Owner`s manual

Wadia 9 Series Decoding Computer System Owner’s Manual
16
Choosing a Digital Cable
While the Wadia 9 Series Decoding Computer system supports all currently accepted
transmission formats for digital audio, we recommend using the glass optical cable
that is included in your accessory kit. Wadia Digital was the first company to use
glass fiber-optic data transmission in digital audio. We have continually improved this
format and believe that it offers the best, most consistent performance of all the
available options.
Based on our experience, here is a list of digital interface methods in descending
order of performance:
1. Glass optical (as implemented by Wadia)
2. AES/EBU using XLR connector
3. Coaxial cable using BNC connector
4. Coaxial cable using RCA connector
5. TOSLINK plastic-optical cable
The quality of any of these transmission methods depends on the quality of the cable
and the sophistication of the transmitter and receiver. For example, a high-quality
coaxial cable can outperform a low-quality AES/EBU cable. A high-quality AES/EBU
cable will outperform a poorly-implemented glass-optical system. We recommend
that if you are using a coaxial cable, have the cable terminated with a BNC
connector. This will provide higher performance than an RCA connector. Your Wadia
9 Series Decoding Computer system comes with an RCA/BNC adapter that can be
used for experimentation between different types of RCA terminated coaxial cable.
Again, we highly recommend that you take advantage of your dealer’s experience
and, most importantly, trust your ears.
All XLR-type inputs and outputs on the Wadia 9 Series Decoding Computer system,
both digital and analog, use the standard audio pin configuration:
Pin 1 - Ground
Pin 2 - Positive signal
Pin 3 - Negative signal