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A fiber optic cable carries sound as pulses of light, not electricity, so it can't pick up the electrical or radio-frequency noise a copper cable can. What still matters is fiber quality and how cleanly the ends are polished.
AudioQuest's Cinnamon moves to what the company calls its lowest-dispersion, highest-purity fiber conductor, and raises the silver content on the conductors to 1.25%, more than double Forest's .5%. Every Cinnamon Toslink cable ships with a Mini-Adapter in the box.
AudioQuest names Cinnamon's fiber its lowest-dispersion, highest-purity grade below the narrow-aperture Carbon and Vodka tiers, built around the same physics as the rest of the range: less dispersed light arriving late means less distortion in the decoded signal.
Cinnamon's conductors carry 1.25% silver, more than double Forest's .5%, which AudioQuest says helps eliminate strand-interaction distortion and reduce jitter. That silver content is the one stated difference between the Forest and Cinnamon tiers.
Cinnamon ends in a full-size Toslink plug on each end, and every Cinnamon cable includes a 3.5mm Mini-Adapter in the box, so the same cable also serves a mini-optical jack without buying a second cable.
Most AudioQuest Fiber Optic Digital cables come with a Mini-Adapter connector which fits over the regular Toslink optical connector. It’s used for certain types of digital audio connections and its use is strictly optional. If you don’t need it for your audio gear, just stick it in a drawer in case you need it later.
Part-Time Audiophile's coverage of AudioQuest's optical range calls it "all certified and finished to perfection," naming Cinnamon as the honest mid-point of that ladder rather than the flagship.
Plug the square Toslink connector into the OPTICAL OUT or DIGITAL OUT port on your source, and the matching square plug into the OPTICAL IN port on your receiver, DAC or soundbar. The connector is keyed to fit only one way.
Then power up the system as usual.
Measure the route the cable will really take from your source to your receiver, DAC or soundbar, around furniture and behind the rack. Then add a little slack. As audio legend George Cardas puts it, "A cable that's just long enough usually turns out to be just not long enough."
An optical cable often stays in a system for years, so it is easy to overlook. Look again when something else changes: a new DAC, streamer, receiver or soundbar.
An optical cable is one link between a source and a receiver, DAC or soundbar. It usually joins these categories.
AudioQuest explains it this way: dispersed light does get through a Toslink cable, but only after taking a longer path, arriving late, like a pool ball bouncing off the rails. That delayed light prevents the receiving device from decoding the signal properly. Less dispersion in the fiber means less distortion in the final analog sound.
It's plastic optical fiber, not glass. Unlike glass, it will not microscopically fracture when the cable is bent or flexed, which is what lets these cables route through tight spots without breaking.
Light travels down the fiber core with no electrical current on the cable itself, which is exactly why it can't pick up hum, ground loops or radio-frequency noise the way a copper interconnect can. The signal is decoded back to an electrical one only inside your components.
AudioQuest Carbon is the next rung. It replaces the single large fiber with 19 narrow-aperture synthetic fibers and adds a non-metallic, galvanically isolated connector.
Various portable audio devices and computers use this adapter including the iFi Gryphon, Creative Sound Blaster, KEF EGG Duo, Google Chromecast, Apple AirPort, Astell&Kern AK100II/120/240 and the Sony MZ-N505.
The answer is that shorter lengths of the cables are most commonly used in home audio systems where the cables may be visible, so they get the fancier woven cover. Longer fiber optic cables (5.0M+) are often used in home theater or commercial installations where the smooth cover makes it easier to pull the cables through ceilings and walls. What’s the difference in performance? None that we can tell.
Want to learn more about optical cables, digital audio, or system setup? Visit our Learning Center for guides, tips, and expert advice.
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