Forums - DIY Digital Coaxial

Dominick

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DIY Digital Coaxial
09/17/24 at 21:49:40

I’m looking to make a custom Coaxial Digital Cable with utilizing the DH labs wire and connectors. After doing some digging I have run into somewhat conflicting information.

According to a Moon audio video… They are indicating that the source end is wired up a little differently than the other end… with the double shielding being being fused together at the other end. That way it makes the cable a directional cable as opposed to a bi directional cable. All the other research I have done keeps the wiring of each terminated end the same. Can anyone give me clarification on which way is the proper way to wire up and make this cable.

Here is the YouTube video I am talking about.…

https://www.youtube.com/live/l2fQOkNZdgM?si=9QsEq91WXUIFJKR_

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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 2071	Re: DIY Digital Coaxial Reply #1 - 09/19/24 at 15:38:53 IMO at least theoretically there is an advantage to the directional cable because, in theory, it does a better job of noise rejection. But I think in practice your solder skills are much more important to cable quality than your choice of terminating the shielding.
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Dominick

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Still like that old
time Rock and Roll!!

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Re: DIY Digital Coaxial
Reply #2 - 09/20/24 at 20:10:14

Makes sense. Besides saving about $100 with making my own cable using the same parts from DH Labs as opposed to buying their pre-made cable… I have no way of knowing the quality of the solder that they are using to make the cable. At least if I use my own material I know that my Cardas Silver solder it’s probably just as good if not better than what they are using. Plus it keeps my soldering skills sharp and I love a good audio project.

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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 2071	Re: DIY Digital Coaxial Reply #3 - 09/21/24 at 02:33:17 Looking forward to your results. I'm a big fan of DH Labs so if you aren't happy with your cable I'm pretty sure it is your fault . I think I can say that because I'm a software guy and I freely admit my solder skills suck.
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Dominick

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Still like that old
time Rock and Roll!!

Posts: 1303

Re: DIY Digital Coaxial
Reply #4 - 09/21/24 at 20:32:53

Quote:

Looking forward to your results. I'm a big fan of DH Labs so if you aren't happy with your cable I'm pretty sure it is your fault . I think I can say that because I'm a software guy and I freely admit my solder skills suck.

Lol…I’m a big fan of DH Labs as well. I have two 30 ft. runs of their T-14 speaker cable going from my Err’s to my mono’s, and another pair going to my Pinnacle bookshelf’s.

Going to order the parts today, so I’ll definitely report back a when I begin the build.

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Dominick

Seasoned Member

Still like that old
time Rock and Roll!!

Posts: 1303

Re: DIY Digital Coaxial
Reply #5 - Yesterday at 18:42:35

So I finally got the DH Labs Coaxial Digital cable built. After some research and obtaining the build instructions from DH labs, I opted to not make this a directional cable due to the design of the barrel connector. The only soldering I had to do was to solder the center pin of the cable to the internal pin of the connector.

After it was all soldered up, I made the terminations, added the tech flex, and finished it off with heat shrink tubing. Here’s a few pics of the final product…

Going to give it a listen tonight, but this build saved me $80 bucks on the cable…essentially half off the original price.

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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 2071	Re: DIY Digital Coaxial Reply #6 - Yesterday at 22:19:38 Looks good!
Back to top	[FOOBAR2000 \| Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Maple-tree Phono 3E STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC IP Logged