Hypex Ncore

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I can see how increasing granularity could increase apparent (but false) detail - perhaps in the same way that it has been shown that simply adding a small amount of white noise to the signal increases "airiness" without it being at all obvious that noise has been added.
We are fooled by our pattern recognition tendencies; we tend to incorporate noise (which is by definition random in nature) into the signal so it "fits the pattern".
 
I read Wikipedia and it said something like ' reduced granularity = less detail....' so I wondered...

Well, one dictionary definition is "The quality of being composed of relatively large particles", so maybe the new cables are less chunky :)

That once again illustrates the problem with subjective audiophile terms. Just like descriptions of wines - unless you agree on a common framework and definitions, they don't make any sense. Maybe we need a Master Audiophile Diploma and a Advanced Audiophile Certificate? :)
 
Let us hope the wires are better fitted to the connector on the new cable. They came loose just by looking at them on the old one.

I got the same email quoted above, but never bothered to ask for new cables....

If you want the new cables you just click a link on https://www.hypexshop.com/ that pops up. Personally I don't really expect the new cable to make any difference but I'm all up for improved build quality =)
 
Has anyone placed the NC400 right at the speaker? I just have with 8 inches of 14 AWG wire and, to my ears, the sound is clearly better.

I will likely make a chassis that will house either a SMPS600/NC400 or SMPS700/NC1200 pair with the AC and XLR connectors at one end and straight wires out of the other end.

I bet the NCore would shine in active speakers, Bruno's speakers are active, right?

Thanks
 
I can see how increasing granularity could increase apparent (but false) detail - perhaps in the same way that it has been shown that simply adding a small amount of white noise to the signal increases "airiness" without it being at all obvious that noise has been added.
We are fooled by our pattern recognition tendencies; we tend to incorporate noise (which is by definition random in nature) into the signal so it "fits the pattern".

I agree 100% Russ and I think tube distortion as well creates this perceived psycho acoustic affect.

Also a a large open cell foam insert like Dr. Gedlee uses in his waveguide can have the same perceived affect.

It certainly on a technical level makes the system less accurate.

Great points on pattern recognition tendencies and is a great explanation for the phenomenon.

Hey lets face it people like distortion and feeback ehh!

Heck it became and entire industry with electronic music, compressors and affects boxes etc right!

There is "good" and "bad" distortion though.

Psychoacoustics is an amazing and very intriguing science.
 
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Has anyone placed the NC400 right at the speaker? I just have with 8 inches of 14 AWG wire and, to my ears, the sound is clearly better.

I will likely make a chassis that will house either a SMPS600/NC400 or SMPS700/NC1200 pair with the AC and XLR connectors at one end and straight wires out of the other end.

I bet the NCore would shine in active speakers, Bruno's speakers are active, right?

Thanks

No Sound is always worse with short loudspeaker cables.
 
an audiophile friend of mine who owns a very expensive system (~30keuro, just to get some perspective) told me that he felt that none of the interconnects he tested brought significant improvements to justify spending more than a few euros on them. on the other hand he also told me that the speaker cables made a significant difference.
I wasn't surprised to find that his source and amp are fully balanced and he uses balanced interconnects.
huh, it's almost as if all the claims regarding the superiority of balanced interconnects were true...
 
Has anyone placed the NC400 right at the speaker? I just have with 8 inches of 14 AWG wire and, to my ears, the sound is clearly better.

Mine are in the speaker stands, with 40 cm (16 in) of the thickest multi-conductor cable I could find (probably equivalent to 9.5 AWG). 14 AWG sounds rather thin. The nc400's have such low output impedance and high current capability that I am surprised people are using wires/cables that have a high resistance and low current capability...

I bet the NCore would shine in active speakers

Mine are active - for each speaker I have 2 nCores for the 2 woofers, one for the 2 mids and one for the 2 tweeters, sharing 2 SMPS600s.
 
How does the open cell foam cause the effect? Turbulence?



Absolutely. What would any post-50's popular music be without a guitar distortion pedal? :)



I'm not sure but I think it's "grazing incidence" within Dr. Gedlees foam insert.

All three of these changes though totally different tend to have the same pyschoacoustic affect.

That's the point I was trying to make in my DIY layman way.

It's really interesting that humans perceive "good" and "bad" distortion.
 
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I only know that term from X-ray optics - no idea what it means in acoustics.



Well, nothing new - that's why it's labelled "harmonic" and "inharmonic" distortion.

Sorry for my lack of knowledge. I'm learning everyday about acoustics and electronics. Due to no formal education in the field it's been daunting to say the least. Just when I think I have a handle on a concept I read a white paper and go... owhh... I had that totally WRONG!

LOL

I try to visualize what's happening and that foam insert must have some kinda scattering affect due to grazing incidence on each open foam "cell" "wall" or the sorta lattice structure it makes. I have never seen Dr. Geddes insert but the polar affects are very interesting. Again due to no formal education nor applied maths to these acoustic phenomena I can only guess and try to visualize what's happening using my limited knowledge base.

Imagine trying to model something like that foam insert at high frequencies!
 
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Sorry for my lack of knowledge. I'm learning everyday about acoustics and electronics. Due to no formal education in the field it's been daunting to say the least. Just when I think I have a handle on a concept I read a white paper and go... owhh... I had that totally WRONG!

Nothing wrong with lack of knowledge and formal education, as long as one is aware of it and willing to learn. It's the dedicated 'audiophiles" with no knowledge and formal education, but absolute faith in their beliefs that are truly scary.

Imagine trying to model something like that foam insert at high frequencies!

It would have to be really high frequencies. You only start getting acoustic scattering/reflection at a feature size on the order of a wavelength - and the wavelength of even a 20 kHz tone is around 2 cm (3/4 in), so your foam would have to be very grainy indeed to have an effect (unless the foam transmits sound, but slows down the speed of sound significantly - and it would still only deflect the sound, not distort it). At mid to low frequencies we are talking about much longer wavelengths.
 
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