Coaxial vs Optical - A subjective comparison

  • Thread starter Deleted member 15865
  • Start date
In the past I read somewhere that optical transmission is immune to external rf or emi, etc. Coax transmission gets affected. Which is why you could be hearing the differences. Generally the hash can result in a digital sound with a feel of more separation.
This!!!
 
Based on my understanding optical is more jitter prone than coaxial even if you try to mitigate the risk of RF.
Bandwidth in optical will also be limited compared to coax.
Toslink implementation and design is a different topic altogether .
Toslink adds noise as well dependant on the way it is implemented but is immune to RF and interference yes !

Ultimately if you have both inputs the best way to figure out is to hear and decide which sounds better to your ears , negate the technicalities .

I2S is seemingly more popular these days never been disappointed with the digione signature player .

My DAC has ST fiber input as well never got the chance to get the cable .
Not sure how good ST Fiber is opposed to TOSLINK
 
Last edited:
Based on my understanding optical is more jitter prone than coaxial even if you try to mitigate the risk of RF.
Bandwidth in optical will also be limited compared to coax.
Toslink implementation and design is a different topic altogether .
Toslink adds noise as well dependant on the way it is implemented but is immune to RF and interference yes !

For optical, jitter is not in the medium, its in the conversion from the signal to Optical. a good converter will not have that issue but there are enough average ones as it is not very often seen as a serious interface.
As a medium Optical is superior in speed and efficiency but its that conversion where the difference will lie

Not sure of the bandwidth comment though but as far as 2 channel audio is concerned there is no limitation. could you give some idea around what you meant ?
 
Last edited:
Hi mpasantosh,

Could you please clarify the below statement:

I2S is seemingly more popular these days never been disappointed with the digione signature player

Thanks
 
For optical, jitter is not in the medium, its in the conversion from the signal to Optical. a good converter will not have that issue but there are enough average ones as it is not very often seen as a serious interface.
As a medium Optical is superior in speed and efficiency but its that conversion where the difference will lie

Not sure of the bandwidth comment though but as far as 2 channel audio is concerned there is no limitation. could you give some idea around what you meant ?
Optical is usually restricted to 96KHz even for stereo as well, i once had a older TOSLINK card in my head unit that could do only till 96Khz.
The newer ones are much superior but I dont know if any is successfully able to play DSD using TOSLINK.
Those using can comment.
 
Optical is usually restricted to 96KHz even for stereo as well, i once had a older TOSLINK card in my head unit that could do only till 96Khz.
The newer ones are much superior but I dont know if any is successfully able to play DSD using TOSLINK.
Those using can comment.

They can do DOP (dsd over pcm)
Maybe til dsd64
 
For optical, jitter is not in the medium, its in the conversion from the signal to Optical. a good converter will not have that issue but there are enough average ones as it is not very often seen as a serious interface.
As a medium Optical is superior in speed and efficiency but its that conversion where the difference will lie

Not sure of the bandwidth comment though but as far as 2 channel audio is concerned there is no limitation. could you give some idea around what you meant ?

The conversion is very crucial like you said, but most of the entry level products have bad converters and are not as clean as the coaxial outputs.
Ideally the Jitter in Optical converters is a lot more than those used in Coaxial. Typically a few ns above what is rated for Coaxial.
 
Generic statements give the wrong impression hence in the device you have tested that may be the case.

In the device I have with the cables I have its the opposite despite the coax being 5-6 times the cost of the Optical.

But then I dont need to go above 48Khz.
 
Generic statements give the wrong impression hence in the device you have tested that may be the case.

In the device I have with the cables I have its the opposite despite the coax being 5-6 times the cost of the Optical.

But then I dont need to go above 48Khz.
Let ears be the judge , I never claim one is superior than the other .
I have liked the optical at times as well.
 
This thread seems to have gotten transformed to “what is better - coaxial or optical?”. While the thread title clearly states - “a subjective comparison”. I wrote my experience and subjective comparison in the first post. And some of you have given yours and possible explanations. There’s a lot of learning there. Deepening our shared understanding and appreciation of what each technology brings (along with its limitations) is valuable. The comparison doesn’t have to lead to a winner. If we get down to finding a singular winner that might not even be possible.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I do have a lifatec optical cable 60cm which I am not using. It has a 3.5mm jack as one of the termination. If this is of use to you , please send me a pm.

I want to try with my Google Chromecast with this cable. Will PM you.

Thanks
 
I am using the Belkin one which is 3.5mm to regular optical port to my Soekris DAC. It is very good but heard lots of positive reviews about Lifatec.
Yes past few months I must have tried a dozen optical cables. On a cable, i got with my onkyo 2.1 system, not sure which brand onkyo supplies but it's better to my ears compared to others.

Hopefully I can get my hands on a lifatec soon. Would be waiting for your review of the cable. I did not want to try this one using an adaptor. Grab that cable asap.

MaSh
 
The Marantz PM7000N offers big, spacious and insightful sound, class-leading clarity and a solid streaming platform in a award winning package.
Back
Top