Is AT&T a Good digital cable connection ?


Does anybody have experience with AT&T glass digital cables ? Is sit a better connection than coxial ?
128x128jayt
I used Altis Altima optical until my system got good enough to let me hear, very clearly, the superiority of S/PDIF coaxial or AES/EBU. Mgl123's comment on the literature also squares with my experience. I've heard that the signal has to be converted twice, with optical, since it starts out, and must end up, electrical. I hope I have that right, but don't bet the farm on it. Anyway, I'd avoid optical.
There is a difference between Toslink optical and ATT/ST. The ATT/ST is reputed to be a high quality link and many older high end products offered it, at least as an option. Few do now, tho. Have not compared, but is reported to be way better than Toslink.
Swampwalker is right, ST-glass is much much better than TosLink.
The implementation of AT&T sender and receiver-units are rather expensive....but the results are quite special (at least to my ears).
Jayt- Not all glass fiber transceivers are created (or implemented) equal. With certain manufacturers, Goldmund being one of them, the AT&T input is simply amazing. On C-J DAC, it was not! Copper does provide more "tuning" ability because again, not all coax sounds the same. However, with the gear I'm running, glass is the way to go. Just my .02.
It seems each manufacturer has there own preference for digital connections. Perhaps it is in the design of the DAC or transport that makes one connection inherently better than another in certain gear. EAD always used to recommend AT&T glass. Ed Meitner, noted digital designer, recommends AT&T because it breaks the ground between components. The late Howard Mandel of Altis Audio also recommended AT&T, and all his high end stuff came with it standard. So is it a good connection? Absolutely. But we are talking about AT&T, not toslink, which is an inferior connection. Perhaps toslink is the connection Mgl123 is talking about when he says that "high end stuff doesn't even offer glass". I think you are referring to AT&T by your reference to "ST", which is another designation for it. Not only does some high end gear come with AT&T, but Theta had there own dedicated optical transmission system called "laser link", I believe.

I experimented with ST cables and connections with every DAC or transport I had that supported it. I found the ST connection to be dead quiet, very black background, lots of detail, but somewhat sterile. That was in the system I had at that time. It's sure worth experimenting with if your digital gear supports that connection.