2. digital
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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
 
@chrisg1000

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/do-usb-audio-cables-make-a-difference.188...

Yes, they do measure differently, especially longer runs. However, any decent DAC (even $100, but talking cream of the crop), will reduce any errors below audibility.

If you hear a difference, then it’s time to get a better DAC. Just out of curiosity, is your DAC a Schiit? Because Schiit gear don’t typically handle dither/jitter as well as it’s competitors.
karmapolice's avatar
karmapolice OP
256 posts
 
I think it's sad that people who dont believe cables make a difference troll audiophile boards....

Perhaps the bose forum or mp3 forum or bluetooth audio forum would be a better habitat 


mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
@karmapolice  
 
I just showed that USB cables can sound different. But I also showed if your DAC doesn’t correct it, then the DAC isn’t performing well.
chrisg1000
30 posts
 
If you’re asking me, I have a Chord DAC. 
While not cream of the crop, it’s not a piece of crap, or a Schitt. 
And how is a DAC supposed to correct it? The DAC will do what’s it’s supposed to with the signal it receives. 
mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
@chrisg1000

DACs do in fact have jitter reduction, and a J-Test is done when measuring them, Stereophile always performs one for instance. The test doesn’t introduce picoseconds/nanoseconds of jitter, but instead uses frequencies, so I don’t know the correlation but it’s stated as worst case scenario levels of jitter.

Chord makes good DACs, not sure which model you have, but let’s look at their $500 Mojo:

Stereophile: https://www.stereophile.com/content/chord-electronics-mojo-da-headphone-amplifier-measurements

AudioScienceResearch: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-chord-mojo-dac...

Both sources show it reducing jitter to below 120dB, enough for 24bit data to have zero jitter no matter how long or cheap your cables are (EMI is a different thing), and also well below your room’s noise floor. Also, take note the measurements are different as Stereophile does jitter tests for 44.1kHz and ASR does jitter tests at 48kHz, Stereophile also used a tone that’s -6dBFS and ASR does 0dBFS.

And yes, that’s the only difference a digital cable can introduce, frequency response, THD,  and everything else would be identical.

So unless you are cranking your amplifier above full scale, there will be no difference no matter the digital cable.
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