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Is there a difference in sound between a coax cable and an optical one?

I've had 2 separate DACS within the past 20 years, both using a coax cable.  I've had trouble with both with the connections.  They either come loose or disconnect or whatever.  I've always had to go and wiggle the cable to get the sound to come out again.  The older one was an Audioquest cable (long gone) and the one I'm using now is an MIT (probably 12-15 years old).   My plans are to get a new pre-amp with a built-in DAC and if there is no substantial difference in sound, I plan on using an optical cable this time around.   Any thoughts?
shtinkydog
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Need to be careful with optical not to bend it to severe. As far as sound I have never noticed a difference between them though with some DACs optical doesn't do as high a resolution as coax not sure that's still the case, check your manual. 
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
How thick/heavy/stiff is your coax cable.  On heavier and stiffer cables, it puts stress on the RCA jack itself.  What happens is it bends the internal contact as the weight or stiffness of the coax cable applies tension.  At some point, the internal contact of the RCA jack becomes "out of bounds" and a standard RCA cable inserted will not make contact.
shtinkydog OP
673 posts
 
Jones:  Yeah, I'm using optical cables from my TVs to their soundbars, being very careful not to bend at all. Thanks for the reminder. 

Aux:  I think what you're saying is spot on.  I'll check behind the components and see what's going on.   I did notice on both occasions that this happened over some time.  Maybe it's just time for some new cables. 
Thank you both. 
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
In terms of my Benchmark DAC3,  the manufacturer indicates that its optical inputs are not recommended for DSD or for sample rates above 96 kHz. They cite that optical connections may be unreliable at sample rates above 96 kHz.  For this reason alone I use COAX on my DAC3 and not optical. 
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