[johnwmclean]

Sachu, I can't dispute your claim - if your hearing a difference that's all that matters.

 

[sachu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnwmclean /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sachu, I can't dispute your claim - if your hearing a difference that's all that matters.

Yeah..and that's what makes me happy about spending the money...but it still baffles me that the difference is tilted more favorably on the amp than on the DAC

I am still a cable skeptic, however spending about 10% of my budget isn't too bad i think.

 

[Necrolic]

It's possible that it's psychoacoustics. Have a third party help you with a DBT and report back with the results!

 

[chinesekiwi]

Since I know a couple of electrical engineers..
spending anything more than on a standard power cable is well..yeah..I know the rules here....

 

[m1abrams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinesekiwi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since I know a couple of electrical engineers.. spending anything more than on a standard power cable is well..yeah..I know the rules here....

Funny when I see these posts and think about the investment I have in power cords. My investment consists of old computer cords that I always save and just grab whichever one is a good length for the application. I have short ones, longs one, black ones, grey ones, beige ones, and ones with right angle plugs.

Course I am a EE so I may be biased

I will say some of the cords I see do look pretty and that does have value to it, how it affects the sound is up to you. If you like it and feel it was a good purchase then you do not need to convince me any further, it was a good purchase for you.

 

[Necrolic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by m1abrams /img/forum/go_quote.gif Funny when I see these posts and think about the investment I have in power cords. My investment consists of old computer cords that I always save and just grab whichever one is a good length for the application. I have short ones, longs one, black ones, grey ones, beige ones, and ones with right angle plugs. Course I am a EE so I may be biased I will say some of the cords I see do look pretty and that does have value to it, how it affects the sound is up to you. If you like it and feel it was a good purchase then you do not need to convince me any further, it was a good purchase for you.

And this post right here just ended this thread for me. When an electrical engineer tells you he doesn't see any benefit to using fancy power cords and just uses any power cable he can get his hands on, that's when you know you have nothing to worry about.

Any opinion on whether or not there are any benefits to other types of cables?

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by m1abrams /img/forum/go_quote.gif Funny when I see these posts and think about the investment I have in power cords. My investment consists of old computer cords that I always save and just grab whichever one is a good length for the application. I have short ones, longs one, black ones, grey ones, beige ones, and ones with right angle plugs. Course I am a EE so I may be biased I will say some of the cords I see do look pretty and that does have value to it, how it affects the sound is up to you. If you like it and feel it was a good purchase then you do not need to convince me any further, it was a good purchase for you.

I got a lot of power cords as well hehe. All standard ones.
For power, you're better off spending the money on a power conditioner or if you got a computer setup, the power supply of your computer (one with very low ripple like the Corsair HX series or Corsair VX series or the Vantec Ion+ series).

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrolic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any opinion on whether or not there are any benefits to other types of cables?

HDMI cables = no benefit between different cables under 10 metres. You can easily get away with a HDMI v1.2 cable for msot setups but HDMI v1.3 are more common. HDMI v1.4 is useless at the moment as there's no hardware to support the new features. Over 10 metres = it becomes an issue.

Interconnect cables = zero benefit between a cheaper well constructed one and a 'boutique' one. I personally use a $8 interconnect.

Optical / digital cables = oh gimme a break.....

Bi-wiring your speakers = much bigger benefit than an expensive cable.

All you need to know form a scientific standpoint, go hard and learn:

http://audioholics.com/education/cables/allContents

 

[sachu]

Am an EE myself..and I have shared such skepticism for a long time too. However, my ears tell me something else. So go figure. When it comes down to listening to music, my ears do all the learning, advocating and decision making, not my EE degree.

I went from elcheapo monoprice interconnects to Mogami +neurik RCA interconnects and heard an appreciable difference. I went a step further and got the Grover ICs and even though i wasn't expecting it to better the mogami, it did and so they stay in my system as well.

 

[m1abrams]

One thing I will say about cables in general. Good connectors are valuable. Not uber pricey ones, just ones that make a good solid connection and do not come loose. Also make sure they are not so large that they interfere with other components. If the cable does not make good contact it is worthless.

