|   please help re: Toslink connections | satz
Sep 30, 2003 4:46 PM | | Hi all
previously I had my Pioneer DVD player connected via Toslink to my Receiver. I noticed that audio dropouts would occur. I then switched to digital coax and that solved that problem.
Trouble is, now I'm getting a digital STB which only has coax output, and you guessed it...my receiver only has 1 coax, and 3 optical inputs. So I'll have to switch back to optical for my DVD.
Questions:
1. does quality of toslink cable/plug cause dropouts, or does that mean my old cable was damaged in some way?
2. what characteristics should I look for in a budget-medium price toslink connector? approx 4 feet.
many thanks
Satz |
| Optical connections are finicky. | Tony_Montana
Oct 1, 2003 6:00 PM | | Several factors might have contributed for audio to drop out when using Optical. You might had a sharp bend on the cable, or coupling devices on either end of fiber optic cable might have not been secure and tight. That is main reason I prefer Coax over fiber.
The best type of Fiber optic cable are the one that are made out of glass (rather than plastic), but they could be expensive too.
Partsexpress seem to have an array of quality made optical cables for reasonable price :)
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&SO=2&&DID=7&CATID=34&ObjectGroup_ID=151&sm=0&so=0 |
| Hey Tony.... | Monstrous Mike
Oct 2, 2003 11:36 AM | | <b>The best type of Fiber optic cable are the one that are made out of glass (rather than plastic), but they could be expensive too. </b>
While this statement is essentially correct, you should provide some more info relating optical cables to home audio.
The Toslink interface was designed by Toshiba as a method of transporting an S/PDIF digital audio signal. The maximum bandwidth of this signal (for home audio) is 3 mHz and thus the bandwidth minimum for the Toslink design is 6 mHz. Since this is very low bandwidth for optical fibre transmission, Toshiba came up with a very thick plastic optical cable which would exceed the 6 mHz bandwidth minimum.
For a basic Toslink connection, the components at the electro-optical interface are the bandwidth limiting components for any cable run less than 25 feet. This is assuming a non-damaged cable and secure connection.
Therefore a glass fibre cable will give you nothing over a plastic fibre cable in your average home setup. It is simply one more way for cable companies to get expensive cables into systems with no real reason or improvement.
Of course, the audibility part is just my opinion but the numbers and the story about Toshiba are facts. |
| Thanks Mike for info. | Tony_Montana
Oct 3, 2003 3:31 PM | | I just went by the assumption that glass will have better signal reflecting, and [less] absorbing property than plastic. But you re right that shortness of cable and low bandwidth does throw alot of advantages of glass over plastic out of window :) |
| Thanks Mike for info. | Monstrous Mike
Oct 3, 2003 5:20 PM | | Well you are right that glass is clearly (pun intended) better than plastic as a fibre optic carrier but the crux of the situation is as always. Does better translate to a sonic improvement?
For transcontinental high gHz digital transmissions I would say yes but for 3 mHz digital audio signals travelling 6 feet, I would say no.
As happens frequently in audio, simple statements like "glass fibre has a higher bandwidth, lower error rate and higher reflectivity than plastic optical cables and therefore glass fibre must sound better" are typical of marketing hype designed to encourage people to spend more money than is necessary.
People seem to disregard the concept of a plateau. You can only get so much performance given a particular application and set of parameters.
The Toslink interface was designed to have peak performance with plastic optical cables. A lot of this had to do with the cost of glass fibre cables and the fact that plastic cables can be bent more easily.
Anybody can use glass instead of plastic but to claim the sound is better is an unproven, unsubstantiated, irresponsible claim. Unless that is, you are selling expensive glass cabling. |
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