Hmm, I see the potential for toxicity here…tread carefully everyone XD
I will say this about people recommending special cables: I think a lot of it can be done for much cheaper without a perceptible difference in audio quality (aka snake oil). But, I could see someone with money to burn with no other obvious upgrade paths already at the extreme high-end with dedicated listening rooms, power regeneration, and other stuff most of us consider nutty wanting to do so for that last ten-to-the-negative-thousand of a percent level of confidence in their system, then I see no reason to stop them from doing so.
Electrically, I don’t think there really is a difference and I can’t imagine there would be a perceptible difference. But, if the old guy from PS Audio says he and others can tell a difference, then good for them (and perhaps the IRSV and other extreme high end systems can elucidate such differences). To be fair to Mr. McGowan, he even states that as an engineer it defies his logic too. He does explain briefly the differences in manufacturing of the cores used in cables that may have some differences.
But I do like other segments of the PS Audio YouTube channel.
JV…many years ago I read a review about a sound engineer fellow who did a random blind test (they were blindfolded) on his buddies with the high end gear he had at his disposal. he used coat hanger wire and then supposedly quality cables. none of the guys could tell the difference. sure wish I could find that and bookmark it for times when these kinda arguments come up.
Do you remember The Amazing James Randi challenging people with the stupidly expensive audio cable in his million dollar challenge? Yeah, I suspect that company pulled the wire from the competition because they knew better than relying on chance.
Beside Z and DMS I’m subbed to metal571 and Resolve Reviews.
I used to be subbed to clavinetjunkie (now renamed to “oluv’s gadgets”), but after I got a really good BT speaker - that I’m still satisfied with today -, I gradually lost interest in watching more BT speaker reviews. He’s also doing headphones and IEMs these days, but… IDK, I guess I don’t care about any of the models he’s picked to evaluate so far. Plus he’s not really experienced in describing sound in words and covering all important areas, he’s been mostly good at setting up comparative sound demos of 2+ devices. Sure a few times he’s clowned around “proving” that aptX is not worth the hype just because it’s not significantly better than AAC, or that external headphone amps are “not worth it” because he couldn’t tell the difference between some random cheap amp and his iPhone 6, but other than that he knows his stuff, i.e. what sounds good and what doesn’t. And I liked the raw honesty he has in common with Z: if he finds some big-brand device that just performs badly he will say so, and will not hold back on the language - if some Ultimate Ears Boom-boom or Bose or Beats Pill or Sony sounds like crap for how much it costs, he will call it what it is: crap.
Resolve Reviews is my new favorite reviewer. I love Z and Josh, but Resolve Reviews is exactly the kind of very detailed and highly educated review I’m looking for.
What about a case where the reviewer says he goes into a test expecting NOT to hear a difference and then has to begrudgingly admit that he does?
In general, I agree the power cord and cables “industry” is mostly a ripoff. I’m definitely skeptical of Paul McGowan saying he can hear the difference between USB cables immediately. In the Zero Fidelity video above though, I have to admit I see (hear?) where he’s coming from. I have the Audioquest Jitterbug and was initially basically the same: “you can’t measure the difference, so you can’t hear a difference.” I begrudgingly admit I was wrong. The Jitterbug does change the sound. Now, whether that change is an improvement varies, though. On some headphones/speakers I noticed a tighter image - much like what Zero Fidelity described with that power strip. On other systems it sucks the life out and overall dulls the sound.
But also, I’m definitely in favor of some sort of “reviews of reviewers” resource. Good idea.
There is a difference between what can be proved scientifically to improve or at least alter things (#Tuuuubbbeeessss) for enjoyment. Versus just plain bullshit.
For example, a ground loop isolator is a real thing that can fix real grounding issues. Does absolutely nothing if you your issue is not a grounding issue. But scientifically it does fix grounding problems or at least fixes as much as it can handle. Ground loop isolators can only handle as much power as they are rated for.
Same thing for linear power supplies and power smoothers. They take in erratic AC power and either output as close to smooth AC or output smooth DC to a device.
An AC power cable has rating power standards and shielding standards for a reason. Those standards being rated for the worst case scenario at all times 24/7. If a cable says it can handle the power it can handle it and deliver it no questions asked without flaws.
Let’s not even forget that even if you have have some funky super “special” AC power cable…what about everything before it? What are the wires in your wall made of silver? The cables heading to the power lines? etc.
It is just plain insanity.
The biggest problem with all the snake oil bullshit is not whether rich stupid people want to spend thousands of dollars on cables. Let them do that. It is when companies like that make other people think they need these silly cables that it becomes a problem. Fake info is still fake info and those companies should feel bad that they are trying to confuse people that don’t know better.
Simply put. A good cable is a good cable. A bad cable is a bad cable. The difference is dollars. Not hundreds of dollars or thousands of dollars.
If people think they can hear a difference. Then either they need to double blind test. Or they need to put the cables through testing to see how they are fucking with things in most likely a bad way. If it messes with sounds in a tube way that is a different thing all together. However adding tube sound should be left to tubes. Not shitty expensive cables.
I have to laugh at the presence of Josh and “highly educated” in the same sentence. He has next to zero technical knowledge and doesn’t even seem interested to get at least a Wikipedia-level education before making advice videos about certain topics (like that speaker placement one he made where he barely even mentioned wall treatment). Add to that his frequent AMA-style videos where he sits around with his coffee mug waiting to get asked questions like he’s some superstar or at least an expert in the field (nope on both counts), and you’ve got someone I prefer to unsub from on YouTube and never support on Patreon. All he’s good for are subjective reviews to add to the general diversity of opinions, and that by itself is not good enough for a sub in my book.
