Is a S/PDIF cable the same a phono?

All general audio posts go here.
Sovereign
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Is a S/PDIF cable the same a phono?

Unread post by Sovereign »

This may be a daft question, but is a S/PDIF cable the same as a normal Phono/RCA cable ?
Thanks

User avatar
howardc1951
Posts: 406
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:26 am
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 285 times

Re: Is a S/PDIF cable the same a phono?

Unread post by howardc1951 »

From my personal experience: I was testing various coax interconnects to see which was best between a media player and a DAC and decided to try a standard phono to phono interconnect. The result was that it didn't work and afterwards the coax output on the media player I was using didn't work at all. It could of course be coincidence or perhaps I damaged the player's output. Just be careful!

User avatar
wallace
Posts: 980
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:03 am
Location: Bridgwater ,Somerset.
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Is a S/PDIF cable the same a phono?

Unread post by wallace »

Sovereign wrote:This may be a daft question, but is a S/PDIF cable the same as a normal Phono/RCA cable ?
Thanks
Yes,or at least it is in my system.I am sure you would have got many pages saying no ,on several other forums by now. :lol:
Revox B795,,NVA PHONO 1,Teac PD-H500C,Squeezebox Touch,Bushmaster MKII,NVA AP70,LS5,Royd Minstrels i/c's SSC's. .
Sony Laptop,E-Dac, NVA AP10P, LS3,SSC,Royd Coniston R.Grado RS1

ninetynine
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2012 5:01 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Is a S/PDIF cable the same a phono?

Unread post by ninetynine »

Will it work? How technical do you want to get?

S/PDIF is designed to meet IEC61937 and this calls for 75 ohm termination. You try finding a phono connector with 75 ohm characteristics as the dimensions of the connector do not allow true matching (Canare may be the closest phono available).

However allowing for the signal bandwidth and the wavelength over a short cable run the S/PDIF signal may not be affected enough to matter in most cases.

Sovereign
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Is a S/PDIF cable the same a phono?

Unread post by Sovereign »

Thanks for your help chaps, I have a S/PDIF I am wanting to try out, I'll give it a go tonight.

Yomanze
Posts: 132
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:32 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Is a S/PDIF cable the same a phono?

Unread post by Yomanze »

Sovereign wrote:This may be a daft question, but is a S/PDIF cable the same as a normal Phono/RCA cable ?
Thanks
Some normal phono/RCA cables (like Mark Grant) uses 75ohm impedance cable, but then others are 50ohm. I am of the school that you should have as close to a match of 75ohm as possible, and that signal reflections & impedance mismatches (especially with short cables) do impact the sound e.g. increased jitter. I did try a Gotham interconnect as an SPDIF cable & it wasn't as good as my properly specced Belden cable.

Post Reply