Arctic Cables Aeris (V2)
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This is my take on the Arctic Cables Aeris V2 silver cable. (Full disclosure: I did get a price reduction in exchange for an honest review.)
The Aeris is an 18-AWG per polarity in a 4-wire configuration. So a single-crystal 7N OCC ultra-pure silver cable in Litz geometry with 7 insulated bundles with, as Arctic Cables claim on their website, extremely-high strands count in each bundle as well as cryogenically & enameled treated with a custom ultra-soft and flexible TPU insulation. It is a rather new designed V2 series cable (though, in case you wonder, they didn´t write that on their website yet).
It was the first cable they made specifically for my Austrian Audio “The Composer” flagship headphone, which has, as you can see in the pics below, proprietary banana connectors. In my opinion they did a wonderful job with the banana plugs. Roy from Arctic Cables (thank you!) responded to many mails quite quickly and with patience. They do have a great customer service (in fact, the best I know!).
This cable has a LIFETIME TRANSFERABLE warranty, which tells me how deeply convinced they are of the quality of their cables and as well as their craftsmanship. In addition they do change the plugs for free (just the plugs itself would have to be paid, not the work). This service – asfaik – is unprecedented and much appreciated!
But let´s move on to the cables looks:
Well, in short (to me) they look incredible. That silver look isn´t everybody´s cup of tea, I know. For those who like it a bit more low profile, there are tons of different sleeve options if you scroll down on their website:
https://www.arcticcables.com/ac-store/Aeris-p369698263
And if you don´t find the right termination or if you have any question, don´t hesitate to contact them (info@arcticcables.com). They will listen to you and even help you finding the right cable for your headphone if you are unsure which one to choose. I think I would like to see a bit more splitter options though.
Anyways, the Aeris is very soft, supple and pliable, it has no microphonics whatsoever and it is impeccable crafted, so the weaving of the braid is super tight from top to bottom. It is a bit heavier than the original Composer cable of course, but on the other hand there is no entanglement anymore as it was the case with the stock cable. So the handling is great! And did I tell you that I love its looks?
So finally let´s get to the real important part of the review, right? SOUND!
First off, this cable doesn´t alter the bass/mids/highs in a way where you´d say “Ah, the bass is louder, or the mids and highs are louder” etc.
And I am relieved and very happy about that. My Composer headphone is, in case you know that phone, a surgery instrument right from the start. I don´t need anything to sound “louder”, but the sound overall to be “better”. And this is exactly what the Aeris delivers. Its technicalities are off the charts.
The first thing I noticed was the improved dynamics. The somewhat overambitious Composer did get a nice touch of unfearful soundpressure. It´s the difference from something sounding very good to getting goosebumps, if you know what I mean.
The instruments are much easier to discern, so the separation improved a lot. Especially in songs with much going on (percussions etc.), it is so damn easy to follow every pin drop. At the same time the sound is unbelievably balanced so that I have no problem with louder volumes, (which I like sometimes) and which was a bit of a problem before as the Composer can be too revealing. This somehow magically went away: The Composer has more air to breath and is more “real” sounding at the same time.
The bass has more authority without being louder (if that makes any sense). I guess that comes down to the improved resolution. You just hear the plucking of the double bass more distinct. Or some deep, grasping synth bass lines or whatever. So in fact it feels like moving from near field speakers on the shelve to their taller brothers standing on the floor. Or another analogy: I am still sitting in the mastering studio with the Composer on my head, but this time I am not listening with the small speakers but with the big ones.
The resolution increased, as told above, in every frequency spectrum (you will hear that from minute one!) and there is an added depth to be heard (beautifully swinging reverb tails!!) I don´t hear a bigger stage in width. But the layering improved significantly.
The voices are something to behold. Every nuance is being portrayed truthfully without stressing the upper mids in any way. It sounds as if you would hear the essence of the singers voice. It is very touching to say the least. And there is a fullness I missed before where it strikes a chord in my chest and makes my toes tab and make my head bang without my conscious involvement. There are (female) voices that sound so damn compelling, it is rather difficult for me to put it into words since English isn´t my mother tongue, but it is like the difference between listening to your favorite singer or having the impression the band (and the singer) is actually present and playing and singing for you!
Up top the sound feels more balanced and lifelike, with excellent extension. You hear literally everything but at the same time nothing is “in your face”. I never heard music that true to the source (except in the mastering studios).
I already am amidst rediscovering all the older favorite albums of mine … and I know, this cable isn´t cheap, of course not. But when you think about what you get IF you have found your “end game” heaphone/amp/DAC, then you should consider checking out Arctic Cable´s offerings – they do have one lower priced silver cable and two – soon three – higher priced flagship silver cables (that I would love to hear some day if the god of money is favourably disposed towards me). I did choose the reasonable middle priced one, which as I told above, isn´t cheap either, BUT oh boy, it delivers … and then some. It is not a night and day difference of course. But for those of you who know their headphones very well and are settled with their upstream equipment, the improvements of the Aeris are discernable right off the bat and it will elevate your headphone´s technicalities and tune to the next level.
