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Gear / Technical Help => Cables => Topic started by: Kush on October 25, 2010, 04:22:46 PM
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I purchased a relatively inexpensive digital coaxial cable to connect my cd player to my outboard DAC. I mean, digital cables either work or don't work, no sense in purchasing very expensive ones, right?
The package states:
- double shielded
- beefy 24k gold plated connectors
- split center pin
- high purity stranded copper conductor
What is the benefit or disadvantage of having a split center pin on a digital coaxial cable?
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To a certain extent you are right in saying that digital is digital- that's the way I look at it although a raft of Hi-Fi literature would disagree.
The distinction comes from developing interconnects that are impedance-stable. It's almost irrelevant on short S/PDIF leads but important on larger 110 Ohm AES-EBU balanced lines across buildings and the effort made leaks back from there into consumer stuff. That and marketing of course!- It's like toilet roll- it all does the same thing but some is "better" than others...!
So, in an effort to try and make an almost exotic-less product better than another, efforts can be made in the construction for the benefit of marketing. Ultimately these mods are to guarantee electrical conductivity rather than lower error rates.
Without a picture, I can only assume that a "split centre pin" is designed to aggressively contact the receiving RCA sockets interior in several places rather than just an ordinary push fit. Thus giving the best possible electrical connection. It'll be beyond conventional impedance measurements though.
JimP