[TeskR]

  Heres a guy who makes cables for the ADs and other for cheap: http://www.bestintheversecables.com/
 
He started out on the /r/headphones subreddit and is now selling it through a website, I might buy one from him or DIY one.

Thanks for the link!

 

[adpo]

I was thinking of getting a pair of MDPs to complement my Alphas for listening to EDM, rap and whatnot.  Has anyone gotten a chance to compare the two?  Would it be worthwhile to get it as an emphasized-bass complement to the Alphas or should I just save up for some Audeze cans?

 

[wahsmoh]

  I was thinking of getting a pair of MDPs to complement my Alphas for listening to EDM, rap and whatnot.  Has anyone gotten a chance to compare the two?  Would it be worthwhile to get it as an emphasized-bass complement to the Alphas or should I just save up for some Audeze cans?

Hey go to sleep I woke up at 1 am because I fell asleep at 8pm after eating a massive ramen and sushi dinner at Raki Raki on Convoy St. Since then I haven't been able to fall asleep because I've been listening to the Alpha Omega Dogs ;]
 
I tell ya a cable really does make a difference. I don't know what it is but something about the sound opened up and seems more effortless with speed and power.
 
You should hear this cable I got and tell me what you think 

 

 

[koolas]

Agreed, I am new to HeadFi, but have been an Audiophile for years. I find these flat earth, absolutists to be rather boorish. I can only assume they haven't had the opportunity to listen to a variety of cables. They do sound very different, maybe not always better (this is area in which I am sure we do agree, >expense does not always = better). GOOD MEASUREMENTS DO NOT EQUAL GOOD SOUND! Not all subjective listening parameters, soundstage, musicality, pace, etcetera, etcetera can be measured. There are many horrible sounding transducers/equipment that have stellar objective measures. Cheers....

Agreed with first, and agreed with second.

Recently I made a cable upgrade for my loudspeakers. Before I had this quite thick stranded cable, with single + and -. Now I upgraded to Monster one, with insulation in the center of cable. In theory it prevents phase effects, i.e. electrons on the surface of the conductor travel faster than in the middle of it. So in theory it should mean less fuzzy detail. Also I have decided to connect each speaker with four cables, one pair for treble and one for bass. And I want to add that I was pretty curious if I would hear any difference. I was very skeptical, and the only thing I was assuming was that sound shouldn't go worse. And indeed sound didn't go worse. However it did actually improve significantly. The area of improvement was soundstage, imaging and detail, and bass has now significantly more power. With this quite cheap upgrade (cable didn't cost leg-and-arm) I can clearly say the detail went up to the same level as Alpha Dogs present, which is quite an amazing thing given that these are dynamic transducers, and Alpha Dogs are orthos. I can only imagine how much would imaging improve for Alpha Dogs with better cable. I believe it really did. I wonder if there could be four cables for each side, with cross-over near the ear-cup. I know Alpha-Dogs have only one transducer per side, but you can still separate high frequency "power supply" (sound comes from power amp at the end of day) from low frequency one. This kind of trick should significantly improve SQ, I think... Also would it make sense to have this inner insulation?

 

[haloxt]

   
 
Maybe cables do improve certain aspects of sound.  I think I have actually perceived the same - once even with a crump power cable, which I can't even begin to wrap my mind around given the miles and miles of cheap wire separating my house from the power plant.  Nonetheless, the fact that caps can cause measurable improvements and cables can't bugs me...  That and the fact that certain parts of the popular mythology about cables are demonstrably false.  Probably 25% of head-fi's readers think that copper sounds "warm" and silver sounds "bright"  If true, that would obviously show up in FR measurements, and it doesn't.  So I think it is a given that there is a substantial amount of misinformation that flies around on this topic, and we also have to stop and ask who is propagating that misinformation and why.  For now, I'll remain a cable agnostic from the standpoint of sonics, but that certainly won't stop me from continuing to build my own among other diy projects.  I'm interested in an open, balanced and intelligent discussion on the topic.   
 
