rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jul 2, 2008 14:01:10 GMT
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Post by dotnet on Jul 2, 2008 15:32:39 GMT
Thanks Rick, good stuff indeed.
I especially liked the first one. They should redo the test with various digital interconnects in between computer and DAC, that would put a few more myths to rest...
Cheers
Steffen.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2008 23:07:06 GMT
Steffen
Care to elaborate on that statement, and add any other observations about improving playback performance ? So far, I have found that reducing SMPS noise, transport mechanism and chassis dampening , as well as PSU improvements, are major contributors to higher quality performance via SPDIF. I am very interested in any cost effective methods of closing the gap between the performance of an affordable CD/DVD transport, and what can be achieved via HDD performance. Until recently, I was sceptical that the PC route could compete with a high quality CD/DVD and DAC combination.
Alex
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Post by dotnet on Jul 3, 2008 14:47:54 GMT
Steffen Care to elaborate on that statement, and add any other observations about improving playback performance ? Alex, I was referring to the belief that Toslink cables (or S/PDIF coax cables, for that matter) sound different, depending on the colour of the PVC sheath that surrounds them, and on the price tag of course...  A setup like the one in the first link (computer source to DAC) would be ideal to prove or disprove any influence a digital cable might have by counting the bit errors. In my experience a digital cable either works or it doesn't. If the connector is dodgy, for example, you get drop-outs every time you touch or wiggle the cable. But these are complete break-downs, not a deterioration of sound (loss of sound-stage, soft bass, hazy treble,...) Cheers Steffen. |
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robertkd
Been here a while! 
Electronics Engineer from sunny Queensland
Posts: 111
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Post by robertkd on Oct 2, 2008 12:09:15 GMT
seriously i don't understand how you could say that,... My favorite is one Saturday afternoon I need to get a toslink cable, connect Onkyo surround amp to DVD mmm out to hardly normals (Harvey Normans for those OS readers,) Sales person can I hlep you Me need a toslink cable Sales person Oh these pointing to branded $299.00 me no it's digital it's only got to get light from one end to the other sales person no these give a fuller sound with no errors me what have you got thats cheap before I go to the opposition sales person these, mind you not as fuller sound but still good detail for $199 me look thats krap it's digital it either works or it doesn't what have you got for $20 bucks ,... ended up spending $28.00 ouch! the toslink sounded fine even for dolby so to my latter buy, $5.00 big W specials  Also can't tell the difference between coax and toslink, it's just convenient as I have run out of toslink i/p's in the Amp  |
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Oct 2, 2008 17:53:16 GMT
The stength of toslink is it provides a total isolation of digital circuit generated electrical noise there being no actual "connection" between the source and the receiving end. the weakness is it not only has more jitter but a reduced bandwidth as well which to be honest many may find sound pleasing since the very thing most try to eliminate,jitter,is also the same mechanism that can make digital sound actually BETTER on a low end system because of its "all warm and fuzzy" nature (usually it is this crewthat will also toss in "warm" sounding tube buffers to further fuzzy the sound ) It is my habit to replace all TOS connectors which are mostly found on home AV gear (Set Top Boxes,DVD players,etc.) with trafos isolated coax outputs then use el cheapo "proper 75 ohm" DIY cables for the lashup then call it a day rather than worry if I have the BEST or not,something that drives way too many of you cats whacko |
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