This is a good example of why ground loops or poor ground handling is a thing.
In this case we are talking about a large power strip that most likely has a ground loop isolator built into it. Or potentially has a power rectifier/smoother built in.
The 100 or so dollar power strip would indeed fix a problem that power strips exacerbate. That being poor grounding or very erratic power that could cause issues with some sensitive devices (devices where they didn’t bother to spend the 2-5 dollars it would cost to put in some quality capacitors and rectifiers to smooth incoming power).
The Audioquest jitterbug is a good example of a product that actually does something. BUT only if you have a grounding issue on the USB 5v rail.
TBH though if you are having issues with ground on your computers USB. Then you should actually fix the root of the problem and put in a UPS to act as a rectifier or you should use another form of ground loop isolator on the incoming power to the PC.
The reason I say this is that this could be plaguing other parts of your computer and causing premature failure that a cleaner source would prevent.
I remember this too. Damn that was a long time ago. Maybe more than 2 decades. I remember reading it as a child EDIT: seems I can’t really find anything since before 2008. So either my mind is slipping or there was an older article that that. Probably my mind slipping.
Was a great article.
Have to agree with everything you said. Resolve is where it’s at for me. I hope his channel continues to grow. He deserves it.
This also goes for Zeos as well. You can tell the obvious differences in their VÉRITÉ reviews. Zeos is entertaining but when it comes to facts about gear, I’m going to trust Resolve first.
I’m not a fan of Metal’s personality and weird laugh/chuckle at all.
I will generally not question someone’s subjective hearing, so if they think they hear a difference, then I will not care. I will remain skeptical, but I usually am not in the mood to tell them that I think they wasted money unless asked.
What I do not tolerate well is extraordinary claims without extraordinary evidence, or in the case of people who recommend buying snake oil just an anecdote of their very ordinary subjective opinion. I strongly feel that objective evidence in the form of measurement and scientifically valid explanation should be the validation for extraordinary claims.
My position is that people should be personally responsible for their purchases and research into products.
100% agree on all of the above. Snake oil peddlers can get bent.
Thankfully I don’t have any insane people around me that buy stupid expensive cables. But if I did I might butt in a bit and bring some logic. But at the end of the day I wouldn’t tell that person to not spend their money like that.
True. But people shouldn’t have to do research on speaker cables and Ac power cables. That is a bit much. It falls on the manufacturer to prove that they are better in a scientific way. Not the trash that they like to push.
Z, Josh, Metal and DMS, they all help to give me a review/reviewer version of a headphone sound stage…I just take a bit of what they all say knowing what they like about a sound signatures etc…gives me a pretty solid base as to what I’ll enjoy/demo…£ to
one should always consult multiple sources and find the commonalities for the pros n cons and always include a few dissenting viewpoints to keep clarity on the matter. if you only use resources that tickle your ear, you do yourself a disservice.
Well yes that is why this thread exists.
Share reviewers on youtube or writers that people approve of (not just because they like them), give a breakdown of their style of review and what we think of them. That is why I am doing a constant edit to the end of my starter post. So that there is a list which includes who suggested them and their style breakdowns.
Essentially we are reviewing the reviewers and trying to find out who is good and who is just plain shit or a shill cough John Darko cough. Thereby building a database of potential data points to pull from when we make decisions so that we don’t just have one or two.
What it will also most likely do is enlighten other people of other youtube channels and reviewers. Thereby pushing up their subscriber counts or getting more views on their review posts.
Another reviewer that’s been on headphone fans’ radars recently is Max Settings:
I for one quickly developed a deep dislike for this guy due to the personal attack section against Garuspik that he felt he needed to include in his Verum 1 video. Totally not classy and doesn’t make me want to hear him talk about any more products. But some people like him, IDK.
Yeah I just had a look at that video and a few other videos. The guy is completely full of himself.
Calling out a lone guy and his company on a product not because of bad sound or anything. Just because of his social opinion.
Telling the guy making the headphones FOR FUN that selling a headphone for what the parts and time is worth is NOT HOW A COMPANY WORKS is just a joke. If that is what the guy from Verum wants to do then let him. Not someone else’s job to say do it my way or fuck you.
He might think this is okay because the guy from Verum said to the ZMF guy that their headphones are too expensive for what really went into them. But it isn’t the same when the top end ZMF is 2700 dollars and STARTS at 1200 USD with cables selling separately for 250 usd to 400 usd.
That’s just madness.
Calling out the guy for 1/3rd of the video essentially very subtly threatening and saying the classic “I don’t want to cause drama…buuutttt”.
Sigh. That video plus the others I saw make me stay far from that one too now.
The comments of the video and the like to dislike ratio very clearly tells a tale of keep that shit out of here.
He has next to zero technical knowledge and doesn’t even seem interested to get at least a Wikipedia-level education before making advice videos about certain topics (like that speaker placement one he made where he barely even mentioned wall treatment). Add to that his frequent AMA-style videos where he sits around with his coffee mug waiting to get asked questions like he’s some superstar or at least an expert in the field (nope on both counts), and you’ve got someone I prefer to unsub from on YouTube and never support on Patreon. All he’s good for are subjective reviews to add to the general diversity of opinions, and that by itself is not good enough for a sub in my book.
