Karaoke Forums

Does anybody have a particular preference of SPDIF Coaxial connections vs. Optical connections for digital outputs?  If so, why?

you know, I always wanted to explore this option on my soundblaster usb device... I'll be hoping someone talks to you about this!

Havnt thought about it but Googled it and found this Kakes sense....

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Thanks Ollie.  The reason I'm asking is because the external USB soundcard I had died on me and I was using it's toslink/optical out to connect to my Sony receiver.  So I'm just using the internal soundcard which is coax out only.  It seems to sound as good as the optical out did.  It's a longer run to the receiver so probably coax is best judging by what you found.  A regular shielded cable is a lot cheaper then an optical cable anyway.

Odie.....DON'T use a "regular shielded cable" Use the "Right" cable. Use a SPDIF Digital cable with RCA connectors. You may think they are the same as a regular cable, but they're not. And when you go to purchase one you will believe me. So many audio problems i have found are due to cheap or incorrect cable use. I have a buddy that just will not buy good cables. An much as i tell him he needs to.

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Do you happen to know what the major difference is between the two as far as how they are made and their specs?  I'm just curious because I haven't noticed any audible problems so far.  I'm sure you're correct that a real SPDIF cable is preferred.

Well I decided to go look some info up myself.  Here's what I found about SPDIF coax cable and how they're made:
"A Digital Coax, sometimes also known as Sony/Philips digital interface or S/PDIF, will deliver a digital signal without any signal degradation. Furthermore, unlike any analog audio interconnect, this type of connection it much more resistant to interference. In addition, it’s constructed with a dual shield and the conductor is made of pure Oxygen Free Copper (OFC), which will give the characteristics of high interference rejection, high conductivity, low signal loss and degradation, low electric resistance and good signal transmission. This cable is featured with 24K Gold Plated RCA 8-cut connectors to insure a very tight connection. "

There ya go odie, that's what ya want.....

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