SN / squeezbox - which cable?

I have no experience with the Chord optilink as I am currently running a Nait5i, but before I got back into 2 channel audio I was a surround sound person.

From that end, it was determined that everytime you had to jump the fiber optic beam across a connection (say at the squeezebox then at the SN), you lose signal quality. So I always went with a high end single digital coax cable to carry any signal, all be it surround or 2 channel....

just my opinion, go with the Naim cable.

rega1

Dont have direct experience I'm afraid, however I know that the SN reclocks the data it receives against its internal clock reference before feeding the DAC. In which case I can't really see any technical reason why there should be any difference, assuming that process works properly. (you know when it stops working because the sound drops out momentarily)

Hi Hallgeir,

Haven't tried the DC1 but I have compared Chord optical to Stereovox XV2 digital coax between Sonos and the Supernait. It was a pretty direct A/B comparison as the Sonos outputs both coax and optical simultaneously.

My impression, backed up by my wife who normally says she can't hear any difference between cables, is that there was a significant and very positive difference in favour of the Stereovox. Interestingly, we did not notice the same degree of difference between the Stereovox and the Stealth Varidig Sextet digital coax (indeed, we prefered the Stereovox and not, I think, just because it is MUCH cheaper).

Our conclusion was that optical didn't quite match up to coax with our combinations. I am keen to try the DC1 against the Stereovox to see if there is any synergy between a Naim digital coax lead and the Supernait.

Michael.

Hi Hallgeir,

A Naim DC1 is relatively inexpensive as far as Naim cables go. Think yourself lucky you don't need a Hi-Line for you Duet, assuming you prefer the SN's dac to the Duet's.

Keith

Isn't the important part that both the plugs and the cable is 75 ohm and preferably shielded?

On the other hand I'd recommend the Naim DC1 just to be safe. It should be no worse than others, maybe even better.

Thank you so much for your replies! Our dealer here in norway does'nt seem to have it in stock so I'm forced to order it from UK I guess. I tried the optilink against a cheaper Monster optical cable too, and the optilink was clearly the better cable. So I'm guessing the Naim Coax is worth a shot too. And as you say...it's not that expencive.

Cheers
Hallgeir

Hi, I have a music server based on a pc + lavry da10 with an standard digital coaxial cable. Now I am waiting for a chord signature digital coaxial cable I have just bought, I will post my experience when I demo it. Apart from technical reasons (I think lavry also reclocks and removes jitter) many users have reported great benefits adding a good coax. cable. Anyway squeezeboxes have an important limiting factor, as long as they have a cheap digital coaxial output (although it is possible to modify it). Here in the forum a member uses a naim dc1 with this dac with great performance.

The chord optichord sounds like a chord interconnect while the Naim DC1 sounds like a naim cable...

Would you throw away the naim interconnect from a CDX2 and fit an after market cable ? probably not...you will then lose some of the qualities that Naim have designed into the product. But hey, we are not dealing with a Naim source here so it's all a bit of a guess.

I use the optichord between my Sonos ZP80 and the supernait and found it quite good, the NS01 I connect via a std naim analogue interconnect or the hiline...have not tried the DC1 on the NS01 but suspect it possibly uses a version of the SN DAC so there may not be much benifit in that.

quote:

Anyway squeezeboxes have an important limiting factor, as long as they have a cheap digital coaxial output (although it is possible to modify it).

I hadn't realized this was the sb3's achilles heel. I read that it's cleaner than that of the expensive Sonos streamers and that's one of the reasons why the sb3s achieve superior results when used with a good dac.

Keith

PS: Shouldn't this thread be moved to the Distributed Audio forum? Difficult distinction...

Macker,

So how do you control your NS01?

Via computer & webbrowser or via TV screen & Naim remote?

thanks,
daddycool

Keith, I happened to have listen to both the SB and Sonos at my retailer. They happen to be an authorized Sonos dealer and I found SB at a local electronics store. We listened to both using the analog and digital outputs played through a SN and to all 4 of us who listened over about 1 1/2 hrs the results were pretty clear:
1. Digital Output superior to analog
2. Sonos much more musical than the SB. The SB was very digital sounding to us where the Sonos was very enjoyable. I purchased Sonos and continue to use extensively and currently through my SN and while it has limitations it is pretty terrific for what it is.
3. Sonos user interface, both PC and hand controller>>SB remote/UI controller (this was prior to new duet remote). Others might disagree, but this is what our 8 ears heard.
I use a $30 co-axial cable and while I'm sure the Naim DC1 is superior I'd question the value of another $210 spent.

quote:

Originally posted by Keith L:

I hadn't realized this was the sb3's achilles heel. I read that it's cleaner than that of the expensive Sonos streamers and that's one of the reasons why the sb3s achieve superior results when used with a good dac.

Keith

Keith, it seems there is a margin to improve the digital out, for instance, boldercables changes both the internal power supply reservoir capacitor and the internal digital signal path to run it directly to a a good RCA. I haven't heard this but I think it is worth trying it, specially when using an expensive digital cable.

If you want to spend that kind of money then the Naim DC1 is the way to go. If you want to spend less Chord Prodac and Codac are both good for their respective prices. Or if you're really on a tight budget high quality 75Ohm low loss satilite cable is surprisingly good!

Just thought I'd add an update on my cable situation

Ordered the DC1 cable from TomTom Audio and got it a couple of days ago. Currently I have both the optichord and the DC1 connected to the SN for easy evaluation. What I first noticed after installing the DC1 was the increased bass. At first it seems like DC1 was adding too much bass compared to the Optichord, which makes the Chord seem clearer and more focused. But after listening a couple of days I find myself preferring the sound of the DC1. Somehow it seems more rhythmic, musical and analog with the SN's DAC. The Optichord is still a very good cable and on some music I liked the Chord presentation better than DC1's. In lack of a better word I would describe the Optichord as being a little more "digital" than the DC1.

Either way I'm very pleased with the results I'm getting from my system right now. Adding a Hi-cap (to replace my flatcap2) do seem tempting, but at the moment I'm more then happy with what I'm hearing.

Regards

By converting to fibre and then back again you have just added an extra layer of possible coruption into the signal path. Keep It Simple!

Jono

Jono....what do you mean? I have not converted from fibre to coax, but have both connected at the same time. Each cable to a digital connection on the SN. Both of them coming from the Squeezebox's base unit. Can't do it any simpler than that, can I?

Sorry if I was not clear, but using the optical connection between equipment requires the outgoing electrical signal to be converted to an optical signal. This then means that the reverse happens at the receiving end. So now you have messed with source signal twice. Even if you are only transporting 1 and 0's from your source to a DAC this cannot be a good thing.

For example if you translate from English to French, send the message across the Atlantic and translate back to English something will get lost in translation.

Unless you need to convert stick to one format. You are going to get a better signal from using the coax route, always. The only time fibre really comes into its own is when the signal is travelling across an area of high electromagnetic interference.

I hope this explains the point I was trying to make. I think by going the DC1 route you increasing the quality of signal that your SuperNAIT is working with.

I am working up to a SuperNAIT for it's ability to cope with both coax and optical, but I will always use the coax connection when possible.

Jono