Michael T. Dean wrote: > Kyle Rose wrote: > >> LOL. There are actually three (somewhat tongue-in-cheek), and I >> accidentally combined the second and third in my statement: >> >> 1. Cable quality doesn't matter when the data flowing over it is digital. >> >> > http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/122868.html > > See the section, "The Role of Cable and Connection Quality"--it doesn't > dispute your claim (especially considering the "somewhat > tongue-in-cheek" nature of the claim), but does help dispel the common > misconception that digital = perfect transmission.
Rule #1 was intended for digital audio transmission, not digital video, the latter of which I know a lot less about. So perhaps I'll restate in the future. With audio, most receivers do something obvious when error-checked audio data (e.g., AC3 or DTS) is corrupted over S/PDIF: they drop audio for a second. Thus, what you typically get with a digital connection is either perfect audio, or something really, truly unlistenable, and nothing in between. Now, this isn't true for PCM, but you can test the integrity of your link with an AC3 movie to make sure it isn't losing data. But even this isn't the point of the rule. The point of the rule is illustrated by the observation that the RCA cables I construct from RG-6, coax compression connectors, and screw-on RCA plugs for about $4.00 + $0.20/foot is just as good for digital audio as the 6' Monster "digital audio" cable for $39.95. And, if anything, this is even *more* true for Toslink, because fiber optics either work or they don't due to properties of refraction. Quality doesn't really come into play. Any notion of poor-quality Toslink cables allowing other input to "bleed" into the connection is complete and utter bullshit that only people who haven't taken an AP- or college-level physics course could fall victim to. The entire purpose of my three rules is to protect people who don't really know any better from self-proclaimed audiophiles, who would fail every single double blind test I would care to subject them to. When you're paying $30/ft for cable, there is some incentive to impress others with how pristeen your setup is, even if the $0.50/ft cable would be indistinguishable in any test you could set up. Cheers, Kyle _______________________________________________ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
