 

zavato
fiesta75
1,535 posts
 

The audio industry wants to sell you expensive cables when the real problem has always been the connectors. Spend the money on DartZeel and be done with it.

v-fi
320 posts
 

I love BNC. Recently got rid of my streaming transport which was an Auralic Aries G2.2, since Auralic went out of business I figured it was time to move on. The inclusion of BNC was a factor I looked for when checking out new devices. Not a deal breaker if it wasn't there, but I noticed that the finalists I was considering (Aurender N20, Lumin U2X, Aqua LinQ) all had BNC. 

Ended up getting an Aqua LinQ and am using BNC to my Lampizator DAC. AES also sounds great, I can't decide between the two. Whichever I stick with, I'll use the other option to add a CD transport in the near future.

carousel's avatar
carousel
31 posts
 

The question also could be posed in the past tense as, "Why wasn't BNC more common before for audiophiles?"

Today, between (a) streaming over ethernet or Wi-Fi and (b) and the portion of the community that has taken up upscaling using ethernet or I2S via HDMI cables, I'd be surprised to see BNC much longer in audiophile gear. 

The exception to that might be any product that sells a fair portion of its volume in Japan, where BNC was more common. 

palasr
541 posts
 

Older Naim preamps used to use a mix of BNCs (for phono inputs), and DIN connectors for line level inputs and outputs.  Not an XLR or RCA in sight!

kevemaher's avatar
kevemaher
381 posts
 

@carousel 

Not true. BNC connectors have been the standard for 50 ohm cables in electronic instrumentation for many, many decades. Certainly more reliable than the RCA ones.

I am all for adopting BNC as the connector of choice in audio systems (XLR is also good for balanced cables. Reluctance to adopt new ideas has hampered its widespread consumer use and will undoubtedly continue to do so.

More to discover