[dyl1dyl]

Quote:

Rectangular copper headphone cables are actually already being sold by at least one company i know of based in HK.

Haha, I meant that I'm the first in the world to order the Copper Venom from you guys
 

 

[zeroakuma]

Is that the 800-1000 dollar headphone cable?

 

[kwkarth]

 
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A review - finally!! Under the microscope are the 2 lowest priced models in Toxic Cables range of headphone cables for the Audez'e LCD-2/3.
 
Both of these cables follow the same basic design format - high strand-count cryo-treated OCC Copper in transparent sheaths, with the 4 conductors (2 from each side) drawn together by hand into a Litz braid, with clear heat-shrink over the Y-splits and plugs. For the pure copper model it's as simple as that, while the next model up has only one obvious difference; 1 of the 2 conductors from each side are silver plated. Both models are extremely light-weight, have a smooth, flexible feel, and slimline design. Attention to detail is superb, and their elegant appearance belies their strength.
 
Despite being the "babies" in Toxic Cable's range, both of these cables perform significantly better than the stock LCD-2 cable, so I'll just describe them on their own merits rather than comparing each with the stock cable.
 
There is plenty of information about these 2 cables (and the rest of the range) on the Toxic Cables website at the following locations;
 
The basic model, priced at £75 is here:   http://toxic-cables.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_61&product_id=69
 
The next in line, mixed-conductor cable, priced at £80 is here;    http://toxic-cables.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_61&product_id=70
 
Both pages are full of information and are only a click away from the Toxic Cables homepage. Incidentally, Toxic Cables also produce cables for HiFiman and Sennheiser headphones, which will be of interest to some.
 

I'll just start with a brief description of the system I'm using for this test. Starting with a pro audio PC running Windows XP SP2, using the JRiver 17 media player to play either 16bit/44.1kHz.wav files or 24/96FLAC downloads. The signal goes out at 24bit/96kHz to a Wyred 4 Sound "DAC1" via a Locus Design Group "Essentia" USB cable. From the DAC a Home Grown Audio "Silver Lace" RCA pair takes the analogue signal to a Burson Audio "HA160". The test cables then take the signal to my LCD-2 rev.1.
 
 
So, what do they sound like? Well, both cables were "virgin" on arrival and both had a lot of sibilance, but after approximately 150hours of burn in both cables had reached a nice, stable sound, and this is where the reviews start. I guess most folks won't be familiar with the music I've chosen, but I'm familiar with it, and it's all quite demanding on any system.
 
 
Starting with the cryo treated pure OCC Copper cable. The overall sound is quite balanced, leaning a bit towards the bass, and with a touch of brightness in the mids and highs. These can have the effect of cancelling each other out - but it depends on the type of music. I'm currently listening to Dragonforce which is notoriously hard to reproduce because there is just so much going - ultra-fast guitars, keyboard, and drums - at almost 200bpm! This cable allows all those different elements to be heard individually, which is quite a feat - especially for a "bottom of the range" cable! Moving on to Machine Head's album Unto The Locust. With so much distortion and brutal vocals, intertwined with singing and occasional acoustic guitar, it's sometimes hard to pick out each element in this music, but again, the cable lets it all through. The bass punch is powerful, but not excessive. So, with just a fraction too much bass and a hint of brightness, this cable does the LCD-2/3 justice - especially considering its price.
 
Moving on to the next in line - the mixed Cryo OCC copper and silver-plated-copper. With Machine Head still playing, this cable is a bit on the dark side with slightly recessed mids, but there is more detail coming through - for instance, kick drums have faster punch and more power, but again, without being excessive. Clean electric guitar notes come through sharp and clear. Next up is Helloweeen; "Keeper Of The Seven Keys". With a lot of cymbals, hi-hats, high pitched vocals and screaming guitars, this should bring out any remaining sibilance, and although there is a touch of sibilance, the highs are generally nice and clean. Also, there seems to be a better balance across the frequency spectrum, with more balanced bass than the pure copper cable. Moving on to Rammstein "Mutter" (German band & language), the combination of heavy metal style vocals and guitar with layers of synths, backed up in parts by a classic string section and in other parts by a full orchestra, means there's a lot going on from the deepest bass to the highest highs! Suffice to say that I've never heard this album performed quite so well. From the most brutally intense sections to graceful strings and child's voice, I can't fault it. Next comes a classical section, and I've chosen Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor (24bit/96kHz flac). The recording sounds dry to start with, but little trills from the piano are like sunshine popping out from behind a cloud, and as the piano takes on more of a central role the dryness is banished and as far as I can tell, all orchestral detail becomes clearly apparent. Overall there's a light airy feel to the recording, punctuated by the lovely sweet piano playing. If anything there is a bit too much "air", but for a sub -£100 cable, if that's the only fault, Toxic Cables have done a very good job indeed.
 
I don't know how the mixed conductor recipe came about, but it works well!
 
Incidentally, the web address for Toxic Cables' eBay store is:
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/frankfranks35/m.html?hash=item1c25f085f4&item=120895604212&pt=UK_AudioVisualElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Headphones&_trksid=p4340.l2562

I would never presume to take issue with what you heard, nor impugn the quality of construction of the cables.  Nice review!
 
