[bigshot]

This thread has been going on a LONG time. I think the answer is that cables CAN make a difference, but it depends on the setup and the intrinsic properties of the cable. This is not based on cable "quality". No cable will increase the fidelity of the sound or take it away unless it's horribly shielded and has noise leaking in or is broken. It may only change how it sounds, which depending on the listener may be better or worse.

The problem with saying it like that is that audiophools will read "the answer is that cables CAN make a difference" and not read any further. It's better to say...

If properly designed and manufactured to match the intended use, there is no reason for a cable of any price point to sound different from any other cable.

 

[Kentajalli]

What about the hifi purists who love tube amps?

Well I am one of them!
(but what do you care? all amps sound the same, right?)
But I am a casual purist not a zealot.
As I have said before My hypocrisy only goes so far!

 

[bigshot]

My point is that a lot of audiophiles aren't purists. If they were, they would pursue fidelity, not coloration. I'm not a purist either. Stuff I can't hear means nothing to me. The people who are purists are the numbers chasers.

 

[Kentajalli]

My point is that a lot of audiophiles aren't purists. If they were, they would pursue fidelity, not coloration. I'm not a purist either. Stuff I can't hear means nothing to me. The people who are purists are the numbers chasers.

You have a weired take on Hifi purism!
Hifi Purists believe less is more.
If you can design an amp with less components in signal path it is better.
Less signal processing, less tone controls ..... you get the gist.
ofcourse if it sounds worse, or the components are needed, the purist is not an idiot - basically results matter, but through a minimalist approach.
That is my understanding of it.
But I beg of you, let's not drag this to kingdom come.

 

[bigshot]

If "less is more" is Hifi purism, then there aren't many purists on Headfi. I look at pictures of people's portable rigs and they don't look simple at all. DAPs, DACs, amps, laptops, battery packs, storage cards... all separate with a tangle of expensive wires connecting them. They look like a hotel switchboard and they require a backpack to schlep it all around in. If that is the definition, then I'm a purist because I have an iPhone and headphones and that is it.

 

[tgx78]

Trying to do some blind tests tonight motivated by this thread.

 

[subguy812]

Trying to do some blind test tonight.

I think you have a full night ahead of you!

I must tell you that photo made my OCD shoot up like watching that Hoarders Buried Alive show on TV

 

[subguy812]

edit: in above post

 

[megabigeye]

Trying to do some blind tests tonight motivated by this thread.

How are you planning on doing blind testing with IEM cables? Seems like it would be very difficult?

And yeah. That picture, my OCD. I can feel my blood pressure going up just thinking about the tangles..

 

[KeithPhantom]

Before I thought IEMs were just a convenient solution to quality audio, but I still don't believe my FH7 are better than my Clears. I still don't...

 

[colonelkernel8]

Trying to do some blind tests tonight motivated by this thread.

While admirable, I don't think it's worth the trouble...I'm not even sure it's possible to do this blindly since you'll need to remove the earphones and reinstall a cable each time. I'll rely on the objective measurements and the physics to tell me that cables, most of all headphone cables (or speaker cables), being past the point of amplification, cannot make an audible difference in the sound the headphones or earphones produce, full stop.

 

[megabigeye]

While admirable, I don't think it's worth the trouble...I'm not even sure it's possible to do this blindly since you'll need to remove the earphones and reinstall a cable each time. I'll rely on the objective measurements and the physics to tell me that cables, most of all headphone cables (or speaker cables), being past the point of amplification, cannot make an audible difference in the sound the headphones or earphones produce, full stop.

I think it's worth doing.
Not for you or the other people that don't believe there's a difference, but for himself and anybody that doesn't believe measurements are a reliable indication of their hearing. I just hope that he doesn't try to skew the results and is relatively careful in his testing.

I'm still genuinely curious how he's planning to do a blind test. I have an idea how it could be done, but you'd need cables, connectors, and switches that are already proven to be transparent.

EDIT: I also think it's worth doing simply for the sake of science. Not to prove anything, but to hopefully discover something.

 

[colonelkernel8]

I think it's worth doing.
Not for you or the other people that don't believe there's a difference, but for himself and anybody that doesn't believe measurements are a reliable indication of their hearing. I just hope that he doesn't try to skew the results and is relatively careful in his testing.

I'm still genuinely curious how he's planning to do a blind test. I have an idea how it could be done, but you'd need cables, connectors, and switches that are already proven to be transparent.

EDIT: I also think it's worth doing simply for the sake of science. Not to prove anything, but to hopefully discover something.

What phenomena do you think we cannot measure? We can measure bass, we can measure treble, and we can measure dynamics and impulse response, all to a further degree than the human ear by many, many orders of magnitude. Audio signals are *fully* understood from a physics standpoint. There is no magic yet to be discovered.

 

[megabigeye]

What phenomena do you think we cannot measure? We can measure bass, we can measure treble, and we can measure dynamics and impulse response, all to a further degree than the human ear by many, many orders of magnitude. Audio signals are *fully* understood from a physics standpoint. There is no magic yet to be discovered.

Yes, I understand this. My point is that not everybody understands or believes this, so it's good to allow them to discover it for themselves and not discourage them from doing so.

 

[colonelkernel8]

Yes, I understand this. My point is that not everybody understands or believes this, so it's good to allow them to discover it for themselves and not discourage them from doing so.

My only issue is that they won't give the test a fair shake (in this case I doubt it's possible) and it will only further reinforce a bias towards cables making a difference because of the money they spent.