Long cable length - SPDIF or analogue?

[johnm]

Hi there.

Simple (I think/hope!) question:

I have a DPA DAC connected to my laptop, which is about 3 meters away from my main Hi-Fi system.

Is it best to use a 3m length of cable from the source (Laptop via an Edirol USB -> SPDIF device) to the DAC, or is it better to use 3m cable from analogue outs of the DAC to the amp?

So - in short - is it better to have long lengths of analogue cable, or digital coax of same length and short analogue connections? I have several RFI clamps as well if they're of use?

Many thanks.

- John

[crazy_bob_uk]

What about a long USB cable?

[johnm]

The Edirol USB device has a captive cable and I don't really want to use any USB extension cables.

Cheers,

- John

[kevinkr]

The USB format is robust enough for at least 4M which is something I would not recommend with consumer grade spdif or analog. You can get an extension cable with the right gender at each end to allow you to do this without a hub if you can overcome your objection to this approach.

[johnm]

That sounds like an avenue to pursue then. I'm sure I read somewhere ages ago that USB is quite likely to pick up noise and RFI in longer lengths, but obviously that's not the case then.

I'll give it a go!

Thanks guys

- John

[jungle5150]

I'm not an expert, but I have quad-shield coax cable running spdif for probably 40 or 50 feet through my walls and attic. I've never had any trouble with it, and it's not even optical. I had horrible sound degradation when I tried to run line level audio from a sound card over the same wires. That was before I knew anything about what I was doing.

Bill