Difference in sound between copper and silver digital cables?

I read of willie’s experience in builds and tests.

I’ve done the same, of course, as we at Teo --build cables.

Geometry becomes the 3d complex field, and the cable itself is dealing with the delineation of the transient edges (square wave edge delineation) as being the entire reason the cable exists.

Transient impedance behavior becomes the whole darned thing. (same for any cable or conditioner or audio device, BTW)

So ... proper geometry and proper implementation of said geometry becomes the overriding factor that determines the heard or realized sound quality of the given digital s/pdif cable.

This can happen at high prices or at low ones. Cable materials count, geometry counts, RCA jacks count, termination in the device pair counts. And so on.

We happen to think our RCA terminated S/pdif is the best of any available, mostly due to the liquid metal’s behavior under complex transient loading. It is fundamentally different than the transient LCR behavior of wire. So different it is...that, in our experience and that of our customer base...where.. under any possible combination of dac and transport(source), that ours will exceed the performance of any other cable.

Science! (and fundamental physics, of course)

Steve - Thank you for the information and explanation.

I have some Furutech  FP-601 M (G) and FP-602 F (G) XLR connectors to use for an AES/EBU digital cable.

@maxima95 - unfortunately XLR implementations are not my specialty, since most of my components do not employ that socket type.

Others have had great success using the Helix geometry with Analogue cables, but I do not know of anyone that has tried what you are considering.

If I were in your position, I would try building a prototype cable first using inexpensive wire.

For prototyping I used...
- Thermostat wire (for the Helix neutral) from a local hardware store  
>>> Thermostat wire is 18 gauge solid core copper
>>> it holds the helix shape very well 
- CAT6 for the signal wires - 24 or 28 gauge is ok

The prototype wire for a 3 ft AES/EBU digital cable would probably cost less than $20 - since you already have some good plugs. 

If the cable sounds good then opt for the better grade wire.

What I have observed with digital cables is that wire quality is not as important as it is with analogue cables, so I would use 20 gauge silver plated Mil-spec for the neutral and 24 gauge mil-spec for the signal.

Hope that helps - steve

" Copper tends to deliver more mid-bass body and weight and is not as well defined in terms of leading edge detail. Bass is a tad more rounded and yes this can vary, but in general is accurate."

I’m not disagreeing with this statement - but I do have some thoughts...

I have been dabbling with cables for the last 12 years. in that time I have read many postings on Agon pertaining to what people hear with their various cable selections and substitutions.

Being a firm believer in trusting my ears I have to believe this statement is true - i.e. it is what those people observed.

Cables are very complex beasts...
- wire type - solid or stranded
- metaurgy - copper or silver plate or silver
- insulation type and thickness
- cable geometry - how the wires are placed with respect to each other within the cable
- burn-in
- directionality
- etc...

But one thing I have noticed in the last 12 years...
- cables effect the performance of the connected components.

So it might not be the cable that is actually responsible for changing the sound/tone to "more mid bass body", it is just the component performing differently ...
- due to the various attributes of the cable.
- and the cable is simply conveying what the component is now delivering

Regards - Steve