1.0 or 1.5 m digital interconnect, does it matter?

Rlwainwright - serious whack job eh? It just so happens that an independent Audio magazine in Canada did a series of double-blind tests and published the results in their mag based on the claims in my white-paper. The results matched my conclusions.

The editor of this magazine came into my suite at CES last year and gave me a copy of this article. It was his hope to debunk my article, but instead he became a believer. This is pure engineering analysis, not snake oil. Read the paper.

And BTW, I have lots of inferior digital cables from other manufacturers than sound crappy in all lengths in all systems. Even in 1.5m, they dont deliver the magic. Proves nothing.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Etran
Ha good one! I think that is a sarcastic post?, the less cable the less feet the better.. But I never know on these boards with some of these jokers :)

Steve

I did read your white-paper on the subject a good while back...I try to retain so much in such a cramped space between my ears but I mostly forget 90% of what I read, (not because I want to).

I do remember that it was a very good paper...thanks for the link (and the other info), I will re-read the entire paper.

Dave

Steve, if the cable length is not the optimal "sweet spot" length for a given CD-transport, what is exactly the sonic effect? Does one hear a grittier sound with less air? What is what some experts mean when they say the sound is getting less (with regard to this matter). Can one always hear this sound degradation? Btw, a 0.5 m cable length difference is not very significant for interconnect cable in my opinion. It is therefore difficult to believe that it could make any difference at all.

Chris

Whether you can hear a degradation depends on how well the cables are terminated and whether the connectors and cable is 75 ohms etc.. If everything is matched perfectly, then the cable length is less of an issue. It is when there are reflections on the cable that the length comes into play. Most S/PDIF outputs are not 75 ohms, but most S/PDIF inputs are 75 ohms. The cables and connectors vary a lot.

The comparison to an analog cable is not a valid one. Transmission-line effects on an analog cable are usually inconsequential or have small impact. The same effects on a digital cable can make a big difference in jitter.

The degradation is a lot like the sound of jitter. It is high-frequency noise layered on the music that can be described as echoes, halos or sibilance. I do a demonstration at CES each year and most people dont hear anything until the jitter is gone. Then they realize what they have been missing and what the noise is that they have grown accustomed to listening to.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
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