Well, having used these now for two weeks, here's my impressions. Nothing formal with what recordings I listened to and all that, just a lowdown of what I've observed thus far.
1. I call this impressions even after two weeks because my previous interconnects, the Totem Acoustic Sinews, are totally standing toe to toe with the Neutral References. Both are plainly marketed to be the ultimate in neutrality regardless of price point. The problem being, who doesn't advertise neutrality nowdays? That word gets tossed around way too much, particularly in the cable industry. In any event, I am having an extremely difficult time discerning the two...they literally sound the same, and that's using my R10s and Etymotics. There are absolutely no tonal differences between the two cables. Neither one hides anything for certain...I can plainly hear the 9000ES as the source limiting the music now in fact, hence my search for a new source/DACs. And neither one adds anything to the music...which is what makes these two cables so hard to discern. If I had to discern anything, it'd be that the Neutral References bring up the background details just a smidgeon better (lower noise floor at play?), and that when I switch over to them, the sound just hardens. It suddenly gains a slight sense of razor focus. Tonally, both cables as far as I can hear are indeed neutral, in the sense that they don't add or subtract any part of the frequency spectrum.
2. The Neutral References definitely live up to their name at least. They are ruler flat neutral, and add nothing to the signal. They are not bright, they are not warm, they're...nothing. They are simply everything your source can offer. If you pair these up with a neutral and transparent amp and a neutral and transparent headphone, your system will essentially take on the characteristic ultimately of your source. And this is where your source becomes particularly important to the audio chain.
3. The Neutral References definitely strangle a cheaper Neotech cables I had before I even got the Sinews, which is the test cable I use to make sure I can even hear a difference between cables, or if I'm one of those people that just can't. The Neutral Reference plainly shoves more black space between each instrument, making each instrument more distinct and seperate. The cheaper cable mangles the instruments, making them seem as if they're being played stacked on top of one another. The bass also was slightly bloated on the cheaper cable. The bass on the Neutral References was simply what came off the disc. If it was distorted, it plainly came through distorted. If it was deep as the Atlantic Ocean, it came through that deep. If it was tight as a stretched rubber band, that's how it sounded. This cable as I said before hides nothing...cymbal strokes are fully extended, and not cutting off until they cut off on the recording. Or until the source cuts off the cymbals from source limits. Voices come through sounding realistic and real...not too warm, not too cold. Just simply the way the person should sound.
4. Are they "too" revealing? I don't think so. But I like my music this way. I want to hear every last thing off those plastic discs I pay so much money for. Some might think they have too much seperation, and your music becomes split into a dozen seperate parts instead of being a whole picture. I can understand this approach too...hence the Rega gear lovers.
5. Are they inherently bright? No. They will be bright if you have a bright or thin source however, make no mistake about that. It's just not possible really to attach a tonal quality to these cables, and I wouldn't blame them if suddenly a system sounded bright because of them. If your source is warm/smooth, and your amp is warm/smooth, and your headphones are warm/smooth, you should get along just fine with the Neutral References. My system is now based on a warmly musical source, neutral and transparent cables, neutral and transparent amp, and one canalphone that reveals like a bottomless pit, and another headphone that sounds...umm...real. And it sounds very, very good.
6. Now headphone systems are one thing, but I would really have to admit that in a speaker system, the differences I heard would be utterly lost. I'd be pretty skeptic at this point about anybody saying they heard huge differences between cables in a speaker system. The differences are really so tiny that you need a microscopic headphone to hear the differences (I really thought I had wasted my money at first when I first compared the Neutral References to the Sinews)...however in a headphone system these differences do become more audible, if any, because of the close interaction between the ears and output end.
1. I call this impressions even after two weeks because my previous interconnects, the Totem Acoustic Sinews, are totally standing toe to toe with the Neutral References. Both are plainly marketed to be the ultimate in neutrality regardless of price point. The problem being, who doesn't advertise neutrality nowdays? That word gets tossed around way too much, particularly in the cable industry. In any event, I am having an extremely difficult time discerning the two...they literally sound the same, and that's using my R10s and Etymotics. There are absolutely no tonal differences between the two cables. Neither one hides anything for certain...I can plainly hear the 9000ES as the source limiting the music now in fact, hence my search for a new source/DACs. And neither one adds anything to the music...which is what makes these two cables so hard to discern. If I had to discern anything, it'd be that the Neutral References bring up the background details just a smidgeon better (lower noise floor at play?), and that when I switch over to them, the sound just hardens. It suddenly gains a slight sense of razor focus. Tonally, both cables as far as I can hear are indeed neutral, in the sense that they don't add or subtract any part of the frequency spectrum.
2. The Neutral References definitely live up to their name at least. They are ruler flat neutral, and add nothing to the signal. They are not bright, they are not warm, they're...nothing. They are simply everything your source can offer. If you pair these up with a neutral and transparent amp and a neutral and transparent headphone, your system will essentially take on the characteristic ultimately of your source. And this is where your source becomes particularly important to the audio chain.
3. The Neutral References definitely strangle a cheaper Neotech cables I had before I even got the Sinews, which is the test cable I use to make sure I can even hear a difference between cables, or if I'm one of those people that just can't. The Neutral Reference plainly shoves more black space between each instrument, making each instrument more distinct and seperate. The cheaper cable mangles the instruments, making them seem as if they're being played stacked on top of one another. The bass also was slightly bloated on the cheaper cable. The bass on the Neutral References was simply what came off the disc. If it was distorted, it plainly came through distorted. If it was deep as the Atlantic Ocean, it came through that deep. If it was tight as a stretched rubber band, that's how it sounded. This cable as I said before hides nothing...cymbal strokes are fully extended, and not cutting off until they cut off on the recording. Or until the source cuts off the cymbals from source limits. Voices come through sounding realistic and real...not too warm, not too cold. Just simply the way the person should sound.
4. Are they "too" revealing? I don't think so. But I like my music this way. I want to hear every last thing off those plastic discs I pay so much money for. Some might think they have too much seperation, and your music becomes split into a dozen seperate parts instead of being a whole picture. I can understand this approach too...hence the Rega gear lovers.
5. Are they inherently bright? No. They will be bright if you have a bright or thin source however, make no mistake about that. It's just not possible really to attach a tonal quality to these cables, and I wouldn't blame them if suddenly a system sounded bright because of them. If your source is warm/smooth, and your amp is warm/smooth, and your headphones are warm/smooth, you should get along just fine with the Neutral References. My system is now based on a warmly musical source, neutral and transparent cables, neutral and transparent amp, and one canalphone that reveals like a bottomless pit, and another headphone that sounds...umm...real. And it sounds very, very good.
6. Now headphone systems are one thing, but I would really have to admit that in a speaker system, the differences I heard would be utterly lost. I'd be pretty skeptic at this point about anybody saying they heard huge differences between cables in a speaker system. The differences are really so tiny that you need a microscopic headphone to hear the differences (I really thought I had wasted my money at first when I first compared the Neutral References to the Sinews)...however in a headphone system these differences do become more audible, if any, because of the close interaction between the ears and output end.
