AudioQuest Forest Coaxial Digital Cable

Forest Is the Start of AudioQuest's Coaxial Digital Range

AudioQuest's Forest is the first rung of its coaxial digital cables. Its solid Long-Grain Copper conductor carries a 0.5% silver plating. Hard-Cell Foam insulates it and a Metal-Layer shield wraps it. It is the cable AudioQuest builds for the coax link from a CD player or streamer to a DAC.

Solid 0.5% Silver Over Long-Grain Copper

AudioQuest says solid conductors minimize the electrical and magnetic interaction between strands. For digital cables, whose signals travel almost exclusively on the surface of the conductor, it plates the copper with silver. Forest gets the thinnest layer in the range, 0.5%.

Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation and Hard-Cell Foam

AudioQuest says a traditional shield drains radio noise to component ground and distorts the reference plane. Its Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation shields the shield, absorbing and reflecting most of that noise first. Hard-Cell Foam, injected with nitrogen, holds the conductor at a stable spacing for a stable impedance.

The RCA Plugs, Explained

Forest ends in a cold-welded RCA plug at each end, gold-plated. RCA is the single-pin plug on the coaxial digital output of most CD players, streamers and DACs. AudioQuest joins plug to wire under high pressure with no solder, which it calls a common source of distortion.

Who Is This Digital Cable Best For?

• You are replacing the cable that came in the box — Forest adds a solid silver-plated conductor and a real shield at AudioQuest's lowest coax price, so the first step is cheap
• Your CD player or streamer has a coaxial output — the RCA plugs fit the orange coax socket on most sources and DACs, so no adapter is needed
• Your rack is crowded with power supplies — the Metal-Layer shield catches radio noise before it reaches the ground reference, so the DAC sees a cleaner signal
• You want a plug that will not corrode — the gold-plated, cold-welded RCA holds its finish and its grip over years of use
• Your gear has BNC or AES/EBU sockets — an RCA plug will not fit them. Call us and we will match the plug

How Does It Connect to Your System?

Plug one end into the coaxial digital output of your CD player, transport or streamer and the other into the coaxial digital input of your DAC or receiver. Then choose that input on the DAC and let it lock to the signal.

Then listen. Other and longer lengths available. Call for prices.

Pairs Well With

A digital cable is one link in a digital chain. It usually joins these categories.

• Digital-to-Analog Converters — the receiving end of the link
• CD Players and Transports — the classic coaxial source
• Music Streamers — a streamer with a digital output
• Power Cables — clean power at both ends

Frequently Asked Questions

Why plate copper with silver?

AudioQuest says a digital signal is so high in frequency that it travels almost exclusively on the surface of the conductor. Putting the better metal on the outside is, in its words, a superbly cost-effective way to maximize a digital cable.

What is Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation?

AudioQuest's name for its shield. A plain shield drains radio noise into the ground reference and distorts it, AudioQuest says. Its metal layers absorb and reflect most of that noise first.

What does cold-welded mean?

AudioQuest joins plug to wire with high pressure instead of solder, which it calls a common source of distortion. Because the ground shells are stamped rather than machined, it can pick the metal for low distortion.

Is there a step up?

AudioQuest Cinnamon Coaxial Digital is the next rung. It raises the silver plating to 1.25% and keeps the same Metal-Layer shield and Hard-Cell Foam.

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