Digital coax cable - does length matter?

Posted by: DC71 on 01 April 2018

Hi, this topic seems to be a bit contentious in some discussions, but I'd like to hear from people who have tried different lengths of digital coax, since I will be buying a 75ohm RCA-BNC cable to connect my node2 to qutest DAC and compare against optical.

Some articles say coax should be a 5ft/1.5m minimum length in order to avoid increased jitter caused by signal reflections.

Can anyone who's tried longer and shorter digital cables chip in with your experience either way? I'd prefer to save some money if the shorter length is fine. 

Posted on: 01 April 2018 by Consciousmess

I have one that is 0.5m and rated highly by WhatHifi at 180 pounds.

i will be changing this though and I’ve noticed high end coaxial cables are 1m minimum or 1.25 minimum. Now I want these but cheaper but to no avail could not find 0.5m lengths.  So your thread intrigues me as I now wonder whether your hypothesis is corrrect or whether manufacturers want that extra money from people or the frequency of demand for various lengths - each not being in isolation.

Posted on: 02 April 2018 by johnG

1.5m is supposed to be the optimum length for digital coax for minimum jitter.  I would see no benefit in going longer unless required for physical layout. Whether there is any audible difference between 1m and 1.5m is also open to debate as in well designed Dacs and digital sources any measurable jitter is well down at noise floor levels - for example see measurements of the Chord Hugo 2 dac at Audio Science Review with basically non-existent jitter below -130dB with a measurement noise floor of -140dB - not an audible concern.

Posted on: 02 April 2018 by Chag...

A non issue really as DC1 is offered in one length only: 1.25m. ????

Chag -

Posted on: 02 April 2018 by Huge

I used to use a 10m long RCA phono to BNC digital cable from my Blue-Ray player to an ND5 XS with no problems.

Posted on: 02 April 2018 by Chag...

What would do without remote controls. ????

Chag -

Posted on: 02 April 2018 by DC71

Thanks all for the input. I decided to save $50 (3-10 beers here in Singapore depending on where we drink) and go for a 1m DH Labs digital cable as it seems the best value. Most of the positive reviews seem to have been with 1m versions, and if it was really a major issue I feel like the manufacturers would be recommending a minimum length rather than happily selling cheaper 0.5 and 1m cables.