Whats a good all around digital cable for under $250. I only need half a meter.
What type of digital cable? If you're looking for new look into WyWires Blue. If you can find a used Silver series that will be better. Alex of WyWires sometimes has trade ins or demos on hand at nice prices, so it's worth a call to see if he has a Silver. Kimber Kable makes very nice digital cables too. Other option is build your own. Check out VH Audio |
To be honest, it has NEVER been proven that any well constructed digital cable is inherently better or worse than another. The laws of digital physics must apply. The bits either get to there destination or they do not. I would not recommend spending over $75 for the length you require. If you are needing a digital coax cable I would recommend you buy one at least 1.5m in length. A digital optical cable will be even less expensive. |
The WyWires Silver does not have any silver - all copper. WyWires doesn't use any silver wire in any of their cables and if you visit their site you will find out they deslike silver wire as a conductor. They only use the word Silver as a model name. I've listened to plenty of digital cables of various styles and types over the years and there is a difference in sound between them. I started with the Canare which is a good cable but it's not close to cables even twice the price. Trust your own ears. Yes if you have a system that's not all that revealing and maybe using an Emerson DVD player then pick up a Canare. If your looking to tame your digital front end the Canare will do it; it's really not a bad cable but a little on the warm side. I use Canare cables on stage for mic's and have tried my balanced Canare's on my system at home and same thing; good cable for the money but not the most revealing cable, but a great tone control. |
Definitely agree to stick with a digital cable at least 1m long. Plenty of articles out there on why you should use 1m or longer especially on coax and glass. Stick with coax over glass or aes/ebu if those are your options. I personally never cared for AQ digital cables; maybe their newer cables have improved from years back. |
Get >1.5m or <1ft (I can explain why). It applies only to coax. It is a system thing - a cable that sounds great in one system might sound bad in another (characteristic impedance mismatch and/or electrical noise induced jitter). Cable adds time jitter, that converts to noise on analog side. This noise is proportional to loudness and undetectable without signal. It affects clarity, timbre, imaging etc. It can also produce unpleasant sibilants (or shrill). Toslink connection (any distance) does not need matching and is not sensitive to ambient electrical noise, but is sensitive to system noise since transitions are slow (slow transitions thru noisy threshold = jitter). Toslink does not create ground loops. You have to try different coaxes and Toslinks it in your system in your room. Recommendation means nothing. |
The references to 1 meter or longer should say 1.5 meters or longer. The reasons are explained in this paper. Although as Kijanki indicated many component and cable-dependent variables factor into that, many of which are unspecified and unpredictable. So there may be some cases where 1 meter would prove to be preferable (and past threads here provide some anecdotal evidence to support that), but 1.5 meters or longer (or a very short length, such as 6 or 8 inches if that is practicable) should be viewed as providing the best odds of success. Also, as Kijanki indicated that length recommendation just applies to electrical cables (S/PDIF or AES/EBU), not to optical cables. Regarding ... ... a silver might be to "shrill" on the top for my system.You may be extrapolating from the reputation of silver conductors in analog applications. There is no reason to expect their performance in analog applications to have any relevance to digital applications. The technical factors that are involved, and the basic principles upon which the two kinds of connections operate, are completely different in the two cases. Finally, regarding ... I’m looking for a cable that can play those high notes and cymbals and it won’t sound like noise.If the cable is in fact contributing to that, those symptoms are consistent with the timing jitter that Kijanki referred to. Which as I said is a function of numerous unpredictable variables, involving the particular components that are being connected as well as the cable. So the best approach is probably to borrow a number of cables from a source such as The Cable Company, and try them out. As Kijanki indicated, a given cable may provide great results or poor results depending on what it is connecting. Regards, -- Al |
I second the acoustic zen recommendation. I recently added an AZ Silver Byte digital and am very happy, especial with the natural highs. My preamp and amp go beyond 50kHz, and my speakers (Dali Mentor 6) to 34kHz. I looked at an MC2, but that is 110 ohm for XLR and i needed RCA (75 ohm). The Silver Bytes are made for 75 ohm RCA. That said, many use MC2 with RCA and are completely happy. Silver Bytes were less expensive so I bit. |
I haven't heard the Acoustic Zen MC2, but I've had AZ interconnects and cables for over a decade and they do extremely well with the highs. Since there is a "house sound" to AZ cables I'd think the MC2 would follow suit. To be more specific, I'm a drummer and am very sensitive to equipment or cables that turn cymbals into sizzle/hash or emphasize sticking over tonality. My AZ cables do an excellent job of capturing not only the clean sticking/dynamics of a cymbal but also its tonality and weight, which is something I don't hear often in cables. So FWIW, I think trying a used MC2 could be a good idea given your preferences. Best of luck. |
Zeal I’m just wondering if you are currently using a cable? If so which one. If not, and this is your first, why not start with a good quality wire that might cost much less, see how that sounds first, then try something more pricey after if needed. Or buy both at the same time for not much more total, compare, and return the lesser wire. There is a chance that way you might save some $$$s rather than diving right into the deep end with a pricier wire not even knowing how a good quality less expensive one might sound. In any case I agree do not fool around with anything less than a meter or so in length. Shorter wires are rumored to be more susceptible to reflections causing jitter than longer ones. I've found doing that alone with most any good quality digital wire works out pretty well. |
"The WyWires Silver does not have any silver - all copper. WyWires doesn't use any silver wire in any of their cables and if you visit their site you will find out they deslike silver wire as a conductor. They only use the word Silver as a model name." That's odd, not too bright, since they dislike silver (the metal), but the cable's model name would likely make most people think the cables use silver in their construction. You know that, especially online, people often scan text more than they read details. Dave, who thinks this is like a turntable manufacturer calling their device the "Binary Digital" because it has an on-off switch |
I don’t think WyWires Gold or Platinum cables contain those metals as well. I own many silver Clear Day Cables; their speaker wire, single and balanced cables and they are not bright... revealing but not bright. My dad owns Kimber KCAG, AQ Lapis, Diamonds and whatever speaker cable that was under the Dragon back then and none of them are bright either. I can’t speak for all silver cables but the ones I know well are not bright. I think most people just assume silver cables are bright and probably have never heard them personally or maybe they have and their system or room is just bright anyway. Many of the silver clad cables can be bright and I’ve always felt those cables have "Smeared" the subject. I do agree that WyWires probably should have given more thought to their cable names, but nonetheless they make great cables. |
Creative Cable Green Hornet...I have one and also have a Nordost Valhalla...although the Valhalla is more extended and airy with a snappier mid, the Green Hornet is just as smooth (in my rig) and I actually prefer it on my Sonos. if you need Toslink: Audioquest Vodka. It's even closer to the Valhalla for frequency extension, but lacks the overall refinement. |
