My cable test enterprise - Page 13

This might be of interest to you.

People have done blind tests of 24bit/192khz recordings verses a 16bit/44 khz conversion of that original. A lot of effort was made to make sure the conversion was done well.

At normal listening levels people could not tell the difference. People had to raise the volumes to absurd listening levels (I believe some people were putting earplugs in their ears so they could crank it up) and only then some could tell the difference.

And of course, people could tell during periods of silence since the noise was easier to hear.

I don't remember where the results are from,but that sounds familiar.

There are a number of people on Hydrogenaudio who have done this test and had similar results.

DH Labs, that is one company I really would love to try!

I don't think that's universal. Depends on whether it's electroplated, extruded, how thick the coat is and god-knows what else. All the Van Den Hul cables I've used are silver-coated copper and they don't sound like anything at all.

I hope someone lends Nick some seriously expensive cables to test though.

Thank you very much for doing this. As a skeptic, it annoys me (some people will latch onto this wording in response; fine) that there is so much anti-scientific thinking among audiophiles, to the point of going out the way to dismiss DBT. If you know the differences between cables well enough, then you will be able to find the same differences blindly, period. AFAIK, that has not happened yet. However, I'll wait it out and see if one of your tests shows something interesting. I'll keep using generic shielded cables from radioshack and monoprice in the meantime.

As for people hearing similar changes between the same cables, assuming that there aren't audible differences between cables, that could be due to word of mouth and expectation.

As for amps, I am just going to get one that is considered to be quality and be done with it. I am getting a KICAS Caliente, which purposely colors the sound in a way I think I would like (warmer than most solid state amps and with more bass extension), but I wonder if it will make a difference in sound quality versus my Total AirHead. The power difference, the class-A level versus the mixture of A and B on the Total AirHead (or something like that; I know virtually nothing about electrical engineering), and other differences in the electronics hopefully will make a pretty noticeable improvement. I'm mildly skeptical about improvements beyond a certain point.

I can understand that tube amping differs via different tubes given the physical differences in tubes. I have no skepticism about that - it just seems obvious to me that the level of vacuum, etc., would change the sound signature.

edited to add: Oh, I thought that this was in the "Sound Science" forum, for some reason. Good thing it isn't; no one reads the Sound Science forum.

^x2

I feel the Caliente is going to power the 650's much better than an airhead. We have basically identical setups (check my gear list). I almost went with the airhead myself, and from ebay non the less. I'm happy I decided upon the Caliente along with the 650s I got from J&R, and I'm not looking back.

Perhaps in a few years I'll look into an HD800 or PS1000...assuming they're a lot cheaper.

Nice test Nick.

I can't say I'm surprised by either your results or the feedback you've received. For me the conclusion of your test confirms the professionals' view. For the benefit of others Nick: If there was any decernable difference between cable types don't you think the world's top recording studios would use expensive cables. Studios like Abbey Road, Air Lynhurst, The Hit Factory and many others have spent hundreds of thousands (even millions) on the highest quality monitoring systems and environments in the world, this is why they are famous. If spending a few extra grand on so called high quality cables made any sort of difference, don't you think these studios would buy it? So what do they use? Klotz, Van Damme and a few others, rarely do they spend more than $10 a yard (except for multicore looms). So if you're going to spend more than about $10 a foot you are either a victim of marketing or know more than the world's top recording engineers and studio owners.

By the way Nick, when you get near the limit of the noise floor, say -90dB for 16bit, don't forget that you may get unpredictable freq responses, depending on how the converters are applying dither. I don't want to sound insulting, but Behringer coverters are not well respected professionally.

At the end of the day Nick, those people buying expensive cables are hearing a difference because they expect to, how can something that costs 20 times more not sound better? You can provide them with all the proof in the world, they are still going to "hear" the difference and worst still, probably recommend it to friends or people on forums like this one. Add these people on top of the marketing hype from companies who must wet themselves laughing whenever an order comes through and you end up with an army of "believers". Hallelujah brother!!

G

Note: the webmaster has not yet uploaded the translation I did about "The "truth" about different speaker cables". It has been well over a week since I translated it, but I hope they upload it soon.

Look at the Sound Science forum during next week because hopefully i will be able to give you the link of the tests regarding different speaker cables done in a lab.

Hey Nick

You're doing a great job....

Is the difference in post 194 audible?

USG