If your birthday party is at risk of becoming boring, start a discussion on audiophile cables.
That will surely stir-up things.
Let me tell you my take on it.
First some general remarks: I have never reviewed cables and I probably never will.
The main reason is that, especially with analogue connections, the interaction with the equipment
on both sides of the cable does - or at least might - play a role in the sonic result.
Therefore my result might not be your result.
So reviewing cables is either reviewing a cable in a given situation unless a number
of situations have been used to test each cable in.
And that's not within reach of a simple audio journalist.
Then a remark for people that don't hear differences.
You probably are completely right: I trust you really don't hear a difference.
But trust me too, I do hear differences.
Why is that?
Simply because my stereos most likely have a higher resolution, lower jitter, less time
smearing and so on.
Almost any cable will work in any stereo, from a simple lamp cord to the most sophisticated
audiophile cable.
"Work" in the sense that music will be reproduced.
Like fitting tyres made of racing grade rubber compound on a city car will work in the sense
that you will be able to drive the car.
But most likely you will not notice the difference with the regular tyres.
But listen to a racing driver on rubber compound and you'll hear him tell about the large
differences between them.
On a large percentage of stereos there will be no difference between cheap and well built
cables.
Stereo's in a box, for instance, and they form the majority.
But I tend to think that viewers of my show own better stereos than that.
Or at least strive to get better stereos.
Then better cables - proportionally priced - will lead to better sound.
It might be clear that a set of 5,000 euros loudspeaker cables on a 1,000 euro setup is
a very poor investment.
Unless you plan to soon upgrade your stereo to a - say - 50,000 Euro setup.
Time to name a number of reasons why audiophile cables might sound better.
An asymmetrical cable has a core of conductive material, often copper based but silver is
also used.
Around that a sleeve for isolation.
The material the sleeve is made of appears to have influence too.
Around that the shielding that usually is braided metal, again often copper based but
sometimes silver or conductive plastic.
If the cable is for installation purposes, a more solid shielding might be used like
tin foil.
Around that the outer sleeve out of some form of plastic, again for isolation but also for
mechanical strength.
The core runs the signal positive and the shielding both the signal negative and ground.
A balanced cable uses two cores, each individually isolated.
Around the two cores the shielding is applied with around that the outer sleeve.
The idea of a balanced connection is that influences from outside would impose the same
influence on both cores.
Since the plus core and the minus core represent opposite currents, the identical current in
both cores will be cancelled out.
Another advantage is that the ground is separated from the audio signal.
The main function of the shielding is to keep out stray magnetic fields originating from
high frequency sources like smartphones, wifi stations and the like.
But also the 50 or 60 hertz from power cables and audio frequent noise from other cables
nearby.
For instance loudspeaker cables that run close to a phono cable.
Shielding also prevents cables from radiating stray magnetic fields themselves.
Given the high voltage and current running through power cables, they potentially have
the strongest magnetic fields.
Therefore a good shielding does benefit for whether we like it or not, power cables are
often relatively close to cables running audio signals.
In general, cables running very low voltages are the most susceptible to stray magnetic
fields wile cables running higher voltages are more likely to generate more magnetic
fields.
By shielding both, the best damping is achieved.
Shielding is specified in a percentage but unfortunately that percentage doesn't express
the amount of electro-magnetic energy that is blocked but the percentage the braid physically
covers the core.
Depending on the construction of the cable and the materials used the damping might be
considerable lower.
There are other ways to reduce the susceptibility for HF noise in cables.
A very important one is twisting the cores under a certain angle, like is done in twisted
pair network cables.
The mechanical construction of a cable defines the electrical properties, both static and
dynamic.
Resistance might change if a different conductor is used, the impedance depends on the material
and diameter of the core, the material and thickness of the sleeves and the material
and thickness of the shielding and its distance to the core, and so on.
For digital connections the ideal impedance is specified: 75Ω for SPDIF, 110Ω for AES/EBU,
and so on.
But even then there will be differences since the bandwidth over which this impedance is
constant is often not specified and might vary greatly amongst cables.
Digital signals are modulated using analogue square waves and these are easily distorted
when the electrical properties of the cable and interfaces is incorrect.
See my video "Connecting your DAC #2: how digital can go wrong."
With analogue connections things are even more complicated since there is no standard.
The best match will sound the best but the only way to find out is by trial and error,
experience or good advise.
As said the electrical properties are influenced by the distance between the core or cores
and the shielding.
If the cable is constructed in a way that it allows for relative movements of the core
or cores and the shielding, the electrical properties will vary when the cable is bent.
Even vibrations in the floor board might have sonic impact if the cable is down on the ground.
If you think that thick cables are better, think again.
I know of very good thick cables but also of very thin cables offering the same or even
better quality.
I have said it over and over again: evaluate cables only in your own stereo and only using
your ears.
Find a dealer that offers a solution to facilitate this.
Cables have conducting parts and isolating parts.
Sometimes materials are added for mechanical rigidity, like cotton or nylon.
The isolating parts usually are some kind of 'plastic'.
'Plastics' like polyvinylchoride (PVC) and polyethylene are considered to influence
the sound negatively while others are believed to be very good as isolator for audio products:
polypropylene, Kapton and Teflon.
