which ones? on what iems? about how long did you lsiten to the cable? interested in more info on your experience.
Alot of the effects I’ve observed with cables are mostly time domain apects that aren’t reflected in FR graphs or any measurments (that i know of) for that matter. Stuff like staging, depth, width, texture, attack, decay, tonality, timbre etc. so it doesn’t suprise me it’s not in the graphs. How would you account for these things in your data?
I won’t take one either, i have no interest in doing a blind test. I trust my ears and listening skills and have nothing to prove.
I agree with this. placebo is a real thing to an extent so is confirmation bias to an extent. I will not sit here and tell you that I’m exempt from these effects. How much this affects the listener is up in the air though and I don’t believe it disproves the acoustic differences i have percieved.
How so? you are generalizing a lot of people here. Yes some people do present their opinions on cables as fact but more often than not it’s presented as a opinion too. I actually see way more people on your side of the fence doing the whole im right your wrong stance. In your original post you might as well had said you wished more people would share the same opinion as you do… except you didn’t word it like that instead you stated it like its a fact that cables don’t make a sound difference. Why would it be frustrating, shouldn’t you just respect someones opinion and move on? Like I’m about to do right now becasue I realize I should have not engaged in this lol I was just curious in what led you to that stance and now i know.
Sorry bro i should have not engaged on this conversation as well, this topic does not deserve a conversation from my experience, i am yet to see constructive conversation about this, it just does not happen.
I do respect your preferences, you should enjoy your high end cables and i should enjoy the fact my Focal Clear is connected to a $20 cable, that is what work for each one of us, just wished anyone would accept the blind test at some point because i believe it would settle things, but it is what it is! Hahaha
For the record, I’ve heard the differences cables can make, that’s why I’m always interested in what @Rikudou_Goku is doing with his cable reviews, searching out better performing cables with the best prices. He’s doing gods work, thank you @Rikudou_Goku !
I can see how some may never be able to hear the differences for so many reasons, but either way we shouldn’t discredit anyone for their thoughts and beliefs. Obviously some people feel cable quality and materials make a difference and some do not and that’s all cool.
I personally feel everything in the chain makes a difference. How big that difference is, how much that difference costs and if it’s worthwhile to chase for some percentage of benefit is subjective. A lot of this can’t even be judged by better or worse, just different.
This is also exactly my observations as well. There might be some tonality shifts with different cable materials (silver/copper/gold) but they are very minimal vs the effects of staging and imaging and the sense of speed which is more obvious than FR.
For the record, I’ve never been able to discern a difference in sound quality from different cables on any of my full sized headphones. Only in my IEMs. Focal Clear MG Pro, ZMF Aeolus, Lawton modded TR-X00 to name a few.
Personally I have found for headphones I care if a cable sounds better, with in reason of the price of the cable to the setup and the amount of improvement…
For IEMs comfort is king. No amount of improvement in sound will make up for ergonomics with an IEM cable to me personally.
To me the most obvious reason behind any sound differences there may be between cables is volume, which can be changed by different impedances when you compare two cables. Impedance btw is something which is never discussed when people are comparing cables from what i saw so far, and it is imo the only thing that should be discussed when it comes to sound.
More volume can make you perceive all aspects of sound differently, but again, to each their own. I am 100% satisfied with my findings and i will never again spend money on cables unless i want specific looks / ergonomics.
I had both of these hybrid cables custom made for me, 24 core, silver and copper. No difference in sound quality vs the crap vacuum cable the headphones originally came with. lol
Now… IEMs on the other hand, I can hear differences.
I dont know about all the cable stuff, should just be resistance since its a transmission line. I will say I am 100% behind tubes tho. And now on to tubes and iems @Rikudou_Goku any experience in reviews or casual listening?
Another topic when it comes to cables is balanced vs non balanced, i have read arguments from people with FAR more knowledge on the subject than myself and these people say that the extra circuitry involved in generating a balanced signal will actually harm the sound instead of improving it, adding noise. They say that balanced cables are only needed for super long cables and they will only provide you with more power at the cost of adding noise.
As you should. I don’t think this should be a discussion concerning expensive vs cheap either. @Rikudou_Goku has proven there are some very good performing cables at very reasonable prices. I personally own many of his #1 rated cable and it is great.
The differences I have been able to hear with different cables have come down to silver sounding different than copper. They just sound different to me. Copper sounds heftier as if everything has more weight and sliver sounds faster with better separation and stage size. It’s not a night and day difference, but it is there and I have heard it. Again, I would not say either is “better” just different.
I’ve personally come to the conclusion that I do prefer the sound of copper cable to silver, but hybrid cables can give you the best of both worlds. Why not have both?
I don’t doubt a silver cable could sound different than a copper cable, but i would love to see how their impedances measure in comparison, do you happen to have a multimeter? It is super easy to test impedance, i would be surprised if they measure the same.
This starts getting into dacs and amps and their design. You’re right though, especially with IEMs. There is not much reason to go with a balanced cable. But if the amp and dac you’re using is designed with the balanced circuitry in mind, it very well probably will be the superior sounding connection vs SE. Obviously, balanced dacs and amps are intended to drive the most demanding power hungry headphones.
For critical listening, I am running a Topping D90 amp. It is designed to perform at its best with its 4.4 and full XLR out. I have very sensitive IEMs and very power hungry over-ear headphones I need to power so balanced makes sense for me. I also use a 4.4 balanced Fiio portable amp at work. Keeping the same connection so you don’t need to swap cables is ideal.
@Rikudou_Goku has done all the work for all of us… At the bottom of the page, click the Cable Rating tab!
@Rikudou_Goku and I have been chatting about cables in great detail for quite some time. lol!
There are lots of audiophiles out there that do believe cable material type do make a difference. That’s why cables are made in so many different styles with differing materials and even hybrid styles. You should get a bunch of different cables and find out for yourself if you really are interested. I did and I heard the difference. Just being completely honest. I prefer copper or copper/silver hybrid.
Oh there you go! He lists the cable impedances probably because he knows/thinks it is the most important aspect when it comes to sound.
How do the impedances compare between the two cables you are referring to? To compare apples to apples, ideally you would have a copper cable and a silver cable with the same impedance, but that is basically impossible because different metals have different conductances.
My point is, you would have to do the math to know exactly how the impedance will affect volume, and then adjust the volume before comparing cables, otherwise one will be slightly louder than the other and that would change how the sound is perceived.
This is all theoretically speaking though, i don’t think anyone is really interested in running this types of complicated tests, enjoying your gear is what matters!
I’ve tried a lot. These are just some of my spare cables that aren’t used… This was organization day. I used to just throw them all in a bag with no wraps. lol
Hate when people claim difference in high end cable with audiophile buzzwords, can you even explain what even makes cable high end (except price point ofc xD), when you can get cable with high-end materials in budget range? Does it have special audiophile solder joints or what? Is it 10000000000000n grade purity?
