[castleofargh]

I have the same tendency, even though I do know that we're all wrong sometimes, and that if I don't trust someone for one or two BS/mistakes/lies, I should in fairness trust no one. Which is just not possible for someone not pathologically paranoid.
Reviewers are special, I almost instinctively distrust them. Which is weird, because I like quite a few of them as individuals. Even funnier, I tend to trust and follow personal advice about gear when one comes my way. But I still can't find it in me to trust the review by the same guy. I'm weird.

 

[bigshot]

I suppose a published review should theoretically be more trustworthy because they're putting their review down in a formal format. But there are so many reviewers who play fast and loose with the "gimme something free and I'll give you five stars", they've peed in the pool too much.

 

[gregorio]

At first he was all into measurements and stuff so he owns a pretty clean sounding stack, but after hearing a dongle DAC/amp (Cayin RU7) that has 0.02% THD+N he did confirm to hear the difference in favor of the RU7.

Well which is it, was he “all into measurements and stuff” or was he only into subjective listening/hearing? It can’t be both, so one or other part of your anecdote must be false!

He's now accepting of the amps and DACs making a difference but not cables yet.

So he’s not “into measurements” at all then, which of course makes no sense at all with DACs because that’s all a DAC deals with!

Because of that, I performed an experiment with his 64 Audio U12T IEM that has a stock 3.5mm cable (SPC litz). …

I performed an experiment like that. I drove a red Ferrari and then a blue Ford Fiesta. The Ferrari had way better performance, thereby proving that red cars perform way better than blue ones. Of course, such a claim would be nonsense, it’s a correlation fallacy because there were numerous differences between the Ferrari and Fiesta and I would have arbitrarily picked the least significant. In fact, it was a ridiculous experiment to start with, because it didn’t isolate the colour variable from all the others.

What bothered me though was his cognitive dissonance kicked in …

So you’re bothered by other people’s cognitive dissonance but not by your own?

People, like your friend, chose a strange "hill to die on".

How is choosing to die on the hill of facts/science “strange” but dying on the hill of false audiophile marketing and myths isn’t?

They don’t sound bad at all and are pretty safe choices IMHO, but they don’t do anything unique in sound though which to me is essential …

To me it’s the exact opposite, it’s essential that “they [DACs, amps, cables] don’t do anything unique in sound” and are therefore high fidelity. Of course, if you prefer low/lower fidelity that’s entirely up to you but as this is the Sound Science forum, then you have to reliably evidence there is actually some audible difference “in sound” and not just marketing BS, audiophile myth or some ridiculous experiment/correlation fallacy!!

G

 

[Ryokan]

You want an amp and dac to produce sound as the artist intended surely? not color it. If the music is coloured by something is it still Hi-Fi?

 

[bigshot]

Sound fidelity adheres to a standard calibration.

 

[gregorio]

If the music is coloured by something is it still Hi-Fi?

That’s an interesting question which is better understood by realising that “Hi-Fi” is a marketing term, is not precisely defined and is a relative term. For example, a speaker+room will typically “colour” (change the freq response) by many dB in various different parts of the spectrum. Top quality studio monitors in a very well designed/treated studio will significantly exceed what would be considered “Hi-Fi” for consumer speakers but will still change the freq response by several dB in various parts of the spectrum. However, a DAC that coloured various parts of the spectrum by several dB would not be “Hi-Fi”, it wouldn’t even be mid-fi, it would be very decidedly low-fi, because even some exceedingly cheap DACs (Apple’’s $9 dongle for example) don’t colour/change the FR by more than about 0.2dB. That’s very roughly at least an order of magnitude less colouration than the highest fidelity speakers+room.

So the answer to your question is “yes” but that depends on the amount of colouration, IE. Is it an audible amount? Even if it is an audible amount, the answer might still be “yes” in the case of transducers/acoustics.

