I’ll be completely honest with everybody here, I was never a believer in cables. I thought that no matter how much money you spent on a cable, all you were paying for were aesthetics and design. This was mainly due to the fact that I had only used cheap little LOD’s from the likes of Audinst & SoundMagic (ones included with their amps). Yet, I kept reading tons of reviews about how a cable does make a difference sonic wise if you invest in a nice cable. I first talked to Ted from the CablePro a few weeks ago and after a few days of conversing and getting everything designed, he had the Reverie LOD ready for me to review. So, is there really a sound difference? Well, that’s what we are hear to find out, aren’t we?
A Little Note
First off, let’s get the BS out of the way right now. I don’t care what people say about blind testing, I don’t care about cable measuring myths, I don’t care what people say about audible differences or not. It’s my ears and my judgement. If I get bashed for a review, don’t blame me, blame my ears, because they’re the only thing on my body that can hear, and all humans on the face of this earth hear differently in some way or another. I’m not saying that I will hear any audible differences, but you will have to read the whole review to find out.
The Design & Aesthetics
Anyway, let’s start off with the design. Initially, I wasn’t amazingly impressed. While it no doubt was a very simple and rather sleek looking approach to an LOD, I have seen other cables on the market that look better (ALO Audio is one example). With that being said, it is simple and helps tremendously with what your are going to read in the next part of the review. When hooked up to a iPod & an amp, this thing quite literally disappears from view. The cable is very thin (but durable at the same time) and therefore will not be noticeable unless you were to leave it sticking out from the side or so. If you take a look at the picture below, you’ll see what I mean. The dock connector is roughly the same size as that of the official Apple connector (although it seems to be a tad bit smaller, at least when comparing them side to side) and another reason why the simplistic design is very good at staying out of sight.
The cable itself is easily my favorite part, it’s very thin, intertwined, and has held up marvelously over the few weeks of testing it. It’s flexible enough that you can twist and turn it in multiple directions, but not so loose that the actual cable becomes un-winded. The headphone jack is of course gold plated with a right angled jack for compatibility with amps and such (also so the actual connector does not stick out). If we compare to some other cables, most of these use a very long connector and jack which stick out from both the amp & the player, which results in a not so compact kit and difficult to use for portable use unless you want to remove and install the cable every time you go out on vacation and such.
Design Options
Ted does offer a plethora of options, which is a nice thing to see. The first 11 extra inches of cable are free, and you can go up to 10 feet for a $270 extra. You have the choice of either going left or right angled, as well as straight out the back. For on the go users, I would recommend an angled connector, and vice versa for home users. As an added bonus, Ted allows you to put in your very own custom cable length, right down to the millimeter of what you want., which is a very nice added bonus considering the fact that most other companies don’t allow this.
Sound Evaluation
I didn’t really believe in cable burn in, but do to my review guidelines, I decided it would be best to burn these in for at least 50 hours. The first time listening to these I didn’t notice any change sonically at all, so burn in definitely is not mandatory for a LOD cable. Well, did the cable make a difference at all? Well, yes and no. Depending on what setup I was using, I could almost swear I heard a slight change in transparency and soundstage, more airy to put more specifically. More apparent on less airy cans like the SR80i’s and the HE-300. Was it mental? I can’t really answer that. It was a very small difference, and while it may have been mental, I don’t think it was. With that being said, is it enough to justify the $259 price tag?
The Price, Pros, & Cons
Before we get to the Reverie, let’s take a look at some of the other LOD’s available on the market. The ALO Audio Cyro sells for $195 & the Krispy Kables Stage 4 LOD sells for $110. The CablePro Reverie has some advantages, and some disadvantages. Let’s first start off with the good, and get to the cons a little later. The Reverie is lighter, smaller, and a lot more mobile, and depending on a person’s tastes, may actually look better than some of the beefier ones mentioned above. It’s quite literally the perfect little cable for the mobile Head-Fier. With that being said, it still is not as durable (despite being very well put together) as some of the other options similar to the Cyro. On top of that, there is no denying the price, which is very expensive at $259.
Final Thoughts
From a consumer standpoint, I can’t recommend this, it won’t provide enough of a sonic difference if you already have a decent amp and a decent set of cans. From a prosumer standpoint (or audiophile, whichever you prefer) it may be the perfect little cable. If your someone who doesn’t care about spending a lot of money on a cable and needs something that will pump out every last trickle of sound that provides an excellent mobile package, then the Reverie is definitely or you. To wrap up, I’ll be giving 2 ratings, one from a consumer standpoint (top rating), and one from an audiophile standpoint (bottom).
The CablePro Reverie @The CablePro Store
Edited by Austin Morrow - 12/22/11 at 8:06pm
