Satin Audio Monster Series (Griffin / Chimera / Kraken / Medusa)

This is a review for the Medusa first gen. I asked for a 8-braid.

Well first off, I'm a terrible reviewer and head-fier. I told the guys at Satin Audio I would write them an honest review back in September '19 after I asked them to do something special for my order (yep, I bought the cable, it's not free in exchange for review or anything like that, I'm not a reviewer or anyone with head-fi clout ether, I just asked for some free branded stickers in my shipping box).

I never actually sat down and properly did it. Something bad happened to me recently and I figured it's probably Karma so I start to follow through with all the stuffs I said I would do years ago, starting with this review.

When I started this, it's a blind test and I thought it might not be a good review if my ear can't hear anything different. I'd post anonymously in the forum without naming the brand in that case. But it turned out my ears can really drain my bank account... so here it goes, a review.

The setup:
Over the Memorial weekend of 2020, locked at home and had some quiet time, I asked my roommate to assist me in a series of blind audio tests spanning over 3 days, every day I had a blind listening session to a cable with the same IEM and source in the afternoon, with tea. I have a series of specific things and feels I look out for in the selected playlist, and make note if those things register with my ear. The blind test was done with what I have (left). It's not a fair comparison in anyway but I just wanted to see if I could really hear the differences between cables.

Source is an SP2000Cu, IEM is a Spiral Ear SE6

The cables up for blind test are:
1) a plain black cable I probably got from one of the Noble IEMs, single end.
2) The silver cable included with the SE6, also single end. These two cables are in a controlled group to see if my ear can hear anything different at all between them before judging the Medusa.
3) Medusa first gen - a custom 8 braid 26 AWG Litz type-4 pure OCC silver balanced cable that is the center of this blind test, I used an Eidolic 2.5mm Balance to 3.5mm single end adaptor to make it comparable with the other two single end cables. I was thinking this adaptor here might screw my whole experiment but whatever, I just went for it. *shrug*

Because the braid and weight of the cables are all different, me and my helper paper taped them with some yarns to inflate them to the same size of a twizzler, lay them out behind my head on a table so no weight feel either. I kept guessing which is which based on the feel and retape/retry until I'm wrong twice, then my helper kept them all and plug one into the IEM for me each day to run the afternoon test session.

(This is an audio test, don't ask about the feel, although the cable is rather soft, customizing a 8x braid for an IEM was a terrible idea in the first place...)

Let's call Friday session is cable A, Saturday B, Sunday C.

The playlist:

Amber Rubarth - Sessions from the 17th ward
- Washing Day
- Sneak
- Full Moon in Paris

This album is a classic audiophile album. It's probably a bit considered as a cheat since it's a binaural recording, but to test soundstage, imaging and so and so, it must exists in the recording in the first place right? so I picked it for the test.

The thing I'm looking for: if I listen while being distracted doing something else (brewing my tea in this case) does it hit me that it feel like the songs were recorded during the day or at night?

Saturday, Cable A.
I didn't pickup any micro detail, it sound like a night session just because of the Full Moon in Paris lyric. Nothing to say about the first two songs either. I enjoyed my tea throughout. Meh.

Sunday, Cable B:
The first two song didn't catch my attention, but I could pickup the wind wooshing during Full Moon in Paris, I stopped my tea session when that happened. Pretty good. It's an overwhelmingly dark night.

Monday, Cable C:
I feel that 3 songs are all recorded during the day in one go. There's a fricking bird somewhere outside the left window and some car running behind me (probably sound coming through the door/exit?). That damn bird keep tweeting and chirping every now and then throughout the 3 songs especially when the instruments played softly, and the wind wooshing become less or just equally noticeable. The atmosphere is as bright and busy as day. It's good that I heard things, but to be honest, if I just listen to the song and not care much about the realism, I might prefer yesterday experience.

Next:
Olivia Ong - Best of Olivia.
First of May
Sometimes When We Touch

Catchy songs, but unfortunately this album audio mix is my litmus test for sibilance.

Saturday, Cable A.
I enjoyed the song with my tea throughout. Catchy tunes, no issue.
Enjoyable, but it's a bit of masking the problem I guess?

Sunday, Cable B.
Borderline bothered during First of May, had to stop & skip to next test during Sometimes When We touch. Sibilance.
Too sharp it cuts, but it reveals what's wrong.

Sunday, Cable C.
Borderline bothered throughout both song, didn't quite enjoy song nor tea, but wasn't bad enough to stop.
Bad in a good way because it's transparent and still tolerable (somewhat).

Next:
Yosi Horikawa - Vapor
Wandering.

