[cdacosta]

Decided to swap the amp and dac cable.

Moved the gryphon knockoff cable to the amp and the furutech fp-s55n with FI-46M NCF Gold connectors to the r8mk2 dac.

What a difference...its more resolving, punchier, lower noise floor. I should have done this earlier.

You already know what I am going to say. Always have to try to see what different cables do at different points in the chain. Usually will sound different, component power supplies will react differently to the design specs of different cables. Cool you found a good match!

 

[Flamex]

Hello guys!

After I read so many good things about clone cables, I was careful and first ordered the Nordost Odin 2 12 core USB cable from the Preffair store for testing to see what these clone cables are capable of.

The cable arrived in 2 weeks and it didn't work at all on any of my devices!

I searched an experienced cable maker, sent the cable to him and here is what he found:

- The 12 core cable is a regular cable and was not designed for USB, that's for sure!
- The soldered wires inside the USB plugs were glued completely around the soldering and wires
- One of the wire was broken, that's why the cable didn't work
- And here is the shocking thing: the cable has 12 wires; the USB plugs have 4 connectors. I thought each connector gets 3 wires, that's why the 12 cores. Not at all! Each connector got only one wire (!!!!) and the remaining 8 wires were twisted and UNUSED! What a waste!

So it really doesn't matter if you buy 6, 9 or 12 core cable, only 4 wire is used!

After fixing the cable, I used the cable for a few days, first the mids were very weak, now it is a bit better, but I am still not satisfied. Let's see what happens after 500 hours...

After all this I decided to never buy a clone cable again, rather pay more for high quality, carefully designed, trusted branded cables.

 

[dougms3]

Hello guys!

After I read so many good things about clone cables, I was careful and first ordered the Nordost Odin 2 12 core USB cable from the Preffair store for testing to see what these clone cables are capable of.

The cable arrived in 2 weeks and it didn't work at all on any of my devices!

I searched an experienced cable maker, sent the cable to him and here is what he found:

- The 12 core cable is a regular cable and was not designed for USB, that's for sure!
- The soldered wires inside the USB plugs were glued completely around the soldering and wires
- One of the wire was broken, that's why the cable didn't work
- And here is the shocking thing: the cable has 12 wires; the USB plugs have 4 connectors. I thought each connector gets 3 wires, that's why the 12 cores. Not at all! Each connector got only one wire (!!!!) and the remaining 8 wires were twisted and UNUSED! What a waste!

So it really doesn't matter if you buy 6, 9 or 12 core cable, only 4 wire is used!

After fixing the cable, I used the cable for a few days, first the mids were very weak, now it is a bit better, but I am still not satisfied. Let's see what happens after 500 hours...

After all this I decided to never buy a clone cable again, rather pay more for high quality, carefully designed, trusted branded cables.

Thats not all that shocking to be honest.

Typical of alixpress sellers...they've been known to do this with the earphone and headphone cables as well.

My odin usb cable could be the same way but it still sounds better than some $200 cables I've had. The only way to know for sure is to open it up.

Just be aware that just because one seller did that, doesnt mean they'll all be like that.

This is the seller, probably shouldn't buy any odin usb cables from that guy.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...tewayAdapt=jpn2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US

 

[KT77]

Thats not all that shocking to be honest.

Typical of alixpress sellers...they've been known to do this with the earphone and headphone cables as well.

My odin usb cable could be the same way but it still sounds better than some $200 cables I've had. The only way to know for sure is to open it up.

Just be aware that just because one seller did that, doesnt mean they'll all be like that.

This is the seller, probably shouldn't buy any odin usb cables from that guy.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801740836482.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.2f9c627a6ywlRD&algo_pvid=3a72e9e0-cb30-44c1-b25d-57a4024db9ed&algo_exp_id=3a72e9e0-cb30-44c1-b25d-57a4024db9ed-0&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id":"12000028580396329"}&pdp_npi=2@dis!USD!67.31!26.92!!!!!@211beeec16737139866336069d06c2!12000028580396329!sea&curPageLogUid=tkR1uh97mr15&gatewayAdapt=jpn2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US

I’ve to totally agree here | as I ended up buying 3 different versions of the Odin 2 Silver | 1 of the Odin Gold, from different buyers, as the one dougms3 has pointed out……, always struck me as somewhat shady to begin with.

 

[Sanlitun]

So it really doesn't matter if you buy 6, 9 or 12 core cable, only 4 wire is used!

Not surprised in any way. And as well I would imagine there is no adherence to USB impedance specs at all. When I bought the Odin 2 PC I just assumed it would be three copper conductors covered in silver shrink wrap. Some have torn it down and it may be otherwise but I can't believe all of the conductors are enabled.

