Looking for suggestions of glass toslink that will handle 24/192 on the DS or DSJ. I found this Lifatec for $119 for 1M. Anyone tried it or has another recommendation?
Ted suggests glass is best, but I couldn’t find a specific cable recommendation.
I only have experience with cheap plastic Toslink cables so I’m far from an expert. However, I want to get a better optical cable and am trying to decide between the Lifatec and the Glass Master Toslink from DH Labs Silver Sonic. I’ve read good things about the Lifatec online, and The Cable Company has given me an enthusiastic recommendation for the Glass Master even though they carry a lot of more expensive optical cables that don’t sound as good (I’m told). I think that either of these would be a solid choice.
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I’ve tried a half a dozen optical cables, plastic and glass (nothing too expensive and exotic), and settled on Lifatec about seven years ago. LOVE it.
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Yes, I’ve read many positive things about the Lifatec on Computer Audiophile forums, it has a very stong reputation. Another member hear just PM’d me that he owned the Glass Master and didn’t care for it, saying it was a bit harsh.
He recommended this one, saying its more natural, and a great bargain at $44 for 1 meter, half the price of LIfatec and 75% less than the Glass Master.:
http://www.sysconcept.ca/product_info.php?products_id=364
Does your Lifatec handle 24/192 and DSD 64 ok on your DS or DSJ? Thanks
It looks like the SysConcept cable is plastic rather than glass, is that correct?
I believe yes, its plastic…
I don’t know. I have only used it with lower resolutions I(DVR, Blu-ray). Currently it is in my second system, I moved my main system, removed video, and the DSD is only fed via HDMI with Redbook and SACD. The Lifatec cable is in my second, audio/video system connecting a DVR to an Oppo UDP-205. I have never found it harsh, it’s the least so of any other cable I tried.
Based on this discussion, I’m leaning toward the Lifatec for my own purchase. The Sys Concept sounds like a great plastic cable, but I’m definitely looking for glass.
I don’t have much experience with optical cables for audio use (at least not high bandwidth use) but I do for enterprise networking use. Corning glass (and plastic) sets the standard in the enterprise.
The Lifatech appears to be price inflated because it has Audio in the name. Something like this made probably with Corning glass is likely just as good at a fraction of the cost. Easy return if it doesn’t support the rate you want.
You know I’ve actually compared that cable and the Lifatec before I bought a second Lifatec. To me in my system the Lifatec sounded a bit more resolving and smoother.
I’m not sure it matters but the Lifatec has 470 strands, this one 280.
This is not glass, but it has guaranteed bandwidth to support up to 32bit/384kHz. Not that S/PDIF optical transmitters/receivers can necessarily swing that, but at least you should be good for all reasonable bandwidth requirements of a TOSLINK cable. I just bought one from their ebay store for $62, and I’ll let you know how it turns out.
The Supra toslink:
I saw that one as well. Curious to hear your findings 
Hey,
I am in the same boat choosing between LifaTec Glass, Supra ZAC Plastic, and SysConcept 1300 Plastic cables. How did you like your Supra ZAC?
Also there is QED Reference TosLink which is a multiple glass core cable. Has anyone had any experience with them? On the USA website it says it has 2010 cores, and on UK website it says 210 cores. I think it should be 210, and USA website probably got it wrong.
Thank you.
Definitely try the DH Labs Glass Master as @SDL recommends. 300 individual strands of glass. It imparts no sonic character on the sound and is very well constructed. I’ve used two through my various systems, though I have moved away from TOSlink since.
If you buy direct from their website, you might be able to get a 10% off coupon and they do offer a return policy.
https://silversonic.com/products/digital-cables/glass-master-toslink/
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I saw DH Labs, but I tried the cheapo 280 strands glass Toslink from Amazon, and it was mediocre at best. Isn’t Lifatec better at 470 strands?
I’m also thinking about getting an HDMI ARC audio extractor and use coaxial to my amp to avoid dealing with the Toslink fiasco.
DH Labs is absolutely the best bang for your buck…
all 3 of my megabucks systems are with DH Labs…
including their Glass Master…Revelation XLR’s and Deity speaker wire – all from DH Labs…
right along side my fully loaded MSB Select DAC; (2)fully loaded MSB Reference DAC’s; (3) Reference Transports with Power Bases and (14) Bryston 28b3’s (an active 4-way system; an active Bi-amped system; and (more mono) single amp, passive speaker system)…
… All incoming electricity is being fed via a whole house Lightning Arrester (which also suppresses noise Passively) Panel, feeds off the circuit breaker Panel…and INDIVIDUAL Oversized Topaz Isolation Transformers for each piece of audio equipment in my main system – no equipment shares the same Ground…all mono, except the DAC & Transport.
DH Labs doesn’t advertise much…so, the markup is Substantially Lower…
i find them best @ any price point…they are my price point when considering Marginal Utility…
Iron, have you compared it to Lifatec? It seems Lifatec is half price and has more strands. None of them advertise the attenuation rate, so we don’t know.
I tried the DH Labs Glass Master. I got it from the DH Labs website but they were on sale at the time and with the 10% discount I only paid $126 for the 1/2 meter. I compared it to my Wireworld Silver Starlight HDMI out of my Matrix and although it was really good the Wireworld just has that little bit extra.
As for their return policy, I returned it after around 3 weeks and got a full, no hassle refund. They didn’t even dock me for any shipping charge they incurred for shipping it to me.
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I don’t hear any sonic differences with HDMI cables in my system, and I have some cheap Audioquest Pearl cables. I do however hear differences with Optical Toslink. I think my Hegel H190 amp doesn’t do justice with the optical cable. It sounds much better with coax and straight USB.