Using component rca cables as audio cables?

[Jackm219]

Hi everyone,

Currently looking to upgrade my DAC and looking at wires that will connect it. So far I'm leaning towards the cinnamon or forest Audioquest USB (controversial topic with regards to USB I know). But of course I need high quality output rca cables.

I have a top end component cable no longer in use, and am wondering if I could use two of the three cables for my rca output on the DAC or are component cables made of materials and tailored towards video only.

I.e. Are component cables identical to any rca or are their insides tailored for video, not audio?

Any replies and guidance much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[andyjm]

Hi everyone,

Currently looking to upgrade my DAC and looking at wires that will connect it. So far I'm leaning towards the cinnamon or forest Audioquest USB (controversial topic with regards to USB I know). But of course I need high quality output rca cables.

I have a top end component cable no longer in use, and am wondering if I could use two of the three cables for my rca output on the DAC or are component cables made of materials and tailored towards video only.

I.e. Are component cables identical to any rca or are their insides tailored for video, not audio?

Any replies and guidance much appreciated.

Thanks.

Component video cables have a far higher spec than audio cables and will make excellent audio interconnects.

 

[drummerman]

Hi everyone,

Currently looking to upgrade my DAC and looking at wires that will connect it. So far I'm leaning towards the cinnamon or forest Audioquest USB (controversial topic with regards to USB I know). But of course I need high quality output rca cables. 

I have a top end component cable no longer in use, and am wondering if I could use two of the three cables for my rca output on the DAC or are component cables made of materials and tailored towards video only. 

 

I.e. Are component cables identical to any rca or are their insides tailored for video, not audio?

 

Any replies and guidance much appreciated. 

Thanks. 

Component video cables have a far higher spec than audio cables and will make excellent audio interconnects. 

Do they?

 

[bigfish786]

I had a set of atlas rgb cables, £100 when new, bought for £5 on eBay.

They work really well, so. Yeah they should be fine to use.

 

[andyjm]

Hi everyone,

Currently looking to upgrade my DAC and looking at wires that will connect it. So far I'm leaning towards the cinnamon or forest Audioquest USB (controversial topic with regards to USB I know). But of course I need high quality output rca cables.

I have a top end component cable no longer in use, and am wondering if I could use two of the three cables for my rca output on the DAC or are component cables made of materials and tailored towards video only.

I.e. Are component cables identical to any rca or are their insides tailored for video, not audio?

Any replies and guidance much appreciated.

Thanks.

Component video cables have a far higher spec than audio cables and will make excellent audio interconnects.

Do they?

Component video cables will have a frequency response well above 10MHz, excellent shielding, low inter-conductor capacitance.

What else do you want?

 

[abacus]

It will make no difference to your system at all, however if you want to buy new, then get some proper cables from a pro music store (That way you will get the same cables that professional film and music studios use) and avoid anything made by Hi-Fi cable manufactures. (They just rip you off with a fancy name and some gobbledegook)

For USB, go to a pro computer store that deals with computers designed for audio production and get one from there. (Again avoid anything made by Hi-Fi cable manufactures)

Bill

 

[Gray]

Hi everyone,

Currently looking to upgrade my DAC and looking at wires that will connect it. So far I'm leaning towards the cinnamon or forest Audioquest USB (controversial topic with regards to USB I know). But of course I need high quality output rca cables.

I have a top end component cable no longer in use, and am wondering if I could use two of the three cables for my rca output on the DAC or are component cables made of materials and tailored towards video only.

I.e. Are component cables identical to any rca or are their insides tailored for video, not audio?

Any replies and guidance much appreciated.

Thanks.

Component video cables have a far higher spec than audio cables and will make excellent audio interconnects.

Do they?

Component video cables will have a frequency response well above 10MHz, excellent shielding, low inter-conductor capacitance.

What else do you want?

And they should be genuinely 75 ohms too, so the one spare could make a perfect digital interconnector.

 

[macdiddy]

if you have nothing better to say than your usual cut+paste response then stay out of any post to do with cables, its up to the individual to do what they want with their own money not you.