 

 
Some people think the main cause of the difference between copper and silver cables may be due to time-domain distortion which studies have shown humans can detect in minute levels on a conscious level. Any tests regarding the limits of human perception and conscious awareness of minute perceptions, such as in normal hearing and vision tests or double-blind tests performed by people with vested interests one way or another, there's always going to be false positives and false negatives because the human ability to perceive and interpret minute detail is constantly variable and sometimes very unreliable, and definitely not the same thing as what humans are theoretically capable of sensing and being subconsciously affected by.
 
I am always amused when I see discussions about the limits of vision and olfaction usually ending in agreement, but discussions about the limits of hearing usually go nowhere with neither party learning anything.

 

[bonesnv]

   
Some people think the main cause of the difference between copper and silver cables may be due to time-domain distortion which studies have shown humans can detect in minute levels on a conscious level. Any tests regarding the limits of human perception and conscious awareness of minute perceptions, such as in normal hearing and vision tests or double-blind tests performed by people with vested interests one way or another, there's always going to be false positives and false negatives because the human ability to perceive and interpret minute detail is constantly variable and sometimes very unreliable, and definitely not the same thing as what humans are theoretically capable of sensing and being subconsciously affected by.
 
I am always amused when I see discussions about the limits of vision and olfaction usually ending in agreement, but discussions about the limits of hearing usually go nowhere with neither party learning anything.

 
The problem with this one is that it is a battle of engineers vs hobbyists.  There really aren't any "vision" hobbyist who like to test peoples eyes for fun, lol.  
 
You have the sound engineers who are swearing by their graphs, charts and equipment that calculates the sound from these devices and cables.  Those tools don't take in the human factor though, which is that the brain does whatever the brain wants to do really.  
 
Those who believe solely in science, their brains may have a more difficult time adopting something that cannot be justifiably quantified, because that is how they were taught.  Then there are those who are hobbyists who don't have those preconceived ideals in their head, so they are more open minded that their hard earned money provided them with a change that they felt was detectable.  From the IT background I have, I tend to think like an engineer and I want to see quantifiable proof.  Maybe my brain prevents me from hearing the changes in subtlety because I have already told myself that it can't be legitimate.
 
Was that change the hobbyist found, while listening to his music using his new cables, detected by equipment?   Typically no, because every brain and person is different and the whole ideal is subjective. 
 
What irks a lot of people is the marketing non-sense that goes with these cables.  Stating that nano-particles are floating inside cleaning up the signal with magical cryo-gel and cryo-freezing treatment to ensure those little particles are happy as can be.  They say it in much better wording with a lot of words only an engineer would even know how to pronounce that make people go "WOW!" and then they're hooked.  Less marketing hype would help solve the problem of these $5000+ cables that are supposed to make it sound like Elvis rose from the dead and is singing to you personally.
 
Me, myself and I, have never found a sonic difference in the cables I have used.  I have tried various manufacturers, Straightwire, Kimble, Monoprice, Pangea Audio, Double Helix, AudioQuest, Monster through both my audio systems and my A/V-Television system.  Only thing I have ever been able to tell the difference on is a poorly made cable vs a well made cable.  If others hear magical sound notes from those same cables, a brighter more refined picture or higher levels of clarity, so be it.  
 
I bought them for the convenience of the cable, it was easier to run, better made, more flexible or offered a connector I wanted in the length I wanted and if possible, the color I wanted.  If I get to hear some extra nuances of the symbols and bass drums, added bonus.
 
Let's all just enjoy the music, it's why the majority of us are here.

 

[koolas]

According to Heisenberg rule, there is not such thing like exact measurement. Because of that, you can't just say according to measurements the two things are the same, because they certainly are not. The question is whether we humans are capable to perceive the difference. And the answer cannot be derived from measurements, because how would you measure someones hearing of vision?

