<br />On Wednesday, August 28, 2013 09:57 CEST, Stephen Worthington <stephen_agent@jsw.gen.nz> wrote:<br /> <blockquote>On Wed, 28 Aug 2013 08:40:17 +0200, you wrote:<br /><br />>Off-topic side question: Does anyopne have any direct comparisons of sound quality from onboard spdif ports using coax contra toslink? I'm guessing the onboard digital signal isn't the best there is anyway, and I don't want to degrade it even further by uising the wrong medium. Traditionally toslink is advised against by audiophiles because it's prone to adding jitter, but then Spotify is hardly audiophile anyway.<br /><br />A digital signal is a digital signal. It is either correct data, or<br />it does not work. So the digital output from an SPDIF port will be<br />identical to the output from a TOSLINK port, as far as the<br />specifications for the digital data are concerned. If you are really<br />worried by jitter, then you need to get a DAC that has buffers and<br
/>reclocking to eliminate jitter. Lots of good DACs do this. TOSLINK<br />has the serious advantage that it is an optical connection with no<br />possibility of creating a ground loop. Having a PC in an audio system<br />is a very good way of introducing ground loops - they are notorious<br />for doing it. And especially when they are connected to a TV or<br />satellite antenna or a cable connection, as all MythTV boxes will be.<br />Then, if that antenna or cable is connected to anything else that<br />connects to the same audio system, a ground loop is extremely likely.</blockquote>Good points!<br /><br /> A better DAC isn't on the cards for the moment, but I can always try to use the best possible toslink cable. Glass used to be recommended, but I believe the newer high quality plastic cables are (almost?) as good.<br /><br /> Cheers!<br /><br />Marius<br /><br />