audiophile cred

[Dave Owen]

> Also, the problem is nonexistent on the analog outs and
> even, I believe, absent from the coax digital output so it's not as
> though there aren't other usable options.

That brings up a question: is there a benefit to using the optical
output versus the coax, or vice versa, in general on digital output
products? Obviously there's a benefit to using the coax on the
Squeezebox here, to avoid that bug, but I'm speaking generally.

I always assumed not, since either is sending ones and zeros, but
perhaps I'm wrong. The only thing I can think of is that some receivers
might support one digital input type and not the other. Every
digital-input receiver I've ever seen has provisions for both, but
that's hardly definitive.

[Mike Hartley]

audiophile cred

Dave,
Here is a link to a discussion on this question:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7736

In addition to the issues discussed in that thread (primarily fragility of
the optical cable and connectors/EM interference on coax), I have heard the
opinion expressed that using optical connectors can increase jitter/latency.
But I have no objective info on that one.

Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Owen" <dowen (AT) sapient (DOT) com>
To: "Slim Devices Discussion" <discuss (AT) lists (DOT) slimdevices.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 3:33 PM
Subject: [slim] audiophile cred


> Also, the problem is nonexistent on the analog outs and
> even, I believe, absent from the coax digital output so it's not as
> though there aren't other usable options.

That brings up a question: is there a benefit to using the optical
output versus the coax, or vice versa, in general on digital output
products? Obviously there's a benefit to using the coax on the
Squeezebox here, to avoid that bug, but I'm speaking generally.

I always assumed not, since either is sending ones and zeros, but
perhaps I'm wrong. The only thing I can think of is that some receivers
might support one digital input type and not the other. Every
digital-input receiver I've ever seen has provisions for both, but
that's hardly definitive.

[Aaron Zinck]

audiophile cred

Since I'm the one who made the claim that the problem is absent from the
coax digital outputs I just wanted to jump in here and mention that I've
gone looking for the old message in this forum that I thought mentioned this
and have been unable to find it. It would appear that I've perhaps made
this up. Sorry for any confusion, guys! Still, though, it does not affect
the analog outs, for what that's worth.

With respect to which type of digital connection is superior: I've heard
that optical connections can cause increased jitter. That said, I can't
hear a difference between the two no matter how hard I try. While bits are
bits, there is some merit to the idea that these are bits that must be
delivered in an extremely time-sensitive fashion, so I suppose there's room
for the engineers to argue about this one. By my ears, either connection
works pretty darn well.