[seeteeyou]

Regarding cables, a perfect cable would "do no harm" and whatever is at the input end would appear completely unchanged at the output end.

It's interesting, however, how you routinely denigrate and even ridicule the findings and opinions of others about things you have never heard.

 

[learpot]

Well done for having the stamina to do that. I know from personal experience that sessions like that can quickly lessen the will to live.

Can I just ask what cable you used from ur to Blu2? Sorry if you say it but I can’t see.

Hi, Nick, I am not using any cables from ur to Blu2. I use a Uptone USPCB adapter. I find that $35 adapter easily beats my wireworld platinum 7 usb cable...

 

[austinpop]

As a good friend reminded me recently, science is about humility, first and foremost. It is about admitting that we do not have a perfect understanding of the world around us. It is with this in mind that we attempt to devise a disciplined method of inquiry involving hypothesis, observation, theory and proof. And then revisit with further observation to make sure the theory holds up over time because rarely are theories perfect.

Hear, hear!

 

[Triode User]

Hi, Nick, I am not using any cables from ur to Blu2. I use a Uptone USPCB adapter. I find that $35 adapter easily beats my wireworld platinum 7 usb cable...

Ah, yes, the best cable is no cable! Thanks.

 

[musickid]

I wonder if a jitterbug with the usb adapter might improve anything or would it add an extra "obstacle" through which the digital data must pass through.

 

[jonstatt]

I agree with @romaz that a perfect cable alters nothing. I just don't believe that it costs thousands to make that happen. I am totally convinced that there is more snake oil than sound science being sold and it is just impossible to figure out the facts from the lies. You only have to read some of the descriptions on Audioquests websites to realise how much nonsense there is. This is a shame because some of their stuff is relevant and does make a difference like the jitterbug. The focus should be, where fortunately this thread is, in eliminating pollution (RF etc), affecting downstream components....from streamer to blu2, and from blu2 to Dave.

 

[Malcyg]

I agree with @romaz .....it is just impossible to figure out the facts from the lies.

I agree and this is the most irritating aspect because you cannot afford to take anything at face value and consequently need to expend a lot more effort than should be necessary to get to where you want to be. Cables are the worst area because they are difficult to assess in value terms but also relatively easy to make and probably very high profit margin and, therefore, attractive to the unscrupulous. Feedback from people on here helps as a starting point but, unfortunately, there is no substitute for trying, assessing and making your own value judgements.

Cynical feedback from naysayers can be as unhelpful as overly positive hyping feedback because, if you listen to it, it can take you down a wrong path or make you avoid a path that might work out well. As an example, I remember when the Melco server first came out and reaction from many was to shoot it down in flames as snake oil - bits are bits and all that. I ignored the negative comments as I thought the concept made sense because it offered a way to potentially reducing noise so I tried one, liked it and bought it. Now, 2-3 years later, music servers are an accepted part of the streaming environment and there is no doubt in my mind that they are one way to achieving excellent results. Read one of several glowing reviews of the Zenith SE for example - and there are plenty of other servers to choose from. Still, there are many who will deny their appeal or value.

The whole bits are bits argument is really just missing the point - it’s not about the bits, it’s about everything else.

 

[Deftone]

The 3 month wait I had, turned into 10 days! So excited to have it here. 1st cd at random I loaded (still playing) is Pink Floyd's The Endless River. I'm not worried about further refinements, that can come later. For now, this is easily the best I've heard my system sound. Good stuff.

Refreshing to see this amongst the flood of ferrite talk and cable science arguments.

 

[Beolab]

OT:

I know this is a slightly selling propaganda video by MIT Audio, but take it with a grain of salt in mind, and see it as educational, because i think they is onto something here.

What they say ruffly is that all cables around the world got different articulation and frequency response to each frequency it going to handle independent on the cost factor or the built.
Most cables are fare away from Linear in its own native tonal response, and because of this can do a great synergy effect in some systems, with a U shaped midrange, a more forward midrange, airer highs, or thicker meatier slow low end etc etc .

But if you want a cable thats does not affect the sound, it have to be perfectly Linear to start with.

(The frequencies travel differently inside a cable, where the higher fq travel more on / outside the conductor, and in the outer shield, and does not need so much of space to travel free as the the lower frequencies do, that needs thicker material to travel more freely in the core of the cable, bacause of the more room dependent wavelengths, this is one factor that causing different frequency response in a cable)

But what MIT have dun here with the passive variable articulation network box is to make the cable perfectly linear from 20-20.000 hz, and that is a huge accomplishment.
With the switching knob on the box you can tweak it from perfect linear in the middle to more detailed / timed on Max, to slight more musically gentle in the Min setting.

Can bet my left arm on that not many small low cost to high end cost brands have ever gave this so much taught even, or they lack the knowlage / does not got the test facility etc etc, so they lay more focus on materials and try to build an impressive cable as they possible can and wright great snake oil propaganda with no attachment to facts they can back up.

Some may sound great nevertheless on some systems, but MIT is one of the only few HiFi cable manufacturer that seems to back it up with mathematical facts and measurements at least.
If it is all snake oil propaganda this also maybe, but it sounds more promising than no facts at all.

