.Sup wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
.Sup wrote:
its the same. Digital is digital
No, that is a common myth, especially regarding things such as game consoles, as there can't be a buffer of significant size placed before the DAC to allow proper jitter correction.
Depending on the equipment, jitter (or, to use the technical term, packet delay variation) can cause anything from pretty much nothing to serious performance issues. Even if the latter is the case, there's no point in not being on the safe side, unless it brings any significant disadvantages.
Most of the people I know that come from pro audio use Coaxial which is copper. But the difference is negligible.
Problems with coaxial--> impedance mismatch (rca plugs arent native 75 ohm like the SPDIF protocol), dielectric absorption and dispersion, susceptibility to electrical frequency interference, and common ground crosstalk amongst other effects such as the skin effect.
Problems with optical--> electron to photon conversion, usually more delicate than coaxial, signal degradation over 10 feet
Benefits of coaxial-> Much sturdier, no electron to photon conversion or led implementation, good for distance
Benefits of optical-> No dielectrics, no EMI/RFI worry, no impedance mismatch reflections, no ground, no electrical effects in the cable, usually cheaper (high end optical vs high end coaxial).
