sniks7
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2006
- Posts
- 244
- Likes
- 10
Review: Custom line-out to 1/8 v Sendstation Pocketdock with Stax portable system
Construction:
Sendstation is generic mass produced cheapo and comprises dock with line-out and USB2 charging option, plus 1/8 to 1/8 and 1/8 to 2 RCA. I assume the wire is copper but I haven't chopped it up to check.
Custom Silver Cable made by hoosterw on this forum: six inch long, two sheathed solid silver wires from line-out to gold plated 1/8. Covered in black nylon mesh. The line-out jack gives the cable a slightly amateur feel (not the constructor's fault), although sheathing the connector in heat-shrink might help this. If you search on hooster you'll find a picture.
Stax energiser driven from mains (better than from battery, despite a very low level earth hum)(I think it was an earth hum).
Both cables cost around $30.
Tracks used:
Bruch Violin Concerto, Cho-Liang Lin, Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
Saint Seans, Symphony No. 3
Radiohead, OK Computer, Karma Police
Godskitchen Mix, Jam X and de Leon, Can U Dig It
Bruckner, Locus Iste
To start where I should really end up, the difference between these two cables was not night and day and I had to work hard to sort them out. I have accentuated the differences to make this review useful but I'd advise you to carry your own pinch of salt.
The issue of burn-in also rears its ugly head here: the silver cable has been used on and off for a week, but I would normally want to have a cable in continuous use for at least that before I feel it's burned in. However, I've noticed that mentioning burn-in here is like throwing a stick of dynamite in a hen house, so enough on that.
The most obvious contrast between the two is in the bass (I was expecting huge treble extension. Oh well). On the silver cable bass is better controlled with space beneath the notes and greater depth. By contrast the Sendstation can occasionally lose control of the bass, and generally sounds thinner.
With the silver cable harmonies have a richer more sonorous feel - particularly with classical music - and become easier to hear. With a piece like the Saint Seans in the Fourth movement, where the range stretches from the deep bass of the organ to the higher frequencies of the fiddles with a bit of everything including the kitchen sink thrown into the middle, this becomes important. It's easier to make sense of the individual instruments that contribute to the whole.
It was also noticeable on the Godskitchen mix, but only just. Partly this is down to the relatively flat mixing where everything seems to be dumped in at 100%. What did stand out was the silver cable's ability to drive the leading edge of the beat and move the music on. On balance, the differences with this track were minimal.
With the silver cable music is tighter, better controlled but still has separation and works better as a whole. The separation helps the texture of individual instruments stand out: on the Bruch Violin Concerto it was almost possible to hear the effect of rosin on the bow of the solo violin. There was a rich textured grainy effect on some of the lower notes that didn't stand out so much on the Sendstation combination.
Finally, having got bored of all the little clips music I was listening to in great detail, I decided to relax with a little Bruckner Motet. The silver cable shone through here: it clearly had control of the sopranos (something most conductors find tricky) where the Sendstation tended to lose grip on the high-note crescendos.
The greatest test of any equipment is always whether you end up listening to the music or the kit. I found that that every so often I became immersed in the music and stopped listening to the cable. It was always the silver cable that was plugged in. The trouble with this, of course, is that when you stop listening to the hi-fi it becomes a little difficult to review it afterwards..
Conclusions? I've got a few. The dedicated line-out to 1/8 is a very good sonic option. I haven't heard the Turbo dock, but the hooster cable has two fewer connectors to get in the way of the signal path. I reckon the sound would be very similar. The hooster was also customised to my exact spec (short length, double strain relief).
The Sendstation is handy - you can charge the ipod through it, the sound is good and it comes with added value bits. It loses out to the silver connector in sound, but only just, and not by nearly as much as I expected.
Furthermore, in my experience, copper and silver are like chalk and cheese to electrostatic speakers and I'd expected it to be the same with the Stax set-up. It wasn't.
If there is any change after a few weeks of burn-in I'll let you know.
(As a small note, the headphone out wasn't really in the running: this was tested with the Sendstation only. The dynamics were constrained and the sound a bit tinnier).
But my first words were about the small margin of difference between the two cables under review here and I wonder whether there is much one can do to maxmise a line-out, given the muck in the way of the signal path (see vinnie rossi's comments on this elsewhere on the site).
So instead of fantasising about naked women climbing every obstacle to get at my body I find my dreams tending towards a redwine imod. And don't call me weird (wired?). After all, you logged onto this site too..
