Chord Signature Super ARAY Digital AES/EBU

At some point in the late nineties a particularly well thought of DAC and transport began to appear with an XLR socket alongside the coaxial and Toslink sockets. It was we think, the first appearance of a pro-audio digital connection called AES/EBU on domestic equipment.

We and quite a lot of the industry were rather exited. We had the DAC and transport so the first thing we did was to get some pro-audio correct (110 Ohm) impedance cable and build a 1m cable using Neutrik XLRs.  When compared to a digital co-axial cable, the75 Ohm S/PDIF connection was better in every way. We found a cable that worked – it was nowhere near the 110 Ohm impedance but it sounded good. Since then it’s a connection we’ve approached with caution.

As more products have been appearing with AES/EBU connections and because we use separate high frequency effective shielded conductors and Tuned/Super ARAY conductor configurations (ideal for this particular connection) it made sense to re-visit AES/EBU.  Results were much better than expected but as cables in this area are very system-dependant we would still recommend that you try the S/PDIF Signature Super ARAY Digital at the same time and decide for yourself which one is better.

The standard length is 1m.