I receive the two MIT Oracle MA-X BNC-BNC tomorrow Friday afternoon, so it will be great to try out just for fun.

 

[WilliamWykeham]

Anyone know of anywhere within a 4 hour drive of DC to demo Blu 2? Thinking about selling my Dave and going Blu 2 / Hugo but would have to test first. Sounds like quite a backlog at the moment.

 

[marcmccalmont]

It's fine that you have your opinions. You certainly have the right to voice them. It's interesting, however, how you routinely denigrate and even ridicule the findings and opinions of others about things you have never heard.

We have all been guilty of fooling ourselves into thinking that if someone's observation doesn't fit our paradigm of how something is supposed to sound, then it can't be real. The irony is that this is the antithesis of science and scientific inquiry. As a good friend reminded me recently, science is about humility, first and foremost. It is about admitting that we do not have a perfect understanding of the world around us. It is with this in mind that we attempt to devise a disciplined method of inquiry involving hypothesis, observation, theory and proof. And then revisit with further observation to make sure the theory holds up over time because rarely are theories perfect.

Regarding cables, a perfect cable would "do no harm" and whatever is at the input end would appear completely unchanged at the output end. Disregarding the impact of RF for a moment, the only cable that can do this would have zero resistance, zero capacitance, and zero inductance. The only cable that could approach such characteristics would be a superconductor and as far as I am aware, none of us are using such cables in our audio systems. That would mean that all cables will cause harm to the signal -- it becomes a matter of how much. As has been suggested, the fact that you can't hear differences amongst cables would suggest your system isn't resolving enough to reveal these differences or your ears aren't or both. To suggest that you know how every cable in the world sounds based on your half day experience of listening to a certain manufacturer's line of cables is rather amusing.

Regarding Jay's (AudioBacon) assessment of the impact of cables with his Chord DAVE, I will say this. With all due respect, his standard review setup (which consists of his Chord DAVE directly driving his pair of Omega Alnicos) is much more resolving and more transparent than your setup. I have had your Pass Labs XA30.8 in my home. Further to that, I have had quite a few of their products in my home for audition recently including the XA60.8 and XA100.8 monoblocks. At the present time, I have their X350.8 in my home along with their new XP-12 and XP-22 preamps just because I was curious to hear them. As much as I love the Pass Labs sound, I have yet to hear any setup from Pass Labs that is anywhere close to being as resolving and transparent as Rob's DACs directly driving speakers and Rob himself can attest to this. When I choose to hear the full magnitude of difference amongst cables, servers, etc, almost without fail, it is my setup of one of Rob's DACs directly driving speakers that allows me to hear it best.

As far as how good Jay's ears are, I have this to say. I have known Jay for a few years now. We met here on Head-Fi through PMs but we have also crossed paths on a few occasions at audio shows across the country including various Can Jams, the LA Audio Show, and RMAF. I assumed that, as a reviewer, because he does a lot of disciplined comparative listening, his ears are probably well tuned to hear differences between equipment but I didn't know just how good his ears were until this weekend. Over the past few days, both Rob Watts and Jay have been at my home in California and we have been doing quite a bit of comparative listening (including blind testing). Because a few of Rob's prototypes are involved, neither Jay nor myself will be making any public comments about what we have heard although I don't think Rob will mind if I say that we have compared (and are still comparing) the impact of various USB cables, BNC cables and even line conditioners and in my system, they absolutely make a difference. Sometimes the difference has been subtle, sometimes not subtle at all, and sometimes the difference was completely unexpected meaning had we assumed that we already knew it all and had not even bothered to test, we would have missed out on some very important revelations. To paraphrase Rob, don't assume you know how something's going to sound before the needle hits the groove.

Lastly, regarding expensive cables, we all know your stand on this and that you have no respect for expensive cables and so give it a rest already. If someone wants to share their experience with a cable with their Blu2, regardless of whether it is expensive or not, then let them do so in peace. I can't tell you how many PMs I have received from Blu2 owners about cables who have been afraid of posting publicly on this thread because of fear of ridicule from you.

Can you post some results of your listening tests we are all anxious!

 

[flyte3333]

John Swenson's thoughts on ferrites used with USB cables:

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/...row-hammerquot/?do=findComment&comment=382519

 

[Rob Watts]

Oh dear. It's much more complicated than that post - nobody would ever put ferrites on high speed data - you would have to be a complete idiot to do that - but USB is a differential data system, so putting ferrites on VBUS or ground is entirely appropriate and beneficial, and will have no difference in data extraction, as the data is unaffected, being differential. Ferrite clamps work entirely differently, as they increase the common mode impedance, but have no effect on the differential impedance.

 

[flyte3333]

Oh dear. It's much more complicated than that post - nobody would ever put ferrites on high speed data - you would have to be a complete idiot to do that

LOL yes Rob, I THINK (I could be wrong) you and John S are saying the same thing there.

 

[Rob Watts]

The original poster said too many ferrites being put on a USB cable. That sounds like adding ferrite clamps over the cable - which merely increase common mode HF impedance, they have zero effect on the differential impedance, and zero effect on the data.