The best electrically conducting metal is silver, directly followed by copper and, at
some distance, gold and aluminium.
That makes copper the most popular conductor.
It's second best, directly after silver, and a lot cheaper.
Aluminium is also affordable but its conductance is only 60% of that of copper.
Most cables use crystalline metals for conductors, usually copper or silver.
Many hifi enthusiasts have their preference for a given metal based on their own experience
and/or that of others.
The misleading factor in this is the influence the quality of the metal has.
Pure metals are rarely used, especially with more expensive metals.
In stead alloys are used, making the metal more affordable and easier in production.
It appears that the use of a pure metal does sound better.
The theory behind this allegedly is that electrons do not travel unhindered between crystals
of different signature, as is the case with alloys.
And there is another problem: between the crystals in the metal there are spaces where
oxygen will cause oxidation.
The oxide of the material used also has other properties.
It is claimed that a semiconductor-like behaviour can occur due to this, resulting in nonlinear
behaviour at low levels.
It can cause a nasty harsh sound which is often associated with silver cable but does
not occur in pure silver cables.
Silver, as used in jewellery, can contain other metals up to 10% and still legally be
called silver.
In audio cables only the pure silver will do.
The purity of precious metals is often expressed using the Nine system.
A one nine fine metal has 90% purity, a two nine fine metal has 99% purity and a six nine
fine metal has 99,9999% purity.
In specification sheets this is specified as N6.
Already in the seventies oxygen free copper - or OFC - was introduced to audio cables.
I still own a piece of pinkish red Audio Technica OFC loudspeaker cable from that time.
It is questionable whether it's still free of oxygen since time must have made them porous
to oxygen.
Over the years more oxygen free cables came to market, based on several well conducting
metals.
There even are gold doped silver cables where allegedly the space between the silver crystals
is filled up with gold.
The most recent development in oxygen free metals is metals of a mono crystal structure.
Since the entire conductor is (at least theoretically) only one crystal, there is no space for oxygen
and there are no transitions between crystals.
Some specialist claim that a single crystal conductor will be hard to achieve and that
one conductor might contain a small number of crystals.
Mono crystal conductors are very expensive to produce and again two good conductors are
being produced in mono crystal: copper and silver.
Whether you should buy better cables is up to you.
But if you want to try better cables, there are some tips I will give you.
First, start with the cables that cary the highest current for they produce the strongest
electro magnetic stray field: the power cables.
Then replace the interconnects and finally do the loudspeaker cables.
Before starting, disconnect all cables and only connect the component you will use for
evaluation.
So if you use a cd-player, connect the amp and cd-player using the audiophile power cables
and start by using your existing interconnect and loudspeaker cables.
Do some serious listening and after some time, replace the interconnect.
Then do some more listening and finally replace the loudspeaker cables.
After some more listening replace the audiophile cables by your original cables.
Keep in mind that cables do need to 'burn-in' and that in the first days the sound might
be disappointing.
Therefore at least take a week and if you really want to be sure, don't switch off
the audio gear, put the player in repeat en turn the volume of the amp down.
If after this period you don't hear a difference, return the cables en enjoy the music.
If you do hear a difference, decide if the quality improvement is worth the price of
the cables.
You don't need to be ashamed if you hear no difference and if you are happy with the
sound of your stereo, just enjoy the music.
If you aren't happy with the sound and can afford some improvement, go to hifi shows
and visit a dealer to look for a fitting solution.
And subscribe to this channel, or follow me on social media.
If you liked this video, please consider supporting the channel through Patreon or Paypal.
Any financial support is much appreciated.
The links are in the comments below this video in Youtube.
Help me to help even more people enjoy music at home by telling your friends on the web
about this channel.
I am Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com.
And whatever you do, enjoy the music.
For more infomation >> Horóscopo hoy, 19 de octubre de 2018, por el astrólogo Mario Vannucci | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 3:13. 
For more infomation >> ¡Las mujeres latinas en el centro de la crítica! | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 6:18. 
For more infomation >> Descubre las nuevas terapias contra el cáncer de mama | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 9:22. 
For more infomation >> ¡Así sorprendimos al protagonista de "5 Minutos de Fama"! (PARTE 2) | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 5:08. 
For more infomation >> Recetas de cocina: Cómo hacer una Cochinita Pibil | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 6:10. 
For more infomation >> ¡La quinta temporada de Señora Acero está que arde! | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 5:18. 
For more infomation >> Geraldine Bazán y Gabriel Soto firman acuerdo de divorcio | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 6:19. 
For more infomation >> ¡El carro de JLo y A-Rod atropelló a un fotógrafo! | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 2:52. 
For more infomation >> Los Famosos "le rompen la cabeza" a los Contendientes | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 3:52. 
For more infomation >> ¡Pio "La Ditingancia" ya es toda una sensación! | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 2:42. 
For more infomation >> ¡Todos quieren con los Turizo y La Picosa también! | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 3:16. 
For more infomation >> Se complica el avance de los centroamericanos hacia EEUU | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 3:33. 
For more infomation >> Michael Douglas nos habla de "Ant-Man and The Wasp" | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 4:04. 
For more infomation >> Reconstrucción del seno después de una mastectomía | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 5:35. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét