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Why do digital cables sound different?

I have been talking to a few e-mail buddies and have a question that isn't being satisfactorily answered this far. So...I'm asking the experts on the forum to pitch in. This has probably been asked before but I can't find any references for it. Can someone explain why one DIGITAL cable (coaxial, BNC, etc.) can sound different than another? There are also similar claims for Toslink. In my mind, we're just trying to move bits from one place to another. Doesn't the digital stream get reconstituted and re-clocked on the receiving end anyway? Please enlighten me and maybe send along some URLs for my edification. Thanks, Dan
danielho
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Mapman, I couldn't hear any difference between CDP (coax) and Airport Express (Toslink). I've never tried different brands but compared very short (<1') and 2m long generic coax (self made) and couldn't hear any difference.

Now my CDP is a cheap Blu-ray player wired thru my TV (HDMI) to Benchmark (Toslink) and I still cannot hear any difference switching to AE. It is possible that Benchmark's jitter supression is good, but unfortunately it can also mean that my hearing is not that good. Either way sound is very clean and smooth suggesting no jitter presence.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,317 posts
 
Kijanki, I am with you to date in terms of not hearing any noticeable difference using various cables with various sources. I also compare to phono source in my system and find most any good quality digital wire tends to work similarly well.
rja's avatar
rja
2,371 posts
 
Gentlemen, this thread is nearing 14 years old! Shall we bake a cake?
bazza
13 posts
 
To my ear and eye solid silver wire sounds best for digital signals. You only need to see what a solid silver HDMI cable does for a plasma TV to know. The irony is that silver is the worst conductor for analog signals (at least to my ear)
frogman
7,466 posts
 
****The irony is that silver is the worst conductor for analog signals (at least to my ear)****

Not quite. Silver is the worst conductor for analog signals because of the way that many audiophiles tune their systems.
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