Patrick82
Banned
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- Mar 1, 2003
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[size=large]Analog cables are colored
[/size]
I have tried many interconnects and they have all been colored, all of them removed low-level detail in some way. I discovered that less dielectric contact with the conductor gives more low-level detail, that's the reason I have used Nordost Valhalla. I also found that using a thinner conductor gives more low-level detail as well, so I modified the Valhalla thinner which was easy because it uses multiple conductors for each signal. Going from 4x22awg to 1x22 conductor per signal gave crazy low-level detail, and since the bass was reduced, it made it edgier and faster.
I also found that the silver plating depth reduces low-level detail which makes it sound cleaner and faster. Using Valkyrja with the 60 microns silver plating had more low-level detail than Valhalla's 78 microns, but it sounded grey and lifeless. Valhalla removed the deepest layer of detail which made the background appear blacker and cleaner. It emphasized the surface layer detail which gave the illusion of clarity and transparency while having crazy transient speed. But it was all fake, it was very colored. And this huge coloration came only from 15cm Valhalla! When I used 44cm Valhalla it sounded "whiter" and clearer, but with much less low-level details, the details were cut off and replaced with fake transparency. There is no way that Valhalla can be a neutral cable, it should sound the same no matter how long the cable is.
I have tried many components in my system and whenever I plugged in Valhalla, my system sounded like before. Valhalla is a very colored cable but I liked it a lot, however, the reduction of low-level detail annoyed me. I could either get more fake transparency/clarity, or more low-level detail and bass depending on how long the cable was, I couldn't get both, I had to fine tune the length and found 15cm to be the best.
The most neutral cable I have tried is stock cable because it doesn't veil the sound as much as thicker cables. I have found that thick audiophile cables give fake bass and warmth while reducing low-level detail. The shielding improves low-level detail of course, but the conductor itself doesn't, the thicker it gets the more it veils the highs of the music. Thin interconnects have always sounded less muddy to me. Thicker than 22awg conductor is unbearable to me because I don't like the clarity to be reduced.
There is something wrong with audio cables, that's why a different thickness changes the sound. I have found that the problem is vibration of the conductor! In my system vibration is 99.99% of the sound.
[size=large]Genesis 1.1 XLR interconnect 2meters = Neutral!
[/size]
First impressions: I was worried of the Genesis because of the crazy 6awg thickness!! I was worried it would tone down the highs like other audiophile cables, I was wrong. The highs are crazy white and clear, but it's not fake clarity like with Valhalla, it's real clarity! Genesis has far more resolution in the highs than the edgy sounding Valhalla ever had. I have not heard highs so smooth, clear and real before!
The bass is the craziest I have ever heard, very HUGE bass. There are extra bass transients all over the place, it sounds very full from top to bottom. The deepest layers of details are there, it sounds amazing!
The improvement from Genesis interconnect is bigger than going from a Benchmark DAC1 ($975) into a dCS stack ($30 000+). I have sold the dCS because Genesis gives me more for my money.
The Genesis interconnect sounds neutral to me so far. I don't hear any coloration anywhere. I hear the same improvements as from vibration dampening my entire system; more resolution and less veiled highs! It's easy to get more resolution with many tweaks like ERS Paper, but normally it tones down the highs in the process which makes it grey and lifeless. Getting both at the same time is very hard. Vibration isolation + mass dampening is the only tweak I found which improves both clarity and resolution!
I have found that using a dedicated headphone amp reduces the quality of the sound even when both the source and amp have the best tweaks. The problem was the interconnect which wasn't dampened from vibrations, it was the weak link and that's why the improvement from Genesis was so huge! Even tiny vibrations of the interconnect are amplified by the amp which makes it more veiled. Everything needs to be dampened from vibrations, even cables!
Virtual Dynamics focuses on fixing the vibration problems of the cables unlike other manufacturers which only build different colored flavors. For this reason I believe that Virtual Dynamics is the best audio cable manufacturer in the world.
