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dumb audio cable question

S

silverwolf0

Gawd
Joined
Jan 14, 2004
Messages
613
I have a FiiO d03k DAC with both RCA out and 3.5mm headphone out. My speakers have RCA inputs. I can either use RCA cables, or use a 3.5mm to RCA Y cable. Which one is better quality?

I've also been using old RCA cables, the ones that come with TVs and DVD players and still have a composite yellow cable attached to in the trifecta. Are these low quality and should I go buy a dedicated set from Monoprice? My Y cable is also pretty ancient as well. I dunno if old cables make a difference.
 
The question is whether there will be an audible difference to you. The answer is probably not enough to notice. Either should work just fine.
 
The old RCA are completely fine, no need to upgrade. Audiophile folk go crazy on cables, but I wouldn't even consider it unless the rest of your audio equipment is already top-of-the-line. Use your old RCA cables, but if you ever want some high quality, reasonably priced cables check out http://www.bluejeanscable.com/
 
On the question of RCA to RCA versus 3.5mm to RCA, use straight RCA to RCA. In general, if there is no need to use an adapter, then do not use an adapter, and 3.5mm jacks are less durable than their full-size counterparts, including RCA.

As far as cables go, unless you are talking about long runs and runs having to deal with heavy interference, build quality is what you should primarily look at.

So if the cables you currently have look sketchy and/or have kinks in them from being shoved into a box in a closet for the last ten years, you may want to replace them. Similarly, if your run is twenty feet long or through a rats nest of power cables you may want a cable with a thick conductor and/or some shielding to it, respectively. Otherwise, I would not worry too much about it.
 
Technically? RCA. Because of the close proximity of the different connectors, and the fact that both signal cables are inside a common ground, there's more crosstalk with 3.5mm. As a practical matter you won't hear any difference.
 
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