jonstatt
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Crossposting from the DAVE thread as I should really have posted this in the Blu 2 thread
So I spent a second evening listening to my Blu2/DAVE/Utopia set-up with @Triode User 's WAVE cables and I have to say I am very impressed. If we roll back a few months I was a cable sceptic. In fact for some purposes I still am. When companies like Audioquest describe a digital interconnect as having a defined bass or open treble my blood boils. That being said, I learned something new when it came to Blu2 and DAVE, that there are challenges of RF/EMI between mains powered interconnecting devices, and that interference becomes audible in the downstream analogue electronics.
Now many of us with a Blu2 have a tendency to be perfectionist and want to get that last few percent of sound improvement. And a good fair number of us have played with different cables. I went from the stock cable to Alvin's cables (Canare cable with Neutrik connectors) to Audioquest Carbon and of course a play with ferrites. I refused to do a total cable ferrite solution due to the ugliness of it all but @Rob Watts had mentioned noticeable improvement with 1-2 at the DAVE end and my experience agrees. For whatever reason, the Audioquest Carbon cables were far better than the stock and Canare ones at reducing the brightness added by the RF/EMI from Blu2, particularly with the ferrites. But there was still what I call "fizz" audible particularly on vocals. I realize fizz is an odd choice of words, but it is describing something that sounds modulating and changing as the inflection of the voice changes as opposed to just an aggressive harshness in the treble.
I was tempted by the original Clearer Audio group buy deal but realized it would be an expensive spend that would probably result in an ugly ferrite solution still like @etnt showed (no offense etnt!). So when @Triode User showed his "integrated" ferrite cable solution I was quick to reach out to him to see if would be setting up shop to make these for others.
So as I showed a couple of days ago in this thread I went for the naked version of the cable where you can see the ferrite shape but because the are a part of the cable they are not bulky and ugly and simply look like an interesting and special cable design. As I mentioned then, I was surprised by how heavy and substantial they were, but then I had never applied 20 ferrites to a cable before. You have to be a bit careful not to over bend these but the have enough flexibility to be used in most situations. Nick recommends a 1m length so that there are enough ferrites integrated along the length of the cable.
To put it simply, I believe I am cured! By that I mean that I can no longer hear any fizziness to vocals and my need for cable tinkering is over. A fairly recent album I have been listening to is Hailey Tuck's jazz album Junk. The issue with vocals was very clear from track 1 with my previous cables but totally absent with the WAVE cable. For me this was a subtle but annoying issue that once I tuned into, couldn't tune it out. Its absence was a great relief. I then shifted to playing a CD of Melody Gardot's Live in Europe album and simulcasting a FLAC rip of it using my Aries G2 streamer. This album is a great way of showing off what Blu 2 can do as the depth of the stage dramatically increases with the M Scaler technology. I struggled to hear a difference between USB and CD. I would probably still give the slightest edge to the CD but I think this is due to an issue with Blu 2's USB handling vs CD and absolute parity may not be possible. But without A/B comparing it I don't believe anyone would ever notice. It is worth noting that the Aries G2 has galvanic isolation on its USB output.
I will do more USB vs CD tests, but overall the WAVE High Fidelity Storm cables have allowed me to get to a point where I stop analyzing the music and just focus on "listening" to it
So I spent a second evening listening to my Blu2/DAVE/Utopia set-up with @Triode User 's WAVE cables and I have to say I am very impressed. If we roll back a few months I was a cable sceptic. In fact for some purposes I still am. When companies like Audioquest describe a digital interconnect as having a defined bass or open treble my blood boils. That being said, I learned something new when it came to Blu2 and DAVE, that there are challenges of RF/EMI between mains powered interconnecting devices, and that interference becomes audible in the downstream analogue electronics.
Now many of us with a Blu2 have a tendency to be perfectionist and want to get that last few percent of sound improvement. And a good fair number of us have played with different cables. I went from the stock cable to Alvin's cables (Canare cable with Neutrik connectors) to Audioquest Carbon and of course a play with ferrites. I refused to do a total cable ferrite solution due to the ugliness of it all but @Rob Watts had mentioned noticeable improvement with 1-2 at the DAVE end and my experience agrees. For whatever reason, the Audioquest Carbon cables were far better than the stock and Canare ones at reducing the brightness added by the RF/EMI from Blu2, particularly with the ferrites. But there was still what I call "fizz" audible particularly on vocals. I realize fizz is an odd choice of words, but it is describing something that sounds modulating and changing as the inflection of the voice changes as opposed to just an aggressive harshness in the treble.
I was tempted by the original Clearer Audio group buy deal but realized it would be an expensive spend that would probably result in an ugly ferrite solution still like @etnt showed (no offense etnt!). So when @Triode User showed his "integrated" ferrite cable solution I was quick to reach out to him to see if would be setting up shop to make these for others.
So as I showed a couple of days ago in this thread I went for the naked version of the cable where you can see the ferrite shape but because the are a part of the cable they are not bulky and ugly and simply look like an interesting and special cable design. As I mentioned then, I was surprised by how heavy and substantial they were, but then I had never applied 20 ferrites to a cable before. You have to be a bit careful not to over bend these but the have enough flexibility to be used in most situations. Nick recommends a 1m length so that there are enough ferrites integrated along the length of the cable.
To put it simply, I believe I am cured! By that I mean that I can no longer hear any fizziness to vocals and my need for cable tinkering is over. A fairly recent album I have been listening to is Hailey Tuck's jazz album Junk. The issue with vocals was very clear from track 1 with my previous cables but totally absent with the WAVE cable. For me this was a subtle but annoying issue that once I tuned into, couldn't tune it out. Its absence was a great relief. I then shifted to playing a CD of Melody Gardot's Live in Europe album and simulcasting a FLAC rip of it using my Aries G2 streamer. This album is a great way of showing off what Blu 2 can do as the depth of the stage dramatically increases with the M Scaler technology. I struggled to hear a difference between USB and CD. I would probably still give the slightest edge to the CD but I think this is due to an issue with Blu 2's USB handling vs CD and absolute parity may not be possible. But without A/B comparing it I don't believe anyone would ever notice. It is worth noting that the Aries G2 has galvanic isolation on its USB output.
I will do more USB vs CD tests, but overall the WAVE High Fidelity Storm cables have allowed me to get to a point where I stop analyzing the music and just focus on "listening" to it
