[Poetik]

Quote:

Been AB'ing the Fortis cable & (stock) Westone with my (reshelled) DBA-02.  The DBA/Fortis is less 'grainy' sounding than the DBA/Westone to my ears.  The DBA/Fortis appears to have slightly better dynamics & soundstage depth, too.  The difference isn't night & day.. but distinguishable.  The DBA/Fortis just sounds cleaner to me ears.  Will A/B with the Quads, Miracle, & ASG as time permits.  The Fortis cable seems very neutral & transparent.. an excellent match for the DBA (I'm continually blown away by how resolving & detailed these phones are.. and reminded why reshelling them was a good idea).
 
As far as ergonomics, comfort & looks go.. I'm really liking this cable, too.

 
I'm glad you can hear the difference between the two bro.  I believe that there is a sonic difference between a pure copper and pure silver cable too.  I mean if you seriously take the time to A/B it, you'll definitely hear it.  It may not be a night and day difference but it's subtle and noticeable. 

 

[FlySweep]

 
I'm glad you can hear the difference between the two bro.  I believe that there is a sonic difference between a pure copper and pure silver cable too.  I mean if you seriously take the time to A/B it, you'll definitely hear it.  It may not be a night and day difference but it's subtle and noticeable. 

I definitely agree.. I'll digress on the whole cable debate (cause we need another one here at HF, right? 

) but I hear a difference here with the Fortis and have heard (noticeable) differences with silver vs copper cables with my other phones too.. most notably with the HD580.  Slapping a silver cable onto that (lovely) phone made it sound much less grainy than with the (stock) HD650 cable.. it damn near sounds like my HE-500's little brother.. lol.
 
I don't consider myself a dyed-in-the-wool believer/non-believer when it comes to cables.. I'm learning more about how it may or may not affect sound & sources.. but for now, I trust my ears and try to be as honest with myself as possible.  I get cables as a last addition to my phones & rigs.. mainly for cosmetics.. but if it helps with the sound, great.  If not.. that's fine too.  It's about getting things for the right reasons and having reasonable expectations.
 
Inks has posted some informative stuff on different cable builds & materials altering the output/input impedance phones see, which could explain why sound quality is slightly altered with certain types of cables (think along the lines of what an Ety P->S adapter does).  This seems to make sense but I'll be digging around to learn more.

 

[Holymoly]

When comparing cables I believe you should do it not expecting to hear a difference. If you listen to a new cable and are expecting it to make your phones sound better then they will but it's not the cable but your mind.
The fortis sounded extremely grainy when I first listened to it and that only changed after 2days burn in, it also sounded very muddy.
After I have burned it in it is no better then the stock.

If you think you can hear a difference with the fortis then I suggest you listen to the TWag and and see how much of an improvement the TWag makes.

I will be outing the cable on eBay in the next few days should anyone be interested.

 

[FlySweep]

When comparing cables I believe you should do it not expecting to hear a difference. If you listen to a new cable and are expecting it to make your phones sound better then they will but it's not the cable but your mind.

Staunchly believing a cable makes no difference is just as foolish as believing it will always make a difference.  Why approach such excercises with extreme points of views?  Go in expecting nothing.. and I'll reiterate what I said.. trust your ears & be as honest with yourself as possible.

 

[Holymoly]

Staunchly believing a cable makes no difference is just as foolish as believing it will always make a difference.  Why approach such excercises with extreme points of views?  Go in expecting nothing.. and I'll reiterate what I said.. trust your ears & be as honest with yourself as possible.

I would not say that not believing in cables is foolish at all, people who don't believe in cables choose to do so by the facts provided to them and there is not a shred of evidence that proves cables make any difference.
Although I am a firm believer in cables and believe that I can hear a difference, I also know this could just be placebo no matter how much a choose to believe my ears.
Calling people foolish for not believing is infact foolish.

 

[Benjamin6264]

What the hell?
 
I just opened my package, only to find this:
 

 
In case you can't see, the wire is covered in brown stains. I wiped the tubing, and it really is the silver (?) that is of that color.
 
I will contact UM to see what is going on. I would have never doubted the silver purity claim, but this just changed my mind.

 

[DannyBai]

Quote:

What the hell?
 
I just opened my package, only to find this:
 

 
In case you can't see, the wire is covered in brown stains. I wiped the tubing, and it really is the silver (?) that is of that color.
 
