Question digital coaxial

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Amazon basics all the way. Why spend more for fancy plastic injection moulding and a stupid name.
 
Fisual make well built budget cables
 
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In my Opinion, unless you are on a starvation budget, don't get the cheapest of the cheap cables. I'm sure the Amazon Basic are fine, but are you really going to go broke paying £18 for the Van Damme?

Also, while common RCA coaxial cable will work, you probably specifically want Coaxial Cable made for digital transmissions. These are typically 75 ohm as is the Van Damme. Also these are usually designated in the description as DIGITAL Coaxial Cables.

If you budget is low, I would not be afraid to buy Amazon Basic, but if it is not, then other cable are probably a better bet.

As an alternative to Van Damme, consider Fisual Havana Custom Cable, only £1 more than the Van Damme and in any length you want. Since the cable are custom made, you can probably get non-standard lengths if necessary.


£19 for a 1 meter cable.

You will find many other options here -


Again, if your budget is really stressed, then Amazon Basics are probably fine, but if not, there are other worthy choices without breaking the bank. How much you spend is up to you. But i would say the realistic range would be in the roughly £15 to £25 for a 1 Meter cable.

On Amazon, KableDirekt seems to have nice cable at a bargain price -


Available in 0.5m, 1m, 1.5m, 2m, 3m, 5m, 7.5m, 10m.

I would be inclined to choose this over Amazon Basic, and there are other well known brands that primarily sell on Amazon to consider.


Again, you haven't made it clear what your working budget is, so we can only speculate, but if you want to spend more QED is pretty well know for cable quality -


Also, can you tell us how LONG the cable has to be? Standard 1m? Longer? Shorter?

And can you give us some sense of your preferred budget range?


All that said, it is pretty hard to fault the Van Damme, if you can find the length you need.


Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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I use the amazon basic coax cable from my cd transport to my Hegel amp. I did buy a QED signature coax but prefer the sound of the cheaper amazon cable but I suppose just trust your ears.
 
I use the amazon basic coax cable from my cd transport to my Hegel amp. I did buy a QED signature coax but prefer the sound of the cheaper amazon cable but I suppose just trust your ears.

If the sound is brighter with the Amazon cable you are probably hearing distortion due to RF interference...
 
It's not brighter it's smoother sounding I've also got a belden coax and its better than that too it shouldn't be though should it.
 
The QED or the Audioquest Forest in the £25 to £35 range are not unreasonable, and those are good quality cables. But they are also probably unnecessary. You could even go as high as £50, though most would agree that this is unnecessary.

A cable, well chosen, in the £10 to £20 range should more than get the job done.

For the right cable, even under £10 is OK.

Keep in mind the range of errors in a digital signal has to be massive to be heard, and since the cable is transmitting digital, it can't effect the highs, lows, or mids because those ranges of sound can't be isolated from what is really just a series of numbers.

If we assume a Sample Rate of 44.1K which is CD quality, then for there to be a HALF SECOND error in the data, that would be about 22 THOUSAND consecutive errors. That is simply not going to happen. Even if the cable gives you a still pretty substantial 1,000 consecutive errors, that is only 0.02 seconds, which you absolute can not hear.

Digital transmission are pretty reliable and chances of 1,000 consecutive errors (0.02 seconds) is next to impossible.

In an optical cable, poor fiber can dim the signal, but at normal lengths that typically not a problem. But Coaxial is a direct wire connection, and the cable length would have to be massive to compromise the integrity of the signal.

The numbers either get through or they don't. And a vast majority of time even with low cost cable, the numbers to get through with surprisingly high accuracy.

I don't see how people can claim better bass or clearer Treble or any other frequency related characteristic from one Digital Cable over another. Audio Frequencies are not going through the cable, only a representation of numbers. And, as I said, either the numbers get through or they don't, and a massively vast majority of time the numbers get through absolutely error free. Typically data transmission or interpretation errors would only occur at extremely long cable lengths.

Now with better cable there is a durability aspect as well as general aesthetics. But I would have no problem with, as an example, the Sub-£10 KableDirekt cable. Especially on a generally consumer grade system. On premium or high cost (relatively speaking) system, I might be tempted by more expensive cables but mostly for durability and aesthetics.

However, if I had a fairly decent consumer grade system, I would more likely go with the Fisual Havana or the Van Damme Premium Coaxial. These are both under £20, just under. But quality cable with quality connectors. £20 isn't going to break the Bank for most people.



The Van Damme makes it clear that it is using 75 ohm Transmission Grade Cable. This is a grade of cable that is typically used for Radio Frequency transmission. This would be TV antenna cable or Cable TV cable, or point-to-point high frequency transmissions.

