2. digital
  3. 139886-13434

Why does my DAC sound so much better after upgrading digital SPDIF cable?

I like my Mps5 playback designs sacd/CD player but also use it as a DAC so that I can use my OPPO as a transport to play 24-96 and other high res files I burn to dvd-audio discs.

I was using a nordost silver shadow digital spdif cable between the transport and my dac as I felt it was more transparent and better treble than a higher priced audioquest digital cable a dealer had me audition.

I recently received the Synergistic Research Galileo new SX UEF digital cable.  Immediately I recognized that i was hearing far better bass, soundstage, and instrument separation than I had ever heard with high res files (non sacd),

While I am obviously impressed with this high end digital cable and strongly encourage others to audition it, I am puzzled how the cable transporting digital information to my DAC from my transport makes such a big difference.

The DAC take the digital information and shapes the sound so why should the cable providing it the info be so important. I would think any competently built digital cable would be adequate....I get the cable from the DAC to the preamp and preamp to amp matter but would think the cable to the DAC would be much less important.

I will now experiment to see if using the external transport to send red book CD files to my playback mps5 sounds better than using the transport inside the mps5 itself.

The MPS5 sounds pretty great for ca and awesome with SACD so doubt external transport will be improvement for redhook cds


128x128karmapolice
mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
@celander

I have shown that psec levels of jitter is indeed need, but it’s already >300psec for 16-bit.

Also, no, jitter doesn’t alter the reaslism of instruments/vocals, the type of jitter we are talking about is a rise in the noise floor, or distortion-like peaks of low-level. Meaning, it’s like a bit of static added in. And again, this whole conversation was about the how a new Toslink cable make a drastic reduction in jitter. Keep in mind how I showed even the budget-ish DragonFly DAC can reduce even immense jitter well below the noise floor anyway.

Also, here are some measurements of different Toslink cables: http://archimago.blogspot.com/2013/05/measurements-toslink-optical-audio.html?m=1

Including a freebie one, an intentionally poorly made one, an all glass one,etc.

Guess what? They are 99.9% identical, and jitter all below 100dBFS. So yeah, I stand further by my claim that the poster simply fell prone to placebo.
celander's avatar
celander
1,502 posts
 
And yet do I sense the faint cackles of laughter emanating from the grave of Julian Hirsch having found a new disciple to carry on his legacy?
mwelbourne
6 posts
 
For the last 13 years I've had a media PC hooked up to my TV and Denon surround amp. I'm using an TOSLINK from the PC motherboard to the amp. So, this is a red light flashing on and off on the motherboard going down about 1m of some sort of glass tube (whatever an optical cable is made of) and the amp is reading the pulses of light. I only play mp3s and it's mainly dance/pop stuff (so nothing high brow) - it all sounds truly amazing. I've never heard music sound better than it does in my house.

Am I to understand that the cable is causing jitter to a flashing pulse of light and that the digital info being received by the amp is not totally correct? Or is jitter to do with extra devices and connections and distance between the source and the amp?

The only thing that I have ever found that affects the quality is to use some mp3 gain software that stops mp3 flies from clipping. Before lowering the gain to remove clipping they sound harsh, get rid of the clipping they are sweet as anything. I do find that any Youtube or Spotify stuff directly over the internet generally tends to sound a bit rough in comparison, I assume it's down to the gain and that internet stuff is designed to sound good through phones and laptop speakers and not a couple of thousand quid of amp and speakers.
Post removed 
riccitone
220 posts
 
I’ve got a comparably modest digital source setup:

Allo Digione RPi
to Schiit Modi Uber 2
to NAD C316BEE
to Tekton Lore speakers

Did an a/b test with each cable upgrade:
no-name cheapo rca analog interconnect to ZU audio mission from dac to amp = huge improvements.

Then the same with digital rca: 
monoprice 1.5 meter to amplifier surgery 1.5 meter from Digione RPi to dac = huge improvements.

in both cases- or at each stage- beyond satisfied, to point of giddy, weird smiles that kind of worried my wife (however, she also noticed the improvements). The degree of improved detail and stage was more than palpable. 

Just wanted to share that that it was even noticed with a far lesser setup than most possess here. Happy Thanksgiving! 🍁

More to discover