- Joined
- Aug 18, 2007
- Posts
- 17,452
- Likes
- 839
I've had the pleasure of listening to two of Ted's new 90 degree LOD from The CablePro, and I am posting my thoughts here in case it helps anyone looking for a new LOD. In my case, I was interested in the 90 degree low profile LOD for when I receive my Pico Slim soon, and to use with my iBasso T3 that I have now.
REVERIE:
EARCANDY LITE:
I have many LOD around the house, including a few much older LOD that wont work at all on newer Nanos, Touch or iPhone. Older LOD made before iPhone didn't have a way to tell the iPhone and others to shut off their internal speaker, and that same issue resides with the 4G/5G Nano and 2G/3G Touch. So, the old ones don't work at all and music plays through the speakers and not the LOD. The warning message doesn't mean anything bad to me, and I don't think the 68K resistor on pin 22 is a big deal.
One of my favorite LOD has always been my ALO Jumbo Cryo Silver X iMod LOD which is not a 90 degree low profile, and it's too old to work with any iPod that has a built-in speaker and so it only works with my 5.5G iMod, and 2G/3G Nano. I also have a very nice iMod LOD made more recently by stevenkelby with Piccolino wire, which will work with iPhone and newer Nano/Touch but it's also not a 90 degree low profile. I think I like the Piccolino LOD a little more, and both of these LOD would be near $200 (more for Piccolino now).
Then I have two different non-iMod low profile 90 degree LOD made by punnisher for $40, one shorter for 3G Nano/P-51 that doesn't work with a newer Nano, Touch or iPhone, and a longer one for using my iPhone or 2G Touch to play through my Stax SR-001 Mk2 where the input is high up on the side of the amp. I also have a nice dead soft silver in silk insulation LOD made by barqy that wont work on an iPhone or newer Nano/Touch. It was about $80 2 years ago. I wont discuss my SARN LOD since -=she=- is banned.
So, what I needed was some 90 degree LOD that could work with ALL iPods/iPhones, but with shorter wire than the one punnisher LOD. I wasn't as happy with the transparency of the newer/longer 90 degree LOD that punnisher made for me, after comparing it to the superior Piccolino cable dock. So I needed something better. That's where Ted's CablePro LODs come in. I have been happy with my CablePro Panorama headphone extension cable for almost 2 years now, and when used with my APS V3 cabled headphones I don't feel like I am losing anything in exchange for the extra distance I can get from my amplifier. I met Ted and had dinner with him and Ray Samuels at RMAF, and Ted is an audio enthusiast who builds nice cables, and is not just in it for the money (neither is Ray, who is even more enthusiastic). Ted seems to truly be looking for the best way to do something without going broke or cutting corners.
I more recently discussed getting an LOD with him, along with the idea of resistors to disable the iPhone warning, or capacitors in his LOD for iMod compatibility; but the space is quite tight inside these slim docks and it's not cost effective right now to design a proprietary connector at this time. Nevertheless, the iPhone warning message means nothing, as the LOD work fine when you select "no" and leave the radio on. A couple of months later Ted sent me a 90 degree Reverie cable LOD, and a 90 degree Earcandy Lite LOD, and I have compared them to my other LODs and find them to be very good sounding.
I got the Reverie as a left exit, and the Earcandy Lite as a right exit, to allow more flexibilty with matching to different amps. I requested 1.5" long cables, but it was difficult deciding if they should have been 1" - 1.25" instead (probably, but wont know till Pico Slim arrives). The Earcandy Lite right exit allows using my iPhone with iBasso T3 without covering the amp's headphone out jack, and in the future it will allow using it with the Pico Slim while covering the USB charging jack. The Reverie with it's increased flexibility and left exit allows using with iPhone and P-51 without covering up the amps headphone jack, but still allowing it to go around the volume knob; and once I get my Pico slim I can use it without covering the USB jack in case I want to play and charge the amp at the same time. With the T3 it covers the headphone jack, and I have to use a slim 90 degree 1/8" jack extension to get it to plug in and fit between the amp and the LOD's plug (it may have come with sony earphones a long time ago)
As far as the sound goes, both LOD are better than both of my punnisher LOD in terms of transparency and detail, as the improvement in clarity over the punnisher iPhone LOD is as noticeable as it is with my silver in silk LOD which is pretty close to the Earcandy Lite LOD. I find the Reverie cable to be on par with both of my most expensive iMod LOD when used with my 3G Nano/P-51/JH13pro - with good detail, transparency and lack of coloration. Vocals are rich and vibrant and present, as expected. Bass and treble have good extension, and the treble/detail is not slightly dulled or blunted like with the punnisher LOD. Only with my iPhone do I find the Piccolino wire LOD to be slightly more detailed and transparent. I could not test the ALO LOD with the iPhone or 5G Nano to compare, so I only used the 3G Nano (which is better than my 2G Nano).
