Spdif cables

[ngakus]

Hi, pardon my ignorance for this kind of issue. Just purchased a Rosetta 200 to run via spdif to my Digi002. Bought a pair of monster's coaxial digital video cables with RCA male connectors. Realized the connector heads does not into digi002 spdif connections but will fit onto the the Rosetta's spdif connections. Is there supposed to be some cables or RCA connectors I should be looking out for? What kind of spdif cables is best for these 2 machine to communicate perfectly?

Thank you for ur time

[rqstudio]

RCA's are not S/PDIF. A S/PDIF needs to be 75 ohms. Whomever sold those to you should have known that.

[ngakus]

I thought 75ohms is meant to be the condition of the cable to make it coaxial. The connectors head are just means of connecting the 2 machine thru that coaxial cable. What should I be looking for in the cables? My problem is just unable to fit the connectors onto the the digi002 spdif connectors.

Thanks for replying.

[nst7]

These are the cables you want:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Monster-...13-i1128755.gc

You should be able to find them at a local Guitar Center, and also at Best Buy. Even some computer stores.

[JMS40]

Whether used for analog or digital, RCA connectors are a standard universal size. As rqstudio points out, 75 ohms refers to the cable spec recommended for SPDIF.

[sunburst79]

My SPDIF cables (I think they were Lifelines) took a fair amount of pressure to seat them on the SPDIF jacks on the 003. At any rate the connector is the same as a standard RCA. Its the cable thats different.

[ngakus]

Thank u all for the prompt replies and useful info. It's just almost impossible to sit the connector onto my digi002 and I didn't want to use too much pressure on it thinking it might damage the 002. Surprisingly it sits very well on the Rosetta. I just thought there could be a special kind of adaptor for digi002. I believed my cable is the right cable, true 75ohm coaxial digital cable as written on the cable itself.

Thanks again.

[netnoggin]

Originally Posted by ngakus

Thank u all for the prompt replies and useful info. It's just almost impossible to sit the connector onto my digi002 and I didn't want to use too much pressure on it thinking it might damage the 002. Surprisingly it sits very well on the Rosetta. I just thought there could be a special kind of adaptor for digi002. I believed my cable is the right cable, true 75ohm coaxial digital cable as written on the cable itself.

Thanks again.

Some RCA connectors are tighter than others, either on the outer shell or the pin. I had one that I practically had to use two hands to seat.

But it is just an RCA connector (there aren't different versions for spdif), and the 75 ohm cable is just a 75 ohm cable. There are good ones and bad ones, but there is no inherent fundamental difference between a spdif cable and a video cable. They have the same requirements and the same specs - RCA connector, 75 ohm, unbalanced shielded cable. More on the spdif specs can be found here.

Also, keep in mind this is digital, not analog. So subtle quality differences in the spdif cable assembly are not going to result in corresponding differences in the audio. A bad spdif connection will not result in small, hard-to-detect differences. The resulting dropped digital information is usually quite either quite spectacular with audio tearing and loud noise or it results in no signal at all worst case. Basically it either works or it doesn't.

The Monster cable in the above post is a fine cable, and will work great. It's also a very sturdy cable which may be important to you. But for me personally, I would never spend that much when a decent equivalent cable can be had for a tenth of that price. Marketing people prey on lack of knowledge, especially in the cable world. Increasing your knowledge of what is actually required and what is important can save you plenty.

[DGraham]

Same deal here. I have a 002R and getting a S/PDIF cable seated took more pressure than I thought it should have. Worked fine after getting it on.

[sunburst79]

Use the Force.