Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio  
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Old 03-14-2006, 07:21 PM
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Default Is this a better test for cables than ABX?

So there's a lot of dabate about whether cables make a difference. And whether more expensive cables make a difference. Why rely just on the ABX testing to figure it out? I'm sure everyone's thought of it before, and that there's a flaw in my thinking, but....

why don't people just get a good ADC like the Benchmark ADC1 (i'm sure someone must have access to something like this, especially the audio mags), and record the music into a pc.This way you could compare powercords and interconnects and graphically see if they really do make a difference. Concerning whether you actually hear an audible difference, you could splice the recordings together and switch back and forth instantaniously and if there is an audible difference i'm sure you'd hear it.

What's the flaw in my thinking?
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Old 03-14-2006, 08:19 PM
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It might make more sense to straight out rip the CDs to WAVs on the PC, rather than going through a CDP then an ADC.
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Old 03-15-2006, 01:52 AM
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huh? how will ripping cd's let u test the effect of power cables and interconnects?
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Old 03-15-2006, 02:02 AM
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The single best way of telling anything apart from another of its kind is to..
Listen to a cd you know or heard a million times (does not even have to be an audiophile type recording) for 45mins with the cable that you have had before (old cable), then after the 45mins switch to the new cables and listen to the same cd for 45mins again...after that go back to your old cable and listen to that cd for 45mins one more time.

I warranty that youll not only tell the difference (if there is any) but exactly where and if you like it...

its the only way to truely test something against another.
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Old 03-15-2006, 02:34 AM
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I think ur missing the point. You can't prove subjective opinion. I'm not thinking about this test to satisy my own opinion about cables.

Some people say they hear a difference, some don't and say the people who think they hear a difference are just suffering from a placebo effect. One person's work against the other.

If a cable provides more detail, extended bass... etc.... then you should be able to see a difference in a graphical analysis. Why the resistance?
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Old 03-15-2006, 03:22 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by byronyu
If a cable provides more detail, extended bass... etc.... then you should be able to see a difference in a graphical analysis. Why the resistance?
Oh god not this again.... Part of it stems from the fact that placebo affect works both ways, you can believe to the point of where you hear a difference, when there "isn't" one and vice versa. Also what are you going to measure exactly? Not everything can be explained through measurements. And even if there are measurements, it doesn't mean that it is translated into what we hear. Case and point if you takea look at the Headroom graphs for the HD650s and the k701s, you might be led to belive thathe k701s have more bass, but I think you'd find that popular oinion and (those who have heard it) may think otherwise.

And heh.. just do a search, this topic has been beaten to death 100 times over.
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