Many systems sound much better with dedicated digital cables. Keith applies the same rigour to his digital designs while understanding the critical differences from analogue signal transmission. The end goal remains the same; better sound for you.
Electrical properties including impedance, termination, RFI rejection and grounding are all dealt with in the digital interconnects in order to facilitate a smooth, uninterrupted signal flow from one component to another.
Most importantly, the very best conductors and materials feature, most notably specialised silver alloys. In simple terms, higher conductivity means more information gets through. You get more detail, a quieter background, silky treble and far better bass.
KLEI’s first generation SPDIF coax digital cables were introduced in 2015 and quickly found favour.
We now have the latest third generation QFlow ‘Truth’ series cables improve upon the original architecture and the range now includes USB and AES-EBU options. The SPDIF coax cables benefit from better plugs (The KLEI Harmony plugs are a story in themselves and their unique design is actually perfect for digital), conductors and internal architecture.
While these cables operate in the digital domain, what you’ll hear is very much an improvement in the end analogue sound…
‘He bought the Mac back along with his KLEI™QFLOW7 USB cable and, well I was stonkered – KL’s KLEI QFLOW7 USB cable was really up there. Compared to the Curious I thought it more analogue like and the sound stage widened with greater depth. It was more organic. Characteristics of texture and organic type sound implies better harmonic resolution, so maybe that’s what KLEI™QFLOW7 USB cable was delivering.
What I can say for sure is that the KLEI™QFLOW7 USB cable is one fine USB cable. Well worth giving it a try and I got one to go with my Curious… BH.’
Which is the best digital cable for my system?
In our own experience the KLEI digital cables – especially the QFlow7D USB – deliver some of the greatest audible benefits of any of the KLEI range, especially relative to cost. An obvious but often forgotten reason for this is simply that you only need the one cable – not a pair as you would with analogue and so the material cost is effectively halved while the performance gain is consistent with the analogue version of the same cable.
USB is our preferred connection; When used with our Lumin network transports the improvement is immediately obvious and well worthwhile. It’s equally so when connecting any computer to a DAC (usually via USB) where the problems around RFI and noise are often considerably greater.
AES-EBU is a more specialised option found in high end DACs – the selected Nutrik plugs and a more complex internal conductor arrangement contribute to the higher cost but this is in turn justified by the higher performance. And is in proportion to the analogue equivalent (the QFlow7 Balanced)
SPDIF or ‘Coax’ is the most common digital connection and remains very reliable and delivers significantly better sound that Optical. KLEI produce 3 levels of SPDIF cable that use progressively better grades of the KLEI Harmony plug and improving levels of internal conductors. These plugs are a key point of difference from all other similar cables and their contribution cannot be overstated. Almost all CD players and set top boxes use Coax.
Optical. While this connection is effectively ubiquitous and in theory offers perfect isolation from electrical interference and noise, the performance, while still good, is best regarded as the fall back option. A good cable is still worthwhile to maintain a reliable connection and improve sound. There’s good honest engineering built into the Kimber OPT ONE and this is our cable of choice for this format.
- QFlow7 Truth USB NZ$1700 including GST.
- QFlow7D AES-EBU NZ$1375
- QFlow1 Truth SPDIF NZ$660
- QFlow2D TruthSPDIF NZ$900
- QFlow4D TruthSPDIF NZ$1320
- QFlow7D Truth SPDIF NZ$2420
- QPURITY∞∞∞ Truth SPDIF NZ$4345
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