Author Topic: Favorite Optical Cable?? (Read 8396 times)

BCostigan · « **on:** February 21, 2004, 11:13:25 PM »

Just curious what people are using for optical cables? Lots of folks running JB3s and there seem to be a TON of different cable maufacturers for optical cables....with a wide range in prices too. What's a good cost/qulaity cable?

phishn · « **Reply #1 on:** February 21, 2004, 11:39:21 PM »

+T just cause you were at 299. there's some good info in the archives section. my question is..is glass necessary or will plastic do?

caymanreview · « **Reply #2 on:** February 22, 2004, 06:48:01 AM »

i always used a plastic optical cable with my jb3. im not sure if anyone has found a glass cable that is toslink > mini yet....

John R · « **Reply #3 on:** February 22, 2004, 08:13:53 AM »

the one in the bean photos is a phoenix gold dtx.510 $15.00 it has a plastic toslink housing. their next model up is the dtx.910 and is completely metal $20-25. (i gave the wrong one to a client)

jr

Nick's Picks · « **Reply #4 on:** February 22, 2004, 08:25:25 AM »

I use the Hosa toslink cable and the hosa toslink > mini right angle adapter.
sturdy, yet not too ridgid. Nice and tight locking adapter. no problems!

mattb · « **Reply #5 on:** February 22, 2004, 12:10:03 PM »

I'm using a Klone toslink to toslink. The cable it's self is nice and beefy yet very flexible. I use a toslink to mini adaptor that I just had laying around and it seems to work well. I'd like to get a toslink to mini that has right angle connectors already, but haven't found a good one at a reasonable price yet.

jlykos · « **Reply #6 on:** February 22, 2004, 01:49:25 PM »

I have a Cinemaquest (Audioquest home theater division) optical cable and I like it a lot. It cost about $50. Nice and sturdy. I picked up a Toslink > mini optical adaptor at Radioshack for $5 and it works great.

Tim · « **Reply #7 on:** February 22, 2004, 03:28:42 PM »

Quote from: jlykos on February 22, 2004, 01:49:25 PM

I have a Cinemaquest (Audioquest home theater division) optical cable and I like it a lot. It cost about $50. Nice and sturdy. I picked up a Toslink > mini optical adaptor at Radioshack for $5 and it works great.

I picked up this cable on Jamie's recommendation for use from my Cd playerto my DAC and I like it, I wouldn't hesitate to use it in the field... nice and sturdy!

Brian Skalinder · « **Reply #8 on:** February 22, 2004, 04:50:50 PM »

I have and use the Sound Pros SP-TMOC-RA toslink right-angle to mini right-angle.

I also picked up from CablesAmerica (the obsessive side of me insists I have 2 cables in case one fails):

1m Sonicwave Glass Optical ($24.91, compare v. $50 Sound Pros SP-TOC-99HQ)
Velocity toslink to mini right angle adapter ($2.22, compare v. $5 Sound Pros SP-MINI-90)

Right now, I'm mostly using the SP one because I like the integrated right-angles instead of the adapters. But I like the robustness of the SonicWave cable and the metal connector grips (though, of course, the toslink connector itself is still plastic) and plan to use that combo for a while to figure out which I prefer. See attached pic for the SonicWave + toslink/mini adapter v. SP right-angle cable.

JAH · « **Reply #9 on:** February 23, 2004, 11:57:39 AM »

Nice cable Bri.
As for Glass Vs Plastic...Galss is better BUT... for our short runs plastic will do the same job. There was a discussion on this once in the Oade board.
fwiw
jah

BCostigan · « **Reply #10 on:** February 24, 2004, 08:05:20 AM »

Quote from: JAH on February 23, 2004, 11:57:39 AM

Nice cable Bri.
As for Glass Vs Plastic...Galss is better BUT... for our short runs plastic will do the same job. There was a discussion on this once in the Oade board.
fwiw
jah

Before this thread I had never even looked at a true glass cable.....prices are pretty steep! So far the thread has yeilded what I thought.....no concensus but there are many good options.

