[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

Better get in line, brother... I seemed to have ruffled a few feathers around here.

Sent from my E5803 using a highly trained, special forces carrier pigeon

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Ah...I get it now.

You're the pigeon.

 

[upstateguy]

Hey guys, the Grumpyolddude has it half right. 
 
Of course there are measurable differences between cables but.....  there is also "dark sound".
 
I just discovered in the O2 thread, thank you HotIce, that there is an audible, and as yet unmeasurable, dark energy, called "dark sound" that exists in our DACs, amps and cables.
 
So Grumpy's cable probably not only measures better, but probably sounds better too.

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

Hey guys, the Grumpyolddude has it half right. 
 
Of course there are measurable differences between cables but.....  there is also "dark sound".
 
I just discovered in the O2 thread, thank you HotIce, that there is an audible, and as yet unmeasurable, dark energy, called "dark sound" that exists in our DACs, amps and cables.
 
So Grumpy's cable probably not only measures better, but probably sounds better too.

Jesus. I better unsub from this thread before someone takes that seriously.

Sent from my E5803 using a highly trained, special forces carrier pigeon

 

[upstateguy]

 

  Hey guys, the Grumpyolddude has it half right. 
 
Of course there are measurable differences between cables but.....  there is also "dark sound".
 
I just discovered in the O2 thread, thank you HotIce, that there is an audible, and as yet unmeasurable, dark energy, called "dark sound" that exists in our DACs, amps and cables.
 
So Grumpy's cable probably not only measures better, but probably sounds better too.

Jesus. I better unsub from this thread before someone takes that seriously.

Sent from my E5803 using a highly trained, special forces carrier pigeon

 
Now come on, even though you might not want to admit it, you know that your $100 cable not only measures better but that it sounds better too.

 

[gregorio]

This thread has turned into a bit of a train wreck. Without reading the whole thing, it seems to me that post #323 is what started feather ruffling and there's certainly some points worth addressing:
 
Quote:

[1] A poorly constructed cable will measure poorer than a well constructed cable. Period. How much more poorly depends on quite a few things.

[2] Whether or not the difference is AUDIBLE is up for debate.

[3] But frankly, I don't care if it sounds better, as long as it measures better. ... Will I spend a couple of hundred on an IEM cable or a hundred on some USB cables? Yeah, why not...

 
1. That depends on how we define poorly constructed and what it is we're measuring. Once we get beyond about the $1 mark, most USB cables can be considered adequately well constructed for the vast majority of situations. Given accurate enough equipment, differences between cables will always be measurable, even between two cables of the same make, model, size and type. Obviously they will contain a different number of atoms and molecules and their electrical signal passing properties will vary. However, that's largely irrelevant with digital audio if we're measuring the integrity of data transmission/recovery rather than measuring the number of atoms or absolute electrical signal passing performance. Let's not forget the reason why digital audio was invented in the first place; to be relatively tolerant/unaffected by electrical performance.
 
2. "Up for debate" amongst whom, audiophiles? I've seen audiophiles debate that distortion at -350dB is audible! Amongst audio practitioners, engineers/scientists, the sane/moderately knowledgeable and most other people, there is no debate, only amongst some extreme audiophiles.
 
3. Personally, I prefer to spend money on those areas which actually make an audible difference; acoustics, transducers and actual audio content for example. Even if (!) expensive USB cable A has better electrical signal performance than cheap USB cable B, providing cable B maintains the integrity of the digital audio data (rather than the irrelevant fidelity of the signal), then cable A is a waste of money which is infinitely better spent elsewhere. It's your money though, and if the knowledge of better (but inaudible) measurements gives you more pleasure than the actual quality of the audio reproduction itself, then of course, "why not?"! It's a little risky posting advice based on that strange/unusual preference though, because it's likely to ruffle a few feathers.
 
G

 

[castleofargh]

for all the crappy tests I've done with cables, a few were just bad cables. dunno if some piece of wire was soldered with another pole or if the cable was stepped on one time too many, but they worked bad and measured bad at a level that shouldn't exist on a cable. I throw them away when I find one and that's about it.
 the rest while sometimes showing significant differences, like a much higher impedance on one of my USB cables, my experience was that the quality of the contacts were usually the most important factor in my setup(and that's true for all cables IMO). now USB plugs are the worst thing anybody could think of when it comes to making proper plugs. it's practical for sure, but that's about it. and I'm not sure how to "upgrade" that without soldering everything for good.  the rest never felt like it mattered, be it measurably or to my ears. but then again I'd rather have my teeth pulled out with a spork instead of giving 500$ to a guy for a usb cable, so maybe I'm missing out on something.