[acidtripwow]

Let's get the bad out of the way first. This cable is very think and heavy as you can tell from the photos. The cable is very hard to bend and took me like 15 minutes to rearrange my equipment to connect it. Once connected I put Diana Krall "All For You" into my CD player and sat down to take a listen. After about 10 seconds I knew this cable was something special. The first thing I noticed was the absolute clarity this cable has. It let every note and all the instruments come through like no other cable I've tried. I thought I heard "separation" of instruments before but I was wrong. With the Nite cable I could tell every instrument that was playing in a song. They each had their own space and there was no over lapping. The second thing I noticed was how individual instruments had more richness and depth. From piano to guitar to drums, everything sounded more like real instruments. Also, everything seemed to have more of an "attack." Another way to think about was that I thought everything seemed louder than before. From the strums of a guitar to the keys of a piano to the hits on a drum kit. Even voices seemed louder than before. There is a downside to all of this clarity and detail. If there is even a hint of something wrong on a CD or your equipment it will come through loud and clear. I listen to a lot of female vocalists and sometimes the sibilance was just horrible with this cable. Another thing is my tube amp does pop and click from time to time and with this cable it passed that noise right through to my headphones. Nothing was hidden with this cable be it good or bad. I think this cable is truly "neutral." I know that's a term that gets over used but I think it fits in this case. In comparison to my AZ MC2 I think the Nite is a better overall cable if you're a detail freak and just have to hear everything that's on a CD. I never thought my AZ MC2 was warm sounding but compared to the Nite I now think it is. Here are some pics.

 

[pigmode]

Are those a pr. of Nite ICs in the pics? Which female vocals did you have problems with, and what is the rest of your system?

 

[acidtripwow]

My system is:

Sony SCD-C333ES SACD player --> VD Nite Digital cable ---> Bel Canto Dac 1 --> Acoutic Zen Silver Reference ICs --> Audio Valve RKV II Headphone Amp --> Grado HP2 Headphones(various others)

Those ICs are the AZ Silver Reference. The power cord on the RKV is the VD Power 3 held up by a mouse.

The Diana Krall and Patricia Barber recordings seem to have a lot of sibilance. At least on my system it tends to come through.

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

Originally posted by acidtripwow My system is: Sony SCD-C333ES SACD player --> VD Nite Digital cable ---> Bel Canto Dac 1 --> Acoutic Zen Silver Reference ICs --> Audio Valve RKV II Headphone Amp --> Grado HP2 Headphones(various others) Those ICs are the AZ Silver Reference. The power cord on the RKV is the VD Power 3 held up by a mouse. The Diana Krall and Patricia Barber recordings seem to have a lot of sibilance. At least on my system it tends to come through.

Hmm, its interesting how cables can sometimes overpower a system in one direction or another. I'm not saying that is the case with yours, but my experience with the AZ Matrix is that they had a bit too much HF extention for my system. I know your amp has a well balanced presentation and the Grado leans to the analytical, but what of the DAC?

The sibilence you hear could be a burn-in issue. is it slight ot pronounces?

 

[acidtripwow]

The Bel Canto DAC made my system sound "airier" if you will. The cable could need more burn in but the sibilance was very pronounced. Today I'm listening to Jacintha "Lush Life" XRCD2 and the vocals are great. There's very little sibilance coming through. I'm also listening to my Audio Technica ATH-W100 headphones and not the Grados today.