TiredLegs;344270 Wrote: > Why would anyone prefer plastic over glass when glass cables are readily > available inexpensively? Is anyone arguing that plastic is actually a > better transmission medium than glass?
Okay, I'll try again: glass is a better medium for optical transmission than plastic. When you try to send data through a 10 mile long fiber it will probably not work with plastic but it will work with glass. But you need more than just that glass cable to do that.... like a high-power -laser- transmitter. Your SPDIF transmitter does not have that, it has a cheap -IR- transmitter. Also, you don't want to send data through 10 miles of fiber. As long as you only want to send SPDIF over a couple of yards of fiber, it doesn't matter if you use plastic or glass... the result is exactly the same because your requirements are well below the limit of the plastic cable. Compare it to this: Any new Ferrari is a better car than any new Fiat, no matter what people say. When you want to win the Le Mans race and have a choice between the two you should definitely go for the Ferrari. However, when you go out for grocery shopping, does the Ferrari do a better job getting the groceries back home? I bet it won't. The Ferrari will probably get more attention from the ladies which is very nice but it doesn't improve getting the groceries back home. With glass vs plastic it's the same: when you want to send data across the Atlantic you better choose glass. But when you just want to send some SPDIF signal over a couple of yards the plastic will do the job at least as good. The glass will probably get more attention from the ladies which is very nice but it doesn't improve getting the data to the DAC. You should worry about the build quality of the cable and when you're really into this, discover the brand of the connectors in your kit and match with the same brand used on the cable. And make sure the cable used is compatible with the connector (diameter). So it's not that I would prefer plastic over glass for this application: it just doesn't matter. ciao! Nick. -- DeVerm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DeVerm's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=18104 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=52817 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
