CrewCall
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2010
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Sounds good to me
No, my biggest audio gap is never having heard any high end headphones. Even though where I live has a very good supply of hifi shops, none stock high end. I would be loathed to ask one to get me something I have no intention (money) of getting at the moment. However, I have a ready supply of auditionable mid to low end headphones, so I have gone the route of multi ownership as opposed to one high end. Then there is my vintage collection.
I don't worry that I am missing out as one day I will have the spare cash and will own something special, the K1000 being top of the wish list.
Prog Rock Man wrote:
No, my biggest audio gap is never having heard any high end headphones.
Then I will consider myself both fortunate and spoiled. As encouragement, the sooner you can get your high end headphones, the better your listening experience.
Quote:
No, my biggest audio gap is never having heard any high end headphones. Even though where I live has a very good supply of hifi shops, none stock high end. I would be loathed to ask one to get me something I have no intention (money) of getting at the moment. However, I have a ready supply of auditionable mid to low end headphones, so I have gone the route of multi ownership as opposed to one high end. Then there is my vintage collection.
I don't worry that I am missing out as one day I will have the spare cash and will own something special, the K1000 being top of the wish list.
There's nothing wrong with the K702 honestly, it rolls off a bit quick but offers low distortion and good FR for the most part (not to mention good transient response and decay).
I now prefer my K280 parabolic vintage headphones to the K702 as they have a bit more bass response and can do amazing things with stereo/sound affects. I am working on diminishing returns that beyond the K702/K280 (a similar price in its day) I will not get a huge amount more.
Arguably you may not get ANY more, in fact you could very well get worse in terms of signal accuracy.
Whatever high end headphone I get, it will be likely second hand which will ease the finances. I saw some Sennheiser Charlestons on ebay recently and if I had £400 to spare would have snapped them up.
I'd do the same, but not because they measure good or sound great subjectively (they probably do), but because they look beautiful
Now for digitabl cables. To be or not to be, this is the FACT for digital cables. There is no better signal. 0 and 1's are the same they can't be 0.9999 or 0.001.
The answer to this is that it's a model. Reality is infamous for not conforming to our models of it. Some engineers seem to believe that there models are reality itself. I will not try to change their minds because I think they are missing the obvious and there's nothing I can say.
Simplistic electronics theory says there is no ‘directionality’ in conductors, but assumes conductors are perfectly isomorphic. It also ignores the inherently directional nature of signal and energy flow. Yet electricity could not be sold without ‘energy flow directionality’. [-1-] In reality, practical conductors are drawn many times - not cast. This creates highly elongated crystal structures. This in turn creates a physical (mechanical) directional feature or ‘axial polarity’. Annealing and also ‘burning-in’ processes can reduce the ‘strength’ of the ‘drawing imprint’, but only to a degree.
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Second, the ‘directionality’ of conductors is now able to be measured, and Supra cables are the first in the world to benefit from a spectral technique developed by audio consultant Ben Duncan [-2-] in conjunction with Jenving Technology AB. This employs some special test conditions which better approximate audio equipment’s real-world usage than standard, pure signal sources. Test results show typical increases in harmonic (noise) levels 0.5dB when cables are connected so the conductors’ drawn direction opposes the signal flow direction. In real use the noise difference, which is some dB below the main signal, could be much greater. From this, a reduction in such noise (‘more clarity’) is what’s expected, and it is also one of the things that is heard in practice - when optimum conductor orientation is discovered.
In ‘high-end’ audio, ‘Directionality’ means: ‘a cable used for audio signal transmission offering better sound quality (in various ways) when connected a particular way round.’ To those sensitive to the sonic changes, this is repeatable, over spans of time, or in different systems. In other cases, if the less good direction were chosen, it too may approach the preferred direction after burn-in, i.e. a period of use, simple ageing, or even cryogenic treatment. Such ‘burn-in’ processes involve annealing of the metal.
Some pundits say that 'directionality' (in cables) can be heard even on the low quality 'curvy plastic' low/ mid-fi audio equipment sold in high-street shops. On a higher vestor, a U.S. high-end enthusiast/ researcher. Doug Blackburn, suggests it is possible that when audiophiles say they hear sonic changes after changing polarity (by swapping conductors at one point - not swapping ends as with conventional directionality#) that they've actually heard directionality instead. That's because purely digital ('software') polarity reversals mysteriously don't have the sonic attributes associated with analogue signal polarity reversal.
#Here, directionality effect being heard is in the connected parts (eg. long inductor wires), rather than in the preceding connective conductor.
[-1-] For background, refer to extensive insights in 'Black Box' column, by Ben Duncan, originally in Hi-Fi News & Record Review, reprinted 73 part compendium 1994 - 2000 available from: http://www.hifiaccessoriesclub.com or http://www.proaudioaccessories.com
[-2-] Ben Duncan Research: http://www.benduncanresearch.com
A good interconnect must have low capacitance and low skin-effect.
The skin-effect has a dynamic and noticeable influence because an audio signal is nothing but variations of frequencies and sound levels. If we were to transfer only one stable frequency the skin-effect would not be any problem. The frequencies push the signal differently far out from the center of the conductor. High frequencies travel on the surface whereas low frequencies travel inside the conductor.
Thus the higher the frequency, the higher the resistance.