fiber optic cable and noise

[Leepu Awlia]

i have an older sony es tuner that i am thinking of installing together with a sony es xdp-210eq equalizer. they are connected together by a toslink digital cable and i am wondering how susceptible these toslink cables are to external noise. is there a special way or precaution when  laying them down?

[< jao >]

Hi ASCAL:

Fiber Optic Cables are not susceptible to noise since the signal they carry is light. Special precautions on installing them are:

1. Do not over-bend the fiber optic cable. Such cables have specified bending radius and if you bend beyond it, the fiber core may break.

2. Do not lay down fiber optic cables near high heat areas. Usual operational temperature of such cables are from -40 to +70 degrees celsius. I your case, make sure it the cable does not rest near car parts / compartments that are hot.

Good luck!

[Leepu Awlia]

jao:
thanks a million for your reply. i have a couple more questions for you:
1. would it be safe to bundle the toslink cable with a +12v remote wire from the headunit to the eq and a ground cable?
2. is 6 feet for a toslink cable too long?
3. are there quality differences in different toslink cables? would the quality of a generic compared to a name brand cable affect sound quality?
thanks again!!!!

[< jao >]

jao:
thanks a million for your reply. i have a couple more questions for you:
1. would it be safe to bundle the toslink cable with a +12v remote wire from the headunit to the eq and a ground cable?
2. is 6 feet for a toslink cable too long?
3. are there quality differences in different toslink cables? would the quality of a generic compared to a name brand cable affect sound quality?
thanks again!!!!

Hi Ascal!

No problem!

Answers to your questions:

1.  It's alright to bundle it but I recommend having the Toslink Fiber Cable isolated from all other wires.

2. 6 feet is very short. In the fiber industry, fiber optic cables can be laid down up to several kilometers straight without a signal amplifier. But if the proximity of the devices you would use the Toslink is near with each other, better get a shorter one so you won't have any problems managing the excess length. If you already got the 6 feet, I would suggest that you bundle the cable like a circle (pabilog lang). Do not just tie it in the center.

3. Quality depends on many factors such as the fiber core itself, the termination and installation. If the generic brand follows standards of manufacturing fiber optic cables, then I guess there won't be any problem. A lot of fiber optic cable companies use the same fiber core on their products, follow ITU and IEC standards, may it be in China or Europe. Unless of course the manufacturer of the generic cable only uses recycled material, that's a different story.

Hope this helps!