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Chord Company have been producing Digital coaxial cables for the past 20
years. Initially the cables we made were sold with some of the stand-alone
digital to analogue converters that became popular in the early 1990s. Recently
the extraordinary growth in home cinema has meant that the demand for good
digital coaxial cables has increased enormously. The output impedance of
a digital coaxial signal is set at 75 ohms and one of the first golden rules
is to make sure the cable is of the same impedance. In theory, digital cables
should not produce any real difference since of course they are transmitting
digital information. However, the fact is that digital coaxial cables, and
to a lesser extent optical cables, are capable of producing profoundly different
results. Like analogue cables, they can have a real effect on the tonal
characteristics of a system as well as having an effect on the level of
perceived detail, timing and dynamics.
Some CD players and digital to analogue converters are fitted with BNC output/input sockets. The big advantage of this is that BNC connectors have an impedance of 75 ohms, making them ideal as a digital signal connector. All Chord coaxial digital cables are available fitted with 75 ohm military grade silver plated BNC connectors. As well as coaxial digital cables we also produce optical and AES EBU connectors. What is it? The Chord
Codac Silver Plus is the first coaxial digital connector in the Chord
range. All our digital cables feature solid core conductors and a coaxial
construction. The Codac Silver Plus is a good example of how effective
a simple design, combined with high quality materials, can be. The central
conductor that carries the signal is silver plated oxygen free copper.
This is surrounded by a gas foamed polyethylene dielectric. Terminations The Codac Silver Plus is available fitted with either silver plated RCA plugs (to maintain a single material signal path) or silver plated BNC plugs. Uses Codac Silver Plus is a great choice for budget to mid-price home cinema systems. At its price point, it is difficult to better. In theory, optical connections offer so many advantages that they should be an obvious choice. In practice, if you have the chance to compare the two, you may well find the Codac Silver Plus more than capable of out-performing some considerably more expensive optical cables. How does it sound? The combination
of materials used in the construction make the Codac Silver Plus a great
choice for bringing detail and definition to the sound of a system. It
is not bright but it does have a definite crispness that works really
with voice and film sound tracks. What is it? The Prodac Pro Digital is another coaxial design digital cable. A single ultra cast oxygen free copper conductor is used to carry the signal. Ultra cast copper is specially treated and contributes to the exceptionally natural tonal signature of the Prodac. The dielectric is gas foamed polyethylene and the shield/return is of a unique multi-material construction that is extremely effective at reducing high frequency interference. This is the first time Chord has used a composite shield, but it certainly won't be the last. Terminations The Prodac Pro Digital is fitted with gold plated RCA plugs or silver plated military grade BNC plugs. In theory, we should be fitting gold plated BNC plugs to the Prodac Pro Digital cable. In practice we have yet to find a gold plated BNC that out-performs the silver plated one we currently use. Uses The Prodac Pro Digital is proving to be our most popular digital cable yet. This cable is used in all levels of home cinema equipment and finds its way onto the back of a lot of high-end digital analogue converters. How does it sound? As mentioned above, the Prodac Pro Digital really does bring a very natural sound to both home cinema and hi-fi systems alike. Voices and instruments sound very solid and believable. This cable is a really excellent choice if you need to tame a slightly bright or a slightly hard sounding system. The Prodac Pro Digital does this exceptionally well without any loss of detail or softening of the sound. What is it? The Chord Signature Digital design has been based on discoveries made during the development of the Signature RCA and the Signature speaker cable. The Signature Digital differs dramatically from almost every other digital coaxial cable available in that it uses identical conductors for send and return. This is a proven configuration for analogue cables, but is really not common in digital applications. However, it is hard to argue with the results. Like the Prodac Pro Digital, both conductors are produced from ultra cast oxygen free copper and again like the Prodac Pro Digital, the shielding system is a composite design. Terminations The Signature Digital is available fitted with either Chord's own design of gold plated low mass plug as found on the Signature RCA, or military grade silver plated BNC plugs. Ideally we would have used a gold plated BNC but we have yet to find one that matches the performance of the silver plated version we currently use. Uses The Signature Digital was developed in response to the new generation of digital to analogue converters. When we started to listen to these it became obvious that the cable was the limiting factor. The final version of the Signature Digital proved this. Try this interconnect with any stand alone digital to analogue converter and transport but experiment with home cinema applications as well. Used as the connection between DVD player and processor the Signature Digital has been outstanding. How does it sound? Fitting a Signature Digital to a system is the best way of finding out what it can do. This is one of those products that can produce a startling improvement. It's not just that you can hear so much more information it's the ease with which you hear it. The sound stage is huge and the tone strikingly natural. There is no brightness or glare, simply a lot more music. |
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