Toslink Optical Cables

[EspionageWHW]

I'm looking for a recommendation for some Toslink optical cables to connect a Rosetta 800 to my Digi 003.

I was afraid to just buy any ol' one. Aside from SPDIF, I have never owned a digital cable before. Are all Toslink cables 8 channels? I searched on google and found ones that said they are for home theater set ups. I was hoping to find something that said they were for Pro Audio use, I only came across this hosa one though Hosa Cable OPM303 Toslink Fiber Optic Cable at AmericanMusical.com

I'm not a big fan of Hosa products at all. Will this be fine? What type of Toslink cables do you recommend?

Thanks
-Es

[gregohb]

i have had several and they all worked - the only thing was that some of them did not fit the connector well and fell out.

[EspionageWHW]

Originally Posted by gregohb

i have had several and they all worked - the only thing was that some of them did not fit the connector well and fell out.

Interesting... do they come in different sizes or were they faulty?

[tINY]

6 Foot Premium Toslink Digital Optical Cable

These ones worked well for me.




-tINY

[TonyBelmont]

Most cheap-o optical cables should work perfectly fine... the more expensive ones have a heavier jacket and are more durable.

[Mackdaddy]

They come in different lengths, I think the connectors should all be the same. I just went to GC and told the guy what I needed, I think it cost me $5-10? Been working fine so far...

I'm not sure if any type of plating on the connectors would enhance the transfer or not. As far as I can tell the variation is mostly in the durability.

[DigitMus]

I'm sure there are proponents of "high end" TosLink cables who will disagree, but I've never had problems with HOSA or other "cheap" ones. As Tony said, the premium brands will be more robust, but if (like me) you tend to connect them and leave them in place for months or years at a time (& they're not being bent, stepped on, etc.), the inexpensive ones work just fine. (Just FYI I've used 30 footers for ADAT and 50 ft. for S/PDIF with no dropouts or excessive jitter)

Scott

[GYang]

When I used TOS Link, I remember that I preferred Apogee cables, durable and well good sounding.

[credentialed]

I've used Hosa for the past 5 years, no problems here.

[Halfmoon]

I wouldn't worry if its a short run and not too many twists.

If its going for a couple of meters look for a glass TOS link cable (polished ends) The Apogee always worked well but it is a little pricey.

[mbvoxx]

Ive got both monster and live wire optical/toslink cables in my studio and both work fine...the monster is twice the price of live wire....i use a monster 6 ft and a live wire 16 ft. musicians friend carries them.
get toslink on both ends for adat/lightpipe hookup. it's a no brainer.

[Raw-Tracks]

I've used the cheap Hosa cables for over 10 years in many, many different applications and never had a problem with them. I will agree that some more expensive cables might be more durable, but the cheap ones are plenty durable in my opinion.

I have run in to problems with some of the more expensive cables. Some use a larger housing that gets in the way when you have gear that has 2 or more connections close together. There have been times when I couldn't plug 2 of the more expensive cables side by side into a piece of gear because the connectors were too close together on the gear.

The mating portion of all toslink cables are all the same size, so you don't have to worry about the cable fitting into the connector.