Topic: TOSLINK vs. COAX

[sullen]

Probably a real stupid question but i'm new, and i searched and came up with nothing regarding this.


For transfering DAT > 7PIN > Soundcard.

WHich sounds better:
7pin to Optical Toslink cables, or 7pin to Coax cables??

Reason I ask is I've got a 7pin to toslink that came with my recorder.

I havent bought a soundcard yet.

If i get one of the M-Audios with Toslink input, will it be of the same quality using Toslink for output/transfers as using Coax for output/transfers with the same soundcard??

TIA!!!!!
~s

[JackoRoses]

both cables accomplish the same goal, with no difference in sound.
Just different connectors. Coax is a bit more robust then optical.
A optical cable can be broken and introduce diginoise/jitter into the
clone while a coax can do the same the odds are more diminished.
They both sound the same because they both transport 1's and 0's and that
is all.

[dklein]

A optical cable can be broken and introduce diginoise/jitter into the
clone while a coax can do the same the odds are more diminished.

Jitter isn't really a factor when doing a transfer. More of a DAC playback thing - bit timing to the converter.  In a transfer the arrival time is irrelavent as it all gets written to a file.

[JackoRoses]

A optical cable can be broken and introduce diginoise/jitter into the
clone while a coax can do the same the odds are more diminished.

Jitter isn't really a factor when doing a transfer. More of a DAC playback thing - bit timing to the converter.  In a transfer the arrival time is irrelavent as it all gets written to a file.

a broken optical cable can introduce jitter to the sound card
and if the sound card can't lock onto the signal, that would be a problem no?
I agree with you, yet I also always was under the impression a cracked optical cable
can cause the light to refract and in turn create a jitter effect.

[caymanreview]

damaged optical cables can wreak havoc on the audio. for home use it would be fine, but i wouldnt want to run one in the field unless i had to

[hexyjones]

damaged optical cables can wreak havoc on the audio. for home use it would be fine, but i wouldnt want to run one in the field unless i had to

I dont think damaged cables should be used at all...

[dklein]

[a broken optical cable can introduce jitter to the sound card
and if the sound card can't lock onto the signal, that would be a problem no?
I agree with you, yet I also always was under the impression a cracked optical cable
can cause the light to refract and in turn create a jitter effect.

I don't know that I'd call that jitter.   I think jitter refers to effect of digital clocks (sometimes with other components) to to have very slight timing variations between samples and the resulting effect on a 'streamed' sound - e.g. listening to the output of a DAC.  Delivery of the digital signal with low jitter (low fluctuations) should sound better.