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#1
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Toslink wires: glass vs. plastic
Hello,
I bought a toslink cable. It's six feet in length, and is "plastic" as far as I can tell. I was doing some reading, and it appears that the "glass" ones are supposed to be better. They kept talking about attenuation and jitter. Then, of course, there is the inevitable contrarian comment that the glass ones sound "brittle" and that plastic ones are better. My experience with spdif is that as long as the wire length is short and the cable is new and in good condition, I couldn't really tell any difference between the fancy spdif cable and a simple RCA cable. It appears that toslink is sort of like spdif, so I'm guessing a basic $12 toslink cable like the one I bought should be fine. I have a microphone on order (last piece of the signal chain), so I haven't tested the toslink yet. I don't mind buying a fancier toslink cable (I didn't know such a thing existed). But if it is sort of just in voodoo land, I'll rig things up with the $12 cable I got and not worry about it too much. If it really does make a big deal, I can get one of the $50 ones express shipped. I had no idea how this toslink stuff works, but apparently it shines led light beams in some sort of strobe pattern to produce the ones and zeroes. Pretty wild! |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Toslink wires: glass vs. plastic
joe h wrote:
I bought a toslink cable. It's six feet in length, and is "plastic" as far as I can tell. I was doing some reading, and it appears that the "glass" ones are supposed to be better. They kept talking about attenuation and jitter. Then, of course, there is the inevitable contrarian comment that the glass ones sound "brittle" and that plastic ones are better. The plastic ones meet the TOSLINK specification. Anything else does not. My experience with spdif is that as long as the wire length is short and the cable is new and in good condition, I couldn't really tell any difference between the fancy spdif cable and a simple RCA cable. It appears that toslink is sort of like spdif, so I'm guessing a basic $12 toslink cable like the one I bought should be fine. That's how it's supposed to work. Either there are errors, or there are not errors. TOSLINK is designed to be as cheap as possible, so it is designed to work with thick plastic cable. If you need to make long runs, it is possible to use glass fibre with ST connectors and some electronic interface boxes that convert the TOSLINK signal to the proper signal intended for glass fibre. I have a microphone on order (last piece of the signal chain), so I haven't tested the toslink yet. I don't mind buying a fancier toslink cable (I didn't know such a thing existed). But if it is sort of just in voodoo land, I'll rig things up with the $12 cable I got and not worry about it too much. If it really does make a big deal, I can get one of the $50 ones express shipped. Get a bitscope application and watch for bad data. It will be fine as long as you keep the cable lengths short. Remember the whole TOSLINK thing is intended to keep manufacturing costs down over S-PDIF coaxial interfaces. I had no idea how this toslink stuff works, but apparently it shines led light beams in some sort of strobe pattern to produce the ones and zeroes. Pretty wild! Basically, it's an LED connected to an S-PDIF interface. Makes it easier to meet FCC emissions specs. Cheaper than a transformer. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Toslink wires: glass vs. plastic
"joe h" wrote in message ... Hello, I bought a toslink cable. It's six feet in length, and is "plastic" as far as I can tell. Probably the standard product, which is highly effective in the lengths typically used, such as your 6 foot application. I was doing some reading, and it appears that the "glass" ones are supposed to be better. I think that might be true in some sense. However, there is a question here of effectiveness. If something is highly effective and has good margins of safety and stability, then in some sense there is *nothing* better. For example consider a mic cable. If we made mic cables out of 12 gauge wire, they would be *better* in the sense that they would have less resistance, and lower loss over most of the audio band. Obviously 12 gauge mic cables are ludicrous. So is *improving* something that is highly effective and has good margins of safety and stability, They kept talking about attenuation and jitter. The attenuation of plastic Toslink cables is real, which is why the standard product is never more than about 30 feet long. The jitter issue is hype, because that is what jitter *(which is a real issue within logical bounds) has become in audio. There is another real world issue which does not get a lot of play, and that is the fragile, sloppy nature of the terminations of toslink cabes. Ever wonder why you see so little about it? However, be the termination of toslink as bad as it is, it is still generally effective as used, and there are workable circumventions. Then, of course, there is the inevitable contrarian comment that the glass ones sound "brittle" and that plastic ones are better. Utter BS. My experience with spdif is that as long as the wire length is short and the cable is new and in good condition, I couldn't really tell any difference between the fancy spdif cable and a simple RCA cable. My experience with SPDIF is that its biggest practical fault is that it creates yet another metallic conductive path between pieces of equipment and can create ground loops. I've used it in long lengths and short lengths and it just works. Its second most serious problem is that it is based on RCA connectors and we all know they are inherently junk. It appears that toslink is sort of like spdif, so I'm guessing a basic $12 toslink cable like the one I bought should be fine. Yes. I have 8 pieces of SPDIF in the biggest system I use routinely - they connect the Yamaha console to the Berhinger analog converters. They've been in service for about 6 years and operate flawlessly. However, this is not a touring system. If it were a touring system, the fragility issue would be on my mind, but it is addressable. I have a microphone on order (last piece of the signal chain), so I haven't tested the toslink yet. I don't mind buying a fancier toslink cable (I didn't know such a thing existed). But if it is sort of just in voodoo land, I'll rig things up with the $12 cable I got and not worry about it too much. If it really does make a big deal, I can get one of the $50 ones express shipped. Save your money! I had no idea how this toslink stuff works, but apparently it shines led light beams in some sort of strobe pattern to produce the ones and zeroes. Pretty wild! Actually, its very old technology at this point and is far from rocket science. Done right it just works, and right doesn't cost an arm and a leg. |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Toslink wires: glass vs. plastic
Thanks guys, that's amazing insight into Toslink.
The Toslink cable I got is 6 feet and brand new, so after reading what you wrote it looks like I have nothing to worry about with its specs. I'm excited to piece this all together! |
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