Topic: best sp/dif cable??

[digitalcandy926]

wondering what high quality sp/dif cable's people use?  specifically for a microtrack

[KLowe]

Belden makes a good on3.

Check on ebay.  You can grab em for 0.99 cents.

I'm sure we could get into the whole my super-duper silver oxide/kevlar/braided spider silk cables sound better than yours do routine..but remember this SPDIF cable is just dropping electrical impulses about 3 ft to your microtrack. 

I'd stay for the cheapo's and have someone pr00ve you wrong on the quality of 1's and 0's being dropped to your MT

but just my 0.3 cents

K

[shaggy]

I run a 300yen 0.5m 75ohm video cable from the UA-5 to the MT.  Cool thing about the cheapy is that I could cut the jacket around the connector sleeve of the plug and the make the connector fit perfectly into that flush coax jack that M-Audio poorly designed (there is like 0.5mm of space around the jack, no shit!).

I'd concentrate on your analog connections.

[mblindsey]

I went for the http://kindkables.com S/PDIF cable for the link between my V3 and MT II.  I wouldn't make the claim that it sounds any better than cheaper cables, but it seems like it is built for years of use and I paid extra for something that I don't think I'll ever have to buy again.  Also, I like the right angle ends.

--Michael

[goodcooker]

Apogee Wyde Eye
A little spendy but it fits the MT just right

[willndmb]

i used a hosa

as you prob know some will not fit the mt without cutting the plastic and/or shaving the power cable of a external battery

hosa fits the mt, but you need to shave the power cable to fit both

[digitalcandy926]

I got a belden spdif cable, but it doesn't seem like the connection is snug to the microtrack....... I see on the back of my preamp that the spdif output is protruding out a bit, where as the MT input is not protruding.    What's going on here???  thanks

[shaggy]

I got a belden spdif cable, but it doesn't seem like the connection is snug to the microtrack....... I see on the back of my preamp that the spdif output is protruding out a bit, where as the MT input is not protruding.    What's going on here???  thanks

This is exactly why I reccomend a cheap cable that has a plastic jacket around the jack you can cut.  If you cut the jacket to the depth of the coax jack, the plug will will fit the socket perfectly.  The issue I see here is not the quality of the cable but rather the quality of the connection.  You can spend hundreds of dollars on the cable and, I bet, never find the jack that will fit the socket on the MT, while many a cheapo cable will have a cheap plastic covering which will you to 'customize' your plug to fit that horriblly designed recessed jack/socket that M-Audio hatched up (again, the problem is not that it is recessed, it is the space around the socket to fit the outer metal jacket on your plug!).  Look for a video connect (it is exactly the same specifications as a digital coax cable).  Go to stores and hunt for it....there are many places!

[digitalcandy926]

thanks man.... weird because my cable was only $7....... any specific name brands or stores to get them at?

[Jimna]

I went for the http://kindkables.com S/PDIF cable for the link between my V3 and MT II.  I wouldn't make the claim that it sounds any better than cheaper cables, but it seems like it is built for years of use and I paid extra for something that I don't think I'll ever have to buy again.  Also, I like the right angle ends.

--Michael

same here too, just gumbino made me nice Hi Ho cable.  no better sound im sure but a cable that will out last most. 

[SmokinJoe]

thanks man.... weird because my cable was only $7....... any specific name brands or stores to get them at?

I think everyone's advice is "use the cheap cable you have, and make it fit like you want it to".  Take a file, dremel, pocket knife, whatever you have, and cut some plastic excess off the outer casing until it fits the MT.

[Brian Skalinder]

There are two minor issues with the MT S/PDIF connector:

<1>  If one connects an external power source to the USB plug, there sometimes isn't room to accommodate the outer casing of both the S/PDIF connector and USB plug.  In this instance, finding connectors with smaller casings, or simply shaving down the outer casing on one or both of the connectors, will resolve the problem.

<2>  The MT has a narrow / thin "ring slot" into which the outer ring of the male RCA inserts.  Some RCA-male connectors have a ring that is simply too wide to fit into the ring slot.  Unless one hacks the MT ring slot (ugly and potentially damaging) or the RCA-male ring itself (how one might thin down the ring, I haven't the foggiest idea), no amount of tweaking will fix the problem.  The only real solution is to find a S/PDIF cable that uses a thinnish ring on the RCA-male connector.

[Rick]

Look for a video connect (it is exactly the same specifications as a digital coax cable).  Go to stores and hunt for it....there are many places!

Is this true? Cheap video cables tend to be more much more flexible then regular digital coax cables.

[datbrad]

Video cable is the same spec as coax. I have used video cables for spdif for years without issue. Many of the nicer retail video cable brands are more flexible than most high end coax cables and this makes them work more easily in the field.

[grayp]

Video cable is the same spec as coax. I have used video cables for spdif for years without issue. Many of the nicer retail video cable brands are more flexible than most high end coax cables and this makes them work more easily in the field.

when i saw this thread i remembered a long time ago, rob showwalter used to carry around a powered spdif cable.   never really understood the powered cable but i would assume its better

[baustin]

Look for a video connect (it is exactly the same specifications as a digital coax cable).  Go to stores and hunt for it....there are many places!

Is this true? Cheap video cables tend to be more much more flexible then regular digital coax cables.

i've always heard you can use the yellow rca video component cable for s/pdif. they're both rated at 75 ohm, correct?