My two cents: If the sequence 1101000101010001 transmitted by the first device is interpreted by the second device as 1101000101010001, it makes not one wit of difference to the quality of the sound by what means the data arrived.

If many packets of 1101000101010001 are sent, and out of that the receiving device interprets some of the packets to be 1101001001010001 instead, then uses the erroneous information to generate an analog signal, you are going to hear more than a change in timbre, you are going to hear outright glitches in the signal.

If you detect an actual difference in the sound quality of coax vs. optical, the difference is in the sending and/or receiving device. This would involve the means by which the data is generated or interpreted (protocol, bit rate, word length, etc.) and then converted to analog for one interface vs. the other.

Earl Grey, hot, decaffeinated, please.


[This message has been edited by bestbang4thebuck (edited April 01, 2004).]