APureSound: The Ultimate Cable Manufacturer Introduces The V3 Headphone Cable

[[AK]Zip]

Originally Posted by Aurven

Hmmm, correct me if I am wrong but the connecting pins for UE's universal series and custom series are different. How are you planning to reconcile that?

Due to the design of our custom connectors we are able to fit both into the custom mold and the universal IEM's. The main thing we are testing for now is how durable these connectors are. If they do not reach our standard we will then simply release 2 cables. 1 for the custom mold and 1 for the universal.

Originally Posted by Asr

I just did a count and saw that 118 APureSound V3 cables have been made and are out in the world, wow! Good job Head-Fi, putting new talented MoTs like [AK]Zip into business!

Alex, have you considered re-organizing your 118 pics of the V3 cables? As it is right now, that page takes a while to load (even on high bandwidth) and the lack of organization makes it unwieldy to find a specific headphone or count how many HD650s/K701s you've re-cabled, for example. Maybe you already have plans to re-work the layout, just thought I'd point this out as the pics down the page are getting fairly long....

Really looking forward to your upcoming high-end interconnects btw, can't wait to see what materials and connectors you'll be using!

Actually that doesn't include any orders our resellers placed as all of them were in bulk and not using our standard heatshrink layout. I am actually working right now on separating the pictures based on headphone model because I know it truly is starting to take some time to load even on fast internet connections.


We do want to thank our wonderful customers and the great Head-Fi community.

Thanks,
Alex

[[AK]Zip]

AKG K701, Sony SA5000, and HD650 cable all 3 balanced and with Super Nylon sleeving.


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-Alex-

[krmathis]

Awesome cable work!
If I ever get a dynamic headphone I will certainly look into getting it re-cable with the V3 cable.

[[AK]Zip]

Originally Posted by krmathis

Awesome cable work!
If I ever get a dynamic headphone I will certainly look into getting it re-cable with the V3 cable.

We might have something for all the electrostatic guys/girls in the near future....

Two Sennheiser HD650 cable and 2 custom cables using the V3.


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-Alex-

[Covenant]

Yay, the second pic from the top in the last post is my cable

Now i've had the cable for a few days, i'll post some impressions. I've been thoroughly enjoying my new Pico and APS with the HD600 over the last week, and it was a struggle to get the stock cable out again and do comparisons today. I didnt want to do comparisons, i just wanted to listen to music! :P

Regardless, i spent some time swapping the APS V3 with the stock 600 cable, and listening to various reference tracks of several genres. I dont have the most refined ear for cable differences, but several changes became apparent between the APS and stock:

*Music becomes more palpable with the APS. I'm not sure how its achieving this, whether notes are decaying slightly slower, or whether the APS is simply capturing more of the dynamic range, or if its purely a function of tone. But The HD600 is noticably heftier, music is weightier and imbued with a greater sense of realism.

*Soundstage seems slightly expanded in every dimension. Imaging remains more or less the same, but instruments have a bigger field to work with, allowing each a greater clarity of placement and less harmonic interference with each other.

*Tone. The difference is much harder to spot here, and I couldnt put my finger on it and say "there, hear that!", but tone seems to have noticably improved, not in the sense that the headphones sound any warmer or colder, but some measure of artifice seems to have been stripped from them, making vocals and acoustic instruments sound more natural.

All of these differences are subtle, it certainly wasnt night and day to me. But the APS put my HD600 that much closer to being completely satisfying to my tastes.

