Gold plated digital connectors, bad?

[Raj]

I don't understand the hate for gold plated digital cables...I know that little bit of contract resistance isn't big thing for digital, but don't you want corrosion resistance for mere cents off extra cost.

They specially criticize gold plated HDMI. While my laptop HDMI port had green spots since day 1, it worked fine, but had I not put wd40 on it, it would have destroyed itself with corrosion.

You don't get non gold plated HDMI cable, even if you go out looking for one.

[tooki]

Who exactly is saying that gold plated connectors are bad?

And of course, don’t confuse “unnecessary” with “bad”. In many situations another plating will do just fine. The primary downside to gold is cost. The higher resistance of gold over copper or silver is completely irrelevant when it comes to contact plating, where the thin plating makes the higher resistance essentially irrelevant, and where the slightly higher contact resistance of nickel or chrome plating — never mind the FAR higher and far less predictable resistance of corrosion on silver or copper — would actually be measurably worse. Whether this actually makes any difference in practice is an entirely different matter.

You can easily demonstrate this with a cheap multimeter that has an unlatched continuity tester: standard chrome plated probes are scratchy, while gold plated probes produce a nice, clean tone.

[AndyC_772]

If I had to hazard a guess, this may have come from an audio / hi-fi forum, though it's not something I've heard mentioned before even in that context.

As a rule, I advise people interested in learning about electronics to avoid any source which:

a) specifically relates to high-end audio, or
b) is titled "the truth about...", which uses a lot of CAPITAL LETTERS, or is otherwise shouty, confrontational, or tending to openly contradict established science without presenting arguments that are at least as rigorous as those it's attempting to debunk.

[tooki]

Totally. This reeks of audiophoolery.

[001]

Totally. This reeks of audiophoolery.

Is it bad?

[TERRA Operative]

There is nothing inherantly wrong with gold plating if done properly. Gold makes a good contact with gold and also helps to prevent corrosion, also contributing to a better connection.

However, if the gold is fake or too thin and wears away easily, it's no good to anyone.

Also, many cheap cables use gold connections as their main selling point (along with 99.9999999% oxygen free copper!!!) to catch naive buyers into buying their crap.


Basically, a properly done gold plating will make a good connection, arguably better than basic chrome or nickel etc,  but it isn't the sole indicator of a good cable by any means.

[SiliconWizard]

One reason I would see against gold plating is that gold has lower conductivity than copper or silver, but for that to matter in a connector, it would have to pass huge amounts of current. Absolutely not something you're dealing with in digital connectors, and besides, on very short lengths such as in connectors, it would be pretty much negligible. But even more importantly, except in very specific applications, no such small connector has copper or silver finish anyway, so this is moot. They are often nickel-plated, which has much lower conductivity than gold!

A relevant reason IMO would just be that there are many fake gold-plated stuff around... so it may be either very poorly done or may not even be gold. (Beware what you buy!)
All that glitters is not gold.

Of course the benefit is that it doesn't oxidize, and has better conductivity than most other metals used for plating.

Side note regarding silver: this is for the "audiophools"  :
Silver oxide has indeed relatively good conductivity, so that's often seen as an argument for silver plating (or even solid silver), but this is actually a completely moot point, because most of the "tarnish" that gets on silver stuff in ambient conditions is silver sulfide ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_sulfide ), which is a poor conductor (at least in normal conditions), not silver oxide.

[wraper]

I don't understand the hate for gold plated digital cables...I know that little bit of contract resistance isn't big thing for digital, but don't you want corrosion resistance for mere cents off extra cost.

They specially criticize gold plated HDMI. While my laptop HDMI port had green spots since day 1, it worked fine, but had I not put wd40 on it, it would have destroyed itself with corrosion.

You don't get non gold plated HDMI cable, even if you go out looking for one.

Those which are called gold plated, have golden shell. Often without a trace of gold and crappy contacts without or with very thin gold plating. Any good cable has gold plated contacts while anything more than nickel plating for shell is waste of money.

[Mr. Scram]

I don't understand the hate for gold plated digital cables...I know that little bit of contract resistance isn't big thing for digital, but don't you want corrosion resistance for mere cents off extra cost.

They specially criticize gold plated HDMI. While my laptop HDMI port had green spots since day 1, it worked fine, but had I not put wd40 on it, it would have destroyed itself with corrosion.

You don't get non gold plated HDMI cable, even if you go out looking for one.

Regular WD40 isn't a rust inhibitor.

[Monkeh]

I don't understand the hate for gold plated digital cables...I know that little bit of contract resistance isn't big thing for digital, but don't you want corrosion resistance for mere cents off extra cost.

All the actual contacts are always gold plated on modern connectors. USB, HDMI, DP, etc. The only 'extra' gold plating is the shell, which is irrelevant and pointless. Corrosion resistance is a non-issue because nickel doesn't rust either.

You don't get non gold plated HDMI cable, even if you go out looking for one.

Again, pins always plated on a compliant cable. Shell.. You used to get them, but because every bloody idiot out there thinks it matters, they're mostly gold plated for no good reason at all these days.

[wraper]

Again, pins always plated on a compliant cable. Shell.. You used to get them, but because every bloody idiot out there thinks it matters, they're mostly gold plated for no good reason at all these days.

