View Full Version : Value for money, best value spdif cables ?
Hi, looking for reccomendations for spdif cables to be used beween cd player and amp and also between streamer and amp. I have recently bought a Bluesound Node x at a great price ex dem. Its in a second system going into a passive pre amp (Tisbury), and feeding Quad monobloks into ESL 63s. All sounds good. However there is a Super Natural Sounds DAC in the pipeline so would like to try this in second system and also experiment with my main system. Dont know where to start with SPDIF cable....? studio stuff??? etc
I like value for money and replaced expensive cables with Klotz MC 5000 in both systems.......following advice on this forum. So its over to the hive mind for advice.....
Lawrence001
25-06-2024, 13:38
I use a Mark Grant copper colour one (HDX1?) and it's very good for the money.
I use a Gotham cable it was about £40 - IMV if it's good enough to make the music then its good enough for playing it back. Properly made to prevent fall-apart, I really would not spend more.
Whatever you choose, make sure the characteristic impedance of the cable is 75 Ohm.
The characteristic impedance of a cable is irrelevant at audio frequencies, but it is important for digital signals.
Have a look on ebay for
Digital Coax cable 0.75m Belden 1694a Canare true 75ohm RCA Highly specified
A cheap, no-nonsense cable.
Have a look on ebay for
A cheap, no-nonsense cable.
Agreed - but I'm not sure if Gary wants to assemble the cable, or if he would prefer to have some ready-made digital cable recommendations.
It is an assembled cable.
OK - I should have noted the length: 0.75m.
I see Mark Grant sells them.
OK - I should have noted the length: 0.75m.
I see Mark Grant sells them.
I have several spare
1694a with canare rca 1m
I have several spare
1694a with canare rca 1m
Those cables are excellent, had a few over the years.
75ohm VanDamme video cable and 75ohm Neutrik BNC connectors.
It's the only thing I use for digital (SPDIF) interconnects. Use between CD/DAC.
You can make these yourself or buy ready made from designacable.com
https://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Cables/Pics/Cab_06.jpg
No BNC sources here Ken, or I’d give it a go!
No BNC sources here Ken, or I’d give it a go!
I convert RCA's to BNC Gary.
It's usually a straightforward swap of connectors, unless they are PCB mounted sockets, but I've swapped out this type for panel mount BNC's as well, it just takes a bit of care unmounting the RCA's.
Changed them on my Eversolo, both in and out coax digitals now BNC.
Also my NuPrime CD Transport output.
If you've got more than one RCA digital input or output, its worth converting one of them to BNC, as a cover all solution.
I still have this job to do on my Esoteric CD Transport. I'll leave the original RCA output alone and add a re-clocked BNC next to it.
Just make certain the BNC socket is of 75ohm impedance. Often digital audio gear is fitted with 50ohm BNCs, which look similar to the 75ohm variety. Not a fatal error, but if you are going to go to the trouble of replacing the connector, you may as well do it properly.
Yes, the ebay items quite often say 75ohm in the add and are not. So buy a reputable brand that states 75ohm in the spec.
Yes, the ebay items quite often say 75ohm in the add and are not. So buy a reputable brand that states 75ohm in the spec.
Yup.
wot Ken said.
Impedance matters.
Wakefield Turntables
23-08-2025, 07:15
Just buy cheap and decent build you don’t need to go into foo bull poopie that people peddle.
Just buy cheap and decent build you don’t need to go into foo bull poopie that people peddle.
As long as they are 75ohm.
Like the ones I use in the picture (post #11) Van Damme cable/Neutrik connectors on the leads.
I get the panel sockets from RS Components.
All cheap as chips.
I make up my own leads using industry standard professional cable, such as Belden RG59 or Trompeter 75 Ohm triaxial cable (TRC-75-1). And, of course 75 Ohm BNC plugs.
Whats the rhumpus on a good BNC - RCA adaptor (like the Canare) vs soldering a 75 Ohm BNC connector in to replace an RCA coax Spidif out?
And if going down the socket refit route, is there any additional head sting as with XLR swap outs, in needing to fit a baluns involved?
As I understand it the best route is to have one transformer and hard wire a 1.5m 75 ohm cable. Don't use connectirs
Whats the rhumpus on a good BNC - RCA adaptor (like the Canare) vs soldering a 75 Ohm BNC connector in to replace an RCA coax Spidif out?
In the situation where the digital out socket is an RCA phono socket, you may as well use an RCA plug on the cable end: using a converter will make very little difference.
And if going down the socket refit route, is there any additional head sting as with XLR swap outs, in needing to fit a baluns involved?
Again the use of an impedance transformer is an additional complication as it will need to pass signals of 240 MHz (for a typical bit rate of 480 Mbps).
Unless both the CDP and DAC are fitted with XLR connectors I wouldn't bother with XLR terminated leads. And if you do use an XLR terminated lead, make sure the cable has a characteristic impedance of 110 Ohm.
Theadmans
31-08-2025, 18:55
I remember quite a few years ago reading on here that you needed a longer cable. I have a Belden cable of about 1.5 metres on my Beresford Caiman SEG in my second system in my bedroom (sounds very good).
