Cheap Digital Coaxial cables

[Daragon]

Just bought myself a standalone blu-ray player and it only supports digital coaxial sound and not optical which I would have preferred. Is it worth splashing out on a pricey cable, or will this suffice?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HQ-Digital-Audio-Coaxial-Lead-Cable-SPDIF-3m-/220846832014?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_DVDPlayers_Recorders&hash=item336b7f398e

I've used cheapo optical cables with my Xbox and cheapo HDMI cables with my PS3 and I doubt I'd be able to tell much difference, just wondering what the general consensus is around here.

[JSR]

As long as it's digital you can safely buy the cheapest cables you'll find (or even try to make some yourself out of tin foil). If the signal is digital it will either be decoded properly on the receiving end or it won't. There are no degrees here, unlike analog cables. You don't even need to buy a cable that's labeled coax or digital, any RCA cable will do. You probably got a set with your player to (the red, white and yellow trio, use one of those).

[Brad]

Half a red n white phone cable pair will do the trick:


Or anything similar.

Can you tell the difference? Well, some will say you can but I've hooked up a Pioneer DVD player using a ?40 Monster cable and a grey phono lead from Maplin and can't tell the difference, even through a decent set of cans.

[JSR]

Can you tell the difference? Well, some will say you can but I've hooked up a Pioneer DVD player using a ?40 Monster cable and a grey phono lead from Maplin and can't tell the difference, even through a decent set of cans.

No, you can't. People who say they can are under the placebo effect. They send the exact same data.


Edit:
Just wanna add that this applies to all digital signals. Either you get picture/sound/porn or you don't. The cable won't affect the quality.

[sj33]

^Indeed, and this also applies to HDMI, optical or any other digitial signal. That's not to say that signal degredation isn't possible, of course it is, but the nature of digital means that either you hear the sound, or the signal breaks up.

99% of the time, the cheapest cable will suffice. I've actually used phono cables (as in FSW's post) as a digital coaxial cable before now. The argument that expensive cables are better comes from either people trying to justify their expensive cables, people mentally stuck in the analogue world, or people overanalysing the possible degredation of the signal beyond real world situations.

[JSR]

Same here, all my digital coax signals are done by cheap ass RCA cables that came with DVD players etc.

[charlesr]

If you take the cable in and out a lot, you might want to pay a few pounds for one that's solidly made. Otherwise as above.

[Baseley09]

If you take the cable in and out a lot, you might want to pay a few pounds for one that's solidly made. Otherwise as above.

Strongly agree with this, the main thing you have to look out for is built quality, I always buy budget digital cables and usually they are fine, though have had a few that have the potential to crumble in your hand.

[speedlolita]

I tend to buy stuff like Belkin cheap on eBay. Got a 1m HDMI cable for 5 pounds and a 3m one for 8 pounds - both are solidly built.. Piece of mind.

So is there a difference between analog and digital coaxial cables? I'm using an analog one with my LCD at the moment and I don't get that great a picture on most channels without wiggling the cable.

[Brad]

Your cable or one of the coax connections is damaged matey.

[speedlolita]

Yeah, I figured the cable might be dodgy. Have tried 3 cables and they're all duff.

Was gonna get a cable from where I work and try that..

[Brad]

Are all 3 cables duff or is it one of the connectors?

[speedlolita]

I'm not entirely sure really, the cable I'm using at the moment was fine with my PlayTV.

New cable before I think the TV is duff.

[Daragon]

Right, got my cable - only problem is it's not quite long enough to stretch from my speaker system's control unit over to my blu-ray player. Anyone know if it's possible to buy an extension to plug it into?

[charlesr]

Put it on ebay and get another one that's longer...