Alright, as a small thank you for sticking with me, now some eyecandy
The Aeris is an 18-AWG per polarity in a 4-wire configuration. So a single-crystal 7N OCC ultra-pure silver cable in Litz geometry with 7 insulated bundles with, as Arctic Cables claim on their website, extremely-high strands count in each bundle as well as cryogenically & enameled treated with a custom ultra-soft and flexible TPU insulation. It is a rather new designed V2 series cable (though, in case you wonder, they didn´t write that on their website yet).
It was the first cable they made specifically for my Austrian Audio “The Composer” flagship headphone, which has, as you can see in the pics below, proprietary banana connectors. In my opinion they did a wonderful job with the banana plugs. Roy from Arctic Cables (thank you!) responded to many mails quite quickly and with patience. They do have a great customer service (in fact, the best I know!).
This cable has a LIFETIME TRANSFERABLE warranty, which tells me how deeply convinced they are of the quality of their cables and as well as their craftsmanship. In addition they do change the plugs for free (just the plugs itself would have to be paid, not the work). This service – asfaik – is unprecedented and much appreciated!
But let´s move on to the cables looks:
Well, in short (to me) they look incredible. That silver look isn´t everybody´s cup of tea, I know. For those who like it a bit more low profile, there are tons of different sleeve options if you scroll down on their website:
https://www.arcticcables.com/ac-store/Aeris-p369698263
And if you don´t find the right termination or if you have any question, don´t hesitate to contact them (info@arcticcables.com). They will listen to you and even help you finding the right cable for your headphone if you are unsure which one to choose. I think I would like to see a bit more splitter options though.
Anyways, the Aeris is very soft, supple and pliable, it has no microphonics whatsoever and it is impeccable crafted, so the weaving of the braid is super tight from top to bottom. It is a bit heavier than the original Composer cable of course, but on the other hand there is no entanglement anymore as it was the case with the stock cable. So the handling is great! And did I tell you that I love its looks?
So finally let´s get to the real important part of the review, right? SOUND!
First off, this cable doesn´t alter the bass/mids/highs in a way where you´d say “Ah, the bass is louder, or the mids and highs are louder” etc.
And I am relieved and very happy about that. My Composer headphone is, in case you know that phone, a surgery instrument right from the start. I don´t need anything to sound “louder”, but the sound overall to be “better”. And this is exactly what the Aeris delivers. Its technicalities are off the charts.
The first thing I noticed was the improved dynamics. The somewhat overambitious Composer did get a nice touch of unfearful soundpressure. It´s the difference from something sounding very good to getting goosebumps, if you know what I mean.
The instruments are much easier to discern, so the separation improved a lot. Especially in songs with much going on (percussions etc.), it is so damn easy to follow every pin drop. At the same time the sound is unbelievably balanced so that I have no problem with louder volumes, (which I like sometimes) and which was a bit of a problem before as the Composer can be too revealing. This somehow magically went away: The Composer has more air to breath and is more “real” sounding at the same time.
The bass has more authority without being louder (if that makes any sense). I guess that comes down to the improved resolution. You just hear the plucking of the double bass more distinct. Or some deep, grasping synth bass lines or whatever. So in fact it feels like moving from near field speakers on the shelve to their taller brothers standing on the floor. Or another analogy: I am still sitting in the mastering studio with the Composer on my head, but this time I am not listening with the small speakers but with the big ones.
The resolution increased, as told above, in every frequency spectrum (you will hear that from minute one!) and there is an added depth to be heard (beautifully swinging reverb tails!!) I don´t hear a bigger stage in width. But the layering improved significantly.
The voices are something to behold. Every nuance is being portrayed truthfully without stressing the upper mids in any way. It sounds as if you would hear the essence of the singers voice. It is very touching to say the least. And there is a fullness I missed before where it strikes a chord in my chest and makes my toes tab and make my head bang without my conscious involvement. There are (female) voices that sound so damn compelling, it is rather difficult for me to put it into words since English isn´t my mother tongue, but it is like the difference between listening to your favorite singer or having the impression the band (and the singer) is actually present and playing and singing for you!
Up top the sound feels more balanced and lifelike, with excellent extension. You hear literally everything but at the same time nothing is “in your face”. I never heard music that true to the source (except in the mastering studios).
I already am amidst rediscovering all the older favorite albums of mine … and I know, this cable isn´t cheap, of course not. But when you think about what you get IF you have found your “end game” heaphone/amp/DAC, then you should consider checking out Arctic Cable´s offerings – they do have one lower priced silver cable and two – soon three – higher priced flagship silver cables (that I would love to hear some day if the god of money is favourably disposed towards me). I did choose the reasonable middle priced one, which as I told above, isn´t cheap either, BUT oh boy, it delivers … and then some. It is not a night and day difference of course. But for those of you who know their headphones very well and are settled with their upstream equipment, the improvements of the Aeris are discernable right off the bat and it will elevate your headphone´s technicalities and tune to the next level.
Alright, as a small thank you for sticking with me, now some eyecandy
Sound Eq
Great review
