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Customizing sound through digital interconnect

Hi all, I would like to know your opinion about the following. Many audiophiles dislike the thought of tailoring a system's sound through cabling. I personally do not belong to this majority. I do use cables to "customize" the sound of my system. I know this could be achieved with interconnect and speaker cables and also power cords. But is it to a certain degree also possible to taylor a system's sound through the use of digital interconnects? In what way could a digital interconnect "alter" the analog sound? Another related question is: can someone design a digital interconnect so that it sounds more warm/less warm, more detailed/less detailed, more 3D/less 3D? What are the measurable parameters to guide you through this design process?

Chris
dazzdax
amfibius
282 posts
 
Dazzdax, think of digital bits as square waves rising off the noise floor. The noise floor can be raised by reflections and other random noise in the interconnect. The tops of the square waves can be smeared by skin effect. The noise is random, and can sometimes sum up to form another wave that makes it past the threshold (and is read as a bit by the DAC). It may be read as a very jittered 1 where a zero should be. But in any case, it can't be good.
dazzdax OP
599 posts
 
Amfi, so if a digital cable sounds "different" than other digital cables, even if the sound has a more "natural" presentation (warmer, more fleshed out midrange, silkier highs and greater PRaT), this cable isn't a very good cable in theory because of the time smearing? The next question is: how can one determine if a digital cable is a "good" cable? Most audiophiles are judging by ear whether a cable sounds good or not and not by using oscilloscopes.

Chris
amfibius
282 posts
 
Dazzdax, you and I and everybody else knows that cable, no matter what type of cable, can not improve the sound - it can only degrade it. As to how you judge a good cable ... well you listen :) I don't go by oscilloscopes either, I go by what I like. Generally if I can hear more detail (not to be confused with treble emphasis) and better dynamics, I know i'm on to the right product.
cenline
238 posts
 
Amfibus
your perception of the type of distortion caused by cables is accurate in how it can effect the audio signal. I have found cables to be very sensitive to vibrations caused by the system itself ( feel your cables while the sytem is playing at a realistic level).I was surprised to feel a ton of vibrations going through mine and could only surmise it could effect the audio signal. VD uses some special damping materials the help control these vibes, I also think that solid core cables are less likely to smear the signal than multi-stranded cables ( creating less errors and distortion in the process).I agree that no cable is perfect, but cables that use proven technology help minimise these interactions on the audio signal.Hope this helps Dennis
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