 

[Necrolic]

Right now I'm using the stock coaxial cable that came with my Compass, and it's a little sketchy, but I don't want to order a cable online as after shipping costs and border fees I wind up paying more than any cables I can buy at Best Buy here.

I know Monster cables are overpriced, but they aren't garbage as far as I understand? If I'm willing to pay the $50 for the cable, would I just be wasting money or are they good enough to get the job done without error? By that I mean are the connectors on them good enough to do their job?

Also, chinesewiki, I'm using a Corsair VX450 PSU on my PC, but I'm not using a power conditioner at all so my PC and Audio-GD Compass are plugged into a cheap surge protector through stock power cords. Would I see any benefit from an inexpensive power conditioner such as the Monster HTS850 or HTS1000, or even just a more expensive surge protector?

 

[Bmac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrolic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Right now I'm using the stock coaxial cable that came with my Compass, and it's a little sketchy, but I don't want to order a cable online as after shipping costs and border fees I wind up paying more than any cables I can buy at Best Buy here.

Necrolic, if the cable you buy is under $100 then odds are you won't have to pay any duty or brokerage. On orders over $100 it can get expensive, especially with UPS/Fedex ground.

 

[Omega17TheTrue]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrolic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Right now I'm using the stock coaxial cable that came with my Compass, and it's a little sketchy, but I don't want to order a cable online as after shipping costs and border fees I wind up paying more than any cables I can buy at Best Buy here.

I buy a ProfiGold OxyPure S/PDIF for my compass since few month and did a little test with my cd player digital output to the compass and was very surprised with the results, the sound is more natural,fuller and with more bass than the stock one also i used another cheapo coaxial but of better quality (shielded) and the bass was a little more full with more precise sound localization than the one that come with the compass but it was nowhere near the "audiophile" one upgrade.

The sound quality was closer to the Cambridge 340C with the new cable but still behind.

I was amazed because i didn't think i could hear a difference (especially on a digital cable) or if it was it could be too little to tell so i play the same song 3 time in a row ("wrong way" of Sublime) and then change cable and it was simply eye popping and easily noticeable.

A jaw drop effect and since i'm a cable believer and plan to buy or make power cables to try.

ps: please note that i only compare few songs.

 

[Zerotohero]

I too, thought cables was all marketing until i tried them.

I was especially surprised when i swapped out my coax digital cable.
I went from a good quality stock digital cable to a nordorst moonglo that i bought second hand for $70US and the difference was very apparent.
The biggest improvement was in the bass.

Even my wife noticed there was an improvement and I hadnt told her i had changed anything or bought a new cable.

All i can say is dont knock it till you try it.
In my experience so far I have noticed bigger improvement from speaker cables than interconnects so if your not sure where to start - try upgrading your speaker cables first.

You can build your own hi quality powercables for quite cheap and these are easy to build imo.

Just my two cents

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrolic /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm using a Corsair VX450 PSU on my PC, but I'm not using a power conditioner at all so my PC and Audio-GD Compass are plugged into a cheap surge protector through stock power cords. Would I see any benefit from an inexpensive power conditioner such as the Monster HTS850 or HTS1000, or even just a more expensive surge protector?

When I upgraded my stock PSU into Corsair VX450 I couldn't hear an improvement at all, I was disappointed. However, I hear huge differences between power cables. When using different gauge stock power cables the difference is easy to hear. 18awg sounds thin and edgy, 14awg sounds thick and muddy. If you can hear this difference, upgrading to aftermarket cables will give differences, but not necessarily improvements. I have found that Nordost Valhalla power cable weakens the signal which makes it sound veiled and smooth, it's a great way to tone down the brightness to make it sound more musical.
The Valhalla conductor hangs on threads which makes it vibrate more easily from the AC (Alternate Current vibrates back and forth), the sound signature is similar to a cold system which never warms up. The opposite of this is the vibration controlled Virtual Dynamics power cables, they improve the audio by reducing the AC vibrations.