DIGITAL OUT: Optical Cable vs. Coaxial Cable

The large majority of Toslink cables use a plastic conductor that can compromise their performance. There are some Toslink optical cables that use a glass conductor which is supposedly much better but I haven't tried one. It has been my experience that a high quality true 75 ohm coaxial cable will easily outperform the best optical cables I have tried. I also find there are significant differences in sound between different coaxial cables. This will depend a lot on the dac and transport you are using.

A well made coaxial cable is more durable than a glass cable so if you change or move your equipment rather than place and forget, coaxial is better. A true 75 Ohm quality cable is held to a reference whereas Toslink can be variable in quality from cheap plastic to expensive glass. If you believe that "bits is bits" then it doesn't matter. I prefer coaxial. Also, the connectors are important, so look at the way the cable is fixed to the connector. A solid cold pressure weld is more secure.

there are many factors to both including length, materials, design quality, associated equipment etc. as with most choices it will take experimentaion to know for sure. i just switched toslink cables on my dtv dvr to theta casanova and there was a marked difference. i would not have guessed this before. the new cable is an mit avt1 and is available through their discount site for around $50 if you chose to go that route. best money i have spent for a long while. i use a mit reference coax digital cable from my dvd to pre/pro. there is allot of good info on this issue on wikepedia.