An interesting thread.
I'm relatively new to this discussion board and also relatively new to head-fi'ing.
My music collection was originally made up mp3's - 256Kbit and some with even lower bit rates. I was happy with this. I really couldn't hear the difference between lossless and compressed versions with the equipment I used, i.e., my car stereo, rather cheap headphones, and my computer connected to a BOSE wave radio as well as external computer speakers (not cheap really - $350 pair).
Since discovering the world of headphones and that I could listen without disturbing my wife and kids, I decided to upgrade my listening.
I first bought a pair of Sony MDR 7506. They sounded great. A convincing start.
After a month or so, I then moved to the Sennheiser HD 595 and also felt it deserved a dedicated headphone amp. I settled with a Firestone Fubar III with external Power Supply Unit. For the first time folks, I could easily hear the difference between 256 Kbit/sec and lossless formats. For some recordings, it would be subtle but discernible. For others, it would be quite striking. I found it most marked with music featuring specialist vocalists, for example, Barbra Streisand or Celine Dione. My feeling when I heard this was, 'I thought I'd never really hear this difference, but golly gee, this is what the fuss is about.' I could also easily tell when a recording was very good as opposed to another recording being genuinely bad.
I then upgraded to the Sennheiser HD 650. This has been the most profound upgrade for me so far. I was astonished!!! The first thing I did when I first heard the HD 650's was to disable my iTunes equalizer. The HD 650's now sounded right. For the FIRST time, to my listening ear, the iTunes equalizer distorted the sound (something I kept hearing and could never appreciate). This was an immediate impression for me and the decision to disable the equalizer took a single A/B test. That one had me shaking my head with disbelief.
I then upgraded the amp and DAC to a FireStone SpitFire and HeadPhone MicroAmp - again, gains in sound clarity, sound separation and staging.
Why all the build up? ---- Equipment quality allows you to hear things that lesser equipment will not allow. Plain and simple. This is why experience helps and why I greatly respect experience rather than talking out of one's you know where.
Now, for the cabling. I decided to upgrade to the Cardas Cable. To be frank, I was disappointed. There was a difference, but way too subtle for the investment. I was also not sure that it actually improved my listening. I suspiciously eyed the Grado 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor that I had to be using with the cable. The adaptor had a short, 6", length of cable. I was suspicious that the adaptor could be affecting the sound.
I reached for the Sennheiser adaptor which is identical in configuration and switched them around. My jaw dropped... well I'll be damned. It did make a difference. The Grado gave more base, boomy in nature, and more colour to the mids. I didn't really like the effect. I preferred the sound over the stock adaptor provided by Sennheiser. I now knew that the adaptor was making a difference. I then obtained the Cardas adaptor and I like it more than the other two. I doubt that I'm being biased. I'm a skeptic and experimenter. I have no desire to be hearing a difference and would have been willing to go the route of getting an amp with a 1/4" socket.
So my experience has shown me that equipment matters where hearing differences are concerned.
Additionally, training your ears is very important. Blind individuals hear better than those who aren't. If they can't see, their other senses are more heavily used, i.e., touch, smell and hearing. Their other senses become more developed with increased acuity and discriminatory ability. Audiophiles, over time and with effort, will increase their ability to discriminate between sounds.
Finally, in my experience, more than subtle differences with changes of equipment and cabling are heavily dependent on the recording type, quality, sound volume etc. This is why differences are not fully appreciated through simple A/B tests, but through prolonged listening. When you initially hear a difference, that's only the start of the overall assessment of just how different the sound is and whether or not it's in a positive or negative direction where your sound preference is concerned.
Cables can never have a neutral influence. I have no doubts now that it's audible to most human ears with training one's hearing and investing in equipment that's up to showing up the difference. It's therefore not at all surprising that those who are willing to invest the money to seriously upgrade their equipment, will in turn, invest the time and attention to seriously listen to the sound coming from their precious equipment. This very significant, but worthwhile investment will not only make them able to discern differences as a result of the sheer quality of the equipment at their disposal, but also, their improved ability to hear discriminately.
Without actually taking a small trip down that road, I'd never have been personally convinced. I was hoping there wouldn't be a difference since there would be no justification for spending thousands on equipment, but unfortunately it does.
