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Directional Vs Non Directional

post #1 of 22
3/13/06 at 3:11pm
Thread Starter 
What is the diffrence between these two. Is there a sound improvement, less interfernce . Also what happens if you switch directions on a directional cable

Just curious
P
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post #2 of 22
3/13/06 at 3:14pm
I've heard your music will be played backwards. It comes in handy when searching for hidden meanings in old Led Zeppelin and The Beatles CD's.
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post #3 of 22
3/13/06 at 4:11pm
from what i've read it just changes the sound and takes a while for it to get back to "normal". something to do with electrons of course
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post #4 of 22
3/13/06 at 4:15pm
May seem dumb, but I really don t see how a cable could be "directionnal"??
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post #5 of 22
3/13/06 at 4:26pm
the only reasoning i can come up with is if the connectors are different and it's supposed to go one way, or it is burned in a certain way from the manufacturer
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post #6 of 22
3/13/06 at 4:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by animalsrush
What is the diffrence between these two. Is there a sound improvement, less interfernce . Also what happens if you switch directions on a directional cable

Just curious
P
As I undestand it,
It involves the shielding being attached to one end and not the other. In theory there is an improvement in noise surpression.
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post #7 of 22
3/13/06 at 4:34pm
Seems strange because according to my physics course, what receives well emits well.
About the shielding, even if it s connected to one end, the noise will propagate in the cable and reach the other end.
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post #8 of 22
3/13/06 at 4:50pm
Directional makes a slight difference in my system, as my amp was better grounded than my cd player, so it was better to have the cable technically the "wrong" orientation...

That said, I have tried swapping it's direction since I upgraded my CD player, and i'm blowed if I can hear any difference.
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post #9 of 22
3/13/06 at 4:55pm
Thanks to Benjamin Franklin's mistake, but we are too lazy to correct his mistake, current flows from positive to negative while electrons flow from negative to positive.
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post #10 of 22
3/13/06 at 5:00pm
Let s say it s in honor of him
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post #11 of 22
3/13/06 at 5:03pm
yeah, that's why this dude was also made to the $100 bill. among all the conventional US bills, $100 bill is the only one that has a face of a non-President.
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post #12 of 22
3/13/06 at 6:58pm
I am no acoustic engineer but I think it has something to do with what they called the 'Skin-effect' in EM(or the magnetic field and current density at the surface of the conductor). Basically by arranging and twisting strands of copper wires in certain way based upon the flow of electric current, the magnetic interference of the conductors can be minimized, and hence reduces signal loss.

IMHO, the difference between a $50 cable and a $500 one is not significant enough to justify the cost. Unless you are running it across the Pacific Ocean, a decent low cost cable would do the job. On the other hand, you wouldn't want use a coat hanger to connect a CD player to your pre-amp. However, it does look kind of impressive with these chains and ropes lying behind your system.
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post #13 of 22
3/13/06 at 7:00pm
I am familiar with the skin effect, and I don t see how that would affect a "directionnal" cable. I think the term is misleading.
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post #14 of 22
3/13/06 at 7:08pm
I have one or two directional cables. As already said, the directionality has something to do with grounding and I remember doing a test to verfiy this (can't remember the exact procedure at the moment). In any case, I found the sound quality to be the same if both units connected at the ends are well-designed with proper grounding.
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post #15 of 22
3/13/06 at 7:14pm
I think directional cables is just a marketing scheme that solves buyer's question of "does it matter which end I should connect to my cd player?"
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