Honestly, I'm curious about some of the manufacturer's claims.  What is a "Litz braid," particularly when we're discussing two conductors?  What is a "unidirectional" cable?  How does this cable "transmit electrical signals faster and with less distortion than ordinary OFC and silver wires"? Has the propagation velocity been measured with a time domain reflectometer to verify this?  
 
Where does this stuff come from?
 

 

[kwkarth]

Another thing...  As far as I know, all of the "rectangular" silver wire being used was originally created for jewelry, hence its being rectangular in shape.  Electrons would become very confused in a non linear way, trying to negotiate a rectangular cross section.  

 
If this is the case, and perhaps it's not, but if it is, maybe we'll start to see other jewelry show up in high zoot audio-ware.  The carbon fibre used in the connectors is truly beautiful, at least to my eye, I really like the look of it, but it does absolutely nothing for the sound.  The engineer and the artist within me are at war here...

 

[Toxic Cables]

 
Quote:

 

I would never presume to take issue with what you heard, nor impugn the quality of construction of the cables.  Nice review!
 
Honestly, I'm curious about some of the manufacturer's claims.  What is a "Litz braid," particularly when we're discussing two conductors?  What is a "unidirectional" cable?  How does this cable "transmit electrical signals faster and with less distortion than ordinary OFC and silver wires"? Has the propagation velocity been measured with a time domain reflectometer to verify this?  
 
Where does this stuff come from?
 

 
A quick search online for UP-OCC unidirectional wire will answer most of those questions for you. They are not claims made specifically by me but 99% of the people selling OCC Cables, the suppliers and patent holder. As for the litz braid, again a quick search will show what it is.
 
 
 
 

 

[Toxic Cables]

Quote:

 
The carbon fibre used in the connectors is truly beautiful, at least to my eye, I really like the look of it, but it does absolutely nothing for the sound.  The engineer and the artist within me are at war here...

 
It is not meant to do anything for the sound, it's only for the artist within you 

 

[kwkarth]

 
Quote:

A quick search online for UP-OCC unidirectional wire will answer most of those questions for you, they are not claims made by me but 99% of the people selling OCC Cables, the suppliers and patent holder. As for the Litz braid, that is just what some refer to the type of braid i do, nothing special there.

Thanks for answering my question.  So, as you say, the use of the term "unidirectional" is very widespread, and for the record, is complete BS, but I'm not taking issue with your use of the term since it is so widespread.  "Uni-directionality" in any form is the VERY LAST THING you would want in any conductor, since that implies a diodic function, and thus would be HIGHLY destructive to any AC/ (audio) signal. No doubt this has been said many times before, but I just had to say in again in the spirit that a better understanding of electronics and audio, will ultimately lead to a higher level of enjoyment and equipment performance for the listener/music lover.
Cheers,
-k
 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

It is not meant to do anything for the sound, it's only for the artist within you 

Ahh!  OK then.  The artist and engineer within me are at peace!  

Thx again!
-k
 

 

[Toxic Cables]

Quote:

 

Thanks for answering my question.  So, as you say, the use of the term "unidirectional" is very widespread, and for the record, is complete BS, but I'm not taking issue with your use of the term since it is so widespread.  "Uni-directionality" in any form is the VERY LAST THING you would want in any conductor, since that implies a diodic function, and thus would be HIGHLY destructive to any AC/ (audio) signal. No doubt this has been said many times before, but I just had to say in again in the spirit that a better understanding of electronics and audio, will ultimately lead to a higher level of enjoyment and equipment performance for the listener/music lover.
Cheers,
-k
 

I believe unidirectional means that the signal only travels in one direction while if it were bidirectional would mean in 2 different directions or omnidirectional which is in all directions.
So why would the signal travelling in just one direction be the VERY LAST THING that we want. I would have thought that would be the only thing that we would want 

 
http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/unidirectional.htm

 

[sridhar3]

kwkarth is a ninja master, disappearing and reappearing at will.

 

[scootermafia]

Quote:

Another thing...  As far as I know, all of the "rectangular" silver wire being used was originally created for jewelry, hence its being rectangular in shape.  Electrons would become very confused in a non linear way, trying to negotiate a rectangular cross section.  

 
If this is the case, and perhaps it's not, but if it is, maybe we'll start to see other jewelry show up in high zoot audio-ware.  The carbon fibre used in the connectors is truly beautiful, at least to my eye, I really like the look of it, but it does absolutely nothing for the sound.  The engineer and the artist within me are at war here...

http://www.soundscapeav.com/papers/decade.html

 

[paradoxper]

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

I believe unidirectional means that the signal only travels in one direction while if it were bidirectional would mean in 2 different directions or omnidirectional which is in all directions.
So why would the signal travelling in just one direction be the VERY LAST THING that we want. I would have thought that would be the only thing that we would want 

 
http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/unidirectional.htm

Nope, sorry, not the way things work in this universe.
 

 

[kwkarth]

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That should be in our permanent collection of smily's.
 
 

 

[paradoxper]

So is Toxic Cables misleading people, using nice buzzwords, misinformed himself?....People do seem to enjoy his cables.