I will contact UM to see what is going on. I would have never doubted the silver purity claim, but this just changed my mind.

My cables are the same.  I was wondering about the coloration also and was reading up on it.  From what I've read, it shouldn't hurt the sound but to send us cables that has oxidized already seems pretty bad of AmpCity.  

 

[Benjamin6264]

My worry is that silver doesn't oxidize to that color...
 

 

[dannytang]

Silver oxidizes to be black right? Could it be that the tubing/sleeve is discoloured due to heat?

 

[Holymoly]

So much for the promise from Ampcity to reply to all emails promptly, I sent then questions regarding the cable 5days ago and still no reply, sent them another email yesterday.

 

[shotgunshane]

I'd have to say the coloration in Benjamin6264's photo has to do with the sleeving over the wire.  Silver oxidizes black and copper will turn green.  That looks like the color of root beer.

 

[Cryok95]

Quote:

I'd have to say the coloration in Benjamin6264's photo has to do with the sleeving over the wire.  Silver oxidizes black and copper will turn green.  That looks like the color of root beer.

 
Still, this reflects bad on the quality of the new fortis v2 cables...

 

[maguire]

Noticed quite a few already 4 sale...........wow that's pretty quick?   It usually takes some burn in time to show its true potential?

 

[Cryok95]

(Misquoted Cogsandgears~my apologies)
 
Edit: Please refer to http://www.head-fi.org/t/569341/um-global-deal-the-lucky-25-all-slots-filled-so-please-stop-pmn-me-to-join/1110#post_8407932 for latest information
 
To be honest, i have had some insider's information on the new cables for a while now. I am pretty sure that the new cable now has 7 strands as opposed to 26 strands in the old version(Thus, the stiffness of the new cable). If anyone is willing to check strand count, please do. I do not have the cable on hand to verify. Just unscrew the Viablue plug to check soldering, perhaps post some pictures.
 
As an avid DIYer myself, i can obviously see that the new cable now uses one wire for each side-(Main conductor for Signal and Shielding for Ground). Which results in 2 wires in the v2 cable as compared to the 4 in the v1 cable. (A sign that Ampcity may be trying to reduce costs by skimping on amount of silver used). Worse of all, I am actually very irritated that the new 'Fortis v2 cable' has now been outsourced to China.
 
Where is the promised.. Wait, let me quote: If that weren't enough to impress you, we're throwing in a free cable upgrade to the AmpCity Fortis, a 99.99% pure silver, hand crafted cable by our partners, Ampcity.co.uk, valued at ($230USD) That's right, pure silver, wood slider, ViaBlue slim plug. Pure quality.
(Important parts underlined)

 
Don't know about you guys, but i personally cannot accept this new cable. Looking at the pics and posts above, the build quality is indeed pretty bad. Come on: Oxidation? Breakage in plug soldering? Where is the Pure Quality promised?
 
Furthermore, this has come together with a 6 month wait time, couldn't Ampcity/UM Global take the time to design a great, high quality cable? While it's good that Ampcity has sent us an apology letter, they still couldn't make up for the v1 cable with this new one... Seems like they have been crossing legs and drinking beer at their office tables while we have been eagerly waiting for our promised items.
 
I am only writing this because i don't think it is fair that Ampcity gives us this cable when the cable promised was of a much higher quality..
 
To make matters worse, Matt from UM Global has not been responsive at all when i emailed him regarding the cables. No reply since i emailed him on 21st of April. Customer service has been terrible.

 

[dannytang]

Matt emailed me saying that they looking into the issue. Apparently the Fortis v2 was shipped directly from UM Labs directly to us and he never got a chance to see/hold one. He's been reading the forums and thought I received a discoloured one like Benjamin6264's and asked me to mail it back (shipping paid for by them) and he'd send out a new one once AmpCity sends them more cables. Luckily, the cable I received wasn't discoloured and I've actually sold mine already (would be a bummer if UM trades up for a better cable), but anyone who is concerned about their cable should contact him. I've already sent Matt pictures I took of the cable before I sold it and linked him to a photo of the Beat Audio Silver Sonic cable posted here on head-fi. I even linked him to cogsand gears' post about the v2 being outsourced to China. Hopefully UM Global will look into the situation and take appropriate action.