You said:
"considering that the digital information that runs from the DAC to the Preamp is 1's & 0's or bits & bytes or whatever they are called;"
didn't you mean the (single) cable that runs from the CD transport (or digital output of a CD player) to the DAC?
And yes it does make a difference.
It's also important what kind of analog IC's you use from the DAC to the preamp and whether they're single ended (RCA) or balanced (XLR). Balanced seem to work better if your preamp has balanced inputs.
It's also important what kind of power cord is used with DACs, CD players, or basically anything with digital processing circuitry in it (meaning even preamps with digital volume controls). It has to be shielded, and it seems that with most digital-to-analog equipment, bigger (wire size) is better for sonics -- although I still can't explain why, because DACs aren't power hungry like most amps.
I also prefer fiberoptic cable (glass AT&T, not plastic Toslink) to metal coax (S/PDIF, RCA, BNC) or AES/EBU (XLR) for a number of reasons, not the least of which it isolates the DAC from the transport electrically. Unfortunately, there's only one really good one and it's a thousand dollars. Three thousand if you own EMM gear, and have enough money left over ;--)
.
"considering that the digital information that runs from the DAC to the Preamp is 1's & 0's or bits & bytes or whatever they are called;"
didn't you mean the (single) cable that runs from the CD transport (or digital output of a CD player) to the DAC?
And yes it does make a difference.
It's also important what kind of analog IC's you use from the DAC to the preamp and whether they're single ended (RCA) or balanced (XLR). Balanced seem to work better if your preamp has balanced inputs.
It's also important what kind of power cord is used with DACs, CD players, or basically anything with digital processing circuitry in it (meaning even preamps with digital volume controls). It has to be shielded, and it seems that with most digital-to-analog equipment, bigger (wire size) is better for sonics -- although I still can't explain why, because DACs aren't power hungry like most amps.
I also prefer fiberoptic cable (glass AT&T, not plastic Toslink) to metal coax (S/PDIF, RCA, BNC) or AES/EBU (XLR) for a number of reasons, not the least of which it isolates the DAC from the transport electrically. Unfortunately, there's only one really good one and it's a thousand dollars. Three thousand if you own EMM gear, and have enough money left over ;--)
.