Audiophile HDMI-I2S OCC copper cables at incredible price!

In this video I recommend a pair of audiophile quality HDMI OCC copper cables with 24K gold conductors to use to connect your high-res source or CD player/transport to your DAC via the I2S protocol...at a very good price!

We often hear the statement that digital cables can’t possibly make a difference in audio “because they are only sending ones and zeroes”. Dissecting that assertion, we can see a logical fallacy: a number is an abstraction and cannot be “sent”, but something that represents it can.
Do to high skepticism and lack of knowledge on digital signal transmission, in particular HDMI, I am here adding some links to interesting and useful articles that demonstrate how digital signals, including those of HDMI, undergo several problems. Clearly these problems are inferior than analog cables, but still present. Everybody seems to forget that the digital signals go through analog conductors which are subject to several issues, for example frequency dependent cable attenuation (very long cables), signal reflections, phase distortion, noise introduction etc.:

GC Audio article (just to start with):

Texas Instruments article:

QED article:

Nordost article:

HDMI to I2S video:

More Ana[dia]log groove here:

#hdmicables #i2s #highresaudio

[anadialog]

We often hear the statement that digital cables can’t possibly make a difference in audio “because they are only sending ones and zeroes”. Dissecting that assertion, we can see a logical fallacy: a number is an abstraction and cannot be “sent”, but something that represents it can.
Do to high skepticism and lack of knowledge on digital signal transmission, in particular HDMI, I am here adding some links to interesting and useful articles that demonstrate how digital signals, including those of HDMI, undergo several problems. Clearly these problems are inferior than analog cables, but still present. Everybody seems to forget that the digital signals go through analog conductors which are subject to several issues, for example frequency dependent cable attenuation (very long cables), signal reflections, phase distortion, noise introduction etc.:

GC Audio article (just to start with):

Texas Instruments article:

QED article:

Nordost article:

[mastergivenn]

I tell you why digital cable matters:
When we transfer data from one hard disk to another, we use the BULK TRANSFER, which is a LOSELESS transfer (without data loss) in which the data transfer speed is NOT guaranteed, and is therefore variable: all the bandwidth is used. available "as long as there is"; in the event of congestion, the transfer speed will drop, and eventually increase again.
In the BULK TRANSFER, the individual "transactions" however have the "handshake packets", which are packets - placed at the end of the "transaction" - which contain information on the error control of the single "transaction" in which they are contained.
So, using the USB in the "BULK TRANSFER" mode, that is when we save our data for example on an external disk (another type of "device"), we do not know how long it will take to copy the data, but we are rest assured that we will have a perfect copy of all our information.
All of this is absolutely not true when we use our DAC.
For audio streaming, things work differently, in fact we use what takes the name of "Isochronous Transfer", which is a REAL-TIME data transfer mode that provides a portion of RESERVED bandwidth, not DYNAMIC as in the "bulk transfer "; but above all, this mode does not provide for the "handshake packet", the packages for error control placed at the end of each "transaction".
It is therefore considered an unreliable connection, with possible data loss, because priority is given to the need to have a constant and real-time data flow. This is the difference, and the reason why it is absolutely useless to compare the USB connection of a printer with that of the DAC: since the latter is a "LOSSY" connection, ie with loss of data, all the possible variables, therefore EVEN the cable USB, become meaningful, and will directly impact the end result in a way that cannot be predicted.
The USB bus converges interference generated by the processors (CPU, GPU, DSP), the power supply, the motherboard power VRMs, the fans, the hard disk motors and in the case of the connection with the DAC, the need to obtain a streaming real-time at a practically fixed bitrate, makes data transfer certainly less reliable than when copying a file to a memory device.
This is because, let us remember, our hard disk uses a variable speed LOSELESS transfer mode in order to transport information that must only be COPIED, always remaining in the digital domain; the priority is the integrity of the information, everything else is secondary.
A DAC instead uses a LOSSY and REALTIME transfer mode whose priority is a constant data flow from which to obtain certainly incomplete information that will first be converted from digital to digital, then from digital to analog, then amplified at least 2 times and finally converted into sound waves from acoustic transducers

[PeterHas]

Based on this video I bought the Ricable HDMI cable. I didn't buy the one you got, instead I got the newer HDMI 2.1 version. Design wise it's the same, just with different connector design and tweaked insulation for better flexibility. It's still teflon and OCC, so it's in no way a downgrade in design. I'm using it for I2S. The only cables I can compare it with are cheaper ones like Supra HDMI 2.1, Moshou HDMI 2.1, a no-name HDMI 2.1 cable, and a drone HDMI cable. Contrary to what some might believe, every one of these cables sound different. I2S is not the same as HDMI. It's a completely different protocol, using a different voltage, and most likely no error correction of any kind. I2S is more like a jumper cable between motherboards, and not something with careful design consideration behind it. To make a long story short, the Ricable cable is the best.

