Wylie,

I have seen no claim for the "perfection" of digital recordings; in fact, if
you read my note in this thread dated Aug. 31 10:50 PM I specifically note
that digital recordings are ABSOLUTELY IMPERFECT reproductions of the
original analog information (sound).

The transformation into the digital domain CHANGES the signal as does EVERY
recording of the sound waves. Moreover, it adds to the errors introduced by
the microphones, ADC's and analog recorders used to capture the sounds.

I do claim that ONCE IN THE DIGITAL DOMAIN, recording and transmission of
the imperfect representation of the sound can be accomplished cheaply and
easily WITHOUT further degradation of the original sound. That is, until
you try to play it back. At that point, it is IMPOSSIBLE to avoid further
degradation, well before it gets to your transducers (i.e. speakers,
headphones, ears).

In my experience, if you ignore the noise intrinsic to the pressing and
pickup, of well-made analog recordings ('black vinyl') are more satisfying
musically than are the DDD recordings. Unfortunately, the 'well-made'
qualifier eliminates 95+ percent of these recordings.

One more comment: No matter how high the "FI" a poor performance yields a
poor recording.

Steve

"Wylie Williams" wrote in message
news:SxV4b.329119$o%2.152004@sccrnsc02...
I have no digital technical knowledge, but I do have a memory of
reading the reigning experts of the 80s who said that CD and digital
technology would be perfect because when it is just 1s and 0s it makes a
perfect chain possible from recording to the home system. We are a long
way
from then and still waiting for perfection, although various experts have
continued to report their progress in improving perfection. (Like Tide
soap,
audio perfection comes in a new and improved version every year)
As I don't have the knowledge to know when to be skeptical when
told
that "bits is bits- they're always OK", I am always skeptical.
Wylie Williams

"Jim Mauro" wrote in message
news:i7B4b.239448$cF.77237@rwcrnsc53...
I am not an expert in this area, but I would be at a loss
to find an intelligent argument to Steve's posting. A
bit-stream is a series of 1's and 0's represented electronically
as something that looks like a square wave - a serial stream
of 0 and non-zero voltage levels, where the incoming information
is either a "1" or a "0" - very, very different from analogue
signals. As long as the bits received match the bits sent, there
is no technical reason why one cable should result in a different
sound. For the lengths we're talking about here, say 1 to 3 meters,
the likelyhood of even a cheap cable dropping bits or injecting jitter
is very small.

Having said that, we all (well, certainly me! :^) suffer from
audio nervousa. Couple that with the "if it's more expensive, it
must be better" axiom, it's hard to resist spending the extra
dollars when we've invested so much time, energy and money in
other areas. The mind plays games as well, and we sit and listen
after swapping out the cheaper cable for the more expensive one, and
we're sure there's more detail, an improved sense of space, a
tighter bottom end, highs are less harsh, etc, etc...

Case in point (not to digress)...I'm about to invest about $200 in parts
to re-wire my Rega RB300 tonearm, and spend a night or 2 on the
painstaking task of installing the new wires and cartridge clamps.
Why? Well I am unhappy with the shoddy quality of the existing cartridge
clamps, and (suffering from audio nervousa), have read enough about
the dramatic improvements derived from re-wiring this arm.

Sure, it's easy to make a case that tonearm cartridge wires can
dramatically effect the quality of the music - a millivolt
level analogue signal on a device that has so much mechnical
movement (a turntable). I think we'd all agree that it's a task
worth undertaking.

When it's all done, will I hear a difference?

You bet I will!

:^)

/jim

Wylie Williams wrote:
"Colin" wrote

What I was wondering was; is it possible for one toslink cable
to sound better that another?


Colin,

My answer is: yes I think it is possible. I once had a store and
sold a
wide price range of Toslinks. I let customers buy, try, and return
till
they found the one they liked best. All preferred more expensive
ones.
I
have never compared, but I believe that my customers were competent to
judge
their preferences, so I think it's possible. I never tried compared
Toslinks
myself, but I believe that no design is so perfect that quality of
materials
and construction can't make a difference in performance.

If you ask questions on RAHE that are intended to help you
decide
what
cables to buy you will generally get what you got: statement s that
there is
no diffrence and technical explanations, followed by responses to the
responses starting a divergent discussion. If you want responses from
people who will tell their personal experiences and preferences try
www.audioasylum.com.

Wylie Williams