View Full Version : Optical to rca cable
Hi
After a reasonably priced decent cable if anyone has one kicking around, about 1m long.
Thanks
Lawrence001
28-07-2017, 07:10
Does such a thing exist? Don't you need a convertor, I think there are some cheap chinese ones available no idea what they do to the SQ though.
stonehenge
28-07-2017, 07:12
I'd like to see that! How might the light be split into two channel and how would it convert to electrical signal? Fancy stuff indeed.
I knew this would happen - you have to remember I don't have a clue what I'm talking about or doing.
Think it's a Toslink to RCA , it's to connect a NAD C445 Dab tuner to a Cambridge audio dacmagic1. If this isn't what I should be doing please tell me.
Cheers
Simon
the tuner should have an optical out, and your dac should have an optical in, so an optical cable of suitable length is all that is needed. focal do good ones for not much money. try amazon:)
Posted the wrong link earlier, here you go: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Mountain-Optical-TOSlink-Converter/dp/B001U7ERU6
Or a bi-directional one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/bidirectionally-Digital-Audio-Converter-Coaxial-to-Optical-Optical-to-Coaxial-/112433819721
Stratmangler
28-07-2017, 07:45
the tuner should have an optical out, and your dac should have an optical in, so an optical cable of suitable length is all that is needed. focal do good ones for not much money. try amazon:)
Google?
The Dacmagic 1 is coax only, and the NAD tuner only has optical out.
The NAD must have analogue outputs? Just go straight into the amp from the tuner and bypass the DAC altogether.
Again ignorance is bliss , listening through the amp but thought putting through the dacmagic would improve things?
I'd be surprised if it made a significant difference. The limiting factor is likely to be the DAB transmission quality, ime.
Stratmangler
28-07-2017, 08:22
Again ignorance is bliss , listening through the amp but thought putting through the dacmagic would improve things?
Possibly.
Possibly not.
As Yomanze has posted, you need a converter and the various connecting cables.
Simon (Daisy), I looked at the specs for both your NAD and DAC - you can link them via a TOSLink cable which cost £1.99 from amazon.
Specifically your NAD has toslink out and your DAC has toslink in.
Not sure you will notice much difference vs just RCA from your NAD to your amp. For £1.99 it is worth a try.
Google?
The Dacmagic 1 is coax only, and the NAD tuner only has optical out.
no optical eh? :doh: strange but ..... ah well, as martin suggests you will be just as well remaining with analogue out to amp bypassing dac
Oh maybe I was not looking at the correct DacMagic. :scratch:
If so scrub my previous post Simon. :eyebrows:
Possibly.
Possibly not.
As Yomanze has posted, you need a converter and the various connecting cables.
Have updated my post as I posted the wrong unit, a couple of options now...
Posted the wrong link earlier, here you go: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Mountain-Optical-TOSlink-Converter/dp/B001U7ERU6
Or a bi-directional one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/bidirectionally-Digital-Audio-Converter-Coaxial-to-Optical-Optical-to-Coaxial-/112433819721
i use a coax to optical one of the cable mountain I bought years ago. works great from bluray to my actives.
Lawrence001
28-07-2017, 10:04
The problem with dab is that the sound is generally compressed to the level of low quality mp3. There are technologies that claim to help with this, not sure if upsampling is one, but they often involve valves, maybe a valve buffer would improve things more than a dac?
The problem with dab is that the sound is generally compressed to the level of low quality mp3. There are technologies that claim to help with this, not sure if upsampling is one, but they often involve valves, maybe a valve buffer would improve things more than a dac?
Dab used to be 192kb\s initially i seem to remember. No idea if its changed tho.. signal i get here is not great with it so i mostly use internet radio, which varies in compression but most of the ones i use are better than 192
DAB is typically 128kbps, big shame.
ive a small dab upstairs that gets a few channels but not much. it certainly sounds pretty compressed; more so than when is started. I can get 320 with internet and thats pretty good most of the time. Spotify is only 320 max and it sounds good to me. dunno if they alter it a bit to make it sound this way but not complaining. Much of the content is hard to tell from full red book
I have a Pure Evoke in the kitchen, always has BBC 6 Music on, and for that reason, I like DAB. Would not dream of trying to get HiFi sound from DAB, it is what it is.
