Optical vs Coaxial

jake3 · « **on:** 3 Apr 2004, 08:17 am »

Anybody care to enlighten me as to which is better...optical or coaxial?
I use real interconnects when I can but I also use an optical digital connection which sounds pretty ordinary, is coaxial better?
Appreciate any quick answer from those who know. Thanks.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #1 on:** 3 Apr 2004, 12:20 pm »

The general consensus is that coaxial is better. The theory is that with an optical cable, the conversion of digital signal from electrical to optical and back to electrical will introduce some error/jitter.

Marbles · « **Reply #2 on:** 3 Apr 2004, 01:54 pm »

I have heard this arguement as well, but I had really good luck with a "GLASS" optical cable from Bettercables from my DVD to pre/pro.

If you want to go with an optical cable, make sure it is a high quality glass one rather than plastic.

At one point I used my DVD player as a transport for my DAC, and needed to use co-ax, and also as a DVD player to feed my pre/pro so I had to go optical for that connection.

When I went from co-ax to optical into my pre/pro, I got a nice kick up in clearity. At the time I went from a mediocre co-ax, to a nice optical.

So the answer is it depends on the quality of the cables involved as far as I'm concerned.

jake3 · « **Reply #3 on:** 3 Apr 2004, 01:59 pm »

Thanks. I think my optical is plastic then, I shall try a coax.
Cheers.

Carlman · « **Reply #4 on:** 3 Apr 2004, 04:46 pm »

One other nice thing about optical, no RFI, EFI, etc... that coax can introduce. I agree the quality of cable plays a big part either way.

-C

PhilNYC · « **Reply #5 on:** 3 Apr 2004, 08:34 pm »

with optical, not only is the quality of the cable important, but since the conversion from electrical to optical (and back) takes place in the component, the quality of the component is also of importance. Chances are that a good coaxial cable will beat a good optical cable on a component that has both...

Oxia · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Apr 2004, 10:07 pm »

Quote from: PhilNYC

with optical, not only is the quality of the cable important, but since the conversion from electrical to optical (and back) takes place in the component, the quality of the component is also of importance.

You're absolutely correct about that. However it's equally true that the quality of the SPDIF transmitter/receiver is critically important for coax, though this is rarely mentioned when comparing the relative strengths and weaknesses of optical vs electrical connections.

IMHO, the influence of ground loops, RFI, and EMI cannot be underestimated, and this was the key factor in my decision to try Toslink. I now use a Sonicwave glass Toslink cable, and haven't looked back. If you're going to try Toslink at all, do make sure it uses glass fiber, which has much greater effective bandwidth than polymer optical fiber.

jake3 · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 Apr 2004, 04:31 am »

Ive got a cheap Avico Toslink which isnt stated whether its glass or polymer, so its probably crap.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Apr 2004, 05:17 am »

You might want to try the SonicWave toslink Oxia was talking about. You can buy one for about $25 at http://www.cablesamerica.com in a 1M length.

jake3 · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Apr 2004, 08:55 am »

Thanks Rob, I'll try and source one closer to home first...then take advantage of the good exchange rate!

dallasstarsfan · « **Reply #10 on:** 26 May 2004, 12:32 pm »

Hello,

I noticed that the Sonicwave cable is up to $59.99 for 1 m now from cablesamerica.com. Was there a big price increase recently?

Richard U · « **Reply #11 on:** 26 May 2004, 05:18 pm »

I read somewhere that the best length for an optical is 1.5m not 1m.

Richard