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New member Username: SwatkatSydney, New South Wales Australia Post Number: 1 Registered: May-05 | Hello ppl this is my first post and my first question. I was wondering, which is better for listening to digital sound. Coaxial or Optical. Thanx for a great forum. Swatty. |
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Silver Member Username: DmwileyPost Number: 580 Registered: Feb-05 | There is no definitive answer to this question. |
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New member Username: Robin316usPost Number: 1 Registered: May-05 | Hello guys & gals, I need some advice. I am looking for 5.1 / 6.1 audio that will sound good with both movies and music. Currently I've HK AVR 3550. I want 2 know what kind of speakers will fit with this AVR. Also I got an option to go for Denon 1804 Paradigm Monitor 9 {Floor Standing Speakers } CC-270 { Centre Speaker } ADP 170 or Whaferdale PPS-1 Loud Panel Speakers (NXT) { Rear Speaker } PDR-12 (Subwoofer) What do you all think? Any suggestions? I do not want to go for a huge budget..but reasonable one will do.... Thanks in advance. |
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Silver Member Username: DmwileyPost Number: 589 Registered: Feb-05 | I think you should have started a different thread. |
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Bronze Member Username: Arrow224Post Number: 52 Registered: Mar-05 | Re: Coaxial or Optical - Try both. See what happens. Some audiophiles say optical is better, some say coaxial is better. Try for yourself. After all, they are your ears. Robin Roy: Post a new thread, that has nothing to do with the original post. |
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Unregistered guest | I use coaxial today after using optical cables several years earlier. I find the coaxial type seems to sound much better than optical. I also read somewhere that coax cables also has more "bandwith" than optical. I also noticed (if this is possible!) that my sub generated more bass using coax cables! I did my tests with full bitrate DTS dvds. But at the end the choice is yours. Test both cable types. :-) |
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Samuellel Unregistered guest | I have been giving this a lot of cinsideration and I can't make up my mind. What are your thoughts? Which one has a better deal Dishnetwork or Directtv? |
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Gold Member Username: SamijubalPost Number: 1554 Registered: Jul-04 | I can't tell any difference between the two. It's just 0s and 1s, I don't see how there can be any difference. |
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Unregistered guest | Actually optical cable has the largest bandwidth. It is measured in THz withtransmission rates in Gbps beacuase it is so large. There's also no possibility of crosstalk or static interference because optical fibers are nonconductors of electrical current. And with transmission losses in the range of .1-.3dB/kilometer, they eclipse coaxial cable. As for the subwoofers sounding louder, the only explanation i have is that the electrical constants (resistance, capacitance and inductance) in coax cause them to act like low pass filters, and that helps the sub perform cleaner. -sorry for gravedigging an old thread, i didn't see the answer to the original question |
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Silver Member Username: ReinhartPost Number: 119 Registered: Nov-05 | In telecommunications, a few strands of fiber optics are able to hold more information that huge bundles of copper wire. However, an SP-DIF signal simply does not occupy enough bandwidth to push the limits of both coaxial and optical connections. From a reliability standpoint, however, fiber optic cable simply has fewer hinderances to the signal than coaxial cable. But, as long as you use decent quality cables for either kind of connection, you will get your feed. Very high quality cabling for HT may be 75 ohm terminated RG-6 coax cable (most people just use a cheap RCA cable) or glass silica TOS-Link terminated fiber optic cable (most people use plastic TOS-Link fiber optic cable). - Reinhart |
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New member Username: CalderaPost Number: 10 Registered: Nov-05 | Interesting discussion. Hey, while you're on the subject, is the signal that is sent out over the the optical or coax cable processed, or is the same signal picked up by the laser? And is there any time correction applied by the CD/DVD player to eliminate the reputed problem of jitter? I've often wondered. |
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Silver Member Username: ReinhartPost Number: 173 Registered: Nov-05 | "Hey, while you're on the subject, is the signal that is sent out over the the optical or coax cable processed, or is the same signal picked up by the laser?" The signal is first demodulated when read by the laser to reassemble the information before processing. Contrary to popular belief, data on DVDs and CDs are actually stored in block sectors as redundant chunks instead of being a truly linear stream. This helps to minimize read errors in the event of disc damage, debris or fingerprints as long as the laser can stay on track. Anyways, I believe the Dolby Digital, DTS, PCM, or MPEG audio signal is retrieved after the read is demodulated and error-corrected by the DVD decoder. "And is there any time correction applied by the CD/DVD player to eliminate the reputed problem of jitter?" Jitter is a timing instability which is, more or less, corrected by time-base correction. Buffering is one form of TBC which is very easy to execute and RAM buffers are typically used in the demodulation and decoding processes, so jitter, IMO, is really blown out of proportion. - Reinhart |
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Bronze Member Username: CalderaPost Number: 11 Registered: Nov-05 | That's interesting. So, if you take a digital CD feed from a $40 DVD player and a digital feed from a $1,000 CD player, and play them through an external DAC to what extent do they sound the same, aside from error correction, in your experience? |
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Silver Member Username: ReinhartPost Number: 189 Registered: Nov-05 | "That's interesting. So, if you take a digital CD feed from a $40 DVD player and a digital feed from a $1,000 CD player, and play them through an external DAC to what extent do they sound the same, aside from error correction, in your experience?" When you use a transport with an external D/A converter, the player essentially becomes a disc drive; all it's doing is providing the SP-DIF PCM feed to the converter. Two different but perfectly functioning transports should sound alike with the same D/A converter. The only difference would be MTBF, with a higher quality transport more likely to work for a longer period than a cheaper one (although this isn't always the case). Digital transmission has a greater margin for error than analogue due to its redundancy and relative simplicity. (It's not as simple as analogue for demodulating, but it's easier to deal with when it works.) - Reinhart |
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Silver Member Username: ReinhartPost Number: 190 Registered: Nov-05 | Correction: Two different but perfectly functioning transports should sound alike with the same OUTBOARD D/A converter. - Reinhart |
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Silver Member Username: DiverhankHuntington Beach, CA Post Number: 102 Registered: Sep-05 | I agree with Reinhart. I doubt if anyone can tell. The more expensive player is more expensive because of the D/A circuitry, not the transport even though it does use more heavy duty materials but that doesn't help as long as there are no errors in the digital output. |
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Silver Member Username: ReinhartPost Number: 212 Registered: Nov-05 | Well, more expensive players can get that way due to their design and component selection of the digital section, the analogue section, power supply, system control, traverse assembly, and etc. Sometimes, however, CD players are sold at higher prices more for cosmetics or the name rather than performance. Other times, some specialty brands have been known to use existing mass-produced platforms and build a different player around that. Audio Alchemy has used Sony transports for some models, Theta Digital has used Pioneer transports for some models (particularly their LD/CD transports), and Rotel has used Philips traverses for some of their players. It can get pretty confusing, indeed. But, of course, the best point is to get something that not only works, but also sounds good to you. - Reinhart |
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I despise kip Unregistered guest | Yet another thread ended incredibly too short by know it all Kip and his useless information. |