Saturday, Cable A.
Enjoyed the song throughout, very engaging atmosphere and beats that drew me in. Nothing to complain about. Did not noticed my tea.

Sunday, Cable B.
In some section of the song I could enjoy the added space, but the birbs sound a bit too far I can't tell where they were? Superb beats. The birds too far gave me a frown especially after Saturday session. Did not noticed my tea, probably I like this song too much and using it as a test song was a bad idea.

Monday, Cable C.
Same problem as yesterday, birbs are still a bit far, but I could generally tell where they were tweeting from, just not pinpoint. Beats still too good. Had to stop my tea and try my damnest to get a fix on the birbs. Relistened two more times.

Thinking back I enjoyed A best, I couldn't remember if I could pinpoint the birds, or I couldn't be bothered with such trivial because it was very fun.

Adele - 25
Hello
Million Years Ago

The gold standard experience for this test is my cheap HD6xx on a Mojopoly, the voice of Adele can wretch my heart.

Saturday, cable A:
Pretty good, but not to the emotional level.

Sunday, cable B:
Better than yesterday. Close, but no cigar. Listened twice.

Monday, cable C:
Probably best experience, but still not HD6xx, I guess comparing setting that kind of standard is pointless, especially if I just drill on vocal and vocal alone, there's other details too but this kind of song just overwhelmingly highlight the vocal.

Tally up:
There were difference. My bet is that A is probably the black (copper) cable, while B or C are the silvers, just base on the sibilance test.

B is the sharpest and most ruthless, probably too transparent and make things uninteresting. The birbs too far is still a problem that bother me till now (Tuesday). Or maybe the percussion and thumps didn't do enough for me to forget the birbs? I kept thinking about it.

C is transparent but more merciful in how it handle the sibilance and the distance.

The notes of B & C makes me rethink soundstage. Super large sound stage might not be a good thing if it's too far and I have a hard time telling where things were coming from.
(Well, if Im in a jungle and things are far, I probably can't pinpoint either...) I give C the edge up in this aspect since it shrink the sphere a bit to my comfort level, or it gives bit more detail, a bit more resolutions or imaging so to say.

Result & Takeaways:
I could tell the differences, my wallet is sad.
So the reveal is: A is black cable, B is the plain silver single end that comes with the SE6.
C is my Medusa 8 braid. *so my guesses were right*

I guess the takeaway from this is:

I either got lucky with my guesses or I could hear the difference between copper (or whatever material that black cable is?) and silver cables, so I actually can give my 2cents about cables.

The Satin Audio Medusa first gen is a transparent, but "merciful" cable.

