Digital Audio
Optical TOSLINK, coaxial S/PDIF and AES/EBU cables for connecting CD transports, televisions, streamers and DACs.
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Optical, coaxial or AES/EBU?
All three carry the same digital audio, and the right one is usually decided by the sockets on your equipment. Where you do have a choice, the differences come down to bandwidth, electrical isolation and impedance.
Optical TOSLINK passes light rather than electricity, so it breaks any earth connection between components. That makes it useful for televisions and for systems with a hum problem, at the cost of a bandwidth ceiling that limits it at higher sample rates. Coaxial S/PDIF handles higher rates and keeps a direct electrical link, which usually means better timing but also a shared earth path. AES/EBU on XLR is the balanced professional standard and appears on higher end transports and DACs.
Impedance matters here. Coaxial digital cable is 75 ohm and AES/EBU is 110 ohm, and using a standard analogue interconnect because the plug happens to fit will cause reflections and timing errors. Where your equipment gives you the choice, the practical test is to try both in your system, and the 60-day money-back guarantee makes that straightforward.
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From£107.50Ex. VATQED's Reference Optical Quartz Cable is built with 210 separate Glasscore™ (boro-silicate glass) fibres that produce straighter signal paths, delivering ultra-low jitter signal transfer. The result is a clear, open sound.
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★ Award
QED
QED Performance Toslink Digital Optical Audio Cable GraphiteSKU: QED Performance Optical
(51 reviews)From£49.17Ex. VATQED's multi-award winning Toslink optical digital audio cable relies on PMMA acrylic glass fibre to carry high frequency signals with ease, designed to minimise light absorption and allow more rays to travel along the cable by reducing the angle of incidence for internal reflection. This cable delivers a nicely balanced sound with full bass and punchy, precise high ends.
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From£109.00Inc. VATReference digital audio 40, the new standard for digital coaxial S/PDIF signals.
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From£29.12Ex. VATAudioQuest Pearl Digital Optical cable is constructed with low-dispersion fibers and precision polished fiber ends all contained within a black/gray stripe in-wall rated PVC jacket. -
From£37.46Ex. VATAudioQuest's Forest Digital Coax cables are designed to minimize distortion across an extremely wide bandwidth. For many applications, the speed of digital communication is important. -
SALEFrom£67.50 £75.00Inc. VAT ✓ Save £7.50The Chord C-digital is designed to work with CD players, streaming devices, DVD players and any other component with a digital coaxial output. -
QED
QED Performance Audio 40i Digital Audio Cable - Custom LengthSKU: Audio 40i Digital Custom
(17 reviews)From£18.75Ex. VATBuilding on the success of the award-winning Performance 40, QED's Performance 40i contains two 99.999% OFC conductors of different diameters to accommodate high-frequency audio components and a foamed polyethylene dielectric. The result is remarkably well-defined sound at a very competitive price.
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From£109.00Inc. VATReference XLR 40 builds on the multi-award winning audio 40 range of products, now available in digital AES/EBU form. -
SALEFrom£199.17Ex. VATAudioQuest's Carbon Digital Coax cables are designed to minimize distortion across an extremely wide bandwidth. For many applications, the speed of digital communication is important. -
SALEAtlas Cables
Atlas Element Toslink Digital Optical Audio CableSKU: Atlas Element Optical
(14 reviews)From£43.33 £46.67Ex. VAT ✓ Save £3.33A digital interconnect with a neutral, relaxing sound, proven to be an excellent performance upgrade over ‘freebie’ cables, designed for use with the optical digital sockets typically fitted to CD players/transports and streaming audio devices. Typical usage is to connect, for example, a streaming device such as an Apple Airport Express or Sonos ‘Connect’ to your hifi system. -
Van Den Hul
Van Den Hul Optocoupler MKII Toslink Optical CableSKU: Van Den Hul Optocoupler
(13 reviews)From£60.42Ex. VATThe Optocoupler MK II is a high performance digital optical audio cable capable of delivering sound with superb clarity and depth. Van den Hul's OPTOCOUPLER Mk II forms a perfect high bandwidth, low-loss and low jitter optical connection, able to serve you with a very high sound and/or picture resolution at an unsurpassed definition. -
From£74.96Ex. VATAudioQuest's Cinnamon Digital Coax cables are designed to minimize distortion across an extremely wide bandwidth. For many applications, the speed of digital communication is important.