When I first started out in Hi Fi I bought a Shunyata multi outlet box that made my Classe amp buzz. It dawned on me then that some cable makers may be going out of spec to produce a colored sound which some see as better. I wouldn't take what is going on in this thread too seriously beyond the concept of "shiny accessories".

 

[dougms3]

Not surprised in any way. And as well I would imagine there is no adherence to USB impedance specs at all. When I bought the Odin 2 PC I just assumed it would be three copper conductors covered in silver shrink wrap. Some have torn it down and it may be otherwise but I can't believe all of the conductors are enabled.

When I first started out in Hi Fi I bought a Shunyata multi outlet box that made my Classe amp buzz. It dawned on me then that some cable makers may be going out of spec to produce a colored sound which some see as better. I wouldn't take what is going on in this thread too seriously beyond the concept of "shiny accessories".

And what is the correct USB impedance spec? Whats the "correct" spec on a power cable?

Take a look again at the cables that have been opened up, since we all know you haven't actually looked at the images. If you did you'd know that its not 3 copper conductors on the odin PC.

Lol "shiny accessories" that you haven't heard or tested yourself.

Yeah everyone knows shunyata makes snake oil right.......

 

[DecentLevi]

To whoever thinks that everything on this thread is just a whole bunch of snake oil or placebos - don't knock it till you try it. You're over generalizing based on one unlucky experience. I have gotten RCA coax, USB and AC cables, and I have gotten nothing but the finest quality replicas, and even noticed when taking apart my AC cables that it is all silver and thick beautiful material; maybe not pure silver but we think mixed with an alloy like sterling. The only bad experience I've ever had was something was too bright for my preferences, but still built like a tank. My sound system has traversed plateaus of performance and reach an amazingly high summit that has to be heard to even fathom it - Thanks to about 5 various types of Odin Gold / Odin 2 cables, as well as other recommended tweaks here notably silver Faraday fabric tape in numerous areas of my system, sleek fuses, passive grounding boxes, and rubber polymer material for dampening. Spending $60 on a decent knock-off sure beats $15,000 on the original. I have had good success here since day one, thanks to consistently sticking with the dogma of only buying from specific sellers that have positive feedback on here.

I'm interested to get the Monosaudio p902 AC power cable. Who can recommend a specific good seller for that one?

 

[Jake2]

Yeah, that was an unnecessarily reductive, dismissive take in my view. Much more accurate to characterise this excellent thread as interesting and affordable experimentation often bringing very satisfying and high bang-for-buck improvements.

 

[cdacosta]

I actually was not going to chime in on someone that had a bad or unfavorable experience with a $20 cable. I have personally spent over $100K on this hobby and have experienced multiples of that. I only mention cables or tweaks I feel for the money offer outstanding value. Are the cables the best I have heard, or of the best quality money can buy, no. But for the price of a meal in many instances the performance is outstanding. I have also experienced junk from Aliexpress, regardless of price and have mentioned it here.

Crazy how the thread has grown to the size that it is. I am sure there have been many that have benefited from it, which is cool.

 

[pofofo]

I bought the Nordost Odin 2 and for burn in I hooked it up to my pc, which is on more than my amps. I`ve used that pc for 5-6 years with no trouble at all. After 2-3 days with the Odin 2 it suddenly developed boot problems. I switched back to a generic power cable and have had no problems since (2-3 weeks). It could of course just be a coincidence, but still..

 

[Jake2]

For anyone looking to get these, I highly recommend getting the ceramic bead type (gold aluminum body worked for me), because they come with extra steel beads. After experimenting with both, last night I realized the beads do sound quite different; for me the steel beads under my power conditioner work best. Now I'll have to order another with ceramic beads which worked better under my amp.

So speaking of satisfying great bang-for-buck improvements, a set of three of these vibration absorbers I ordered at your recommendation arrived yesterday. Black, with the ~6-7mm diameter 'ceramic bead' marbles + the spare set of slightly larger 8mm+ stainless steel ball bearings.

I tried them under my OCK-1 and R26, starting with the ceramic balls. It changed the sound of the OCK-1, a bit lighter and a touch more focussed perhaps, but lost some warmth and smoothness. Different but not necessarily better.

Used under the R26 on the other hand they were and are a near unqualified improvement:

• really nice increase in sense of acoustic space - clearly greater breadth, depth and reverbration tail
• more texture and tonal purity to notes, especially noticeable with female vocals
• tighter focus of soundstage elements
• although transient edges seem crisper, they're not harsh, indeed the midrange loses a little more residual hardness, glare.

The main qualification is they are super sensitive to placement, in removing and replacing them for AB'ing I had to be really careful to put them back in exactly the same place or I got varying results. They tend to have a touch less tonal density and weight in the midrange and bass, mainly due to greater precision I think, and bass and mids can get hollowed out too much if positioning is not spot on. When dialed in, bass is so tight and textured it's just awesome.

