weibby
Member of the Trade: The Audio Hub
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2009
- Posts
- 519
- Likes
- 14
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Test Rig - Source - Sansa Fuze v2 - XRCD(2)/SHMcd Flac Rips
Amp - Modified CmoyBB v2.02 - Vishay Sprague axial tantalum input caps + OPA2227
IEM - Fischer Audio DBA02 + Head Direct RE0
Sound preference - Neutral/balance with ample bass and tinge of warmth and a chalk full of details.
Prelude -
After much procrastination and deliberation from terminating a set to test. Today I finally got down to it..
Anti IC is somewhat unique, it has enamel as its insulation rather than the usual teflon or rubber sleeve. First off, it is a pain to work with. I've spent a good 4-5 hours just trying to figure out how to give it a backbone because it is so damn thin, much like a slightly larger human hair.
Then its not as easy as snip off the teflon and you're good to go, you need to manually scrape off the enamel on each thread of cable.
Anyway thats enough of my ranting.. Lets skip to the meat and potatoes..
Anti IC and Neotech OCC copper is very much similar, one first listen it is exactly the same but there is a lingering characteristic of Anti IC that makes it unique. For the most part, furiously A/Bing the both resulted in the same sound signature upon first listen but there was something that keep drawing me to try again because I just couldn't put my finger on it.
But during a point of time, I had given up and wrote off the anti cable "the same as the OCC solid core copper cables.." So much for placebo..lol However I noticed something with the Anti IC - Although music is not so forward and it's slightly more neutral compared to the neotech one albeit both warm in nature.
The mid highs seem to sparkle with the Anti IC and soundstage not so cluster together. I used to hate pure copper as I hate warmth which clouds out the details. I hate the slowness that came with copper, the resonance and the boom with the bass and mids. This was surprisingly not present with the Anti IC There is alot more air at the top and at the side, the warmth is not like that of a sauna which can be too overbearing sometimes with its left over boominess but like that of spring , not too warm yet not too cold, able to breathe easy and just enjoy the the weather. However this characteristics are extremely subtle, you need to search for it hard before you can find the difference.
Anti IC is to me is more musical in a sense that you're able to have best of both world without having an obscure combination like Silver Plated Copper, which has the peaks and forwardness of silver yet boom and warmth of copper. Anti IC is a rather natural sounding cable which is more suited for details listener who wants a copper cable for their easy listening yet don't want to lose too much details and get too much boom. For people who crave for warmth, it may be a step up from their usual set up and yet retain the familiar characteristics of what they're used to without venturing into the full silver or silver/copper hybrids which is another characteristic altogether.
Test Rig - Source - Sansa Fuze v2 - XRCD(2)/SHMcd Flac Rips
Amp - Modified CmoyBB v2.02 - Vishay Sprague axial tantalum input caps + OPA2227
IEM - Fischer Audio DBA02 + Head Direct RE0
Sound preference - Neutral/balance with ample bass and tinge of warmth and a chalk full of details.
Prelude -
After much procrastination and deliberation from terminating a set to test. Today I finally got down to it..
Anti IC is somewhat unique, it has enamel as its insulation rather than the usual teflon or rubber sleeve. First off, it is a pain to work with. I've spent a good 4-5 hours just trying to figure out how to give it a backbone because it is so damn thin, much like a slightly larger human hair.
Then its not as easy as snip off the teflon and you're good to go, you need to manually scrape off the enamel on each thread of cable.
Anyway thats enough of my ranting.. Lets skip to the meat and potatoes..
Anti IC and Neotech OCC copper is very much similar, one first listen it is exactly the same but there is a lingering characteristic of Anti IC that makes it unique. For the most part, furiously A/Bing the both resulted in the same sound signature upon first listen but there was something that keep drawing me to try again because I just couldn't put my finger on it.
But during a point of time, I had given up and wrote off the anti cable "the same as the OCC solid core copper cables.." So much for placebo..lol However I noticed something with the Anti IC - Although music is not so forward and it's slightly more neutral compared to the neotech one albeit both warm in nature.
The mid highs seem to sparkle with the Anti IC and soundstage not so cluster together. I used to hate pure copper as I hate warmth which clouds out the details. I hate the slowness that came with copper, the resonance and the boom with the bass and mids. This was surprisingly not present with the Anti IC There is alot more air at the top and at the side, the warmth is not like that of a sauna which can be too overbearing sometimes with its left over boominess but like that of spring , not too warm yet not too cold, able to breathe easy and just enjoy the the weather. However this characteristics are extremely subtle, you need to search for it hard before you can find the difference.
Anti IC is to me is more musical in a sense that you're able to have best of both world without having an obscure combination like Silver Plated Copper, which has the peaks and forwardness of silver yet boom and warmth of copper. Anti IC is a rather natural sounding cable which is more suited for details listener who wants a copper cable for their easy listening yet don't want to lose too much details and get too much boom. For people who crave for warmth, it may be a step up from their usual set up and yet retain the familiar characteristics of what they're used to without venturing into the full silver or silver/copper hybrids which is another characteristic altogether.