I love the HD6 series from Sennheiser. I love them so much that I now have 3 pair of them (HD6xx, HD58x, HD600) as well as their predecessor, the HD540. Among the 3 amps I have, 2 are dedicated to the Senns – a tube amp and a solid state one. With 2 good DACs (iFi iDAC2 and Modi Multibit), my Sennheiser altar seemed completed.
The only place left to go was a new cable. And that was when I “discovered” Satin Audio. For disclaimers, I do know Eric, Satin’s founder. We’re not exactly super closest friends, but Eric is somewhat well-known among the audio circle in Vietnam. I remember during local meets he had always complained about the expensive pricing of cables, and in 2017 he turned those complaints into a business called Satin Audio with a very Vietnamese-specific aim: to provide customized audio cables at competitive price points. Yes, I do love my Sennheisers, but to think I’d pay thousands of dollars is just absurd.
Design and long-term usage
Thanks to a busy family life and a lot of business travels, it took nearly 2 years for me to finally become a Satin Audio customer. Oh I do seem to be the first customer to ever order a “Chimera for Headphones”, which was delivered before last Christmas.
How does it look? In contrast to the other Satin cable that I own (Chimera for in-ears – which look totally premium), the Chimera for Headphones does seem more practical. Instead of the “high-end-looking” engraved parts, mine came with a big black 6.3mm termination plug and 2 Sennheiser speaker-connectors, again in black plastic. I think to many the connectors wouldn’t do the cable justice in terms of look, but they are sturdy and after months of use have not shown any problems at all. It’s a less consistent design than the other Satin cables, but it’s also more interesting. After all, very few cable crafters would go for the contrasting look between plastic connectors and silvery braided cables.
The Chimera doesn’t weight a lot and doesn’t cause any discomfort during use. Despite the fact that I move quite a lot instead of sitting still listening to the music I like (well at least I have to move the mouse to select songs), the cable caused absolutely no microphonic noise. It does, however, cause distraction. On a table full of black, ugly electronic devices – like my Burson amp or my HP laptop, the Satin cable would be the most shiny, most beautiful thing at any given time. I can’t help but pick it up, admiring Satin’s work, then realize I just missed a few minutes of Opeth or Pink Floyd...
Improvement in Sound
Sound improvement from cable has always been a touchy subject. As an engineer, I can’t help notice the debate around it. But as a software engineer, I’d trust my own experiences. So I ask my wife to help me do a blind test with the HD6xx. She would change between the stock cable and the Satin Chimera, and I will have to tell which is which.
The difference, understandably, was not night and day. On Spotify, which I find to be the absolute worst streaming service in terms of quality among all the ones I've used, there was no difference between the stock cable and the Satin. I didn’t keep the score after the 4rd switch, because basically every time my answer was a wild guess. On Tidal, I nailed the test right 9/10 of the time. The only one where I got wrong was in Oasis’ “Cigarettes and Alcohol”. Understandably, because Oasis’ best records all suffered from the Loudness War.
But on those tracks where I got it right (Moonlight Shadow, Go Your Own Way, Time etc.), the difference was immediately recognizable. By removing a bit of the mid-bass bump and adding sub-bass, the Chimera resulted in a “tightened”, more satisfying low-ends. The change was even more noticeable in power ballads/Dad Rock anthems which thumping drums like “Nothing Can Stop Us Now” or “You Give Love a Bad Name”. Among all the 3 HD6 series that I have, the improvement perhaps would be most welcome on the HD58x, which strayed the furthest from the HD580/HD6 “traditional” sound with its more abundant bass sound. There seems to be no abrupt changes to the Sennheiser “house sound” mid-ranges – the HD6xx remains intimate as ever… So no complaint from me.
Moving up, high-mids and trebles are less grainy. There are more clarity to appreciate in the high-ends, especially with Acoustic Rock songs. The improvement here is in-line with the improvement in the low-ends: the Satin Chimera offers no characteristic changes, instead just refines the sound that I’d come to love a long time ago. By refining both the bass and the trebles, the Satin Chimera helps open up the soundstage, resulting in a more satisfying experience for Classical and Classic Rock music.
That’s not to say the changes are always welcome. By combining the iDac 2, the Burson Fun with Sparko op-amps and the Chimera, I made my HD600 too “sterile”: it was just too dry, even leaning on becoming artificial sounding. And, once again, all the improvements were not night and day: more trivial changes like changing pads or changing tubes will be easier to notice.
For the HD6 Fans
So, in what situation would I recommend the Satin Chimera? The answer is easy: when you have all the other parts in your audiophile rig figured out. With the iDac2 and the Mimby, I have 2 greatly different DAC to cover all bases – the iDAC2 for critical listening and the Mimby to enjoy life. With the Little Dot I+, I found the perfect match for my low-impedance Grados and Audio-Technicas. With the Little Dot mk4 and the Burson Fun, I can drive practically all kind of power-hungry headphones. All my amps support opamp rolling or tube rolling. Hell, I even has a Weiduka splitter to “reduce jitter”.
The only piece left in the combo is the cable. With the Satin Chimera, I could finalized my perfect Sennheiser rig: it doesn’t cost ridiculous (in comparison to the headphones/amps/DACs I have), it looks nice, and to my findings, it improves the sound in the way that I liked. Crazy, I know: just last month one of my audiophile “friends” recommends me to try a well-known cables 2 times the price of my HD6xx. It sounded just like the Satin Chimera…

Satin Audio - Monster Series: A solid new brand

Cables are one of the most important elements in personal audio when it comes to sound quality and getting closer to your desired sound. The quality of the cables are pretty much guaranteed for the big, famous brands, but what about the cheaper options? Sure, there are still a whole lot of choices you could make for an affordable price, but in my experience many of those just weren't good enough or turned out even bad at some times.

However I've recently discovered several cable manufactures that are affordable yet equipped with excellent quality, one of them being Satin Audio cables. Satin Audio is a relatively new cable manufacturer from Vietnam and they've just launched their fresh new line-up, the monster series. Let's first take a look on their technological features and website before moving on to the sound impressions.









The technical info

Satin Audio cables are equipped with multiple features in every components. The connectors, sockets, plugs, and splitters are all produced from SA with silver anodized aluminum for the shells and TeCu & PEEK insulation for the connectors. They use Mundorf MSolder Supreme as their soldering material, supplied with numerous options of terminations. The cables are also constructed in type 4 litz, resulting the sound to have better precision and insulation.

There are several more features such as OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) process, Kevlar damping core, Cryogenic treatment, and more, but I'll leave it here and recommend to check these info from their website as the technical talks will get too lengthy.