The Earcandy Lite LOD is not far behind the Reverie at all. I can sense a greater degree of transparency with the Reverie, but I might not have felt that I was missing anything if I didn't compare it to the Reverie, Piccolino or ALO LOD (on the 3G Nano). I would say that in my comparisons that the Earcandy Lite has a very slightly warmer fuller mids and slightly more "rounded on top" sound vs the top 3 LODs, but this is a distinct advantage when I am using my Westone 3 with single flange silicone tips on the T3 amp. I don't feel like I am losing anything with this combo like I do with the punnisher LOD. With my Piccolino LOD that T3/W3 combo has been slightly bright, and better with the ALO or Reverie.
As far as build quality is concerned, both CablePro LOD look and feel strudy and well made, and on the Reverie there is strain relief appropriately used where the wire enters the dock and plug. The exposed cable on the Reverie does look and feel a bit thin, but the extra flexibility over the Earcandy Lite is appreciated. The Earcandy Lite cable is still flexible, but the sheath or covering over the wire causes it to want to spring back to a more open "U" shape, while the Reverie can make a sharper bend without "fighting" the bend. Neither uses a stiff wire that holds a position when bent one way or the other, just like with my Piccolino LOD.
With my ALO LOD, when I need to adjust it for a different iPod configuration I worry that the flexing the stiff wires will weaken it over time, so I tend to only use it with my iMod so that I don't need to bend it any more. That wont be an issue with these CablePro LOD, as they were both designed with stranded wire to allow more flexing without breakage. Some people get wary when a review doesn't have anything bad to say, so I'll throw this out there - The LOD wires needed to be between 1.25" and 1.5" long, but I wasn't sure; so I asked for 1.5" just to be safe. It turns out 1.2" would have been better for me, but the Reverie showed up as 1.75" and I'm debating sending in to have 1/2" taken off (Earcandy Lite is 1.5"). That's it.
So, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Reverie for those that want to eek out that last last few percent of performance from their iPod/amp rig, and the Earcandy Lite is a good bang for the buck that competes with more costly LOD.
REVERIE:
EARCANDY LITE:
I have many LOD around the house, including a few much older LOD that wont work at all on newer Nanos, Touch or iPhone. Older LOD made before iPhone didn't have a way to tell the iPhone and others to shut off their internal speaker, and that same issue resides with the 4G/5G Nano and 2G/3G Touch. So, the old ones don't work at all and music plays through the speakers and not the LOD. The warning message doesn't mean anything bad to me, and I don't think the 68K resistor on pin 22 is a big deal.
One of my favorite LOD has always been my ALO Jumbo Cryo Silver X iMod LOD which is not a 90 degree low profile, and it's too old to work with any iPod that has a built-in speaker and so it only works with my 5.5G iMod, and 2G/3G Nano. I also have a very nice iMod LOD made more recently by stevenkelby with Piccolino wire, which will work with iPhone and newer Nano/Touch but it's also not a 90 degree low profile. I think I like the Piccolino LOD a little more, and both of these LOD would be near $200 (more for Piccolino now).
Then I have two different non-iMod low profile 90 degree LOD made by punnisher for $40, one shorter for 3G Nano/P-51 that doesn't work with a newer Nano, Touch or iPhone, and a longer one for using my iPhone or 2G Touch to play through my Stax SR-001 Mk2 where the input is high up on the side of the amp. I also have a nice dead soft silver in silk insulation LOD made by barqy that wont work on an iPhone or newer Nano/Touch. It was about $80 2 years ago. I wont discuss my SARN LOD since -=she=- is banned.
So, what I needed was some 90 degree LOD that could work with ALL iPods/iPhones, but with shorter wire than the one punnisher LOD. I wasn't as happy with the transparency of the newer/longer 90 degree LOD that punnisher made for me, after comparing it to the superior Piccolino cable dock. So I needed something better. That's where Ted's CablePro LODs come in. I have been happy with my CablePro Panorama headphone extension cable for almost 2 years now, and when used with my APS V3 cabled headphones I don't feel like I am losing anything in exchange for the extra distance I can get from my amplifier. I met Ted and had dinner with him and Ray Samuels at RMAF, and Ted is an audio enthusiast who builds nice cables, and is not just in it for the money (neither is Ray, who is even more enthusiastic). Ted seems to truly be looking for the best way to do something without going broke or cutting corners.
