ThanatosVI
Headphoneus Supremus
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the elaborate answerYes, I do have Trevor-made adapters that enable me to swap all three cables with all three headphones in a series of perfect permutations, although I have only used one of them so far: before the Drausk arrived, I was using the s4 8-wire with the Audeze LCD-5, and did so until the Drausk arrived. Now fresh out of the box, the Drausk--as compared to the S-4 it replaced--initially produced a rather anemic and spatially restrictive result that sounded to my ears like a sub-par and "constipated" mess (excuse the metaphor). That initial result made me wonder and begin to have second thoughts as to why I had made such a big deal out of owning an *all copper cabling* solution (which was, frankly, the only reason that made me go for the Drausk in the first place [place a face-palm here])...
But 24 hours of straight Drausk burn-in (and brain burn-in) later, I was singing a different tune, as the sound of the Drausk had opened up to a point where it was both unrecognizable and difficult to tell apart from the S4 8-wire on some tracks--indeed, on many tracks... It has almost brought me to the point of declaring the difference between all copper and all silver cables among Trevor's releases (from the 17.7awg mark upward) to be either highly debatable or merely "academic," as the Drausk has done a great job bridging the gap I initially perceived between its performance and that of the S4 8 wire on the LCD 5...
As a result, I would feel confident in saying that the Drausk is *that good,* which is not to say that the performance levels of all three cables are exactly and scientifically the same... That would be probably premature. First of all, I have to be sure that my ears are catching every little pin drop and microscopic sonic nuance when doing such comparative evaluations, but I cannot scientifically guarantee that, even though all clinical tests I have ever done in the past year or so detect no hearing impairments. My hearing is A-okay, and matches what it should ideally be for someone who is my age, according to all the experts and standard tests, which is reassuring from a strictly medical viewpoint, but somewhat limited as a standard for audiophile comparative evaluations, in my view....
The second reason is related to how resolving my present listening chains are, which is important because all these three cables strike me as being "hyper-transparent" in reflecting the resolving power of every last component in the chain, and while my two current main chains are at the most resolving of any chains I have ever owned, I cannot ascertain to what extent they approach the maximum point of resolution that is reachable by equipment at the "mere-mortals" tier like mine...(In parenthesis, I have read about, and sometimes, seen images of chains on head-fi that do not seem to be made for "mere mortal" audiophiles, which I mean as a compliment, in spite of being jealous, but I digress )
To come to the point, I think the Drausk is great for capturing all aspects of staging and sonic Data and nuance from the music without giving any impression of any essential sonic information being "rolled off" or lost in the wild... I only hesitate to call *the overall quality" of sonic/technial performances between the three cables to be the same across the board, because I think the S4/8-wire and the Vykari still seem somewhat more adept at simulating the feeling or illusion of a limitless or borderless soundstage (a soundstage that is missing any hard discernible borders) than the Drausk is.
Also while the Drausk is capable of exposing all manner of plankton and micro-detail that pertains to the music itself, including the breathing of the musicians on occasion (when the source allows it) S4 8-wire can sometimes give the illusion of taking the listener beyond the music and the sound of breathing to the point of exposing the listener to the sound of the coins, pins, and little knick-knacks that are rattling around in the pockets of some of those same musicinas (if you will forgive the hyperbole--but I need some way to demonstrate differences that seem to be infinitesimal and fleeting here, so please bear with me),
These are impressions I have gathered in a largely ad-hoc manner without doing any strict and controlled comparative A/B testing. Such a testing would be essential since any differences I am hearing between these three cables belong in the last1-5% of detail retrieving and Staging capabilities and are therefore quite hard to pin down sometimes.
With all that said I feel confident in giving an enthusiastic thumbs up to the Drausk without any reservations at all;. I have honestly not heard anything concrete in the performance of the Drausk that might lead me to dissuade any prospective buyer from pulling the trigger, even when comparing the Drausk to the other two.
However to come directly to your question: "is the Drausk worth the addition if you have already the other flagships?"... I have to answer "absolutely not" if the question involves adding the Drausk out of some kind of need. The two flagships are capable of giving plenty on that front, probably more than anyone might ever actually need or ask for.
On the other hand, how many purchases announced and discussed on head-fi actually arise from what the buyer *reasonably needs,* and who is to make the call as to what is reasonable or "worth it" in any context? As you already know, there are considerations of personal and idiosyncratic preferences that could make answers to the question as to whether something is "worth it" highly unstable and variable, which is what head-fi, and maybe all audiophilia is about--"variable and unstable," not to mention downright whimsical, volatile, and unpredictable, at least sometimes. As a case in point, I got the Drausk, because I thought i must have an "all-copper" solution, which I know is not need-based, in any way, if I am being honest... Of course, it does produce a sonic difference which may be enjoyable, but is in no way better than what S4 8-wire and Vykari are already giving and doing a great job at... So?
I could go on and tell you about other acquisitions I have been contemplating that are not need based, but if I am contemplating them, then something in my mind--e.g. my OCD-driven quest for some ideal of audio "perfection", or some sonic Holy Grail, maybe--is trying to persuade me that they're worth it, Right? There is also the pleasure of receiving another product from the magic shop of that wizard, Trevor, a prospect which is always unbeatably delicious, irresistible, and never seems to get old. Okay I think the rest of this rant is better reserved for the Audiophile Anonymous thread.
Do you know I set out to respond to you with one short paragraph? Now see what you've made me do!
Thank you.
I found myself with similar thoughts to those described.
After reading it I'm like "okay I don't need another cable" and yet tomorrow when the new stuff is announced I will reconsider this again, just because collecting Trevors cables is like a hobby within this head-fi hobby...