This is with the ceramic balls. The footers with the stainless steel ones are not as refined on the R26... loud vocals are comparatively slightly shouty while plucked strings are more just sharp leading edge with less body.

I should say this is using the three footers in an asymmetrical triangular layout like a more widely spaced version of that under an Enleum amp. Oh and my baseline for comparison is a little hardwood occassional table (NZ Rimu / red pine) I'm using for the R26 (with their stock machined alloy + rubber pad bottomed footers) alone till I upgrade my hifi rack.

For <USD25 including shipping they're pretty impressive and worth a go. Makes me intrigued as to what what highly regarded more costly isolation solutions like Mad Scientist's footers might deliver.

Thanks again for the recommendation @DecentLevi .

 

[DecentLevi]

I was about to buy a MonosAUdio P902 AC cable. Does anyone have an opinion on any differences between these two, or if the higher price one is justified?
These are both from the MonosAudio store which I've had a good experience from before.

Monosaudio P902 5N Copper solid core conductor for audio video power cable with Gold plated Schuko plug connector
$45
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255801007804217.html

Monosaudio P902 99.9998% Pure Copper Schuko Power Cable HIFI EMC Shield Power wire EU/US Power Cable AC Mains Power cord
$107
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802375519846.html

 

[FredA]

I was about to buy a MonosAUdio P902 AC cable. Does anyone have an opinion on any differences between these two, or if the higher price one is justified?
These are both from the MonosAudio store which I've had a good experience from before.

Monosaudio P902 5N Copper solid core conductor for audio video power cable with Gold plated Schuko plug connector
$45
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255801007804217.html

Monosaudio P902 99.9998% Pure Copper Schuko Power Cable HIFI EMC Shield Power wire EU/US Power Cable AC Mains Power cord
$107
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802375519846.html

I bought one for around 45. It had nice connectors and sounded well, but not exceptionally well. Maybe it was not the same as the more expensive one. Can't be sure, but it looked well made. Well worth the money in any case. Generally speaking, the odin 2 are better, and an ataudio i paid 80$ or so was better as well when used on my audio-gs dac. The monosaudio i had is very decent with a pre.

 

[Jake2]

I was about to buy a MonosAUdio P902 AC cable. Does anyone have an opinion on any differences between these two, or if the higher price one is justified?
These are both from the MonosAudio store which I've had a good experience from before.

Monosaudio P902 5N Copper solid core conductor for audio video power cable with Gold plated Schuko plug connector
$45
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255801007804217.html

Monosaudio P902 99.9998% Pure Copper Schuko Power Cable HIFI EMC Shield Power wire EU/US Power Cable AC Mains Power cord
$107
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802375519846.html

Maybe refer these particular ones highly recommended by @Shiraz

No problem at all. I feel you on the AE search. Try this for Variant 1 - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...0!sea!AU!705440948&curPageLogUid=mVmZ8N98L9wc.

Try this for Variant 2 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005108645351.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.25.5eec3fadQGtHqx&algo_pvid=fb9e59f6-7841-4474-8d0b-33d970119634&algo_exp_id=fb9e59f6-7841-4474-8d0b-33d970119634-12&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id":"12000031690329098"}&pdp_npi=3@dis!AUD!225.34!114.92!!!!!@2102172f16760683746816537d0674!12000031690329098!sea!AU!705440948&curPageLogUid=vMgIGjfGvS5E. Again, for Variant 2, you'll need to ask them to use AU connectors (my friend also just placed an order for 2 with them).

 

[DecentLevi]

I've purchased two variants of the P902, using different connectors, from "Audio & Video Cables Store". Variant 1 you can find by searching item number 1005002591789655 and Variant 2 (better connectors) is item 1005005108645351. Variant 2 will only show a US and EU option but I had them make an AU version for me. Variant 2 did sound better than Variant 1 (call it 5%) but it was a smaller order of difference than going from the Odin Gold to Variant 1 (call that 15%). Alternatively, you could buy their bulk cable and choose your own adventure with the connectors, but the solid conductors are individually wrapped so it's a time consuming, fiddly exercise. I haven't tried the Valhalla 15 core cable @dougms3 and @DecentLevi reference but their opinions are sound and when the need next arises I'd try that also. For now, I'm in PC heaven with the P902.

Since according to your message, the only difference between the two variants of the P902 AC cable are the connectors, I'm thinking to just get the cheaper one, then see what can be done to improve things with my trusty Silver Faraday Tape shielding hack on one or both sides. I could even replace the connectors with the really nice looking ones from my Wells Audio Signature replica cable that I don't like. But I have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps the wire is different between the two, that the more expensive one has shielding? Or did you see any shielding on the cheaper one when you took it apart?

Edit - the descriptions of both cables also concur that the cable itself should be the same.