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Digital coax cable, real world experiences?

Yes I know ANOTHER cable thread....lol
Guess that is why it has its own complete section
My question regards a cable I have not really paid much attention to previously, the digital coax connection from my media server to my preamp.
I was using a very old generic connection that is at least 15 years old but acquired a pretty cheap tributaries digital coax cable and thought oh well lets change it.
I was shocked and stunned at just how much more detail was present and the depth and solidity of bass was near overwhelming, granting I was listening to some pretty bass intense material at the time but still!
Now do not get me wrong I was once one of the biggest cable naysayers you would find and still think the majority of me now hearing changes is the quality of the rest of my system as previous "lower fi" systems just did not truly reveal any note(pun intended) worthy changes.
So my question is if I heard a significant difference with a fairly inexpensive cable what may occur with really going up the food chain on a digital coax cable? Or was it more that my previous no name very old cable was just that ..very old and poor.
Thoughts and real world experiences on digital coax cables?

128x128uberwaltz
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
@jond 
so even though my Mcintosh dac is limited to 96, an external dac could pass 192 though the analog outs direct into a set of analog inputs on the McIntosh?
Interesting, now all I have to do is research affordable mqa dacs!
thank you!
jond's avatar
jond
5,807 posts
 
Yes correct the McIntosh dac is not in the signal chain its limitations don't matter in that setup the Mac just gets an analog signal. So have fun!
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,450 posts
 
@uberwaltz,

I have very recently heard Mytek’s Brooklyn DAC, which sounded pretty good.

The other option would be Bluesound’s Node 2 or Vault 2.

Honestly, If high resolution streaming is your goal, I would wait until MQA shakes out. I am sure you heard that HD Tracks will be streaming high resolution tracks pretty soon which should eliminate the ‘need’ to shop for MQA compatible DAC.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
I completely forgot that my vault is ALREADY MQA ready...doh!
So from last night onwards I have been running comparos between the analog out and the digital out from the vault into my McIntosh and yes I can hear a difference on the 192 analog out.
So no need to spend any money at all bar for some decent rca interconnects as I do not have any as rest of stuff is all xlr
Happy days indeed
ancaudio
28 posts
 
As auxinput mentioned above, DH Labs D-750 is a true 75omh cable from tip to tip.  Most RCA connectors are not 75ohm.   The DH RCA-750 connector is made up of 5 separate pieces and the center conductor must be soldered.  This is a true 75ohm set-up and should not be overlooked.
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