I am glad you are not insulted easily, because I will have to (respectfully) disagree with you here. I think you have it backwards on the percentage. It is more like 99% (maybe more like 90% nowadays) of portable cables are NOT in a litz configuration, unless it is advertised as such, and that NORMALLY will add more cost to a cable.
And number of cores does indeed matter because in most cases, cables are configured in such a way that you might have 4 cores with 128 strands each (non litz) as an example. But, since there is no "standard" you might have a 4 core cable with 320 strands, or something like that. Or you might have a 16 core cable with 64 strands... You just have to pay attention to the make of the cable.
As for impedance affecting SQ, again I would have to disagree. If not properly matched, you can suffer from signal loss or unwanted distortion. Having a very low resistance is not (as I mentioned earlier) always desirable, depending on the head gear you are using. The all BA set I was referring to earlier, actually came with a higher impedance cable on purpose from the manufacturer. It was matched to the IEMs so that they will sound as the makers intended. Changing the cable for more or less impedance colors them to something different than what was intended. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your preferences, but they will not be accurate for their design either way.
Having said that, most makers don't actually take the time and effort to match cables with the head gear. They will either just throw something from the shelf on it or match it by aesthetics. This is normally where you find which manufacturers care more or less about their own product, or they are just contributing to the "flood" of head gear that is out there and are just looking to get in on the feeding frenzy of incoming monies.
Since it is nigh on impossible to do impedance matching on portable gear (like you would for a loud speaker system), it is normally best to get very low impedance output sources. Then you can either use a cable or buy an inline impedance adapter to get it where you want for that particular set. Most people don't do this and find the sound acceptable as is but this is, in part why you will also hear people talking about "synergy" on portable gear.
Keep in mind that impedance is the amalgamation of resistance, capacitance, and conductance (they are all related), and they are not at all theoretical where sound reproduction is concerned. Actually, the electrical circuit makeup is the MOST important factor where sound reproduction is concerned (this also included impedance of a circuit). Sound is simply the transmission of electrical currents to a device that can translate it into an acoustical reproduction. How accurate it is depends on many factors; not the least of which is impedance (how faithful the electrical currents are sent to the translator or in this case transducer). If the electrical current that is sent to the transducer is not accurate, then the sound will not be reproduced as accurately as it could have been if it were; whether that has a desirable effect or not is up to your ears though. It really is as simple as that.
I realize that there are many, many other factors here as well that could also affect this, but this is what the consummate "audiophile" will pay out the nose to get (that last 1%). It doesn't really take a college degree to understand how these things affect sound reproduction.
With a cable, the makeup of the cable, quality (or lack thereof) of the material used, impedance (remember this is consisting of resistance, conductance, and capacitance) does affect the sound you will perceive. You will have a change in sound with the switch of a cable because not all cables are alike; even of the same materials (i.e. SPC, or pure silver, or pure copper, etc...). Also, keep in mind that when we talk about a change in sound for a cable, it isn't measurable on a FR graph, it is more of a change of tone that gives the perception that the sound has changed. Like a pure copper will change the tone of upper treble and lower bass, giving the perception that the treble is tamed, and there is more bass, as one example.
The reason that this works this way, and ignoring the resistance and (potential) capacitance factor, is because all of the alloys used today have a different conductivity (remember this is also part of the impedance equation) rating. Copper is the least of the conductors, which acts a bit like a filter in its perceived sound reproduction. Silver is the best conductor, which is why it seems to sound tighter, clearer, etc... Silver plated copper is sort of an "in between" because you are using the best conductor mixed with the worst. This has been very popular for many years because it is a good balance between copper and silver, and is cheaper to make than pure alloys.
Graphene is actually the best conductor of them all, but the problem with this is that it cannot (to this point) be used by itself. Normally the maker will impregnate either copper or silver with graphene, which still makes it a better overall conductor than either alone. This is not to say that there aren't other types of graphene cables available. There is a headphone cable that actually impregnates Kevlar with graphene, but it is a VERY expensive process, and I am not sure that it works as well as it might using an actual "other" metal as the base instead.
Again, I hope I have not offended, but the intention was all to say that the bottom line here is: These aren't theories but are basic and fundamental electrical properties used for all music reproduction. Music reproduction (reproduction being the key word here) is more about electrical design than anything else; taking something stored in an analog or digital medium (i.e. record, CD, streaming service, etc...) and reproducing it in such a way that we can enjoy listening to the audible waves that it makes.
I am very glad to hear that... It is NEVER my intention to (at least purposefully) insult.Impossible! I am uninsultable.Yes I do have a few DAPs with lower output impedance but I like the M15s more so I just use it instead. Honestly I usually just don't care about the number but just listen with my ears.
Whatever works for your ears is best for you, and no one can tell you anything different.
Fantastic bro! Thanks for sharing this for all.
Maybe another way to store it might be to simply create a new (free) Google account, and store in on Drive, and just share it for all. After all, you get 5GB storage for free.
