I only have my own anecdotal evidence, but cables matter for me. I wouldn’t put their effects above the source or tips but I can hear some difference on the same IEM, with the same tips, on the same source when using tripowin and KBear upgrade cables. Generally this is just adding a touch of seasoning, not changing the whole recipe.
The exception for me is KZ/CCA in-box cables. Those things are consistently garbage!
personally I haven’t noticed a difference between cheap stock cables (KZ is actually decent usability compared to other brands lower end) and replacements (sub $100)
only time I noticed a difference was better power for a 6XX going from SE to BAL
I’m by no means an expert in audiophile matters but… I have 2 copies of the Acoustune hS551CU one red one blue I bought 2 Cables one pure 6N copper one Copper/graphene mix.
They sound identical on the om copper cable
They sound different from each other. With the upgraded cables and both sound different to the original om cables.
I like how they both sound in new configuration and favour each one on different albums.
So yes to my ears cables make difference to listening enjoyment.
Probabably got inspiration by this cable word salad:
“Gold&silver oil immersion cable technology,soaked in mineral oil for 20 days and dried at constant temperature for 10 days, which enhances antioxidation and eliminates the interference of static electricity in transmission on sound.”
i wonder can you have it in racing oil?
That would definitely increase the speed on sound. lol
brings a whole new meaning to “snake oil”
I personally haven’t found differences in sound yet, but I have found huge differences in convenience.
Anytime you are adding a big heavy cable to something you wear on your head, the weight is definitely a factor. After wearing a heavy thick cable on my headphones for years, then switching to a light, easily flexible cable. The comfort of a lightweight cable is definitely something I feel. - and Greatly appreciate!
or if it’s too light (IEM’s) it doesn’t stay on your ear and is a pain in the rear to keep adjusting
Just be happy guys…
Engineer Karen Leadlay working on the analog computers in the space division of General Dynamics, 1964.
forbidden spaghetti
A lot of measurement gear makers specialise in equipment to measure signal integrity. Saying “digital either works or does not” means you have skipped the “initial setup” pages of anything which handles more complex waveforms than a light switch.
While HDMI and DP may drop out (or not start up at all) with a bad cable, Ethernet may only end up running at 10Mbit/s on a bad cable (or half-duplex, which is no fun to troubleshoot), USB will vary wildly depending on the protocol it ends up transporting. So you may very well get sound from a DAC, but the same cable may only yield 5Mbit/s when used with an external harddrive.
Reality is often very disappointing:
You can say whatever you want but differences were far from being chance IMO
Wait the result of this too. I will attach 3.5 plug this time.
Well, my goodness, this has been an interesting thread to read through! Now I see why @WaveTheory rolled up his sleeves and did a comprehensive dive into what we will call “Cable Theory”, a series of YT videos that addresses this topic. I will say that I have seen every one and have enjoyed the series a great deal.
My takeaway is this - for me, cables do matter. And they matter for a number of reasons. I know the main thrust of this debate centers around sound quality. And for me, I have noticed a difference in sound. It pains me to say this, because I was convinced that cables did NOT make a difference and that this concept was just snake oil generated by thieves trying to sell you expensive cables. But after the first chapter of Wave’s series, I started to do some of my own very un-scientific testing with headphone cables and interconnects, and I’ll be damned, I heard a difference. They were subtle, but there was an actual difference. In a nutshell, I heard the biggest difference between copper and silver cables, with silver cables offering a bit more treble response over a copper cable. Whether it is “better” is a case of individual preference, and for me, silver did not always equate to better.
But sound is really only one factor as to why one might want to change out a cable. how one cable looks compared to another is certainly a factor. How a cable wears when using it is a factor. Case in point, I feel like the Periapt cable I use for the HP-2 is sonically the best cable I have, but it’s big and heavy and can sometimes be annoying to me, whereas the Tripowin cables I have sound excellent AND wear so much better than the Periapt. And they look fantastic, giving an upgraded look to the headphone they are attached to.
At the end of the day, I always look to upgrade the stock cable for whatever headphone I have and have done so for every set. And enhanced sound is not the only reason. Enhanced user experience is the goal.
I don’t really believe in the cable myth myself, unless it’s a balanced cable, then it’s 99% mostly for better quality and looks…
Tips and DAC’s make more difference than anything any standard cable will do…
The only reason I’d buy/upgrade a different cable is if the current one doesn’t feel comfy on the ears, gets tangled easily, creates a lot of sound when moving, things that deal with the build quality and not the sound quality. I’ve used different cables for my IEMs, and never did I feel like the sound changed.
My main gripes with this side of the IEM community, is how a lot of it sounds like elitism to me. Thankfully I don’t really ever see this elitism on HiFiGuides, (this is genuinely the best place to talk about audio, everyone here is great), but the whole cable talk sounds like snake oil. For example: there is a certain individual on the Headfi forums that reviews stuff like the Penon Vortex, my favorite IEM. His reviews are insanely in depth, but then he starts talking about how the cable that comes with the Vortex sucks, and how if you get this more expensive cable, the 1000 megapixels per silver strands of that cable will help “tighten the bass” and will fix the IEM. To me, it sounds like someone who loves the smell of their own farts, along with them just trying to sell you stuff you don’t need. Same with the whole “burn-in” conversation. Like you’re really gonna waste a whole week of not enjoying using your headphones/IEMs, most likely destroying your return window in case you don’t like them? It’s just guff companies use to make sure you can’t return the product.
mostly agree but personally I did have a case of burn in mostly fixing a IEM I found unusable at first (very hot treble hurt to listen to for more than 2-5 minutes out of the box), as always different ears and gears YMMV
It’s called an opinion.
