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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
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Red - I think you're mad actually, just kidding....

I have no explanation other than the usual parametrics, R,L,C and dielectric absorption. Also, dont forget metallurgy.

One thing that I didn't mention before was the length/speed effect that I explain in this paper I wrote for Positive-feedback:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue14/spdif.htm
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
ading - What engineering school did you go to????? Ive never heard such drivel....
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Spluta wrote:
"From what ive seen there is a major flaw in the spec itself The #1 contributer of EMI is the rise time. The quicker it is, the more EMI emitted. A common misconception is the Freq is the culprit not true. Its seems to me that the rise times are faster than needed for the application.

Not true at all. The risetimes are purposely slowed in 99% of transports in order to pass FCC and CISPR. This actually contributes to jitter. If the terminations and impedances are matched, there will be very little EMI, even with very high edge-rates. Please read my PFonline paper.
joemazzaglia
19 posts
 
end of msg.
nglazer
734 posts
 
Just because the current state of engineering science (which, in the digital audio sphere, is still relatively young)cannot adequately explain why digital cables might sound different from each other does not mean they do not. I have experimented with at least 7 or 8 digital cables, from the Illuminati D-6 all the way up to Kharma and PAD Dominus and they all have sounded distinctly different to me in A-B comparisons, with some audibly better than others to a significant degree. I did not imagine these differences; they are there and I hear them, as do others listening along with me. Rememember, it was not too many years ago that people were asking the same question about power cables: Why should they make a difference, they are just carrying electrons?

As Hamlet said: "There are more things on heaven and earth, dear Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosphies."

Bottom line: I think they make almost as much difference as interconnects. I wish they didn't (one less variable to deal with)but they do.

One man's humble opinion after over 30 years of dabbling in this mania.

Neal
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