In my lounge system with my Creek 50CD DAC / CD player I use a short 0.5 metre Chord C-Digital - to be fair this sounds good also.
Sadly my wife prefers the aesthetics of the Creek 50A amp and Creek 50CD in the lounge...
...weirdly she rejects the Science Laboratory aesthetics of the Caiman SEG / Dorado blue LEDs (but maybe just maybe it would sound better).
At least when the wife is watching sh*t on TV I can take my Sennheiser HD650s and listen to some quality sounds in the bedroom.
Early CDTs and DACs were a bit sloppy in maintaining an input and output impedance of 75 Ohm. This meant that in order to prevent reflected and re-reflected signals occuring during the pulse rise time and thus confusing matters, the length of the digital cable needed to be long enough so the reflected signal was delayed sufficiently.
Given the propagation velocity of a typical RF cable is 2. 108 metre/second, so for a typical 480Mbps digital signal (corresponding to 240MHz), the necessary length for a half-period at 240Hz is about 0.8metre. Thus a delay of three half wavelengths is 1.2m, which is where the suggested length of 1.5m comes from.
These days manufacturers ensure the in/out impedance is very close to 75 Ohm, so the length of the cable now no longer matters.
Whats the rhumpus on a good BNC - RCA adaptor (like the Canare) vs soldering a 75 Ohm BNC connector in to replace an RCA coax Spidif out?
And if going down the socket refit route, is there any additional head sting as with XLR swap outs, in needing to fit a baluns involved?
Sorry for the late reply Gaz been on me Hols.
Don't use an RCA adaptor or adaptor lead, it loses any advantage. Stick to all RCA or all BNC.
When changing an RCA panel socket to BNC, its just a straight swap.
It is not necessarily "just a straight swap": it is if the phono socket is a panel-mounting design and is wired to the PCB. But these days it is usual for PCB mounted connectors to be used instead, and these are often difficult to remove. And having removed the socket a replacement BNC socket will not necessarily have the same contact footprint, so a panel mounting type will need to be used and wired directly to the PCB.
Also it must be remembered if the item is still within warranty any alteration would make the warranty null and void.
But if you can replace the phono socket for a genuine 75 Ohm BNC connector then that is as good as you can get.
Given that, you may wonder why phono sockets were specified for SPDIF, especially as the dimensions of an RCA phono connector mean its characteristic impedance can never be greater than 57.2 Ohm, and depending on the support dielectric used, is likely to be reduced to 40 Ohm.
The reason is, a mated RCA plug and socket is electrically 'short', and the two impedance mismatches: the first where the cable joins the plug, the second where the rear of the socket is terminated by a 75Ohm resistor, in effect tend to cancel each other out.
To give some numbers, let us assume the dielectric in a mated plug and socket has a physical length of 18mm, and the dielectric used is either polyethylene or PTFE.
For a digital signal rate of 480Mbps, the corresponding RF is 240MHz. The wavelength in the dielectric will be between 832 to 873mm, depending on the dielectric used, so the 18mm length corresponds to 0.02 of a wavelength.
Now for the first mismatch of 75 to 40 Ohm, the reflection coefficient is -0.3, and that for the second mismatch of 40 to 75 Ohm is +0.3. The two mismatches are separated by about 0.02 wavelengths, so the overall mismatch as seen by the cable is reduced to 0.084 (or an impedance mismatch signal reflection of - 21.5dB), which in practice is a sufficiently low enough to provide a good match.
That is why you can manage to get away with using the much cheaper RCA connector.
It is not necessarily "just a straight swap": it is if the phono socket is a panel-mounting design and is wired to the PCB. But these days it is usual for PCB mounted connectors to be used instead, and these are often difficult to remove. And having removed the socket a replacement BNC socket will not necessarily have the same contact footprint, so a panel mounting type will need to be used and wired directly to the PCB.
All true Barry, but still a straight swap, no additional circuitry needed. I've replaced PCB mounted RCA's several times, either for freestanding better quality RCA's or BNC's, its usually just a soldering job, though I did have to remove the PCB from its case on the Schiit Freya+ to get better access.
On my Eversolo A6 the RCA's were already on flying leads, which you could unplug from the PCB, replace the connectors away from the unit, then plug the leads back in. I did have to enlarge the holes in the rear panel by 1mm dia. to take the BNC sockets.
So yes, there are a variety of scenarios that could be encountered, but nothing complicated.
If you can't handle that amount of complexity, you should refrain from modifying, or even taking the lid off your equipment, which in most cases is enough to invalidate the warranty.
Fair enough. I could do it as I have the tools required, but not everyone is willing or able to make the changes.
Agreed, a tapered reamer is needed to enlarge the hole for a panel-mounting BNC socket.
Sorry for the late reply Gaz been on me Hols.
Don't use an RCA adaptor or adaptor lead, it loses any advantage. Stick to all RCA or all BNC.
When changing an RCA panel socket to BNC, it’s heers Ken,
just a straight swap.
Cheers Ken,
hope the holibags hit the spot.
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