Gold and silver 3.5mm jack sound quality

^ I was told that gold plated interconnects provide "warmer" sound, like in the low to mid ranges.  Silver interconnects provide "cooler" or "colder" sound signature which excels in the highs. On top of that, it provides greater detail across the band.

I do need to pickup a nice quality silver 3.5mm jack for my setup though.... it's $$$$$$ and I have an oil change coming in a few days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodolcheez 

^ I was told that gold plated interconnects provide "warmer" sound, like in the low to mid ranges.  Silver interconnects provide "cooler" or "colder" sound signature which excels in the highs. On top of that, it provides greater detail across the band.

 

I do need to pickup a nice quality silver 3.5mm jack for my setup though.... it's $$$$$$ and I have an oil change coming in a few days.

I haven't heard nearly as much talk about the plating material on jacks as with the differences with cables.  I think the amount of contact and the distance is so short it probably doesn't matter much one way or another.  Cardas seems to use silver for their cable terminations, most else seems to use gold.  I can't find a pattern between the connector pairings and sound signatures, it seems more aesthetic, or maybe about impedance matching than about signature.

I tend to prefer gold for most connectors, though, mostly because it's a self-lubricating metal, so it greatly reduces the wear & tear of friction from connecting and won't tarnish/corrode, and is generally just smoother to plug/unplug..  Wear & tear on connectors probably causes more sound degredation than choosing a different precious metal for the plug

There should be no audible difference. Gold plating (or Rhodium) generally corrodes less and stays on better, and so there may be a usability benefit over time. 

Sorry I meant the interconnects inside the cable, not the coating outside the metal plug at the end.  I wasn't clear when I wrote...

Yeah for the gold plate outside the metal, like you said, probably for looks and reliability.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEMCrazy 
Wear & tear on connectors probably causes more sound degredation than choosing a different precious metal for the plug

Good post.  This is the reason why once I plug it on to the 3.5mm input, I leave it on almost forever.  I rarely take it out unless all hell break lose, like tornado coming toward my house and I have to pack my macbook in hurry. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodolcheez 

Sorry I meant the interconnects inside the cable

Still should be no sound difference. A bad soldering job would have an effect - but otherwise, no difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodolcheez 

^ I was told that gold plated interconnects provide "warmer" sound, like in the low to mid ranges.  Silver interconnects provide "cooler" or "colder" sound signature which excels in the highs. On top of that, it provides greater detail across the band.

 

I do need to pickup a nice quality silver 3.5mm jack for my setup though.... it's $$$$$$ and I have an oil change coming in a few days.

Are you sure they were not relating the sound to the color? If i remember correctly, Gold gives a yellowish sound (hotter) while silver a whitish (cooler) ?

Otherwise, as liamstrain said, bad stuff is more likely to produce a difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by proton007 

Are you sure they were not relating the sound to the color? If i remember correctly, Gold gives a yellowish sound (hotter) while silver a whitish (cooler) ?

...

I can't quite understand whether you're being serious or just writing meaningless nonsense. I hope is the latter.

No. Nothing about that post is based in either science, or listener experience. 

The outer coating shouldn't have any difference, if any it's like placebo due to the colors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by liamstrain 

 

Still should be no sound difference. A bad soldering job would have an effect - but otherwise, no difference.

I was talking outside of bad soldering job though. In other words, when each cables are functioning without defects.

The insulation of the cable construction and materials and the type and quality of interconnects matter in sound quality and signatures.

:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by muscular 

The outer coating shouldn't have any difference, if any it's like placebo due to the colors.

Most probably. I can see a direct relationship, hence the previous post. Add to the list, copper, has a (reddish) or rusty sound.

Don't know if anyone said this, was too lazy to read all the posts lol, but it should be because of rust. Gold doesn't rust, iron rusts. Gold is the most inert, non-reactive of all metals; it will never react with oxygen, either atmospheric or in solution.