Hi,
I just saw an IndieGogo campaign by a reputable speaker cable company, selling headphone cables and/or a dongle.
They and their reviewers, claim amazing improvements on all levels.
I'm a bit skeptic.
- relatively short cables
- low power when compared to speaker cable
- huge improvement with a cable???
- the Dongle ? "works with any headphones" ?
Now the reason I'm curios, is that some guy in my city, who I don't think is an experienced audiophile or electronics person, also stirred the city when he went around selling interconects to sound studios. Everybody claimed AMAZING and HUGE difference in sound. Mostly people used them to connect their studio monitors, but apparently some studios went all the way.
The guy makes these cables at home and charges an arm and 2 legs.
The mystery, is it a dongle?? I can't think of any way I could buy cable, solder connectors and have a HUGE difference...
What would cause these people to perceive such HUGE improvements? I mean musicians are not that naive... What's in these dongles???
Just curious (is this the best forum to ask this question?)
I just saw an IndieGogo campaign by a reputable speaker cable company, selling headphone cables and/or a dongle.
They and their reviewers, claim amazing improvements on all levels.
I'm a bit skeptic.
- relatively short cables
- low power when compared to speaker cable
- huge improvement with a cable???
- the Dongle ? "works with any headphones" ?
Now the reason I'm curios, is that some guy in my city, who I don't think is an experienced audiophile or electronics person, also stirred the city when he went around selling interconects to sound studios. Everybody claimed AMAZING and HUGE difference in sound. Mostly people used them to connect their studio monitors, but apparently some studios went all the way.
The guy makes these cables at home and charges an arm and 2 legs.
The mystery, is it a dongle?? I can't think of any way I could buy cable, solder connectors and have a HUGE difference...
What would cause these people to perceive such HUGE improvements? I mean musicians are not that naive... What's in these dongles???
Just curious (is this the best forum to ask this question?)
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Crowdfunding. The equivalent of DLC, beta/alpha test and early access.
Find the studios that bought them first. Sound engineers are people I would actually trust their "tuning by ear". Mainly because they know the exact frequencies to EQ to make a rusty chainsaw rustier. They also happen to not use Rogers LS3/5A after newer technologies came out.
RE: claims of sales, within my short lifetime I have seen at least 2 companies that claimed eternal high demand and selling out and then went down under amidst all the high demand and more selling out.
Find the studios that bought them first. Sound engineers are people I would actually trust their "tuning by ear". Mainly because they know the exact frequencies to EQ to make a rusty chainsaw rustier. They also happen to not use Rogers LS3/5A after newer technologies came out.
RE: claims of sales, within my short lifetime I have seen at least 2 companies that claimed eternal high demand and selling out and then went down under amidst all the high demand and more selling out.
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yes, that's weird, some of these people ought to have an ear. Studios especially. And when it comes to spend THAT much, I mean this guy was EXPENSIVE.
Yes, and studios didn't tell you how much it really cost for them. I bet they got a huge discount, maybe free. Then they get back the price on real customers. Many companies buy cheap cables from china and wrap them in branded tubes and sell them as a result of 10 years of experimenting and other BS.
Why shouldn't he sell something really expensive if someone buys it?
Why shouldn't he sell something really expensive if someone buys it?
Given that you don't mention the name or provide any link, how can anyone answer that?
MIT say
"MIT Cables’ core audio cable technology is our exclusive Poles of Articulation, named after the fact that every audio cable has a single point where it is most efficient at storing and transporting energy. At this point in the audio frequency spectrum, the cable will articulate best, and represents the cables’ particular Articulation Pole."
I don't think we need to make any further inquiries. What saddens me is that they have apparently been able to patent whatever it is that their thing does.
"MIT Cables’ core audio cable technology is our exclusive Poles of Articulation, named after the fact that every audio cable has a single point where it is most efficient at storing and transporting energy. At this point in the audio frequency spectrum, the cable will articulate best, and represents the cables’ particular Articulation Pole."
I don't think we need to make any further inquiries. What saddens me is that they have apparently been able to patent whatever it is that their thing does.
Of course it's OK. I would not necessarily agree with your description of them being "reputable."
...Joseph Conrad.
It's entirely possible that this "network" does absolutely nothing. One cable manufacturer (it may have been MIT, but I'm not sure) had potted terminating networks on their cables. An enterprising reviewer cut them open and found on one end, the potting contained... nothing. On the other end, it contained a 150R shunt resistor which did next to nothing.
I had, for a short time, a $300 headphone accessory from another "reputable" cable company (Synergistic Research). It contained a plug and a jack, wired together and housed in a plastic tube. Measurements and listening tests showed that it did exactly nothing other than pass the signal through. Nonetheless, the usual chimp audio reviewers raved about it.
So, given the absolute lack of any actual technical information in this promotion, and the track record of the company involved, I would be highly skeptical.
...Joseph Conrad.
It's entirely possible that this "network" does absolutely nothing. One cable manufacturer (it may have been MIT, but I'm not sure) had potted terminating networks on their cables. An enterprising reviewer cut them open and found on one end, the potting contained... nothing. On the other end, it contained a 150R shunt resistor which did next to nothing.
I had, for a short time, a $300 headphone accessory from another "reputable" cable company (Synergistic Research). It contained a plug and a jack, wired together and housed in a plastic tube. Measurements and listening tests showed that it did exactly nothing other than pass the signal through. Nonetheless, the usual chimp audio reviewers raved about it.
So, given the absolute lack of any actual technical information in this promotion, and the track record of the company involved, I would be highly skeptical.
Of course, and given no a/b comparison, even the slightest difference in volume level would make the louder sound better. Besides we agree that after spending $$$ one has to convince itself that they do make a difference.
But I was trying to investigate about the the studio cables in my hometown, is if a Zorbel or other components could actually affect the sound, such as a low or hi pass filter, say making the hi-end of the spectrum relatively louder, that may be perceived as more detail, etc. but do so ever so slightly, partially accounting for the stories of the cables sounding 'better'.
But I was trying to investigate about the the studio cables in my hometown, is if a Zorbel or other components could actually affect the sound, such as a low or hi pass filter, say making the hi-end of the spectrum relatively louder, that may be perceived as more detail, etc. but do so ever so slightly, partially accounting for the stories of the cables sounding 'better'.
Many accounts of cables sounding better can be explained by expectation bias. Most of the rest are due to the cable sounding worse, but the poor behaviour being regarded as good behaviour (e.g. weak screening means more RF interference, which some think sounds like 'detail'). An adequate cable has no sound, so anything different must be worse.
When I was in Akihabara, I bought a short replacement cable for my Sennheiser HD650 at Oyaide, because I found the cable that came with the headphone too long. The cable seems of decent quality and it is reasonably priced. However, it has one drawback: due to the stiff materials used, it transfers vibration to the headphone. If I grasp the knurled plug, I can hear my fingers rubbing over the corrugations through my cans! Moving the cable around or touching it is audible, purely due to the fact that the mechanical losses in the cable material are so low. The stock cord is much more supple, and consequently does not transfer extra noises to the cans. Apart from this, I hear no difference with the stock cable whatsoever. And that was probably because I didn't expect to hear anything different to begin with!
I never experienced anything like this with a piece of wire. It points out that differences may lie in an unexpected area. But in my case, it has a straightforward physical explanation, contrary to the mumbo-jumbo sold with boutique cables.
I never experienced anything like this with a piece of wire. It points out that differences may lie in an unexpected area. But in my case, it has a straightforward physical explanation, contrary to the mumbo-jumbo sold with boutique cables.
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