Toslink optical cables

[Bugs]

Hi everyone, recently purchased a Bluesound node streamer Currently using a cheap jaycar cable and it seems to do the job ok, is there any "real" differance between it and a "name" brand? All my other cables in my system, Van dem hull  Audio quest, and Cardas cost a lot more, but opinions vary when talking about Toslink cable. Yamaha as 2100, Yamaha ns1000 aand Smsl m 400 dac in the system,

                                                                                                       thanks.

                                                                                                                       Bugs 

[stereo coffee]

13 hours ago, Bugs said:

Hi everyone, recently purchased a Bluesound node streamer Currently using a cheap jaycar cable and it seems to do the job ok, is there any "real" differance between it and a "name" brand? All my other cables in my system, Van dem hull  Audio quest, and Cardas cost a lot more, but opinions vary when talking about Toslink cable. Yamaha as 2100, Yamaha ns1000 aand Smsl m 400 dac in the system,

                                                                                                       thanks.

                                                                                                                       Bugs 

Hi Bugs

I can recommend EMK brand Toslink cables , Yes there is difference in brands, particularly with EMK you get a shield missing on many other brands , and the fittings to your equipment are excellent, just remember to remove the small end covers

[BRS]

Some say cables do make a difference particularly in high end gear and some say they don't. No harm in trying different cables. 

[BLAH BLAH]

8 hours ago, BRS said:

Some say cables do make a difference particularly in high end gear and some say they don't. No harm in trying different cables. 

Hi @BRS who is this guru on cables going by the name of Some Says?!?

[xlr8or]

I only use the borosilicate glass variety such as Lifatec or Wireworld Supernova. Working in the optical sensor technology profession, I've found glass ones to be superior for response times and big signal data transmission than the polymeric variety. They're however less forgiving when it comes to looping and bending them as opposed to the spun acrylic ones due to their brittle nature.

[blakey72]

Just buy a decently built one that has good connections and isn't the cheapest you can buy. I've found you don't need to spend big money on them, just a decent quality. 

 

I just use Audioquest Pearl or Forest and haven't had an issue. I have had cheaper ones however I find they can break as I swap gear in and out fairly regularly. I can't say I've noticed a different in sound although I haven't had a $500-$1000 optical to try. 

 

I have a decent, revealing system (Exposure amp, Consonance Droplet cd player, RoseHiFi streamer, PMC speakers).

 

The ones Chris, @stereo coffee mentioned may be worth a try. He knows his stuff and they are cheaper than the Audioquest ones  

Edited January 5, 2024 by blakey72

[Addicted to music]

Toshlink has a spec of 10am length without a repeater, I’m sure that most here are going to use less than 10m as most supplies will usually stop at 5m.  
 

With that distance the light degradation is negligible,   It doesn’t matter what material is used for the fibre as long as it’s quality with high light transmission.   If you go glass, be very careful with it, there are handling and storage instructions that has to be followed.    What’s important is the quality of the optics termination and the connector,  if you are going over 2mtrs make sure that it’s thin and light weight and it doesn’t have protective covering that looks like it’s going to weigh a tonne,  because what this does is that the weight of the length of the cable physically stresses out the terminating ends that can make it fall out, or sit where it’s not connected right that disrupts the transmission.

 

Rant over from you local Gynaecologist… 

 

 

[cafe67]

Isn’t coaxial generally considered better than Toslink ?

Edited January 7, 2024 by cafe67

[andyr]

17 minutes ago, cafe67 said:

Isn’t optical generally considered better than Toslink ?

 

AIUI - yes ... optical has the potential to provide a better connection than copper (and no earth loop).

 

Unfortunately, though ... the optical-to-electronic 'translators' at each end are generally of a low quality - so an optical connection doesn't actually provide as much benefit as it could, in theory!  

 

[aechmea]

and mine doesn't "click" into the socket to provide a firm/locked connection.

 

It has a habit of falling out if bumped; but that doesn't matter since it is only the TV connected via Toslink and rarely if ever used.

[davewantsmoore]

5 hours ago, Addicted to music said:

Toshlink has a spec of 10am length without a repeater

.... but even well made plastic (let alone something less lossy) toslink cables works at ~50m, when used with reasonable quality receivers (most equipment that is not from the $2 bin).

 

 

[Cyberpunky]

On 06/01/2024 at 2:25 PM, cafe67 said:

Isn’t optical generally considered better than Toslink ?

Toslink IS optical. Some consider coax better than optical in theory, as no conversion involved like optical(electrical to light then light back to electrical) which could induce some jitter but in reality its unlikely to be significant let alone audible. Optical can be a benefit in some environments, as obviously it immune to picking up induced electrical noise but unlikely that would be an issue in home audio.

 

Personally I have never heard any difference using either optical or coax or different types of optical leads. Don't over think it or over spend on optical connectors as that money is better spent on more music or something useful IMO

Edited January 7, 2024 by Cyberpunky

[cafe67]

14 minutes ago, Cyberpunky said:

Toslink IS optical. Some consider coax better than optical in theory, as no conversion involved like optical(electrical to light then light back to electrical) which could induce some jitter but in reality its unlikely to be significant let alone audible. Optical can be a benefit in some environments, as obviously it immune to picking up induced electrical noise but unlikely that would be an issue in home audio.