[/size]
I have tried many interconnects and they have all been colored, all of them removed low-level detail in some way. I discovered that less dielectric contact with the conductor gives more low-level detail, that's the reason I have used Nordost Valhalla. I also found that using a thinner conductor gives more low-level detail as well, so I modified the Valhalla thinner which was easy because it uses multiple conductors for each signal. Going from 4x22awg to 1x22 conductor per signal gave crazy low-level detail, and since the bass was reduced, it made it edgier and faster.
I also found that the silver plating depth reduces low-level detail which makes it sound cleaner and faster. Using Valkyrja with the 60 microns silver plating had more low-level detail than Valhalla's 78 microns, but it sounded grey and lifeless. Valhalla removed the deepest layer of detail which made the background appear blacker and cleaner. It emphasized the surface layer detail which gave the illusion of clarity and transparency while having crazy transient speed. But it was all fake, it was very colored. And this huge coloration came only from 15cm Valhalla! When I used 44cm Valhalla it sounded "whiter" and clearer, but with much less low-level details, the details were cut off and replaced with fake transparency. There is no way that Valhalla can be a neutral cable, it should sound the same no matter how long the cable is.
I have tried many components in my system and whenever I plugged in Valhalla, my system sounded like before. Valhalla is a very colored cable but I liked it a lot, however, the reduction of low-level detail annoyed me. I could either get more fake transparency/clarity, or more low-level detail and bass depending on how long the cable was, I couldn't get both, I had to fine tune the length and found 15cm to be the best.
The most neutral cable I have tried is stock cable because it doesn't veil the sound as much as thicker cables. I have found that thick audiophile cables give fake bass and warmth while reducing low-level detail. The shielding improves low-level detail of course, but the conductor itself doesn't, the thicker it gets the more it veils the highs of the music. Thin interconnects have always sounded less muddy to me. Thicker than 22awg conductor is unbearable to me because I don't like the clarity to be reduced.
There is something wrong with audio cables, that's why a different thickness changes the sound. I have found that the problem is vibration of the conductor! In my system vibration is 99.99% of the sound.
[size=large]Genesis 1.1 XLR interconnect 2meters = Neutral!
[/size]
First impressions: I was worried of the Genesis because of the crazy 6awg thickness!! I was worried it would tone down the highs like other audiophile cables, I was wrong. The highs are crazy white and clear, but it's not fake clarity like with Valhalla, it's real clarity! Genesis has far more resolution in the highs than the edgy sounding Valhalla ever had. I have not heard highs so smooth, clear and real before!
The bass is the craziest I have ever heard, very HUGE bass. There are extra bass transients all over the place, it sounds very full from top to bottom. The deepest layers of details are there, it sounds amazing!
The improvement from Genesis interconnect is bigger than going from a Benchmark DAC1 ($975) into a dCS stack ($30 000+). I have sold the dCS because Genesis gives me more for my money.
The Genesis interconnect sounds neutral to me so far. I don't hear any coloration anywhere. I hear the same improvements as from vibration dampening my entire system; more resolution and less veiled highs! It's easy to get more resolution with many tweaks like ERS Paper, but normally it tones down the highs in the process which makes it grey and lifeless. Getting both at the same time is very hard. Vibration isolation + mass dampening is the only tweak I found which improves both clarity and resolution!
I have found that using a dedicated headphone amp reduces the quality of the sound even when both the source and amp have the best tweaks. The problem was the interconnect which wasn't dampened from vibrations, it was the weak link and that's why the improvement from Genesis was so huge! Even tiny vibrations of the interconnect are amplified by the amp which makes it more veiled. Everything needs to be dampened from vibrations, even cables!
Virtual Dynamics focuses on fixing the vibration problems of the cables unlike other manufacturers which only build different colored flavors. For this reason I believe that Virtual Dynamics is the best audio cable manufacturer in the world.
