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