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I am looking for a high-quality HDMI cable for I2S from a CD Transport to the DAC...

Understanding from what I've read, it seems that I2S is a great way to go as an interface from the CD transport to the DAC...  I'm looking for a sonically high-quality HDMI cable that anyone is using for this purpose only.  If you can give me an idea as to what HDMI cables you've tried and why you chose the one you're using, that would really help !  My DAC is the Denafrips Terminator+ and I'm considering purchasing the Jay's-Audio CDT2-MK3 transport...  Both units are directly compatible with each other in terms of I2S.  
Thanks !  John
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liquidsound OP
145 posts
 

Thanks for all of your inputs and recommendations/suggestions.  I ended up purchasing a WireWorld Silver Sphere HDMI cable. The cable has provided me with a noticeable upgrade in sound, replacing my Supra-Cable HDMI cable, with of course a notable price difference.  The Supra-Cable HDMI cable is a good cable and one I'll probably sell later on.  While I was there, I also purchased two of their Platinum Starlight 8 2.0 USB cables and their Platinum Starlight 8 Twinax Ethernet cable also, Now I have all WireWorld digital cables for my system.  

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auxinput
2,920 posts
 

I could not advise you on that since I have never used i2s myself.  From what people say, i2s is superior over S/PDIF.  However, some things to think about:

i2s - this requires a very short cable (1-2 feet).  The interface does not work well with longer cables.  Also, the largest awg conductors you will see are about 24awg in the largest HDMI cables.

AES/EBU - you can run this very long (15-20 feet is no problem).  It also opens you up to a larger selection of cables and also cables that have much larger conductors (like 18 or 19 awg).  In my experience, this gives you the best bass and depth of sound.

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auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Uhm, if you use the HDMI cable for actual HDMI audio/video source, then 2 meter is definitely better.

However, if you are using this for i2s, then you still want the cable as short as possible (like 0.5 meter).  The i2s interface is different and was not designed for long cable runs.  I'm not sure how well the Heimdall will work out for you.  Hopefully, it will be an improvement.

For AUS/EBU cable, Tara cables look good, but they definitely get expensive.  I would ask them what size conductor they run.

I just recently had a discussion with another forum member.  He ended up getting an Acoustic Zen Absolute 110 cable.  This uses a large 19awg solid-core pure silver conductor.  It's close to my own custom built cable.  It is one I would recommend at this point.

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