I more recently discussed getting an LOD with him, along with the idea of resistors to disable the iPhone warning, or capacitors in his LOD for iMod compatibility; but the space is quite tight inside these slim docks and it's not cost effective right now to design a proprietary connector at this time. Nevertheless, the iPhone warning message means nothing, as the LOD work fine when you select "no" and leave the radio on. A couple of months later Ted sent me a 90 degree Reverie cable LOD, and a 90 degree Earcandy Lite LOD, and I have compared them to my other LODs and find them to be very good sounding.
I got the Reverie as a left exit, and the Earcandy Lite as a right exit, to allow more flexibilty with matching to different amps. I requested 1.5" long cables, but it was difficult deciding if they should have been 1" - 1.25" instead (probably, but wont know till Pico Slim arrives). The Earcandy Lite right exit allows using my iPhone with iBasso T3 without covering the amp's headphone out jack, and in the future it will allow using it with the Pico Slim while covering the USB charging jack. The Reverie with it's increased flexibility and left exit allows using with iPhone and P-51 without covering up the amps headphone jack, but still allowing it to go around the volume knob; and once I get my Pico slim I can use it without covering the USB jack in case I want to play and charge the amp at the same time. With the T3 it covers the headphone jack, and I have to use a slim 90 degree 1/8" jack extension to get it to plug in and fit between the amp and the LOD's plug (it may have come with sony earphones a long time ago)
As far as the sound goes, both LOD are better than both of my punnisher LOD in terms of transparency and detail, as the improvement in clarity over the punnisher iPhone LOD is as noticeable as it is with my silver in silk LOD which is pretty close to the Earcandy Lite LOD. I find the Reverie cable to be on par with both of my most expensive iMod LOD when used with my 3G Nano/P-51/JH13pro - with good detail, transparency and lack of coloration. Vocals are rich and vibrant and present, as expected. Bass and treble have good extension, and the treble/detail is not slightly dulled or blunted like with the punnisher LOD. Only with my iPhone do I find the Piccolino wire LOD to be slightly more detailed and transparent. I could not test the ALO LOD with the iPhone or 5G Nano to compare, so I only used the 3G Nano (which is better than my 2G Nano).
The Earcandy Lite LOD is not far behind the Reverie at all. I can sense a greater degree of transparency with the Reverie, but I might not have felt that I was missing anything if I didn't compare it to the Reverie, Piccolino or ALO LOD (on the 3G Nano). I would say that in my comparisons that the Earcandy Lite has a very slightly warmer fuller mids and slightly more "rounded on top" sound vs the top 3 LODs, but this is a distinct advantage when I am using my Westone 3 with single flange silicone tips on the T3 amp. I don't feel like I am losing anything with this combo like I do with the punnisher LOD. With my Piccolino LOD that T3/W3 combo has been slightly bright, and better with the ALO or Reverie.
As far as build quality is concerned, both CablePro LOD look and feel strudy and well made, and on the Reverie there is strain relief appropriately used where the wire enters the dock and plug. The exposed cable on the Reverie does look and feel a bit thin, but the extra flexibility over the Earcandy Lite is appreciated. The Earcandy Lite cable is still flexible, but the sheath or covering over the wire causes it to want to spring back to a more open "U" shape, while the Reverie can make a sharper bend without "fighting" the bend. Neither uses a stiff wire that holds a position when bent one way or the other, just like with my Piccolino LOD.
With my ALO LOD, when I need to adjust it for a different iPod configuration I worry that the flexing the stiff wires will weaken it over time, so I tend to only use it with my iMod so that I don't need to bend it any more. That wont be an issue with these CablePro LOD, as they were both designed with stranded wire to allow more flexing without breakage. Some people get wary when a review doesn't have anything bad to say, so I'll throw this out there - The LOD wires needed to be between 1.25" and 1.5" long, but I wasn't sure; so I asked for 1.5" just to be safe. It turns out 1.2" would have been better for me, but the Reverie showed up as 1.75" and I'm debating sending in to have 1/2" taken off (Earcandy Lite is 1.5"). That's it.
So, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Reverie for those that want to eek out that last last few percent of performance from their iPod/amp rig, and the Earcandy Lite is a good bang for the buck that competes with more costly LOD.
