[kiddotech]

Hi everyone,
I had been reading on this thread for awhile and is looking to try a Toxic cable after hearing so much good thing.

Looking for cable with a slight warm signature, for either Focal Utopia or Hifiman Ananda or 64 Audio U12t and looking at Mamba, Hydra and Virus at the moment, Silver Widow will be really stretching the budget. Any good one to start? (Or anyone willing to sell me theirs?)

Thank you!

Hi there
If you want a mildly warm-signatured cable, I’d say look for toxic’s copper cables, such as Black Widow 22 V3. Marginally cheaper than SW22, gives a ‘less warm version of typical copper cables’ type of impression. Feel free to check my short analysis above for details.

 

[kiddotech]

Guys, I don’t know if it’s my setup’s fault or if it’s the cables fault, but when a walk in a faster pace with my dongle dac on my hands, the left iem just gave some loud static buzz. Is it the dongles poor connection with with phone’s fault or is it my cable’s fault?

 

[Catchmoifyacan]

Guys, I don’t know if it’s my setup’s fault or if it’s the cables fault, but when a walk in a faster pace with my dongle dac on my hands, the left iem just gave some loud static buzz. Is it the dongles poor connection with with phone’s fault or is it my cable’s fault?

You can figure this out is by trying the same thing with a different cable and see if the problem is fixed. If it is not fixed, it is with the iem socket or the phone(then you'd have to try with a different phone and iems, changing only one thing at a time to figure out exactly what the issue is). But with the information we have I don't think anyone can reasonably tell you it is one thing or the other.

 

[Limexx]

is there a sale? i see the silver widow 22 having a price reduction labelled 'CLEARANCE'

 

[Kiats]

Blast from the past. The BW22 that the late Frank did for me all those years go. Still sounds as good as ever.

 

[moby1974]

My thoughts/review of the Toxic Widow V2 pure silver cable. I had one done for my Empyrean, mini XLR to 4.4 balanced.

With the whole cable thing, there are two camps. One says cables do make a difference, and others disagree. I happen to believe and hear the difference, and over the years, the difference has either been "OK, maybe I hear a difference?" or "Oh...wow". I am happy to say that the SW V2 falls into the "Wow" category.

A lot comes down to your music source, amp, DAC, solid, tube, and, obviously, the headphones themselves, so mileage will vary. The first custom cable I bought long ago from someone online was not too expensive, but the high-end detail was improved, and it was possible to tell when doing an A to B test.

After a while, I moved on to my most expensive headphones (at that time), the LCD2-F, which are dark and warm sounding. After talking myself into spending more money than I ever dreamed of spending on cable, I found Toxic Cables online and decided to go with the Silver Widow V1. The cable paired really well with the LCD2-F. The bass had more control, the mids were crisp, and there was a touch more detail on the high end. Again, it's hard to explain because we don't all hear the same. The only way I can describe it is by saying the cable revealed another layer.

I have since moved on from my LCD2-F (I still have them, but I really should sell them) to the Meze Empyrean (warmish sounding). I also moved to a balanced setup, so the V1 cable was no longer suitable. I had been using a pure silver cable from Ebay, which set me back £150 and to my ears, it all sounded great, but I still had that wonder of "Would a Toxic Silver Widow V2 be even better?" So, after a few emails to Matt at Toxic Cables, I went for the SW V2. To be honest, I thought that the difference in moving from one silver cable to another might not be all that noticeable....Boy, was I wrong....and that's a good thing.

As always, the cable itself looks and feels premium, and the first thing I did was an A/B test. To my ears, it's very apparent that not all silver cables are equal. I am not one of these people who can make a cable sound like a fine wine and explain all the little subtle changes, but I will say what my ears heard. Clean/controlled bass/great mids/a small uptick in detail retrieval and a noticeable difference in imaging.

I am over the moon with the cable. It is easily the best cable I have owned, not just because of the looks/build/sound, but the fact that to my ears, the improvements were easy to hear rather than "Shhhhh, I think I can hear a difference."

I would recommend you email Matt first with questions because it's not always a case of buying one cable and thinking it's perfect for every headphone.

 

[AlexSeldon]

Virus 24 OCC V2 Silver/Copper Litz True Hybrid Headphone Cable 10ft with Neumann NDH-30 Studio Headphones.

Gear:
Naim Atom Uniti Headphone Edition fed by 12TB QNAP Minim Server
Neumann NDH-30 Studio Headphones

Cables:
Virus 24 OCC V2 Silver/Copper Litz, 10 feet. AECO TeCu (Gold PLated) 4pin XLR
Neumann NDH-30 Stock cable, 10 feet. 3.5mm Jack and stock 6.4mm adapter

The Neumann headphones I have had for almost a year and by now quite accustomed to its sound with easily 600-700 hours of listening time. The headphones comes with a 10ft internally balanced cable, a 3.5mm jack and 6.4mm adapter. The longer length makes the headphones suitable for the studio environment, which it was indeed primarily designed for. However, the NDH-30 has found some interest with a few audiophiles due to the headphones ability to deliver a neutral, transparent sound, while also having the guts to get the toes tapping not normally associated with studio headphones.

I have had the Toxic Cables Virus 24 OCC V2 Silver/Copper Litz cable for nearly 2 weeks and have over 60 hours listening so far and a good deal of the burning in completed. But, from the very first unburned in moment, listening through them it was obvious the effect the Virus cable was having on the sound coming from the Neumanns. Detail, Focus, Timbre, Speed, Punch, Heft, Soundstage, all catapulted into a new level of realism. Since then these qualities have steadily settled into a cohesive whole which sets it apart from the stock cable in all these areas. In fairness, the stock cable retails for about £70-80 compared to the £620 spent on the Virus cable and does sound very nice with the headphones as is.

When not listening through headphones I use a Densen B150 integrated amp and ATC SCM40 passive speakers. The Neumanns and stock cable powered by the Naim Atom HE gave more than a passing resemblance to the sound from the amp and speakers, at low to moderate levels at least. With the Virus cable, however, this resemblance is reinforced, when not superseded, at all sound levels.

One of the unexpected and interesting side effects for me was, if playing a random selection, the moderate number of pieces of music, music I thought I otherwise knew reasonable well, were presented in such an entirely different fashion to what I was used to that they were initially unrecognisable for a few moments.

It appears that the Virus 24 OCC V2 Silver/Copper Litz cable is currently out of stock. I hope this is temporary as it would be a shame for such a magnificent cable be retired.

Thank you Matt, for your work, care, and attention to detail taken while making the cable. Many more happy listening hours await, with much re-acquainting myself with the old favourites.