G

 

[Aspirant Audiophile]

...this isn't a jab at anyone or this thread, but I find it amusing/ironic that I dropped into an eight-page thread that's one year old, with the intention of getting some good advice on Mogami interconnects...and the page I land on has not a single reference to Mogami or interconnects...I guess I should just throw money at an audio company website instead.

 

[bigshot]

The specific advice on Mogami cables is to not spend more than $10 on a cable, because an Amazon Basics cable sounds just as good. Once the question has been answered and a year has gone by, we tend to move on to other subjects.

 

[Tubewin]

...this isn't a jab at anyone or this thread, but I find it amusing/ironic that I dropped into an eight-page thread that's one year old, with the intention of getting some good advice on Mogami interconnects...and the page I land on has not a single reference to Mogami or interconnects...I guess I should just throw money at an audio company website instead.

In my defense, I tried, before realizing this was in "Sound Science". My experience with Mogami Gold xlr's is very favorable. I would highly recommend them. I won't get to how they sound in this thread, but it's worth every penny in my opinion.

 

[bigshot]

Your impression of Harambe cables is the same as my impression of Amazon Basics cables. Amazon cables are worth every penny they don't cost. Monoprice are great too. They make my music sound perfect.

 

[gregorio]

...this isn't a jab at anyone or this thread, but I find it amusing/ironic that I dropped into an eight-page thread that's one year old, with the intention of getting some good advice on Mogami interconnects...and the page I land on has not a single reference to Mogami or interconnects...

I’m not sure why you would “find it amusing/ironic”, I find it entirely typical. In most threads with numerous pages of responses, on almost all discussion forums, the thread’s title/premise has usually been dealt with during the first couple or handful of pages and then commonly diverges into some other, usually related, area of discussion.

My experience with Mogami Gold xlr's is very favorable. I would highly recommend them.

My experience and that of pretty much all audio professionals for many decades is NOT favourable and I would not recommend them at all, let alone “highly”! However, you are still confused, this is the Sound Science discussion forum, not the “Share your experiences” forum, either your experience, other misinformed audiophiles experience or my and other audio professionals experience. The science/facts are straightforward; there is no difference in electrical performance of Mogami Gold XLRs vs any standard XLR, gold is a relatively soft metal and therefore it wears poorly, gold is more expensive and products carry a disproportionate premium just for containing some gold. The only potential benefit of gold over standard Nickel/Silver alloy connectors is that it’s slightly more corrosion resistant, so possibly a wise choice if you’re installing an audiophile system underwater, particularly salt water! lol

I won't get to how they sound in this thread, but it's worth every penny in my opinion.

Wise choice not to “get to how they sound” not least because cables don’t carry sound! Obviously they only carry electrical signals and it’s wise not to get into that either, as there’s no difference. Also, you’re entitled to your opinion but paying considerably more for a cable that performs exactly the same as the far cheaper standard cable but has poorer durability, is the exact opposite of “worth every penny”!

G

 

[Ryokan]

So long as a cable is adequately shielded and of the right capacitance it will pass every bit of the signal without adding noise to a level that can be heard?

 

[gregorio]

So long as a cable is adequately shielded and of the right capacitance it will pass every bit of the signal without adding noise to a level that can be easily detected?

Which the standard Mogami XLR cable is, along with being very durable, reliable and cheap. This is why it’s often used in studios, along with Van Damme and several other brands that have proven to be equally durable, high quality, reliable and cost effective.

G

 

[Ryokan]

Which the standard Mogami XLR cable is, along with being very durable, reliable and cheap. This is why it’s often used in studios, along with Van Damme and several other brands that have proven to be equally durable, high quality, reliable and cost effective.

G

Durability should be the main factor then when considering how much to spend.

 

[gregorio]

Durability should be the main factor then when considering how much to spend.

Particularly in a studio where you’re probably plugging them in/out several times a day, coiling them up frequently and they’re often abused/trodden on.

G