Only separately sold cables. Cables which come bundled with equipment normally have nickel plated shell. Also as decent female connectors (in equipment) normally are nickel plated, plugging gold plated cable makes no sense. Connecting dissimilar metals only makes things worse.

[Mr. Scram]

Only separately sold cables. Cables which come together with equipment normally have nickel plated shell. Also as decent female connectors (in equipment) normally are nickel plated, plugging gold plated cable makes no sense. Connecting dissimilar metals only makes things worse.

Coatings and platings are dissimilar by definition.

[David Hess]

Gold plating is more important when the connector pins are smaller so it is less likely that you will find smaller connectors without gold plating.

[PlainName]

It is not the plating that's an issue, it's the marketing of it to the credulous that starts it being a problem. The marketing makes out that gold plating is necessary (or at least very desirable) on the grounds that it can affect the digital content. It can, but your connection would have to be really very crappy to get into that situation, so practically it should make no difference. However, the credulous hear "no gold means shit signal" and therefore think that gold plating is necessary because of that.

In itself that also wouldn't be much of an issue, but the knowledgeable can tell when someone is being taken for a ride and take the piss mercilessly. And this is the issue: if a connector features gold plating they figure it has to be a marketing rip-off thing, so therefore gold plated connectors are ipso facto pure bullshit.

tl;dr: it's the digital equivalent of virtue signalling

[m98]

Silver oxide has indeed relatively good conductivity, so that's often seen as an argument for silver plating (or even solid silver), but this is actually a completely moot point, because most of the "tarnish" that gets on silver stuff in ambient conditions is silver sulfide ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_sulfide ), which is a poor conductor (at least in normal conditions), not silver oxide.

You just gave me the answer for an arguement I had with my former boss a few years ago about the choice of surface plating for something that needed good electrical contact with very low contact force. We went with gold anyways, but I couldn't really explain why the silver plating didn't work as well.

[langwadt]

One reason I would see against gold plating is that gold has lower conductivity than copper or silver, but for that to matter in a connector, it would have to pass huge amounts of current. Absolutely not something you're dealing with in digital connectors, and besides, on very short lengths such as in connectors, it would be pretty much negligible. But even more importantly, except in very specific applications, no such small connector has copper or silver finish anyway, so this is moot. They are often nickel-plated, which has much lower conductivity than gold!

afaik anything copper needs to plated with nickel before plating with gold to stop the gold diffusing into the copper

[tooki]

It is not the plating that's an issue, it's the marketing of it to the credulous that starts it being a problem. The marketing makes out that gold plating is necessary (or at least very desirable) on the grounds that it can affect the digital content. It can, but your connection would have to be really very crappy to get into that situation, so practically it should make no difference. However, the credulous hear "no gold means shit signal" and therefore think that gold plating is necessary because of that.

In itself that also wouldn't be much of an issue, but the knowledgeable can tell when someone is being taken for a ride and take the piss mercilessly. And this is the issue: if a connector features gold plating they figure it has to be a marketing rip-off thing, so therefore gold plated connectors are ipso facto pure bullshit.

tl;dr: it's the digital equivalent of virtue signalling

And this is why cable companies sell gold-plated TOSlink optical cables! 

[grifftech]

not bad, just does not matter

[SiliconWizard]

And this is why cable companies sell gold-plated TOSlink optical cables! 

 

If you can find one such example, do not hesitate to post a reference. We'll have a good laugh.

[David Hess]

And this is why cable companies sell gold-plated TOSlink optical cables! 

If you can find one such example, do not hesitate to post a reference. We'll have a good laugh.

A search turned up too many examples to link.

[SparkyFX]

The point for gold plating is the lower hardness of gold, it therefore gives a higher contact surface area and keeps it when the applied mechanical force is questionable. Harder silver or nickel would require more precise machined contacts.

Where the contact force is held up by a proper spring-type contact, nickel or silver is also sufficient to work with spray salt environments (automotive), in mass quantities this matters.

Consumer stuff might just be some marketing wank, most modern connection systems are spring loaded.

[Mr. Scram]

How do we feel about the gold plated contacts on the Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscopes? At least I assume they're plated. 

[tooki]

And this is why cable companies sell gold-plated TOSlink optical cables! 

 

If you can find one such example, do not hesitate to post a reference. We'll have a good laugh.

Just one? Just go to any big box electronics store and look. Or on Amazon or any other online shop. There are gold plated TOSlink cables everywhere.

Now what is a bit harder to find at retail is CD demagnetizers!* 








*Yes, that's a thing. Google it for additional audiophoolery amusement.

[SiliconWizard]

Ahah, the idea seemed so ridiculous that I didn't bother to look that up. Thought no one would even try to pull that off!
But yes, there are many. Especially on eBay and Amazon

Fortunately, there seems to still be some common sense out there: https://www.avforums.com/threads/difference-between-gold-plated-optical-cable.868398/

[MaximRecoil]

I prefer tinned connectors to anything. Unlike a plating such as gold or nickel, tin is wetted to the connector material (usually copper or a copper-based alloy), and can't peel/flake off because an intermetallic alloy is formed between the tin and connector material. Tinning is common, predominate even, with electrical connectors such as spade, ring, and QD terminals, as well as Molex and similar pin & socket terminals, but you don't usually see it on audio, video, or data connectors (which are typically nickel or gold plated); I don't know why that is.