 

Personally I have never heard any difference using either optical or coax or different types of optical leads. Don't over think it or over spend on optical connectors as that money is better spent on more music or something useful IMO

Yeah oops on my part ,meant to write coaxial

[Cyberpunky]

6 minutes ago, cafe67 said:

Yeah oops on my part ,meant to write coaxial

In reality no audible difference between coax and optical.

In my Hi-Res car audio system(Alpine F#1 Status) they use A2B data bus, as system is capable of 384kHz/32bit playback and neither coax or optical can handle the bandwidth.

[blakey72]

A salesman in a Hifi store once told me that coax cables were slightly warmer than Toslink.........Meh...

[andyr]

1 hour ago, Cyberpunky said:

In reality no audible difference between coax and optical.

 

Methinks that's pretty bold claim, Cp!  

 

It's possible to hear differences in sound when using different coax cables - so, surely:

• it's possible for different optical cables to also sound different
• and therefore ... the sound from optical cables might be different to the sound with coax cables?

 

[Cyberpunky]

9 minutes ago, andyr said:

 

Methinks that's pretty bold claim, Cp!  

 

It's possible to hear differences in sound when using different coax cables - so, surely:

• it's possible for different optical cables to also sound different
• and therefore ... the sound from optical cables might be different to the sound with coax cables?

 

Yeah in my years in hifi and sound I have never been able to hear cables. I have tried too and that is including trying a medical grade fibre optic cable. Anyway I am not someone who thinks cables can improve sound, unlike speakers or other components that I have heard improvements with their use so won't be buying into your point of cables can improve sound as I just can't hear it no matter how many times I have tried. Cables have inductance, resistance, and capacitance, but no magic, and science/physics agrees with me

[Bugs]

OK, I bit the bullet and bought a Audioquest Forrest cable, 1 metre

length. should arrive in a couple of days, will be interesting to compare the two

thanks for the advice,

                                         Bugs

[andyr]

15 hours ago, Cyberpunky said:

Anyway I am not someone who thinks cables can improve sound, unlike speakers or other components that I have heard improvements with their use so won't be buying into your point of cables can improve sound as I just can't hear it no matter how many times I have tried.

 

I totes agree, Cp!  

 

My view is that cables certainly do not improve sound ... but some cables degrade the sound more than others.

 

Edited January 7, 2024 by andyr

[Skeptical]

As far as the fibre optics is concerned,  no difference.  As for for connectors and transducers there are differences.  As noted previously,  some connectors are not snug, and some transducers are not as good as they should be, even on more expensive gear, giving intermittent dropouts. Do it right and no problems.  The internet runs on optical fibre, wireless and wired, so getting the data to your device is never the issue. 

[Ars Paart]

Some implementations on e.g. a DAC can show differences in optical vs copper SPDIF. Pretty rare though. Even more unlikely to be differences between two optical cables unless they are either broken or the connectors are dodgy.

 

Shielding on optical cables: what are they being shielded from? It's light: they would work fine in an electrical substation, just don't operate naked cables in a disco. 

[Addicted to music]

8 hours ago, Ars Paart said:

Some implementations on e.g. a DAC can show differences in optical vs copper SPDIF. Pretty rare though. Even more unlikely to be differences between two optical cables unless they are either broken or the connectors are dodgy.

 

 

You're going to know very quickly when a fibre optic is damaged, its not going to show the difference in SPDIF medium, it just doent work!

If you have 2 fibre optics you can see which one is damage by aiming one end to light and observing the other end and youll see a difference in light intensity, the one thats damage will be less bright...

 

8 hours ago, Ars Paart said:

 

 

Shielding on optical cables: what are they being shielded from? It's light: they would work fine in an electrical substation, just don't operate naked cables in a disco. 

 

All consumer optic toshlink comes covered,  not aware of any thats naked, but even if it didn't it operates in Freqency Shift Keying, in both optical/coacial so its going to be immune  to most light interference, for coax its immune to any RF EMI or what ever noise audiophile dream up it can be affected by.

Edited January 9, 2024 by Addicted to music

[mbz]

re... the OP, isn't it all just 1's and 0's, would expect very low error rates.

The connected D/A is another matter.

 

edit... trying to increase my post count to get my next "stinking badge"

today 15/1/24 I was awarded a 5 year anniversary badge who? ray?

 

Edited January 15, 2024 by mbz
badge

[ganache]

I only use Lifatec, as mentioned early by another forum member.  The quality is excellent and the price is very competitive.  Often they have deals on manufacturing errors or cancelled orders.  I needed a long cable and got a 12-ft cable for a song because the customer ordered a 1.2-ft cable and the factory made it totally wrong.   I am transmitting 192KHz over TOSLINK and consider anything less than high quality borosilicate glass too much of a compromise.