Its the same data, either way.
cmslick3 said:
I can honestly say that fiber optic versus coax I hear no difference.. I compared them before with my DVD player and heard no major changes.
You are not supposed to hear the difference, it is EXACTLY the same digital data on both mediums. Digital is digital. Often people have worse results with optical because the Toslink is kind of a sad example of fiber optic technology.
I install fiber optic network cabling and equipment at work. We must polish the fiber ends and examine them with a microscope to make sure they are done correctly. The connectors are cleaned with alcohol and blown with canned air before inserting them into the jacks. Everything has to be perfect-the connectors are made of ceramic and are manufactured to SUPER high tolerances. Even then, we sometimes have problems.
Toslink on the other hand, is often run quite casually with huge amounts of dust present in the connections. The cable ends are often dirty. On top of that, there is no error checking system present in a toslink system. Improperly installed, you are likely to have jitter problems. Coax on the other hand is much more tolerant of poor installation procedures-that is why I said people often have worse results with Toslink optical.
The main reason for fiber being used rather than copper is the distance that fiber can be run. I don't know why it has been pushed so much for audio uses. Ground loop hums are not really an issue when dealing with *digital* audio signal.
I really just wanted to say that, properly installed, coax and optical should sound EXACTLY the same.
--Dan