The second best HDMI cable for I2S is Supra. It has an identical tone as the Ricable cable, which make me believe that Supra gets the majority of the signal information across without error. I'll get to the advantages of the Ricable cable shortly. In my I2S testing I've noticed that length matters a lot, with 2 meter HDMI sounding so bad that one might as well use AES instead. But if the length is below 1 meter, the quality of the cable starts to matter more. The Moshou cable I have is 0.3 meters, but it sounds much worse than the 0.5 meter Supra HDMI cable. The Moshou cable has a strange cold sound. I've tried the cable on a Audio-GD DI-20 both on a Musician Pegasus and Audio-GD R8 Mk2. The cable manifested the same audible artefacts on both. So if you have no budget, I highly recommend getting at least a Supra HDMI 2.1 cable if you can for I2S. That's when you really start hearing what I2S can do compared with AES, Coax or Toslink. And if you have the budget, I recommend the Ricable HDMI cable. The difference between Supra HDMI and Ricable HDMI is in dynamics and soundstage depth placement. With Supra all sounds are more restricted in their placement. In a live recording the whole band seems to exist on a single plane. With Ricable every musician is placed more distinctly in front or behind each other, with audience extending further into the room. That's just one example, as the same effect manifests across all genres whether it's electronic music, jazz or metal. There's simply more breadth in the possible places objects can appear in the sound stage, with layers of sound able to stand out more and appear more vivid and different from each other. The more complex and layered the performance, the larger the difference between Supra and Ricable. In isolation there's nothing wrong with the Supra sound. But in comparison, there's no contest. I did my comparison in as a controlled way as possible to satisfy myself that what I was hearing was correct. I kept the volume knob in a permanent position as I compared back and forth, I never moved my seat, and I compared both with speakers and headphones. The difference wasn't subtle, so I feel confident in my findings.

[BenzGL]

Just ordered the cable! I run a Sony SCD-XA5400ES to a Bryston BDA-3 DAC. The Sony was modified to improve it's vibration dampening performance and it can transfer SACD signal in native DSD to the Bryston (without PCM conversion). The analog signal then runs through the rest of the chain in full differential balanced mode. This cable should help me squeeze the most out of my digital transfer! Thanks for discovering it and sharing!

[anaussieaudiophile]

Awesome video this is what we like to see man.
We just wouldn't know about this stuff if it wasn't for people like you.👍🎧🙂

[latheofheaven]

Lovely, thank you! Heh... I never realized that is what your shirt 'said' 👍

[rogerschofield]

Thanks for the review. Is it possible to use a HDMI switch ( one or another source into dac) in 12s protocol ?

[hugobloemers]

You can think of cables what you want (and I am in the skeptical camp) but purely based on the used materials this is good value.
So at the least you are getting some audio jewelry.

[connorduke]

A great heads up. At a higher price level, Tubulus Concentus i2s is pure silver with air insulation, but then at a price of 650 Euro. Looking forward to see which transport you chose.

[georgkessler]

Due to cable I followed all of your recommendations and was impressed, especially the yarboo power cable omg what an improvement. I bought the ricable hdmi now and looking forward to see how this sounds. Do you have also a recommendation for an usb cable?

[GB-upnl]

Hi, love your channel.
I ordered couple of cables on your recommendation from this video. Couldn’t find any other occ hdmi cables so I think I did the right thing.
Can you recommend some good optical cables please, there’s nothing much I can find.

[noseonscent]

I could buy a short 8k hdmi cable with either pure copper and gold contacts or fibre optic internals for less more and probably get exactly same or slightly better performance. Thanks for posting this however. Each to his or her own.

[paavn]

Hi, can you please tell how the Ricable Visus HDMI 2.1 cable compares to the Tubulus Concentus I2S cable?

[MrBillblake]

Have you bought that new transport yet to hook up with that May Dac?

[latheofheaven]

Hey Guido! You mention at the beginning of this video that you had made a previous video about the box/interface that helps you go from say my ancient OPPO player to play SACD's to this box and then out of the box to the I2S input of my SMSL DO200 DAC. I believe you said that you would place a link here to THAT video, but I don't see it. I've been doing extensive reading and research on this because I would LOVE to be able to play the many SACD's that I have through this device in order to transfer the pure DSD to the I2S of the DAC (I know there is some concern about the pin orientation not being standard for I2S, but I'm really hoping to be able to do that) If you could please provide the link to that video, that would be excellent, thank you! 👍 There are like a MILLION of these boxes from China for sale on eBay from about $29 - $110 and they all look IDENTICAL! 😲 I would rather if possible get something locally, preferably on Amazon that I can return easily if I can't get it to work.

---EDIT OOPS, guess what! On Google I did a search for that and damn if I didn't get what I THINK is that video in the search! 😊 This video you made in November of 2020, so it's been quite a while ago (I liked the cool intro to that one too) but, it sounds specifically about getting the high resolution signal to your DAC from your SACD player, so I'm gonna go and watch it now (BTW, if you HAPPEN to have come up with anything else better, simpler, or more bulletproof, please let me know) Thank you *MUCHO* Guido!

[rogerschofield]

Thank you for the video but it does not switch two separate i2s sources into one in the Dac. I need a 2 to 1 switch

[HUMPTY]

You liked the SKW speaker cables but not their HDMI?

[bobb.]

Can I buy these cables in The USA? (I cannot get the Ricable web page to switch to English on my Chrome Browser). Thanks.

[jon]

Watch Linus Tech Tips HDMI deep dive with their industrial cable tester. It explains how HDMI works, how certain HDMI cables are out of compliance, defective, etc. I think that could potentially inform our I2s choices. I don't know about conductor quality and hifi digital cables, but digital cabling is a lot more complicated than most commenters here are giving it credit.

[jochvomberg]

Just last week i compared a Öhlbach 100euro and a Inakustik 70euro
hdmi and the inakustik was much better, never thaught there is such a big difference.