What I want to know is ...
How in the hell can something like changing a power cord amount to such a huge difference in sound?
Zu Birth installed today...
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I got my Zu Birth power cord in today and have had it running for about five hours.
...
...
You can see my sig for a brief description of the device chain in my listening rig.
Regarding the Zu Birth power cord ... I'm using it with my source, a Paradisea DAC.
This choice, in so far as preliminary listening, is made solely because I've read that the source is the component that will be impacted the most by power cord changes.
What I heard upon first listen....
The addition of the Birth power cord has resulted in an unbelievably different sound signature coming through my Grado RS1's. Mostly for the better but I also have some minor quibblees (the latter might be burn in related, but we'll see).
The good = dramatic widening of sound stage, just as dramatic of a change in transparency, instruments are much more seperate ... having much more air between them (could be same thing as transparency improvement but I'm making it up as I go). Bass is noticeably tighter, deeper and more punchy, and mids are a tad recessed. Regarding this change to the mids, it seems someone took an EQ and very slightly applied the "classic V" setting ... with the mid sliders sort of below 0k and everything to the right and left sort of slowly going up ... Not overbearing or unpleasant, but still a rather noticeable change to my system sound.
The bad = there's a very very slight bit of glare present that is not as noticeable with the cheapo plain jane power chord. That "Grado thing" that I've worked very hard to tame in my rig and which I'm therefore very sensitive too. It's not real bad with the new Zu Birth cable and it only shows up on certain CDs/tracks (when listening at higher volumes), but it's definitely a bit more present (being hyper critical). This might be reduced as the cable burns in. Also, I'm not sure if I like the slightly recessed mids. I'm a mid-man, after all and like my electric guitar to be nice and crunchy before I like it smooth and tight (just speaking of distorted guitar tones). It's actually a rather 'pretty' change to the overall sound but it may end up being a bit unnatural for my ear. We'll see as the cable burns in.
...
All in all ... I think the advantages of the pre-burnt-in Zu Birth outweigh the very slight flaws I'm hearing ... the improvements in soundstage, transparency and bass are just freakish.
I've got 60 days to return it for a full refund so I'm not sweating it.
IronLung Jellyfish next week ...
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In fact, I just ordered one of the much praised Iron Lung Jellyfish power cords to test against the Zu next week:
...
...
I've read lots of good things about the jellyfish cable so looking forward to comparing the two.
Once I settle on the one I like the most, I'll be ordering a second cable for my amplifier.
I certainly like the looks of the Zu cable more but if the Jellyfish pwns it, I'll learn to live with the purple.
...
Power cords. Who knew?
How in the hell can something like changing a power cord amount to such a huge difference in sound?
Zu Birth installed today...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I got my Zu Birth power cord in today and have had it running for about five hours.
...
...
You can see my sig for a brief description of the device chain in my listening rig.
Regarding the Zu Birth power cord ... I'm using it with my source, a Paradisea DAC.
This choice, in so far as preliminary listening, is made solely because I've read that the source is the component that will be impacted the most by power cord changes.
What I heard upon first listen....
The addition of the Birth power cord has resulted in an unbelievably different sound signature coming through my Grado RS1's. Mostly for the better but I also have some minor quibblees (the latter might be burn in related, but we'll see).
The good = dramatic widening of sound stage, just as dramatic of a change in transparency, instruments are much more seperate ... having much more air between them (could be same thing as transparency improvement but I'm making it up as I go). Bass is noticeably tighter, deeper and more punchy, and mids are a tad recessed. Regarding this change to the mids, it seems someone took an EQ and very slightly applied the "classic V" setting ... with the mid sliders sort of below 0k and everything to the right and left sort of slowly going up ... Not overbearing or unpleasant, but still a rather noticeable change to my system sound.
The bad = there's a very very slight bit of glare present that is not as noticeable with the cheapo plain jane power chord. That "Grado thing" that I've worked very hard to tame in my rig and which I'm therefore very sensitive too. It's not real bad with the new Zu Birth cable and it only shows up on certain CDs/tracks (when listening at higher volumes), but it's definitely a bit more present (being hyper critical). This might be reduced as the cable burns in. Also, I'm not sure if I like the slightly recessed mids. I'm a mid-man, after all and like my electric guitar to be nice and crunchy before I like it smooth and tight (just speaking of distorted guitar tones). It's actually a rather 'pretty' change to the overall sound but it may end up being a bit unnatural for my ear. We'll see as the cable burns in.
...
All in all ... I think the advantages of the pre-burnt-in Zu Birth outweigh the very slight flaws I'm hearing ... the improvements in soundstage, transparency and bass are just freakish.
I've got 60 days to return it for a full refund so I'm not sweating it.
IronLung Jellyfish next week ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In fact, I just ordered one of the much praised Iron Lung Jellyfish power cords to test against the Zu next week:
...
...
I've read lots of good things about the jellyfish cable so looking forward to comparing the two.
Once I settle on the one I like the most, I'll be ordering a second cable for my amplifier.
I certainly like the looks of the Zu cable more but if the Jellyfish pwns it, I'll learn to live with the purple.
...
Power cords. Who knew?
