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Din
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Joined: 26 Apr 2006
Posts: 191
Location: Lost Angeles
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 Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 8:48 am Post subject: |
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| jay.money wrote: | I'm not totally convinced that digital cable has any affect on sonics (although I've read posts from many that are convinced).
I picked up a Birdland Odeon Lite DAC. It's somewhat obscure and not much to look at, but does a great job. Huge improvement to the sound coming out of the Mac. |
Looks like a nice choice on the DAC. Let us know how it sounds.
Couple of links on digital audio and jitter that explain why I think a digital cable can have an effect on systems where the clock is derived from the bitstream:
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue22/nugent.htm
http://www.stereophile.com/reference/1093jitter/
I'm thinking of picking up the new USB enabled Benchmark soon myself to use with my mini. Eliminates the digital cable completely from the equation!
Din |
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JSL
New Member
Joined: 27 Feb 2007
Posts: 3
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twinturbov6
New Member
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:40 am Post subject: mini-toslink sucks but to get something that works |
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A better cable will have no adapter or will be glass with an adapter. The idea is to reduce jitter. There are no "high-end" cables made on the planet with mini toslink, I have looked for hours, its sad. If your dac is less than $500 or not fussy, than who cares, but if you have a Wadia, then you care...
I found 2 okay (not good but okay) solutions: a 3m plastic toslink to mini-toslink cable (doesn't need or an adapter- which is good since adapters are horrible things) and a 5m glass cable (glass has low attentuation so longer lengths will be okay) which will need an adapter.
http://www.worldofcables.com/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=5082
http://www.worldofcables.com/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=5060
*Aside*: By the way perhaps this is obvious but the reason why there are no "audiophile adapters" is because an adapter itself defeats the whole concept of "quality" connection, I think they are all crap, if someone finds an "audiophile" adapter OR a glass toslink to mini-toslink cable, please let me know and I'll send you a paypal payment for the advice.
EDIT: I am just a frustrated audiophile (audiofreak is a better word) so by default I think that any cable under $100 is crap even if it may be good, so for all the sane people here, just go for the above 3 meter (or 2 or 1) cable or even discustingly cheap: http://cgi.ebay.com/12-Ft-Digital-Audio-Toslink-to-MINI-OPTICAL-Cable-STSI_W0QQitemZ110102653151QQcategoryZ64594QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
; digital cables are different than analog though- I think I found a good manufacturer of quality cables that aren't astronomical audiophile prices- they claim to use the highest quality plastic fiber, 0.15db per meter loss, which is very small, they can also terminate the cables with "ST" connectors- these are high quality connectors that my Wadia can accept, this is interesting; I'll phone them on Monday and see if the tech guy can do a custom cable with mini-toslink for the mini and ST for the Wadia
Last edited by twinturbov6 on Sat Mar 17, 2007 5:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Bandit Bill
Veteran Member
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 5793
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:44 am Post subject: |
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| I love 3M, they are one of my favorite companies. Everything they make is top notch. I wasn't aware that they manufactured cables. |
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JRKO
New Member
Joined: 13 Mar 2007
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:22 am Post subject: Re: mini-toslink sucks but to get something that works |
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| twinturbov6 wrote: | | A better cable will have no adapter or will be glass with an adapter. The idea is to reduce jitter. |
Dead right. Optical has only one flaw which is light leakage and/or contamination from poor quality connections. Glass is way better than plastic.
I am looking to use my (soon to be purchased) Mac Mini for audio purposes as well and was wondering about the connections. I am going to use my Quad 99 CDP's DAC via the optical/digital inputs to feed a Jungson 90w class A amp and then on to Tannoy 15inch Dual Concentrics.
I am looking to see if I can get someone to make a cable for me in glass with the correct terminations.
BTW BluTac works very well on the joints to seal out any light and keep it inside the cable  |
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Bandit Bill
Veteran Member
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 5793
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 11:23 am Post subject: Re: mini-toslink sucks but to get something that works |
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[quote="JRKO"] | twinturbov6 wrote: | | I am looking to see if I can get someone to make a cable for me in glass with the correct terminations. |
Check these guys out.
http://www.cablesbyacc.com/
When I sold computer retail they were an excellent company to deal with. They may stock what you need, they may be able to manufacture it for you.
Being they are in Canada, let me know if you need help with shipping. |
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jay.money
New Member
Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Posts: 19
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Bandit Bill
Veteran Member
Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 5793
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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What a difference closing the doors makes to the overall presentation. Close the doors, very nice and minimalist. Open the doors and  |
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marv777
Senior Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2012
Posts: 422
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 10:03 pm Post subject: Re: Toslink to Mini Plug |
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Is the sound really audible with these cables?  |
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ez061111
Veteran Member
Joined: 29 Mar 2009
Posts: 886
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| Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:34 pm Post subject: Re: Toslink to Mini Plug |
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| marv777 wrote: | | Is the sound really audible with these cables? |
No, the cables themselves are fibre optic and transmit light which is digitally decoded by a receiver, for example, which sends the signal to speakers which make the sound.
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