Audible differences between digital cables and transports explained with measurements

[sendler]

Stereophile: A Transport of Delight: CD Transport Jitter
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I have recently been criticized for stating that I hear substantial differences between digital cables and transports so when I stumbled across this article showing the measured jitter of several transports and cables, I wanted to post the link to show an example of OBJECTIVE data that supports my (and hundreds of other individual's that get tired of arguing with people that don't trust their ears and only believe charts and graphs) listening experience. This article, which dates back to '93, is actually very old in the progression of our understanding of digital audio so I am sure that newer and more definitive measurements exist, but this will get the discussion started and help to keep some newbies from automatically falling in with the over bearing everything sounds "The Same" crowd.
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I don't have any hope of converting the legions of institutionalized engineers who only measure and seldom listen, who always jump in with greater numbers to squash any subjective discussion, but offer this as an example, not just for digital but in general for every different component right down to resistors caps and wire, to any newbies and other still open minded people trying to climb back over the fence, that sighted listening comparisons should not be automatically dismissed and can often push forward the need for new measurement techniques. Digital audio existed under the "Perfect Sound Forever" banner for ten years before the concept of jitter and the hardware to measure it became widely known as a result of a search for an objective explanation for differences that were noted in listening. We are getting closer but skilled listening on a cutting edge system can still be several orders of magnitude more sensitive than the best measurements, especially in the time domain.

[Steve Eddy]

You seem to be putting the cart before the horse here.

You say "Audible differences between digital cables and transports explained with measurements" but when was it conclusively demonstrated that there are actual audible differences?

se

[PBeyer]

If there are audible differences it very well demonstrates a bad implentation of S/PDIF. I.e. improper shielding, bad Xfrmrs, bad impedance matching etc. If all is well done, there shouldn't be any audibel differences.

I have been playing with deliberate changing the impedance matching, and yes it is audible/measureable. But with good matching (VSWR >=25dB) I cannot hear any cabling differences. Must admit though I have not listened to a 10000$ S/PDIF cable ;-)

[tvrgeek]

"Dates from 93". Pretty much means no longer relevant. A lot of progress has been made in re-clocking so the remote DAC is not susceptible to jitter due to phase distortion in the cables. You no longer must have the sending side clock. Just a modern top line DAC properly implemented.

I am not likely to listen to a $1000 cable. I make my own out of Belden 9259. Cost , 'bout $2 per cable. I save my money for speakers and room treatments.