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Can a change in LOD cabling really make a sonic difference?

post #1 of 10
9/17/10 at 5:41am
Thread Starter 

Awhile back I posted on another thread that my Nano was giving me problems clipping.  SOme vocals sounded horrible esp. if the singer was hitting a high note.  I was using a DIYers homemade LOD cable.  THen I bought an ALO copper cable for another iPod/amp combination and experimented with this cable on my sick Nano and suddenly all the clipping went away.

 

At least I think it did

 

So here's the question: the DIY LOD maybe didn't have the higher quality copper cabling of the ALO cable??  Or maybe the chemistry of cryo and copper are helping??? DOn't know.  I DO know I can really hear a sonic difference when I use the less=-expensive cable in an iPod/amp combination vs. the ALO.  Same goes for my Whiplash cables.  Huge sonic difference.

 

Or am I imagining this and it's only psychological???

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post #2 of 10
9/17/10 at 8:07am

If the DIY cable is causing clipping, it is faulty. Simple as that, no magic.

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post #3 of 10
9/17/10 at 11:16am

you could try doing a...ermm...cough, if you're not sure. that should give you an idea. I'm quite sure of the sonic differences the cables on my system make, so I don't need to... 

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post #4 of 10
9/17/10 at 11:21am
How in the world does a cable stop an amplifier from clipping?
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post #5 of 10
9/17/10 at 12:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post

How in the world does a cable stop an amplifier from clipping?


and THAT is exactly what I'm asking.  And why does a $100 cable sound so much better with everything than something made by a DIYer??  I can't explain it either, which is the reason for the thread

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post #6 of 10
9/17/10 at 1:36pm

Are you sure what you heard was clipping (i.e. distortion caused by overdriving the amplifier) and not just intermittent circuit breaks/shorts?

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post #7 of 10
9/17/10 at 1:43pm

My ALO dock is the worst sounding LOD dock I have (the extension on both ends just ain't there more so on the treble). I had one made by qusp with silver and mundorf cabling and that sounds much better than the ALO jenna one. Just my 0.02$....

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post #8 of 10
9/17/10 at 3:05pm

LODs are extremely breakable, no matter who makes them.  All it takes  is a little bump of those pins inside the connector...I know what a broken LOD sounds like, and that would be it.

 

One person sent me back a "broken" LOD that I had made - the LOD connector was jammed with pocket dirt, which I had the honor of scraping out.  Yum!

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post #9 of 10
9/17/10 at 4:17pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by scootermafia View Post

LODs are extremely breakable, no matter who makes them.  All it takes  is a little bump of those pins inside the connector...I know what a broken LOD sounds like, and that would be it.

 

One person sent me back a "broken" LOD that I had made - the LOD connector was jammed with pocket dirt, which I had the honor of scraping out.  Yum!


AHA--and there we have it.  Use my Nano/amp combo while gardening with lots of bending, kneeling, etc putting strain on the connector, the whole unit of which is in my shorts' pocket.  I've noticed the connector was not as sturdy looking as the ALO or Whiplash variety, so bet that's what happened.

 

And perhaps I hadn't used the correct term when I said "clipping" but that's what it sounded like: except I knew the amp wasn't at fault

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post #10 of 10
9/19/10 at 11:48am

Well, no LOD connector is especially tough.  They're all made of plastic as per the reference design.  Some have a longer shell, but that's just cosmetic.  Most small time people get them from Qables, who probably has a source in Asia for them, they're pretty universal amongst DIYers and businesses.  If only they made a really sweet aluminum one or something, the problem is that the shell is such thin plastic around the part that inserts, aluminum wouldn't be all that strong either.  I'd love a carbon fiber one, for sure.  

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