Brian Skalinder · « **Reply #11 on:** February 24, 2004, 08:21:07 AM »

Quote from: BCostigan on February 24, 2004, 08:05:20 AM

Before this thread I had never even looked at a true glass cable.....prices are pretty steep! So far the thread has yeilded what I thought.....no concensus but there are many good options.

Not too steep, really - the SonicWave I have is only $25 same - same as the plastic one with right-angles from SP. I've seen the same SonicWave cable sold elsewhere for upwards of $75! Just gotta look around.

Wes · « **Reply #12 on:** February 24, 2004, 11:28:46 AM »

I haven't read much into optical cables, but I did study fiber optic cables a bit in school.. They use a phenomenon called TIR (total internal reflection).. This is when a light beam is reflected off of internal walls of the cable which allows light to be bent around corners, this phenom. is also responsible for the sparkle which is seen in diamonds and other gems.. TIR is strongly dependent on material. If the material is not pure or if the outer walls of the material is not VERY smooth, degradation of the signal is definately going to occur, jitter is also commonplace in optical cables.. I'd recommend spending as much as your budget allows on your optical cable.

timP · « **Reply #13 on:** February 24, 2004, 11:51:21 PM »

do the local places (RS) usually have right angle adapters?

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #14 on:** February 25, 2004, 08:01:13 AM »

whats jitter??? i had an electronics class, but i dont think we got that far

Nick in Edinboro · « **Reply #15 on:** February 25, 2004, 09:32:11 AM »

I use a 1.5 foot Dayton Digital Optical Cable, for $6.90 I don't think it can be beat

Take care,
Nick

Brian Skalinder · « **Reply #16 on:** February 25, 2004, 09:40:45 AM »

Quote from: bean on February 25, 2004, 08:01:13 AM

whats jitter???

Put on yer thinkin' cap, Bean:

http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodule_id=11/pmdmode=fullscreen/pageadder_page_id=28

zhianosatch · « **Reply #17 on:** February 25, 2004, 12:37:20 PM »

FUCKIN' SHIT
are you guys reading that jitter business? can we even hear it?

Tim · « **Reply #18 on:** February 25, 2004, 12:50:54 PM »

Quote from: zhianosatch on February 25, 2004, 12:37:20 PM

can we even hear it?

maybe, if you're playback is good enough.

in the field jitter is what limits the length of digital patch chains.

fozzy · « **Reply #19 on:** February 25, 2004, 02:50:31 PM »

Are these acceptable for patching a pair of jb3's
http://www.national-tech.com/images/40av-81002.jpg

ie.
> jb3
ua5 > splitter
> jb3

http://www.national-tech.com/images/40av-81002.jpg

BCostigan · « **Reply #20 on:** February 25, 2004, 04:45:17 PM »

Quote from: bean on February 25, 2004, 08:01:13 AM

whats jitter??? i had an electronics class, but i dont think we got that far

Bean...it's what happens after a few nights of real hard dinkin'

.

Nick in Edinboro · « **Reply #21 on:** February 25, 2004, 04:59:48 PM »

Quote from: fozzy on February 25, 2004, 02:50:31 PM

Are these acceptable for patching a pair of jb3's
http://www.national-tech.com/images/40av-81002.jpg

ie.
> jb3
ua5 > splitter
> jb3

http://www.national-tech.com/images/40av-81002.jpg

From my one physics class (Nature of Light and Color) I think all it's doing is splitting the signal--however I believe this refraction will weaken the signal (by what magnitude I have no idea).

Provided two things it should work:
a. the signal path after the splitter is fairly short (I'd assume it would be anyways)
b. the JB3 isn't as picky about the optical input as it is about it's power

Forgive me if it's not refraction, my terminology is rusty

Experiments with water and a light and refracted angles comes to mind when I see that part.

Nick in Edinboro · « **Reply #22 on:** February 25, 2004, 05:14:00 PM »

Alright, this kinda intrigues me so I did some more googling..

Some sites say that a splitter weakens the signal only a little bit. The Y couplers you mention are probably passive spliters, apparently they make active ones too which couple the input with some electricity to help even the distribution of the signal.

One site I found mentions this:

Quote

Fiber optic couplers attenuate the signal much more than a connector or splice because the input signal is divided among the output ports. For example, with a 1 X 2 fiber optic coupler, each output is less than one-half the power of the input signal (over a 3 dB loss).

