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Monster AI LSS KIT-2M iCable Fiber Optic Kit for AirPort Express to AV Receiver | 
| Brand: Monster
This item is no longer available
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 22940
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 10.6 x 5.2 x 2.2
MPN: AI LSS KIT-2M
Model: AI LSS KIT-2M
UPC: 050644396113
EAN: 0050644396113
ASIN: B0009S5NQO
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| Features:
| • | Mini-Jack adaptor enables optical digital audio connection from AirPort Express to AV receiver. | | • | Experience high-quality digital audio, including Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound. | | • | Precision-cut fiber optic connector for maximum accuracy in signal transfer and lower internal reflection. | | • | Heavy-duty strain relief to prevent fiber and connector damage from heavy use. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Monster is now the world's leading manufacturer of high-performance cables that connect audio/video components for home, car and professional use as well as computers and computer games. Monster Cable is an indispensable component for music lovers, audiophiles, recording studios, sound professionals, musicians, custom-installers and home theatre enthusiasts. Monster's audio cables increase the clarity, dynamics and power of the audio signals that travel through them. Monster video cables deliver the sharpest, clearest picture possible with naturally vivid color from traditional and digital television, projectors, home theatre and satellite systems. With such a range of cabling solutions you are sure to find the right one!PRODUCT FEATURES:Mini - Jack adaptor enables optical digital audio connection from AirPort Express to AV receiver;Experience high - quality digital audio, including Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound;Precision - cut fiber optic connector for maximum accuracy in signal transfer and lower internal reflection;Heavy - duty strain relief to prevent fiber and connector damage from heavy use.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Same performance at many times the price June 12, 2007
S. Ragsdale
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
The world's most demanding banks, corporations, and data centers use the world's best fiber optic cable to send a 10 gigabit multimode signal several kilometers. That fiber costs 60 cents per foot. Why does Monster Cable charge $60 or more for to send a single-mode 128kbps signal a few feet?
I suggest a much cheaper option like the PTC 6ft Toslink to Mini Toslink Cable, which I've been using for weeks now with zero complaints. Save your money and spend it where it will really count: on quality headphones, speakers, or music.
(Unless you really need a white cable. It won't sound any better but at least it'll color-coordinate.)
It is the DAC, not the cable that makes the difference. January 25, 2007
J.B. White (Austin, TX)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Many people seem confused about what makes such a big difference in the two different ways to connect an AirportExpress (AE) to a stereo. When using a standard mini jack-to-RCA cable to connect an AE to a stereo, the digital signal is being converted to an analogue signal by the AE. At an $130 price point, Apple can't afford to put a high quality digital-to-analogue (DAC) converter in an AE. When this optical cable is used to connect to a stereo component, then the component performs the digital-to-analogue conversion. And all most all home theatre components that accept digital input will have better DACs than the one built into the AE. One of the very best ways to get true audiophile quality signal out of an AE is to connect the AE to a Benchmark DAC-1 ($975) with an optical cable, then connect the Benchmark to a stereo with a high quality analogue cable. This Benchmark is considered to be a real bargain in the upper echelons of the audiophile world.
Inexpensive audiophile-quality solution June 12, 2007
R. van Bakel (Maine, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
There's very little premium to pay here: this fiber-optic cable only costs a smidgen more than a good brandname analog miniplug-to-double-RCAs cable. And it sounds considerably better.
Is this thing right for you? Depends. (1) Does your pre-amp or receiver have TOSlink inputs? (2) Do you have an Apple Airport Express? (3) Do you have music files to stream that are not your standard-issue MP3s, but that were ripped at 265kbps or higher, preferably even with lossless encoding software? If you answered yes to all three of these questions, and you have high-quality audio equipment, this cable won't disappoint. As another reviewer said, you might get the best results feeding the cable into a standalone DAC (digital-to-analog converter).
Overkill? Nah.
Let's back up. When you import CDs into iTunes or another music library program, you can CHOOSE THE QUALITY of the copy. An external DAC is not going to make an appreciable difference with low-quality MP3s that have been ripped at 128 kbps or worse (such as most of the ones offered at the iTunes store), but at higher bitrates, these computer files can actually sound very good -- IF you can get around the cheap electronics typically used for playback.
I've begun using lossless encoding (if you have iTunes, go to Preferences --> Advanced --> Importing, then choose Apple Lossless Encoding from the 'Import Using...' dropdown menu).
Maybe the sound quality isn't the final word in terms of musical resolution, but I find that it more than lives up to minimum audiophile standards (mine, at least). I use a relatively old (ten years) Theta Chroma 396 DAC, which works like a charm.
Stereophile editor John Atkins alerted his readers to the Airport Express / DAC possibility recently and pronounced himself relatively pleased with the fidelity of such a setup. He did warn that some DACs apparently take a few seconds to lock on to the digital audio signal, which is annoying when you change tracks -- the first bar(s) of the recording might get cut off. But Atkinson experienced no such problems, and neither did I. My Theta locks on to the signal without any noticeable delay.
Again, if your CD rips are of good to excellent quality (kbps-wise), the Toslink / DAC scenario is definitely a sonic improvement over using a mini-plug out to RCAs in.
 Worth the extra money November 29, 2006
C. Baker (Jacksonville, FL)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The optical cable for the AirPort Express makes a huge difference in sound quality when compared to the analog cable that comes with it. Now I can barely tell the difference between playing a CD on my stereo versus playing through the AirPort Express. It makes complete sense why the cable would sound far superior: the signal received from the computer to the AirPort Express is digital, and if the signal travels through the analog cable it has to be converted to analog, thus losing some quality. The optical cable lets the digital signal continue all the way through to your stereo receiver.
If you currently have an AirPort Express hooked up to your stereo, do yourself a favor and upgrade the cable, just make sure that you have an optical input jack on your stereo before buying it.
Monster AI LSS KIT-2M iCable Fiber Optic Kit February 15, 2007
Chi-hon Lee (DC)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The kit contains a regular toslink cable and a mini-toslink adaptor. I used it to connect my Mac-mini with a Proceed DAC. It is well built and works great. It is a bit pricy comparing with the other products in the market -- hence the 4 stars rating.
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