[bigshot]

There are two kinds of cables. The right ones for the job, and the wrong ones for the job. A cable can't make anything sound any better. It can only make it sound worse. As long as you use the cable the component, be it DAC, speaker, headphone or IEM, was designed to be used with, you're fine.

Being disappointed with an aftermarket cable sounds like expectation bias to me. If it is the correct kind of cable, I bet all the difference would disappear with a proper comparison. Because...

You didn't level match.
You didn't directly a/b switch between them, opening the possibility of auditory memory skewing the results.
You didn't test blind to eliminate the effect of bias.
You didn't do multiple trials and average them to eliminate blind luck.

 

[Ryokan]

But Bigshot with respect that is a bit different to saying cables make no difference when people talk about headphones and iem's especially. Maybe the supplied one didn't give the best sound and an aftermarket one would because it's the right cable for the job?

 

[bigshot]

A screwdriver wouldn't work well as a hammer. But any hammer can drive a nail.

Compatibility of cables is more of an issue with speakers. Headphones and IEMs aren't picky. But IEMs can be very picky about amps. But without applying any controls to your comparison, it isn't much more accurate than flipping a coin and guessing.

If you really want to know, set up a proper test.

 

[71 dB]

I have dozens and dozens or rock and jazz and country SACDs. SACD was primarily a format for people with multichannel speaker setups. The reason that many releases were classical was because several classical labels started recording everything in 5.1. But there were still lots of other kinds of music on the format too.

Around the time SACD came to the market I listened to practically two types of music: Electronic dance music and classical music which I had discovered a few years earlier. Electronic dance music, especially the more underground part of it favours vinyl. SACD doesn't happen in that genre, but there's CD releases sometimes. I hated rock at this point. Later my taste in music broadened as I explored music. My taste is what it is and often my favourite music can be a bit obscure. In 2008 I discoved Tangerine Dream (I had known them for long, but never got into them because in FInland they have always been unknown) Their Rubycon album had been released on SACD, but it was out of print at that point and VERY expensive so I got myself the CD (10 times cheaper). That was my chance for non-classical music on SACD and it failed because I am not a billionaire.

 

[Ryokan]

That was my chance for non-classical music on SACD and it failed because I am not a billionaire.

Which makes me question whether they're a result of 'exclusivity marketing'? Reading on-line a few say they can't hear a difference between SACD and Redbook cd's.

A screwdriver wouldn't work well as a hammer. But any hammer can drive a nail.

All makes of cables (with the correct terminations to work with the same product e.g a dap) are designed for the same purpose.

 

[71 dB]

Which makes me question whether they're a result of 'exclusivity marketing'? Reading on-line a few say they can't hear a difference between SACD and Redbook cd's.

Excatly! That's why getting 10 times cheaper CD made a lot of sense unless you are a billionaire and the price difference doesn't matter.

 

[Vamp898]

But Bigshot with respect that is a bit different to saying cables make no difference when people talk about headphones and iem's especially. Maybe the supplied one didn't give the best sound and an aftermarket one would because it's the right cable for the job?

I was recently testing several Cables on an Moondrop Venus because the store clerk hope it would help with painful treble peaks.

It was OFC copper, pure silver and an gold+copper mix

They all sounded 100% identical, everything.

Bass, mids, treble and the vocals were always piercing, with every single cable, to the exact same amount.

 

[T 1000]

I was recently testing several Cables on an Moondrop Venus because the store clerk hope it would help with painful treble peaks.

It was OFC copper, pure silver and an gold+copper mix

They all sounded 100% identical, everything.

Bass, mids, treble and the vocals were always piercing, with every single cable, to the exact same amount.

were all the cables you tried brand new?

 

[bigshot]

Audiophile formats tend to be marketed to aged men with expendable surplus cash. Most of the titles on high end formats tend to be from the 70s and 80s.

All makes of cables (with the correct terminations to work with the same product e.g a dap) are designed for the same purpose.

There's no reason to use different line level interconnects for instance, they are all the same. But speaker cable comes in different gauges for different impedances. That's what I was referring to.

Around here, you have to mention all the little exceptions to the rule, even if it isn't what you're talking about, because if you don't quickly mention them, someone will post a mile long comment on it and derail the thread.

 

[71 dB]

Audiophile formats tend to be marketed to aged men with expendable surplus cash. Most of the titles on high end formats tend to be from the 70s and 80s.

I am an "aged man" (52), but I don't have expendable surplus cash. Some men like myself miserably fail to built themselves a successful career allowing expendable surplus cash. I do listen to music of 70's and 80's, but only a few select bands/artists. Most of the well-known rock acts of that era just don't work for me. My favourites in music almost always are outside the "ring" of the most popular artists (explains why it take me time to discover them) which are those whose music gets released on the more "obscure" formats. Also, I don't see how music produced during this era even benefits from audiophile formats. Most of this music has been recorded on analog tapes and mixed on analog gear in stereo! Newer digital multichannel classical music recordings are totally different and the multichannel support gives a real benefit.

 

[Vamp898]

were all the cables you tried brand new?

They did not have any signs of usage, but i can not for sure say if he took them out of box for me. But if they were used, than they were like new/A-Rank

 

[Vamp898]

Audiophile formats tend to be marketed to aged men with expendable surplus cash. Most of the titles on high end formats tend to be from the 70s and 80s.



There's no reason to use different line level interconnects for instance, they are all the same. But speaker cable comes in different gauges for different impedances. That's what I was referring to.

Around here, you have to mention all the little exceptions to the rule, even if it isn't what you're talking about, because if you don't quickly mention them, someone will post a mile long comment on it and derail the thread.

Does Audiophile Formats include digital ones? High-Res Audio FLAC?

In Japan, most albums are available in Hi-Res Audio and AudioCD quality where the High-Res Audio Version is often mixed/mastered differently to be less "loud" and just better overall.

Most modern music is optimized for airpods, car speakers and even mono speakers, so i highly appricate that a lot of music is offered in an audiophile format with an mix/mastering that is made for hifi systems.

 

[ptodorov0]

A cable can't make anything sound any better. It can only make it sound worse.

Can't agree more with this. There is only one exception. A component on one end of the cable has something so terribly engineered that it becomes prone to influence by cable's electrical characteristics, e.g. capacitance between conductors.

 

[T 1000]

They did not have any signs of usage, but i can not for sure say if he took them out of box for me. But if they were used, than they were like new/A-Rank

Thanks for your reply
I tried to post an explanation of my question via PM, but I was too broad, so it didn't go through

 

[bigshot]

That is defective by design. Luckily, it's rare.

If you look at audiophile labels like MFSL, the demographic is clear. In fact, they keep reissuing the same titles they put out back in the LP era. Who really cares about George Benson's Breezin' any more? I suspect that these were albums that were well engineered originally. The people buying them assume the great sound was due to something MFSL did, when in truth the album has always sounded good.