Construction:
Sendstation is generic mass produced cheapo and comprises dock with line-out and USB2 charging option, plus 1/8 to 1/8 and 1/8 to 2 RCA. I assume the wire is copper but I haven't chopped it up to check.
Custom Silver Cable made by hoosterw on this forum: six inch long, two sheathed solid silver wires from line-out to gold plated 1/8. Covered in black nylon mesh. The line-out jack gives the cable a slightly amateur feel (not the constructor's fault), although sheathing the connector in heat-shrink might help this. If you search on hooster you'll find a picture.
Stax energiser driven from mains (better than from battery, despite a very low level earth hum)(I think it was an earth hum).
Both cables cost around $30.
Tracks used:
Bruch Violin Concerto, Cho-Liang Lin, Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
Saint Seans, Symphony No. 3
Radiohead, OK Computer, Karma Police
Godskitchen Mix, Jam X and de Leon, Can U Dig It
Bruckner, Locus Iste
To start where I should really end up, the difference between these two cables was not night and day and I had to work hard to sort them out. I have accentuated the differences to make this review useful but I'd advise you to carry your own pinch of salt.
The issue of burn-in also rears its ugly head here: the silver cable has been used on and off for a week, but I would normally want to have a cable in continuous use for at least that before I feel it's burned in. However, I've noticed that mentioning burn-in here is like throwing a stick of dynamite in a hen house, so enough on that.
The most obvious contrast between the two is in the bass (I was expecting huge treble extension. Oh well). On the silver cable bass is better controlled with space beneath the notes and greater depth. By contrast the Sendstation can occasionally lose control of the bass, and generally sounds thinner.
With the silver cable harmonies have a richer more sonorous feel - particularly with classical music - and become easier to hear. With a piece like the Saint Seans in the Fourth movement, where the range stretches from the deep bass of the organ to the higher frequencies of the fiddles with a bit of everything including the kitchen sink thrown into the middle, this becomes important. It's easier to make sense of the individual instruments that contribute to the whole.
It was also noticeable on the Godskitchen mix, but only just. Partly this is down to the relatively flat mixing where everything seems to be dumped in at 100%. What did stand out was the silver cable's ability to drive the leading edge of the beat and move the music on. On balance, the differences with this track were minimal.
With the silver cable music is tighter, better controlled but still has separation and works better as a whole. The separation helps the texture of individual instruments stand out: on the Bruch Violin Concerto it was almost possible to hear the effect of rosin on the bow of the solo violin. There was a rich textured grainy effect on some of the lower notes that didn't stand out so much on the Sendstation combination.
Finally, having got bored of all the little clips music I was listening to in great detail, I decided to relax with a little Bruckner Motet. The silver cable shone through here: it clearly had control of the sopranos (something most conductors find tricky) where the Sendstation tended to lose grip on the high-note crescendos.
The greatest test of any equipment is always whether you end up listening to the music or the kit. I found that that every so often I became immersed in the music and stopped listening to the cable. It was always the silver cable that was plugged in. The trouble with this, of course, is that when you stop listening to the hi-fi it becomes a little difficult to review it afterwards..
Conclusions? I've got a few. The dedicated line-out to 1/8 is a very good sonic option. I haven't heard the Turbo dock, but the hooster cable has two fewer connectors to get in the way of the signal path. I reckon the sound would be very similar. The hooster was also customised to my exact spec (short length, double strain relief).
The Sendstation is handy - you can charge the ipod through it, the sound is good and it comes with added value bits. It loses out to the silver connector in sound, but only just, and not by nearly as much as I expected.
Furthermore, in my experience, copper and silver are like chalk and cheese to electrostatic speakers and I'd expected it to be the same with the Stax set-up. It wasn't.
If there is any change after a few weeks of burn-in I'll let you know.
(As a small note, the headphone out wasn't really in the running: this was tested with the Sendstation only. The dynamics were constrained and the sound a bit tinnier).
But my first words were about the small margin of difference between the two cables under review here and I wonder whether there is much one can do to maxmise a line-out, given the muck in the way of the signal path (see vinnie rossi's comments on this elsewhere on the site).
So instead of fantasising about naked women climbing every obstacle to get at my body I find my dreams tending towards a redwine imod. And don't call me weird (wired?). After all, you logged onto this site too..
