S/PDIF Cables

G

GuitarEC

Member
Greetings folks - this is probably a very silly question, but I'm hoping the answer will be equally silly.

I'm currently on the FM9 Wait list, and in the meantime I'm doing research and setting up the infrastructure in my studio setup to best support it when that glorious email arrives. To that end, I bought a PreSonus Studio 68c interface specifically for the S/PDIF I/O to use with the FM9. (Yes, I know it will not directly monitor, and I'm alright with that)

So, my question is - what qualities should I be looking for in RCA cables to be used specifically for S/PDIF (if there are any). I'm looking at about a 15 foot cable run.

Many thanks in advance for your educated/opinionated replies! ;)
 
GlennO said:
SPDIF is a digital protocol, not a physical standard for a cable. Physically, you can use an rca cable.
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No, you cannot. While it may share an RCA connector, the cable you use for the digital signal should be coaxial. A regular phono cable is not going to work well, if it all, despite the RCA connector allowing you to use it to make the connection.
 
iaresee said:
No, you cannot. While it may share an RCA connector, the cable you use for the digital signal should be coaxial. A regular phono cable is not going to work well, if it all, despite the RCA connector allowing you to use it to make the connection.
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Let me put it this way: I've never had any spdif problems when using a simple RCA cable :). But, you're right, using coax is good practice. I've edited my post.
 
GuitarEC said:
Greetings folks - this is probably a very silly question, but I'm hoping the answer will be equally silly.

I'm currently on the FM9 Wait list, and in the meantime I'm doing research and setting up the infrastructure in my studio setup to best support it when that glorious email arrives. To that end, I bought a PreSonus Studio 68c interface specifically for the S/PDIF I/O to use with the FM9. (Yes, I know it will not directly monitor, and I'm alright with that)

So, my question is - what qualities should I be looking for in RCA cables to be used specifically for S/PDIF (if there are any). I'm looking at about a 15 foot cable run.

Many thanks in advance for your educated/opinionated replies! ;)
Click to expand...
You should get a decent quality cable rated for SPDIF, or get something less suited for the task and maybe regret it. Sweetwater has some nice blue Hosa ones with good quality cable and plugs at a reasonable cost. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DRA506--hosa-dra-506-6-meter
 
GlennO said:
SPDIF is a digital protocol, not a physical standard for a cable. Physically, you can use any coaxial cable with an rca connection with the FM9.
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So a SPDIF cable... I mean what other application is there for a coaxial cable with RCA connectors? You can not use a typical mono cable.
 
The main thing with a coaxial cable is the way they are shielded and then will have different specific impedance ratings. Most common 50 ohms and 75 ohms. SPDIF will work best with a well shielded cable with a 75 ohm rating. Keeping the transmission line using the same impedance as the I/O equal will keep the relatively small digital signals flowing smoothly. This all becomes more an issue as the length increases. Also there’s 2 channels of signal on each line (R+L/Stereo).
 
GitGuy513 said:
The main thing with a coaxial cable is the way they are shielded and then will have different specific impedance ratings. Most common 50 ohms and 75 ohms. SPDIF will work best with a well shielded cable with a 75 ohm rating. Keeping the transmission line using the same impedance as the I/O equal will keep the relatively small digital signals flowing smoothly. This all becomes more an issue as the length increases. Also there’s 2 channels of signal on each line (R+L/Stereo).
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This ^^^. You can get away with using the wrong cables sometimes, just like you can get away with running red lights....
 
I have been using those same monoprice cables for years, and they work just great! Cliff was using some old RCA cable a while back. I used one of those too and it worked fine, but I opted for the monoprice cable because it is more substantial.
 
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