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In Reply to: RE: For analog balanced output ex a DAC, is there any significant difference between RCA unbalanced DAC input to XLR input? posted by John C. - Aussie on August 04, 2017 at 22:39:28
The strict 75 ohm characteristic impedance of an S/PDIF digital coaxial interface is more sensitive than the much wider tolerance of a 110 ohm characteristic impedance AES/EBU balanced digital cable interface. I find AES/EBU to be my reference quality of choice depending on the quality of the cable and XLR connectors. Typical pro audio type AES/EBU digital cables tend to be very poor sounding for the application; I would rather use a high-performance audiophile-quality S/PDIF digital coaxial cable than a mundane pro audio AES/EBU digital cable.
Follow Ups:
This makes absolutely no sense! Are you saying because 110 is a higher number than 75, it has more tolerance? In fact 110ohm has a higher voltage level 7-10 volts. But still AES-3 has over twice the distance limit. The reason is that coax cable can be manufactured with much tighter impedance control versus twisted pair.If we are still talking 48khz, the exact impedance of the BNC connector is not relevant. The physical distance is too short to be a factor. AES at 48K is the same bandwidth as analog NTSC video. And remember we used 50ohm BNC connectors in the analog days because the RF industry was/is 50ohms and for TV video at 75ohms it didn't matter. When we went digital at 270mbs, 75ohm connectors became more necessary. Today HDTV at 1.5 and 3gbs, true 75ohm BNC connectors are mandatory. But for AES audio- I'm afraid not!
Also how are you measuring the sound quality differences between AES/EBU and SPDIF? Error rate? Jitter?
I have responsibility for an AES matrix switcher that has 2048 inputs by 2432 outputs at Technicolor's primary mastering facility. All AES-3. Many of the cables are well over 500 feet and go through several normalling patch panels. We simply do not have any audio quality issues. And with our position in the market place there's a 50% chnace or better that any Bluray you buy has been run through this facility. So much for "mundane pro audio".
Edits: 09/18/17
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The technical snip in that post is saying the same thing I am.All except for the need for audiophile XLRs. What makes you think and audiophile XLR has any different impedance than a Switchcraft or Neutrik? The impedance is determined by the mainly pin spacing and that's set within the physical specification. Not much room for improvement there.
Also Switchcraft and Neutrik are the two common pro XLR connectors. I have used thousands of them. I would certainly trust the engineering from those two companies rather than some garage audiophile operation which is just re-labeling cheap XLR connectors form overseas!
Which XLR connector sounds better for AES? Seriously? The failure mode will be errors resulting from improper cable impedance and/or excessive length. The XLR connector is not going to make any difference either way.
Edits: 09/19/17
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