*stop*

 

[MajorFubar]

Told you before Abacus, if you have nothing better to say than your usual cut+paste response then stay out of any post to do with cables, its up to the individual to do what they want with their own money not you.

*stop*

Who made you the WHF forum police? Abacus posts his advice once, then leaves it at that. He's just as entitled to post up his version of common sense as all the people who post mumbo jumbo about the topic, and woe betide anyone who questions those opinions: they're called deaf, stupid, or trolls.

The OP in any instance can either take his advice or leave it. No need to call Abacus out for giving it.

 

[drummerman]

Hi everyone,

Currently looking to upgrade my DAC and looking at wires that will connect it. So far I'm leaning towards the cinnamon or forest Audioquest USB (controversial topic with regards to USB I know). But of course I need high quality output rca cables. 

I have a top end component cable no longer in use, and am wondering if I could use two of the three cables for my rca output on the DAC or are component cables made of materials and tailored towards video only. 

 

I.e. Are component cables identical to any rca or are their insides tailored for video, not audio?

 

Any replies and guidance much appreciated. 

Thanks. 

Component video cables have a far higher spec than audio cables and will make excellent audio interconnects. 

Do they?

Component video cables will have a frequency response well above 10MHz, excellent shielding, low inter-conductor capacitance.  

What else do you want?

No different to regular rca's.

Cheaper ones will have none of the elaborate construction of better ones, leaving SQ aside for a moment.

Unless I've missed something.

 

[Vladimir]

Hi everyone,

Currently looking to upgrade my DAC and looking at wires that will connect it. So far I'm leaning towards the cinnamon or forest Audioquest USB (controversial topic with regards to USB I know). But of course I need high quality output rca cables.

I have a top end component cable no longer in use, and am wondering if I could use two of the three cables for my rca output on the DAC or are component cables made of materials and tailored towards video only.

I.e. Are component cables identical to any rca or are their insides tailored for video, not audio?

Any replies and guidance much appreciated.

Thanks.

Component video cables have a far higher spec than audio cables and will make excellent audio interconnects.

Do they?

Component video cables will have a frequency response well above 10MHz, excellent shielding, low inter-conductor capacitance.

What else do you want?

No different to regular rca's.

Cheaper ones will have none of the elaborate construction of better ones, leaving SQ aside for a moment.

Unless I've missed something.

You've probably experienced only 'throw away' cheap ones that come free with AV equipment and indeed are no better than audio standards. However, I believe andyjm is refering to proper professional grade cables.

 

[Jackm219]

Thanks for all of your replies.

As I suspected, the cables are suitable for the job and it is reassuring to hear the general consensus that they are in fact better. Since I have these cables to hand and free of charge I will use them for the job. Incidently, this seems a great way to get high quality RCA cables as quality component cables (Chord, AQ, QED etc) on eBay sell for pennies compared to their relative L+R RCA counterparts.

With regards to USB cables. I feel I want a cable made by a manufacturer that is designing it for my purpose. I appreciate cable specifications may be better in a computer specialist USB however, from my experience, it is better to go with a quality brand and product specifically designed for my purpose.

I am conscious I am entering this controversial topic of digital cables. In my opinion, they seriously make a difference. I'v fortunately had the chance to listen to a range of quality of cables and generally speaker, the better the cable (digital or analogue), the crisper, clearer, better defined and detailed the sound is.

 

[Jackm219]

With regards to a DAC, I have heard great things about the Cambridge Audio Dacmagic (the bigger unit not the Dacmagic100). Any similar suggestions in the £100 - £300 price range are welcome.

Also, what is the best source I can use. Currently use apple music on my macbook or iphone. I have no intentions to buy a high res streamer but want to get the best out my products. Is this the best option or is there another app I can use for a better signal?

 

[daveh75]

if you have nothing better to say than your usual cut+paste response then stay out of any post to do with cables, its up to the individual to do what they want with their own money not you.

*stop*

Who the f#ck are you to dictate what people post?

At least his advice is sound, unlike the bollox that gets posted by some idiots on here.

