Looking for quality glass optical cable

[Ducktailjiver]

Hello all,

My name is George, new here. I'm looking to run optical cable from my pc to my home stereo. I've read theres a difference between plastic and glass cable and certainly want the glass as it is for music. Can anyone please recommend a good internet site that offers this in a 50 foot run or more. Thanks in advance.

 

George

 

[wgscott]

I recommend the one at the top without the metal sheath.

 

http://www.lifatec.com/toslink2.html

 

[Ducktailjiver]

I dont see a 50 foot version and I'd like to keep this around a 100 bucks if possible. I'm all for quality but not for overkill.

 

[wgscott]

I tried to edit to type that they will make whatever you want, but I think you might find 50 ft is too much for a toslink cable, whether it be glass or plastic fibre-based.

 

[James1776]

I do not believe you can get a 50 ft run without a lot of jitter. I could hear a difference between an 25ft run and a 15 ft one.

 

With a glass cable, shorter is better...

 

That said, glass is FAR better than plastic

 

[Ducktailjiver]

Well I dont really have any other choise since I don't wanna go the wifi way to connect my pc to my stereo. Not sure what you mean by 'too much'. It was my understanding that toslink can be used for long runs without any date loss. I work at a casino and they use it in the ceilings for hundreds of feet with no problems at all.

 

[James1776]

Casino's are not trying to produce the best sound possible....In my case on my system, a 25ft run of glass has a hard gritty upper end that goes away with a 15 ft run of the same cable. Both cost under $100.

 

I am not saying a 100 ft run would not work, just that there would be audible degradation.

 

[Ducktailjiver]

Well I dont know what other options I have left. I could get a squeexbox but I can't imagine optical cable would be any worse than sending the audio to my stereo via Wi-Fi. Plus, Im just trying to listen to internet stations anyways and they are not exactly audiophile quality to begin with. So what other options do I have?

 

[wgscott]

1. Use a USB to coax converter and run coax.

 

2. Move your PC closer to your DAC, your DAC closer to your PC, or, even better, get a mac mini, and control it from your PC. In any case, you are probably better off running a 60 ft length of 12-gauge speaker wire.

 

[Ducktailjiver]

How exactly do you think speaker wire can be used in this application?

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Gefen makes a Toslink to Cat5 to Toslink extender that will work for you.

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/Gefen-Digital-Audio-Extender-Review

 

[wgscott]

Sorry, I just assumed that at some point you connect your amp ("home stereo") to some speakers.

 

If you put the DAC/preamp/amp next to your computer, you can run speaker wire to your speakers instead of optical to your DAC. But you are right, I have no idea what your application is, since you haven't mentioned it.

 

[4est]

If you are only going to use it for internet radio, a cheap 50' plastic such as Monoprice or Markertech should be fine. Or even the aforementioned lifatech's plastic. This is an audiophile site, we are all going to up-sell you!

 

Granted, they really do sound like crap compared to real glass, alas 50' is along way...