 

[koolas]

In case of my speaker cables it could be that now I have more copper, meaning more current can freely flow, and thus woofers can draw more current from power amp. But I truly think this is not all the story, as I do perceive more detail. Before upgrade I was convinced that Alpha Dogs extract significantly more detail than my speakers, but now I can say detail retrieval level is similar. Anyways, this is all subjective and YMMV very much I just say I understand people who base on measurements, as well as I believe people who hear difference between different cables.

 

[imackler]

Has anyone had luck with the Fiio E09K and the Alpha Dog? Its a bit of a unique question because most users are in a whole other league regarding amps... That being said the E09K got great reviews, and I liked that it's mids are not slightly recessed like the Magni's are (IMO). 

 

[mrspeakers]

Can cable science/general debates be held on an appropriate thread?

 

[bonesnv]

Sorry, my mistake for continuing it on with my response.

 

[MattTCG]

Can cable science/general debates be held on an appropriate thread?

+100

 

[adpo]

   
There really aren't any "vision" hobbyist who like to test peoples eyes for fun, lol.  
 

Clearly, you've never been to a photography forum
 
In other news, I recently did a buddy a favor and did some audio work for a video project they were working on.  I used the Alphas to monitor, so I let the director have a listen to them and she was blown away by how detailed and transparent the headphones were compared to the cheap studio monitors they had been using.

 

[swspiers]

Clearly, you've never been to a photography forum

+1000

Especially debates on compression and gamma specs!

 

[bonesnv]

+1000

Especially debates on compression and gamma specs!

 
Valid point, forgot about the photography forums.  It was one of the reasons I quit visiting those forums and just enjoy my photography on my own.  People spent more time debating than enjoying the art of the photo itself.
 
Side note, speaking about the Alpha Dogs themselves to try and get this a little back on track.  I have owned mine for quite a while now, listening to them almost every night for a few hours before I head to bed.  They are honestly one of the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn and have more than once fallen asleep on the couch listening to music, waking up at 1 or 2 AM, wondering why I was still downstairs and why Clapton was singing to me, lol.
 
Comparing them to my T1's, obviously isn't all that fair because ones an open and the other is closed.  However, the layering of the instruments is very good, almost on par with the T1.  In a closed headphone fashion though, the bass is definitely deeper with the AD's and while they present a fairly wide sound stage, they are still closed cans.  I have yet to fall asleep listening to my T1's, P7's or the HD650's I borrowed from a friend.
 
They are however, the best closed cans I have used, although I have not tested the XC or TH900.  I am also not sure Dan is attempting to compete with those headphones or not, someone else would have to compare them.  Compared to the Beyer closed cans I have heard, my P7's, several different Beats phones (it is what everyone has at the office), the AD's are the clear winner for both sound quality and comfort.  I am not a basshead so I prefer the somewhat neutral tonality of the AD's instead of the others.
 
The sound isolation I feel is quite good, but it is not an active noise cancelling phone obviously, so some bleed through will come in if you are in a loud area.  If you can get a good seal though, you simply start to feel the music.  In regards to leakage, I have had others sitting next to me not be able to hear them and at work I have not had any complaints.  They get loud as soon as they come off my ears and others can hear them but once that leather compresses, it's like your head is surrounded by musical goodness.
 
I am still considering at some point of getting a second pair so I don't have to carry them back and forth to work, as they made my P7's very difficult to listen to, the tonality and the music itself just isn't their in comparison.
 
Would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a closed can that is comfortable and works well with almost any type of music I have thrown at it, outside of maybe classical, although some newer stuff from Chesky sounds pretty phenomenal, especially the binaural albums.
 
EDIT:  Also, I have not adjusted my bass screws (mostly because I lost the sticker from the headband) but I did remove one of the dots and added a pad, as the original setup with just the two dots had some harsh highs on a few songs. Break-in also cut that back quite a bit.