 

[MajorFubar]

Also, what is the best source I can use. Currently use apple music on my macbook or iphone. I have no intentions to buy a high res streamer but want to get the best out my products. Is this the best option or is there another app I can use for a better signal?

Apple Music is a lossy service similar to Spotify. If you want to improve the sound quality of your streaming you would need to migrate to a lossless service such as Tidal. It's double the price, but I guess if you want the highest quality streaming service then that's the cost of the privilege. Personally I'd rather buy CDs and rip them; it gets me lossless music without worrying that someone will decide to take my favourite album away, or that an internet outage will silence my evening's intended entertainment.

 

[newlash09]

I don't know as much as the rest here. But I've plugged a audioquest jitter bug at every usb end of my music signal chain. I don't even know if it delivers any sonic gains. But I guess, once you have a jitter bug at the usb end, you can do away with worrying about the usb cable. Just my 2 cents...but I could be wrong

 

[daveh75]

Apple Music is a lossy service similar to Spotify. If you want to improve the sound quality of your streaming you would need to migrate to a lossless service such as Tidal. It's double the price, but I guess if you want the highest quality streaming service then that's the cost of the privilege.

Only if you buy into the idea compression and bitrate translates to audible differences in SQ. Which I don't personally (within limits obv. )

Personally I'd rather buy CDs and rip them; it gets me lossless music without worrying that someone will decide to take my favourite album away, or that an internet outage will silence my evening's intended entertainment.

Why is the belief that things need to be mutually exclusive so prevalent in HiFi circles?

I've got several thousand CD rips sat on my NAS, along with hundreds of DVD/Blu-Ray rips and TV recordings, yet I still use and enjoy streaming services regularly.

Best of both worlds, with the streaming services I have access to far larger libraries than my own, if my internet was to go down then I've still my own library to keep me occupied...

 

[MajorFubar]

Only if you buy into the idea compression and bitrate translates to audible differences in SQ. Which I don't personally (within limits obv. )

You're preaching to the converted. There is to my ears so little difference between a lossless file and a hi-bitrate lossy version of the same file that the difference isn't worth the expense to me personally, seeing that streaming is very much a secondary source for me. But to others, it is.

Why is the belief that things need to be mutually exclusive so prevalent in HiFi circles? I've got several thousand CD rips sat on my NAS, along with hundreds of DVD/Blu-Ray rips and TV recordings, yet I still use and enjoy streaming services regularly.

Likewise, but he did specifically ask about streaming. The way I see it, which of course may not be the way others see it, I do see the two things as mutually exclusive, simply because of the 100% extra cost involved for lossless streaming compared to lossy. I use streaming for background music and and 'try before you buy' album auditioning, lossy is perfectly edequate for both of those purposes. I personally wouldn't be prepared to commit to premium-priced streaming services if I wasn't pretty committed to using it to replace a source from henceforth. But of course others may view it differently.

 

[Jackm219]

Agree with much of what has just been said.

I think most people will agree with the following.

Streaming is so accessible and offers such a variety of music it will always be a big part of my setup. I'm just looking to get the best signal I can without spending too much. I don't like the idea of a huge monthly cost for a service and if I stop paying all my music will go.

The method I use is stream all my music. Then if I really like an album, buy it on Cd or Vinyl and listen to that album via those sources instead of streaming. However, I'm not going to buy everything I like so want a very good streaming source.

I don't understand fully all the talk of bitrate and kbps. So, put simply please, for streaming, is Apple Music streamed through a MacBook via a good DAC (Cambridge audio Dacmagic) the best I can get without paying for a better streaming service or buying a streamer etc. And how can I optimise this setup without spending £££!

Thanks again for everyone's help so far!

 

[andyjm]

Thanks for all of your replies.

As I suspected, the cables are suitable for the job and it is reassuring to hear the general consensus that they are in fact better. Since I have these cables to hand and free of charge I will use them for the job. Incidently, this seems a great way to get high quality RCA cables as quality component cables (Chord, AQ, QED etc) on eBay sell for pennies compared to their relative L+R RCA counterparts.

