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Why do digital cables sound different?

I have been talking to a few e-mail buddies and have a question that isn't being satisfactorily answered this far. So...I'm asking the experts on the forum to pitch in. This has probably been asked before but I can't find any references for it. Can someone explain why one DIGITAL cable (coaxial, BNC, etc.) can sound different than another? There are also similar claims for Toslink. In my mind, we're just trying to move bits from one place to another. Doesn't the digital stream get reconstituted and re-clocked on the receiving end anyway? Please enlighten me and maybe send along some URLs for my edification. Thanks, Dan
danielho
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
3,575 posts
 
Lvhjr1, Optical cables don't have problem of jitter cause by reflections on impedance boundaries but rather from jitter being result of system noise affecting slow transitions (inherent to low slew rate of transmitters). Noise also affects transition of signal thru receiver's threshold (causing jitter) in coaxial cables, but much less because transitions are faster.
plangco's avatar
plangco
158 posts
 
As verified by the sonic signature of sound changing obviously with power cables, not just digital cables, changes to the electricity itself must occur from the material that it is going through.
lupinthe3rd
47 posts
 
A topic that's been beat to death, but IMO there is no audible difference between one digital cable and another. One toslink optical cable works just as well as another for carrying bits. Same with coax RCA. Same with balanced AES. Same with USB. Spending more than $20 on a digital cable is money down the toilet, and anyone who claims they can hear a difference between two different brands is full of baloney.
frogman
4,637 posts
 
Why is it so darn difficult for some people to accept the simple fact that some listeners have better hearing ability than others; wether because of physiological differences, experience, or training?
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
Having had Audioquest Truth solid copper conductor with air dielectric and Audioquest Truth solid silver conductor with air dielectric digital cables for comparison, it was obvious, in my system at least, there were important differences in how they sounded.
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