The Beeb are slowly rolling out their 'HD Sound' internet streams which is 320 AAC. Radio 3 are already streaming (http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/5/select/version/2.0/mediaset/http-icy-aac-lc-a/format/pls/vpid/bbc_radio_three.pls)320 AAC which sounds fantastic. They are also trialling Red Book streaming (in Flac) with the current Proms (but for now Firefox has to be used).
(NB, the above pls link will kick off whatever media app you have that recognises pls - I use JRiver).
Amazon Music is 256 kbps so better than DAB and not as good as Spotify Premium - I have it but not tried it, although was thinking about getting one of their boxes to watch Amazon TV.
The difference from full fat digital is only going to be loss of extreme frequency response, so you will barely notice it at all on a lot of programme. You lose dynamic range too, again a lot of/most recordings won't show that up either. Maybe the especially good sound is due to the codec they are using? Some say there are quite big SQ differences between them.
Amazon Music is 256 kbps so better than DAB and not as good as Spotify Premium - I have it but not tried it, although was thinking about getting one of their boxes to watch Amazon TV.
The difference from full fat digital is only going to be loss of extreme frequency response, so you will barely notice it at all on a lot of programme. You lose dynamic range too, again a lot of/most recordings won't show that up either. Maybe the especially good sound is due to the codec they are using? Some say there are quite big SQ differences between them.
If u have unlimited music you can set it to 320 like spotify premium. On the new box you only have hdmi so you would need to extract the audio from the hdmi then pass through to tv. You can buy them and not silly money.
Amazon Music is 256 kbps so better than DAB and not as good as Spotify Premium - I have it but not tried it, although was thinking about getting one of their boxes to watch Amazon TV.
The difference from full fat digital is only going to be loss of extreme frequency response, so you will barely notice it at all on a lot of programme. You lose dynamic range too, again a lot of/most recordings won't show that up either. Maybe the especially good sound is due to the codec they are using? Some say there are quite big SQ differences between them.
I have Amazon prime but hardly find anything on Amazon TV worth watching. Oh yeah there are bunch of English guys driving cars I believe. :)
AAC audio streams I found better than MP3 streams. I listen to Radio Paradise a lot. I use to tune into their 192k MP3 stream but then found their 128k AAC stream much better even though lower resolution. But of course their 320k AAC stream is much much better. All these streams (and more) and available on RP so easy to test things out.
I have Amazon prime but hardly find anything on Amazon TV worth watching. Oh yeah there are bunch of English guys driving cars I believe. :)
.
I buy enough from Amazon that I easy get my money back for Prime. I hate going to shops. Not watched much either, except for the car-driving English, ;) and the series 'Black Sails' which was pretty good. Didn't realise you could up the bitrate on the music. I wonder if Gaz has done that?
Black Sails you say. Nope that sailed by me without me noticing. I'll check it out. The trailers look good.
Oh dear, the OP just wanted to know about a lead for his DAB thing. This thread has drifted ..... needs a mod to bring order. :lol:
Well it is sorted I thought? Use the perfectly good DAC in the tuner and connect with RCA leads to the amp.
Black Sails is worth a watch, first episode is a bit ropey where they introduce all the characters, but I was hooked by the end of ep 2 and that is rare for me.
I buy enough from Amazon that I easy get my money back for Prime. I hate going to shops. Not watched much either, except for the car-driving English, ;) and the series 'Black Sails' which was pretty good. Didn't realise you could up the bitrate on the music. I wonder if Gaz has done that?
you can only up it to 320 with music unlimted. thats another 7.99 for prime members. gives you 40 mil tracks. i still think spotify has the edge as its apps are better(for me anyway)
oh and you can now get spotify premium on amazon tv.
Well it is sorted I thought? Use the perfectly good DAC in the tuner and connect with RCA leads to the amp.
Oh right.
Black Sails is worth a watch, first episode is a bit ropey where they introduce all the characters, but I was hooked by the end of ep 2 and that is rare for me.
We are off to the west country in a week for a holiday with shite internet so maybe I will grab the various series ahead of time and HDMI to the TeeVee there. Thanks for the suggestions.
Once I caught up with the Breaking Bad series - almost all in one go. Maybe it will be the same for Black Sails (WAF permitting).
Black Sails is great. DAB radio I believe is max 192kbps, so a doomed format.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
09mike69
28-07-2017, 19:12
+1 on black sails....
Black Sails is great. k
I think it was you who put me onto it Neil.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.