USB-Toslink-S/PDIF Tussle
Digital Interfaces - Which is Best?
26/01/12 15:38
My very latest delving has been into Fibre optic cables - i.e. Toslinks
It started by me placing an order for a DH Lab's "Deluxe Toslink Optical Cable"
Wondering whether I'd done the right thing - I went searching...
What about S/PDIF?
What About USB?
If you are looking at digital interfaces - be sure that the cable(s) you select has a performance level somewhere near those above!
Good Huntin'
It started by me placing an order for a DH Lab's "Deluxe Toslink Optical Cable"
Wondering whether I'd done the right thing - I went searching...
- Toslink has the advantage of not suffering from RF interference - so it is the better solution from that perspective
- I started with my favourite cable maker Van Den Hul (aka VDH)
- their OPTOCOUPLER II is a killer cable that "Guarantees" 250Mbps
- I looked back at the DH Labs cable which states 150Mbps - Hmmm - not bad at all since it is less than half the price!
- I then went looking at other manufacturers - e.g. my existing Chord toslink is 50Mbps
- most of them didn't even publish their numbers
What about S/PDIF?
- A different kettle of fish altogether...
- The problem of RF pollution comes back into the equation, so I looked for cables with adequate shielding
- Once again I went to VDH and found their Digicoupler - a triple screened cable with a performance of 3 Ghz
- Once again - right there was DH Labs with their Silver Sonic D-75 and D110 with a performance of "beyond 2 Ghz"
- and then there was the rest - not telling me the information I needed to know
- The best performance in a brand name SPDIF cable I’ve found to date is from KLE Innovations - their gZero2D and gZero3D, which are extremely adept a transferring a digital signal
- But the very best SPDIF I have used to date is my DIY Interconnect Cables - The "Helix Mark V" which seems to eclipse the the gZero3D by a smidgeon in clarity and imaging
What About USB?
- Well, this can be an exceptional interface, but comes with caveats
- The computers USB power is often used to power a DAC’s internal USB circuits - this can be quite unstable and impacts performance.
- The USB cable itself contains both signal and power conductors which can cause noise and hence jitter - use a dual cable like this one
- Also use a separate power adapter like this one
- With the above additions, the USB interface will operate to the level of S/PDIF
If you are looking at digital interfaces - be sure that the cable(s) you select has a performance level somewhere near those above!
Good Huntin'