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RE: Toslink newbie

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In Reply to: RE: Toslink newbie posted by psgary on May 12, 2025 at 11:08:02

In the early days, TOSLINK was generally considered as inferior due to the typically higher jitter level due to the limitations of the transmitter and receiver limiting the maximum data rate due to the lower slew rate (longer rise time essentially). The other problem was the connector housing and the often poor alignment of the fibre to the transducer - alignment is critical for optimum signal transfer. 24/96 was the rated upper limit and often unreliable with low quality optical cable with poor quality fibre.
These days, you can easily achieve 24/192 and the digital interface receivers make the DAC essentially immune to input jitter so the optical connection is indistinguishable with high quality sources and DACs.
The big advantage of TOSLINK is the elimination of coupled noise between the source and DAC which is why your friend is recommending it to you. Back in the day I used to use an Apogee Big Ben to reclock the source data with AES/XLR connections to my DAC, but these days a direct optical connection to the DAC is indistinguishable in quality so I use them very happily these days and they avoid grounding problems particularly with multiple connections to the DAC.

Look for a cable with high quality connectors - cheap ones have poorly toleranced connectors that can be a little loose in the TOSLINK socket. Make sure to get the length you need and avoid tight bends - you want to have a natural curve to the fibre and not allow the connectors to be stressed in the socket.

Regards Anthony

"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats

Follow Ups:

RE: Toslink newbie - dgaapc7 07:45:42 05/13/25 (0)
Good advice, especially about the connectors.
LowIQ
Length - psgary 19:41:55 05/12/25 (0)
The DAC and transport are only about 6 inches apart. Would .5 meters be okay? That keeps the cable spaghetti at a minimum, although so many used cables are one meter or more.

Thanks for the detailed information.
RE: Toslink newbie - Todd Krieger 14:58:43 05/12/25 (3)
The best Toslink cable that I've encountered is the DH Labs Glassmaster...... But it's expensive at over $200.....

Best for the money is the BTPA.com Toslink-xxx cable...... About $60, I use this cable as well......

If you want to go cheap, a good one is the KabelDirekt optical cable (link below).... There are a lot of expensive cables out there that to me don't perform as well as this one.

There are also a lot of "highly regarded" optical cables, including Supra and Lifatec.... Although I prefer the cables I mentioned above over them.
- https://www.amazon.com/KabelDirekt-Optical-Designed-Soundbar (Open in New Window)
- KabelDirekt - psgary 19:44:55 05/12/25 (2)
  Only $7 for a cable? Is that possible for a good cable? Not much to lose, so I'll probably try it.
  
  Clearly, you're indicating that price is no indication of good sonics, right?
  
  Thanks for the recommendations.
  - RE: KabelDirekt - flood2 13:38:33 05/13/25 (0)
    It all comes down to the quality of the fibre cleave and how close to ideal the ends of the fibre end up. I remember doing this at university and it takes some practice to do a clean job that gives a clean cleave with a perpendicular flat surface with a glass fibre. These days there are specialist tools that can do a clean job with minimal optical loss with plastic fibres. The end polish for a plastic fibre is important too.
    The data rate requirement for SPDIF is pretty low (relatively speaking) compared to Telecoms requirements so "most" products that have the essential design features (connector ends) and polish will meet the requirement for digital audio.
    
    Keep the cable length as short as possible without sharp bends and most cables will be fine. I would certainly recommend trying Todd's suggestion.
    
    I have no problem with the freebie short lengths of optical cable that came with my portable Minidisc recorder which goes to show how good the current state of the art is for DAC design.
    Regards Anthony
    
    "Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats
  - RE: KabelDirekt - Todd Krieger 23:54:49 05/12/25 (0)
    "Clearly, you're indicating that price is no indication of good sonics, right?"
    
    There is price-performance correlation, but it's not a particularly strong one...... (I have such opinion for cables in general..... Could be why some claim it's "snake oil"..... )
    
    There are some expensive Toslink cables that I don't like..... QED Reference Quartz and WireWorld SuperNova, to name a couple........
    
    YMMV.....

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