With regards to USB cables. I feel I want a cable made by a manufacturer that is designing it for my purpose. I appreciate cable specifications may be better in a computer specialist USB however, from my experience, it is better to go with a quality brand and product specifically designed for my purpose.

I am conscious I am entering this controversial topic of digital cables. In my opinion, they seriously make a difference. I'v fortunately had the chance to listen to a range of quality of cables and generally speaker, the better the cable (digital or analogue), the crisper, clearer, better defined and detailed the sound is.

In principle, all USB cables should be the same. However, depending on what you are doing with it, it is possible different cables could have an effect. USB was not really designed with digital audio in mind, and there are a couple of areas that a cable could have an effect.

Firstly, if the audio device is powered by the USB cable (a dreadful idea in my opinion), then the thickness of the cable and shielding could effect the quality of the supply reaching the audio device. While this can be cleaned up by appropriate filtering in the audio device itself, that costs money and it is better to start with a cleaner supply in the first place.

Secondly, if the audio device is synchronous, then the pulse shape coming down the cable can effect jitter. Under certain circumstances this can be audible. A better (electrically) made cable may improve this.

Any decent USB audio product should be asynchronous and powered off a wall wart, so neither argument above has any effect, but if the device is either USB powered or synchronous, then it is just possible that a USB cable could make a difference to the sound quality. My own guess is that any difference will be very small, but unlike some of the nonsense discussed on this forum, there is at least a mechanism here where a cable could have an audible effect.

 

[MajorFubar]

I don't understand fully all the talk of bitrate and kbps. So, put simply please, for streaming, is Apple Music streamed through a MacBook via a good DAC (Cambridge audio Dacmagic) the best I can get without paying for a better streaming service or buying a streamer etc. And how can I optimise this setup without spending £££!

Thanks again for everyone's help so far!

You can improve either the source (ie pay for lossless streaming), or you can improve the hardware (better DAC, better amp, better speakers).

Other than that, there's still a thousand and one tweaks you can make by improving the acoustic characteristics of your listening environment and by ensuring your kit / speakers / hotseat are all optimally placed within it. Most of us have to balance the dream of having an optimized listening environment against the reality that our listening environment doubles as the family living room, but if you're lucky enough to be able to consider it, look into room treatment, then maybe also DSP to iron-out the final imperfections.

Don't waste your money on expensive specialist USB cables. CD quality two-channel audio requires so little bandwidth you can even transmit via wifi without loss (eg Apple Airplay), let alone via a cable. No-one buys a posh USB cable for their printer and claims the prints come out better with stronger colours and blacker blacks, yet somehow with digital audio there's wiggle room. It's nonsense, save your money.

 

[Gaz37]

Hi everyone,

Currently looking to upgrade my DAC and looking at wires that will connect it. So far I'm leaning towards the cinnamon or forest Audioquest USB (controversial topic with regards to USB I know). But of course I need high quality output rca cables. 

I have a top end component cable no longer in use, and am wondering if I could use two of the three cables for my rca output on the DAC or are component cables made of materials and tailored towards video only. 

 

I.e. Are component cables identical to any rca or are their insides tailored for video, not audio?

 

Any replies and guidance much appreciated. 

Thanks. 

Component video cables have a far higher spec than audio cables and will make excellent audio interconnects. 

Do they?

Component video cables will have a frequency response well above 10MHz, excellent shielding, low inter-conductor capacitance.  

What else do you want?

Have you taken one apart to check (like Vlad's cat did)

 

[andyjm]

Gaz, I am not sure what you are asking. I have designed video interconnects, there isn't much to it. Use a proper 75 ohm coax cable to RG59 or similar spec, then for pro use fit a BNC connector to either end, or for domestic use a RCA / Phono connector.

The OP said he had high-end video interconnects, so even with all the snake oil around this industry, it is pretty tough to mess up putting two connectors on the end of a length of coax.

As I mentioned above, a decent video cable makes an execellent audio interconnect. My system is balanced, so video coax doesn't work, but i have used video leads before as inteconnects to good effect. The only downside is that proper 75ohm cable is a bit bulky to fit in an RCA connector, though Neutrik RCAs will just about fit OK.