digital signals and cables (was Re: Cable my Ass)

[Tom Ritchford <tom@swirly.com>]

>5) I know more about AES/EBU than S/PDIF.  I find it hard to believe that
>premium cabling makes much difference with AES/EBU.  For example, I can
>transmit wavetables out of my Kyma's AES/EBU ports, bring the signal back 
>in
>another port, and I get precisely the same data.  All of the thousands of
>sample values are exactly the same - every bit matches.  I'm using 
>ordinary
>mic cables (I think I got them with a batch of SM-57s I bought years ago).

I've had good experiences with mic cables and AES/EBU.

HOWEVER, much to my surprise we were able to detect a
significant difference when we used "regular" RCA cables
to transmit digital audio.  There was a noticeable increase
in the noise floor and an increase in the error count on
the signal.  (Yes, we did an A/B blind test.  The same
test was unable to detect any difference at all between
cheapish mic cables and pricey ones...)

It has been explained to me as due to the high-frequency
nature of the signals but I do not know the precise reason.

I hasten to add that "premium" wasn't required.  I use
Radio Shack video cables for all my digital audio
needs and they work just as well as premium ones.

Just another data point.

    /t

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