Build quality is also excellent, the cable looks and feels far sexier than the pics do justice. Thanks Alex

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by Covenant

Yay, the second pic from the top in the last post is my cable

Now i've had the cable for a few days, i'll post some impressions. I've been thoroughly enjoying my new Pico and APS with the HD600 over the last week, and it was a struggle to get the stock cable out again and do comparisons today. I didnt want to do comparisons, i just wanted to listen to music! :P

Regardless, i spent some time swapping the APS V3 with the stock 600 cable, and listening to various reference tracks of several genres. I dont have the most refined ear for cable differences, but several changes became apparent between the APS and stock:

*Music becomes more palpable with the APS. I'm not sure how its achieving this, whether notes are decaying slightly slower, or whether the APS is simply capturing more of the dynamic range, or if its purely a function of tone. But The HD600 is noticably heftier, music is weightier and imbued with a greater sense of realism.

*Soundstage seems slightly expanded in every dimension. Imaging remains more or less the same, but instruments have a bigger field to work with, allowing each a greater clarity of placement and less harmonic interference with each other.

*Tone. The difference is much harder to spot here, and I couldnt put my finger on it and say "there, hear that!", but tone seems to have noticably improved, not in the sense that the headphones sound any warmer or colder, but some measure of artifice seems to have been stripped from them, making vocals and acoustic instruments sound more natural.

All of these differences are subtle, it certainly wasnt night and day to me. But the APS put my HD600 that much closer to being completely satisfying to my tastes.

Build quality is also excellent, the cable looks and feels far sexier than the pics do justice. Thanks Alex

You've basically hit on the increased frequency extension, layering and transparency that I noted in my review of APS V3 cable vs stock HD600 and HD650 cable.

[Covenant]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

You've basically hit on the increased frequency extension, layering and transparency that I noted in my review of APS V3 cable vs stock HD600 and HD650 cable.

I tend to have woolen ears for cables, for some reason. Interconnects I can hear a difference with, but Sennheiser replacement cables are another thing. I tried a couple of aftermarket cables previously and ended up returning them, because I just couldnt hear the difference.

I wont mention which cables they were, but i'm glad to say the APS wont be joining them. It is still a subtle effect to my ears, certainly, and whether it justifies the cost of the cable is another matter, but now that i've heard it, i doubt i'd be content going back

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by Covenant

I tend to have woolen ears for cables, for some reason. Interconnects I can hear a difference with, but Sennheiser replacement cables are another thing. I tried a couple of aftermarket cables previously and ended up returning them, because I just couldnt hear the difference.

I wont mention which cables they were, but i'm glad to say the APS wont be joining them. It is still a subtle effect to my ears, certainly, and whether it justifies the cost of the cable is another matter, but now that i've heard it, i doubt i'd be content going back

Well, you did a good job hearing the changes and reporting them. Naamanf came by for a mini-meet before heading back to Iraq, and he said based on his engineering experience that he didn't believe headphone cables could make a difference. He listened to my HD600 stock and with the APS V3 cable and left here a believer.

Yes, the differences are subtle. But if you train yourself to listen to micro-details and background instruments, and echos off the studio walls, the decay of the cymbals or hang of the bass drum and such, you can learn to "over-focus" on the changes. Having two people there, so you can have a helper do a fast switch on the cables helped. I coached Naamanf through the process, and he agreed that with the APS cable that it was easier to follow the supporting instruments in the background, and easier to hear past the headphones and into the instruments due to the improved transparency and soundstage, and also heard the increased treble extension and a slight boost in the bass.

[nc8000]

Received my V3 recabled ATH-ESW9 today and WOW. Even without burnin it is a clear improvement over the stock cable. It is basically doing much the same thing to these as the Ety cable does for them. The reservations I had about the top end sometimes sounding edgy has all but gone and the whole sound is just meatier and the bottom end is firmer. And it can only get better from here with burnin. I had not realised that the V3 cable is much thicker and stiffer than the V2 but as I will only be using these phones in a rig that I set up at the hotel room and not on the road that does not matter. This setup with the Sony cd player and iBasso D1 plus ESW9 is going to make it a joy to stay at hotels, I almost will not miss my main home rig (at least not so much ).

Sorry for the lack of pictures but pichotel.com where I host my images seems to be down at the moment. I will update this post when they are back up.