Just make sure you get the length you need. For example, the Van Damme is 50cm or about 20 inches. If that works for you, fine, and I suspect the same Van Damme Cable is available in other length, you just need to search them out.

Here is another source for the Van Damme 75 ohm cable -



Both available in a wide range of lengths and in assorted color choices. £13 sand £16 for 1 meter. That is probably your best value.

The numbers either get through or they don't, and generally speaking, even with modest cable ... the numbers get through.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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The QED or the Audioquest Forest in the £25 to £35 range are not unreasonable, and those are good quality cables. But they are also probably unnecessary. You could even go as high as £50, though most would agree that this is unnecessary.

A cable, well chosen, in the £10 to £20 range should more than get the job done.

For the right cable, even under £10 is OK.

Keep in mind the range of errors in a digital signal has to be massive to be heard, and since the cable is transmitting digital, it can't effect the highs, lows, or mids because those ranges of sound can't be isolated from what is really just a series of numbers.

If we assume a Sample Rate of 44.1K which is CD quality, then for there to be a HALF SECOND error in the data, that would be about 22 THOUSAND consecutive errors. That is simply not going to happen. Even if the cable gives you a still pretty substantial 1,000 consecutive errors, that is only 0.02 seconds, which you absolute can not hear.

Digital transmission are pretty reliable and chances of 1,000 consecutive errors (0.02 seconds) is next to impossible.

In an optical cable, poor fiber can dim the signal, but at normal lengths that typically not a problem. But Coaxial is a direct wire connection, and the cable length would have to be massive to compromise the integrity of the signal.

The numbers either get through or they don't. And a vast majority of time even with low cost cable, the numbers to get through with surprisingly high accuracy.

I don't see how people can claim better bass or clearer Treble or any other frequency related characteristic from one Digital Cable over another. Audio Frequencies are not going through the cable, only a representation of numbers. And, as I said, either the numbers get through or they don't, and a massively vast majority of time the numbers get through absolutely error free. Typically data transmission or interpretation errors would only occur at extremely long cable lengths.

Now with better cable there is a durability aspect as well as general aesthetics. But I would have no problem with, as an example, the Sub-£10 KableDirekt cable. Especially on a generally consumer grade system. On premium or high cost (relatively speaking) system, I might be tempted by more expensive cables but mostly for durability and aesthetics.

However, if I had a fairly decent consumer grade system, I would more likely go with the Fisual Havana or the Van Damme Premium Coaxial. These are both under £20, just under. But quality cable with quality connectors. £20 isn't going to break the Bank for most people.



The Van Damme makes it clear that it is using 75 ohm Transmission Grade Cable. This is a grade of cable that is typically used for Radio Frequency transmission. This would be TV antenna cable or Cable TV cable, or point-to-point high frequency transmissions.

Just make sure you get the length you need. For example, the Van Damme is 50cm or about 20 inches. If that works for you, fine, and I suspect the same Van Damme Cable is available in other length, you just need to search them out.

Here is another source for the Van Damme 75 ohm cable -



Both available in a wide range of lengths and in assorted color choices. £13 sand £16 for 1 meter. That is probably your best value.

The numbers either get through or they don't, and generally speaking, even with modest cable ... the numbers get through.

Steve/bluewizard
Fully agree with the analysis. There is a potential wrinkle ,which the marginally inferior Optical fibre eliminate entirely. .. an earth loop can be formed and hum injected into the amplifier via the external braid. Very few if any coaxial inputs use a pulse transformer..even at the cost of a few cents,and that would eliminate any potential hum.
 
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Fully agree with the analysis. There is a potential wrinkle ,which the marginally inferior Optical fibre eliminate entirely. .. an earth loop can be formed and hum injected into the amplifier ...

You are correct ...however... any Signal Level Wire can have this problem, but, realistically, how often does it happen? MILLIONS of audio systems world wide us coaxial cable, typically not for digital though, and have no problem.

But you are correct, it is a potential problem that is eliminated with Optical Cable.
 
I just got cheap no-name 75-ohm coax, and it's fine. Coax is designed to cover distances of up to hundreds of meters, so for the one meter between my CD player and DAC it's really not going to make any difference.
 
You are correct ...however... any Signal Level Wire can have this problem, but, realistically, how often does it happen? MILLIONS of audio systems world wide us coaxial cable, typically not for digital though, and have no problem.

But you are correct, it is a potential problem that is eliminated with Optical Cable.
Hello, old friend!
 
Think he’ll have his cable by now. This thread is 2 year old.:)
 
Think he’ll have his cable by now. This thread is 2 year old.:)
True he may have his cable by now, but he is not the only person reading the thread and is not the only person with this problem. Others can be helped by the answers.

That said ... you are not wrong.
 

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