2. digital
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Length of digital cable?

Picking up where I left off a year ago, somewhere on the net I ran into a recommended length of 18 ft of digital cable between transport and D/A converter. Various lengths were discussed and one source was very confident of the 18 ft length to successfully resolve jitter. And the Beldon 1694A was recommended. For $30+ or whatever I gave it a shot and was surprised by the quality of sound, and I swear on a stack of owners' manuals that this length with this brand of cable resolves jitter. The sound is rock solid gorgeous.

The Beldon lies behind the system mostly in a coil, and I think coils are probably not ideal. I'm wondering if anyone has found a shorter length that works. Al suggested 8", but I was unable to make it work because the components aren't close enough. I know that 1 ft" doesn't work and that 1 meter doesn't work.

Part 2: Does length of ethernet from computer to avr also affect jitter? My sister who is a computer person and not an audio person set up my avr with computer using cat 5. The sound quality is bad. I'd like to get good sound quality with computer as source down the road but need advice on how to get it.
arnettpartners
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Arnett - 18 feet is totally unnecessary and you can do a LOT better than Belden 1694A. Many years ago when I still had a set of inexpensive cable from 1964A. I have a giant spool of it. I finally concluded that it cannot be done.

If you want a fantastic sounding cable, get the 4 foot BNC-BNC cable with RCA adapters from my website for $250. It is literally unbeaten. Use the pull-down on this page:
http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/off-ramp-converter

Here are some reviews:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=115008.msg1208227#msg1208227

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=115008.msg1208373#msg1208373

The optimum length of a digital cable is entirely a function of the risetime of the signal on that cable due to the driver in the source device. The analysis is in my white-paper here:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue14/spdif.htm

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
arnettpartners OP
312 posts
 
Hi Steve, You were around last year when Al and you and others were pounding into my head what a digital signal is. I thought I could do better than the Beldon but thought I had to be on the right track because suddenly the signal sounds right. Will check out your cable although haven't found it on your website yet. I also noted your suggestions for using computer as source that are listed on your website. Lynne
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
The BNC-BNC cable is on the pulldown menu at the top of the Off-Ramp page. It is generally sold as an accessory to the Off-Ramp, but can be purchased alone. You can also email me and I can send you a paypal invoice.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
ps68
230 posts
 
We found that the shorter the better if the cable is well designed. I use 40cm, it is astoundingly detailed and tonally very accurate..
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