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I don’t think you ever needed convincing. I’m sure after the mod you’ll claim some sound improvement.
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Installing BNC connectors on digital gear...
- Thread starter klettermann
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If you want to fiddle with something, seems better to focus on something meaningful rather than something completely pointless. But you're free to waste your time on whatever you like. Just don't imagine you are actually optimizing anything.
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Sure sure, although I think DIYers should be encouraged to do something... not weirdly pathological. Although now that I think about it, that might kill a lot of the DIY market...That was mean!
We want to encourage the DIYers.... imagination is everything!
mcdn
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I don't mind these "pointless" mods as such as some do. It encourages people to at least get out a screwdriver, or even a multimeter. They're mostly harmless (changing cables, changing connectors, rolling opamps), and let people safely go beyond thinking of their gear as a dumb appliance. And they're fun!
Hard lines should be drawn anywhere near power supplies though, especially safety grounds. Most people have _no idea_ that an SMPS can hit 700V...
OP
klettermann
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It apparently triggers some of your colleagues to a degree I'd never have guessed. Especially on a DIY forum. Ad hominim arguments - nobody actually said how ChatGBT was actually wrong! Non sequiturs! And more! And despite all that nobody bothered to respond to the underlying question of whether RCA spdif designs make any attempt to rectify the impedance mismatch (though somebody did mention 75ohm series resistor). Quite amazing really, since I said at the outset that I have little expectation of any sonic benefit. God save us all.
It doesn’t really matter what ChatGPT says. What matters is the design of your particular device. Find a service manual or try to reverse engineer it first. That should give some clues about if they’ve taken some care off impedance. I would bet that in most cases, this is in fact very minimal, simply because it doesn’t matter very much.
I did. It suggested, and I quote from your post:-
ChatGBT seems to think so. The reason is that supposedly the transmitter/reciever design for RCA/spdif is optimized around that connector and a BNC connector would disrupt that.
It won't disrupt anything, and no S-PDIF transmitter or receiver is 'optimised' for anything. It's designed to work with nominally 75 ohm cabling, but as a protocol, is so rugged that it works fine with any old bit of cable, or even wet string! So Chat-GPT is wrong, as it has been on so many things audio engineering related, as it only picks up the crap that's spouted on other forums as truth. It has no discrimination or fact checking, so useless for anything where accuracy it needed.
S.
I think people have used wet strings coathangers and potatoes to transmit spdiff data with sucess ?
At the frequency of S/PDIF transmissions (10's of MHz), the differences between RCA and BNC are totally insignificant.
https://people.ece.uw.edu/darling/AgilentRFLab/RF and Microwave Coaxial Cable and Connectors.pdf
https://people.ece.uw.edu/darling/AgilentRFLab/RF and Microwave Coaxial Cable and Connectors.pdf
Dartzel seems to think something of the bnc for some reason not sure why but also the broadcast biz seems to think something of it as well. The one thing I can see it having over rca is the locking mechanism. When moving equipment its nice to know your not pulling them out easily.
Peace.
Peace.
Broadcasting ? Absolutely for video and radio signals.
I once added a BNC connector to a streaming device in order to give it a digital coaxial SPDIF output.
However, in that case there was a point to doing it, because without the mod the device only had stereo analogue audio outputs. I think it may even have supported 5.1 via the SPDIF BNC mod.
That mod required you to solder a wire to the point on the circuit board where the digital signal was exposed (near the input to the DAC I suppose). You could either re-purpose one of the existing analogue audio RCA sockets or drill a hole and install your own extra connector. (I chose to add a BNC). Quite different to just changing the connector type when SPDIF is already available via RCA.
Web content describing such mods is probably enough to make LLMs think adding BNCs is always a good idea.
However, in that case there was a point to doing it, because without the mod the device only had stereo analogue audio outputs. I think it may even have supported 5.1 via the SPDIF BNC mod.
That mod required you to solder a wire to the point on the circuit board where the digital signal was exposed (near the input to the DAC I suppose). You could either re-purpose one of the existing analogue audio RCA sockets or drill a hole and install your own extra connector. (I chose to add a BNC). Quite different to just changing the connector type when SPDIF is already available via RCA.
Web content describing such mods is probably enough to make LLMs think adding BNCs is always a good idea.
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Nope they use them for audio as well. Aes in some cases is still used with 75ohm to 110 ohm balun. No rca for anything is used in broadcast.
HalSF
Senior Member
“Hating ChatGPT slop is ad hominem” is a new one to me.
In broadcast facilities BNCs are required for analogue video, either component or composite as reflections from impedance mismatches cause ghosting on video, especially visible on edges. BNCs are also used for 75 ohm AES-3 audio, for the very practical reason that the cabling is the same. Similarly, analogue audio is usually wired using 110ohm balanced cable as that can equally be used for digital audio.
The alternative to BNCs, used predominantly in video patch-panels (I've never seen them used anywhere else) is MUSA.
Digital video can be carried over 75 ohm coax, although now more commonly over fibre.
I've only ever seen RCA connectors used for interfacing consumer equipment, for non-critical applications.
At home, with normal lengths of cabling, pretty much anything can be used for line level analogue or digital signals.
S
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Can we, at least, agree to make an exception for S/PDIF coax cables, outfitted with RCAs.
The above example is under $7.00 (including tax/ship), for a 1 meter length.
For a $1.00 more, you can get one with a ferrite-donut over the cable; though merits for such applications need thought!
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OP
klettermann
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ChatGBT is the source. So it's rejecting the argument because you reject the source instead of rejecting the argument itself. Monkeys at a typewriter could produce something that is true. The fact that monkeys did it doesn't invalidate it. Pretty simple, no?
Yes, monkeys could produce something that's true, but they would have no understanding, and nor does ChatGPT. Thar's why I despise it. It's not intelligent, it's merely digesting data.
S
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You are very clearly demonstrating why attempting to use an LLM to evaluate a subject when you have no understanding is a problem.
If you don't want to listen to the people who do understand this who are telling you why this is pointless (it's not just that it won't make an audible difference, it will make no difference whatsoever) that's fine. You can do what you want, you don't need anyone's permission for this. But kindly don't pretend you have some leg to stand on here when all you can do is hide behind "but the LLM said so".