Quote

An optical splitter is a passive device that splits the optical power carried by a single input fiber into two output fibers. Figure 4-25 illustrates the transfer of optical power in an optical splitter. The input optical power is normally split evenly between the two output fibers. This type of optical splitter is known as a Y-coupler

Lots more there to read, including some helpful graphics if you visit the site. Seems competent.

Nick in Edinboro · « **Reply #23 on:** February 25, 2004, 05:15:10 PM »

This might be a good read too:
http://www.fiber-optics.info/articles/op-amp.htm

willndmb · « **Reply #24 on:** August 18, 2005, 10:01:23 PM »

Quote from: Brian Skalinder on February 22, 2004, 04:50:50 PM

I have and use the Sound Pros SP-TMOC-RA toslink right-angle to mini right-angle.

I also picked up from CablesAmerica (the obsessive side of me insists I have 2 cables in case one fails):

1m Sonicwave Glass Optical ($24.91, compare v. $50 Sound Pros SP-TOC-99HQ)
Velocity toslink to mini right angle adapter ($2.22, compare v. $5 Sound Pros SP-MINI-90)

Right now, I'm mostly using the SP one because I like the integrated right-angles instead of the adapters. But I like the robustness of the SonicWave cable and the metal connector grips (though, of course, the toslink connector itself is still plastic) and plan to use that combo for a while to figure out which I prefer. See attached pic for the SonicWave + toslink/mini adapter v. SP right-angle cable.

withe the SP cable
when its plugged into a ua5 or anything for that matter
which way does the cable "turn"? if i am looking at the front would it turn right,left,up,down

this is important based on the way my gear is set up in my bag
thanks

Brian Skalinder · « **Reply #25 on:** August 18, 2005, 10:17:10 PM »

Quote from: willndmb on August 18, 2005, 10:01:23 PM

when its plugged into a ua5 or anything for that matter
which way does the cable "turn"?

It rotates freely through 360º so you can set it wherever you want it. Check this thread for a less expensive source of the same SP cable. I think they've raised the price since I got mine, but it's still much less expensive than SP.

willndmb · « **Reply #26 on:** August 18, 2005, 10:25:46 PM »

Quote from: Brian Skalinder on August 18, 2005, 10:17:10 PM

Quote from: willndmb on August 18, 2005, 10:01:23 PM
when its plugged into a ua5 or anything for that matter
which way does the cable "turn"?

It rotates freely through 360º so you can set it wherever you want it. Check this thread for a less expensive source of the same SP cable. I think they've raised the price since I got mine, but it's still much less expensive than SP.

ohh nice +t

Weirdness · « **Reply #27 on:** August 19, 2005, 11:13:32 AM »

There's a guy who's on ebay and audiogon that does the glass optical cables for I think $17 for a 1m and $20 for a 2m. I have heard that these are somewhat fragile, so it might not be a good bet in the field. People rave about them, say they're better than alot of high end coax cables, but I haven't heard one yet to say. Ordered a 1m to go from my CD burner to my DAC and one for my home theatre system, I'll report back if my mind is blown when I get them in...

Kindguy · « **Reply #28 on:** August 19, 2005, 03:48:34 PM »

Quote from: Nick in Edinboro on February 25, 2004, 09:32:11 AM

I use a 1.5 foot Dayton Digital Optical Cable, for $6.90 I don't think it can be beat

Take care,
Nick

I also use this it's the perfect length. Put the SP right angle in the Tupperware for backup. The SP cable is just a little to long for my liking.

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #29 on:** August 19, 2005, 09:59:05 PM »

Quote from: Kindguy on August 19, 2005, 03:48:34 PM

Quote from: Nick in Edinboro on February 25, 2004, 09:32:11 AM
I use a 1.5 foot Dayton Digital Optical Cable, for $6.90 I don't think it can be beat

Take care,
Nick

I also use this it's the perfect length. Put the SP right angle in the Tupperware for backup. The SP cable is just a little to long for my liking.

same here, thats when i nylon-tie comes in handy, not too snug tho!