Packaging

The packaging is small yet beautifully made with eye catching liquid designs on a white background. There's also a sticker on the side that indicates the product code and name. Other than the cable itself, it comes with a fabric pouch, a cable strap made from Oriolus, and an instruction guide.







Monster Series: Griffin

Griffin is an OCC Pure Copper Type 4 Litz cable and priced for $110 (4 braid), $143 (6 braid), and $176 (8 braid). Griffin is the youngest among the Monster series yet uncompromising when it comes to performance. I've expected Griffin to have a bass-centric sound, though soon noticed that it's very well balanced. The bass quantity doesn't particularly increase much, but shows improvement in depth and density - it's a type of cable that enhances the bass by highlighting the existence itself rather than boosting the quantity. Mids do not fall back and maintains its position fairly well.







Continuing about Griffin

While Griffin keeps the low/mids warm and smooth, it has a touch of sparkles and shininess on the upper frequencies which gives a good amount of freshness even as a warm sounding cable. This makes the overall temperature to be almost perfectly neutral but slightly tilted to being warm. Not drastic, but headroom clearly shows a noticeable improvement due to the increase of depth and width from the bass. Griffin is the most organic sounding cable and would be a great choice if you're looking for a good copper cable with the most natural sounding tonality.







Monster Series: Chimera

Chimera is an OCC Pure Copper Type 4 Litz mixed with OCC Silver plated Copper Type 4 Litz and priced for $117 (4 braid), $145 (6 braid), and $181 (8 braid). Chimera's characteristics sits between Griffin (pure copper) and Medusa (pure silver). The tonality becomes tasty as well as vocals getting boosted, making the overall sound energized and lively. Bass dives deep as Griffin but with slightly less quantity, while upper frequencies become more spatial and rich. Chimera aims for a fun and enjoyable sound signature which would nicely match with IEMs that have a plain, old-school tonality.







Continuing about Chimera

The surface becomes smoother throughout the frequency and maintains both quality and quantity from the low ends. The highs also turn more crispy and denser, vividly highlighting the snares. Headroom also shows improvement, though compared to Griffin or Medusa, this one aims more on the 3D spatial aspect rather than the width. Chimera would be a great choice if you're looking to form a W-shaped signature highlight both low, mid, and high frequencies.







Monster Series: Kraken

Kraken is an OCC Pure Silver Type 4 Litz mix OCC Pure Copper Type 4 Litz and priced for $160 (4 braid), $206 (6 braid), and $256 (8 braid). Kraken has a very similar sound signature to Chimera yet have a minor difference in terms of characteristics. I think here would rather be good place to talk about the differences between Kraken and Chimera, as both being hybrid models they are very similar in both sound signature and price.







Continuing about Kraken

While these two cable share the base of sound signature, Chimera clearly expresses characteristics of both copper and silver, resulting into a vibrant and energetic type of sound. Kraken, however, tends to take a more careful approach towards sound and focuses more on the coherency between these two materials - copper and silver. Not that Chimera shows dissonance, but it's more like Kraken focuses relatively more on the overall sound being more seamless. This results Kraken to be superior in vocals and tonality while Chimera takes the advantage when it comes to bass and treble extensions. They're like twins with slightly different personality, so both would be good to go.







Monster Series: Medusa

Medusa is an OCC Pure Silver Type 4 Litz cable and priced for $210 (4 braid), $290 (6 braid), and $361 (8 braid). It's a common misconception that pure silver cables makes the bass weaker, though that isn't the case for the Medusa at all. It actually darkens and solidifies the hollow bits on the lower end, resulting a fuller, deeper, and clearer bass presentation. Mids and trebles stretches out clearer with significantly increased airiness. It doesn't aggressively boost the upper frequencies but rather takes a gentle step, making it suitable with various IEMs with less chance of having a bad match.







Continuing about Medusa

Headroom shows improvement in size too. It's mainly due to the extra space resulted from the airiness from the upper frequencies, but Medusa's ability to bring out all the bass definitely made the sound to feel extended both ends, despite being a pure silver cable. The textures become more crispy and revealing. Reverbs are preserved but delicately straightened up. Medusa clearly proves its position as the highest model from the line up.







Verdicts

As someone who's been exploring custom cables with various types, price, and tiers, I could confidently say Satin Audio isn't joking around when talking about quality. Rather than just being cost effective, these are actually great as products themselves even without considering the price tags. Would like to give another thumbs up as they makes it clear about the materials and technologies they've used, from soldering materials to technical information.

I've been talking with the people behind the brand and could definitely feel their passion and truthfulness as they're handling the business, which I can never recommend enough if you're looking for cables with good affordable prices. They are still a very young company and just started to reach out to overseas which I'm much looking forward to their future activities.