2. cables
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Which connection: RCA, XLR, COAX, OPTICAL?

Hi again good people on Audiogon, I have little experience with this, so would you be so kind to give me some advice? I did read about it around the web, but opinions are somewhat contradicting and confusing, at least to me. I’m in a process of changing most of my system. I have no possibilities to try-out different cables.

I need to decide how to connect a CD player and a Blu-ray player to integrated amp (with built-in DAC) and to head-amp (with built-in DAC).
I expect (probably) to have these options:

- amplifier (with DAC) inputs: 1 XLR, 2 analog RCA, 1 coaxial, 1 optical toslink;
- head-amp (with DAC) inputs: 1 coaxial, 1 optical toslink;
- CD player outputs: 1 XLR, 1 analog RCA, 1 coaxial, 1 optical toslink;
- Blu-ray player outputs: 1 analog RCA, 1 coaxial, 1 optical toslink.

All cables will be between 0.4 and 1 meter, always as short as possible.
Regarding the quality of DACs in these 4 devices, it’s much more probable that DACs in amplifiers will be better than DAC in CD player, but let’s also consider the opposite case too, where the DAC from CD player is of equal or better quality. (DAC of Blu-ray player will be of lower quality for sure.)

Which type of connection would you recommend for each one of these 4 connections (CD-amp, CD-headamp, BLU-amp, BLU-headamp)?
Would your recommendations differ for CD player, based on the quality of its internal DAC, its inferiority or superiority to the amp’s built-in DAC?

THANK YOU SO MUCH :)
audiosonicsound
audiosonicsound OP
32 posts
 
Also, I think I will go for different head-amp, the one which has only one analog RCA input, so I will feed it from the integrated amp. That way I will have less cables and less complications.
So you can ignore the questions related to connection between players and head-amp.
All that matters is in which one of the 4 inputs should a CD player go (XLR, RCA, coax or toslink), and in which one should Blu-ray player go (RCA, coax or toslink).
almarg's avatar
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almarg
8,673 posts
 
For what they may be worth, the statements in the manual for the Gato DIA-250 about its DAC circuit and its analog input circuits seem confidence inspiring, as do the reviews of it that I've seen.  And the PCM1794(A?) DAC chip it uses, while fairly inexpensive, is also used in the Modwright Elyse DAC, which is also confidence inspiring IMO.

Of course as I indicated earlier which interface approaches would turn out to be preferable will also depend on the designs of the particular players and cables, and on how well the technical and sonic characteristics of everything synergize.

My instinct would be to go with a 5 or 6 foot length of coaxial S/PDIF for one of the connections; and for the other (at least initially) I would suggest purchasing and trying both the fairly inexpensive Analysis Plus Toslink cable I linked to earlier, in whatever length is suitable; and a pair of fairly inexpensive 2 or 3 foot Mogami Gold Studio analog XLR cables; and an inexpensive pair of 2 or 3 foot analog RCA cables as well.

Then try each of those possibilities on each of the players.  Then, after doing that, if you see fit to do so consider upgrading to more expensive cables providing the functionalities that you settle on.  Although I wouldn't be surprised if some of those choices turned out to provide excellent results in the long term.

Good luck.  Regards,
-- Al
 
audiosonicsound OP
32 posts
 
Thanks!
audiosonicsound OP
32 posts
 
almarg, you seem really knowledgeable about this, so just one more question, please.

To get audio signal from computer to amplifier across the legth of 6 meters / 20 feet - what would be the best connection?

You can see above the inputs on that Gato Audio amplifier. My computer has USB and optical toslink outputs. It doesn't have coaxial, but if by any chance coaxial would be better than USB or optical, I could change the soundboard to have coaxial output compatible with that coaxial input of Gato amp.
audiosonicsound OP
32 posts
 
* I meant SOUND CARD, not "soundboard"

Also, I didn't mention analog RCA because I tought it won't be a good choice for 6 meters length, but it may still be ok? For computer, audiophile quality is not so much important, because CD player is my primary source for listening.
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