I had the privilege of auditioning a set of real Nordost Odin 2 interconnects. They are quite honestly amazing… well, you have to have equipment that is good enough to realize their potential. Do I think these fake cables are made of the heavy silver of the real thing? Of course not. Just for fun I ordered a pair to see what they are like.
One thing I am absolutely sure of is they are not remotely comparable. They are not stealing technology… only making the product look similar. But once I said that the scientist in me said I need to prove it… so I ordered a pair.
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Just for fun after reading this thread… and having had a real set of Odin 2 interconnects in my home for a few weeks I ordered a pair. They arrived a few minutes ago.
Says made in USA. I guess if I was ordering these second hand and wasn’t familiar with the real ones… how would I know they are not real? They are definitely lighter in weight. The wood blocks are much less well finished, the locking rca connectors are functional but don’t look like high quality.
I am going to experiment with them on my headphone system when I have some time.
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I admit to be a bit conflicted in buying a pair just for fun… although this is not stopping me from buying real ones. If I could afford them, I would probably buy real ones… but a full loom would cost roughly the same as my system, so that would be a hard sell.
I swapped them in to my headphone system between my DAC and headphone amp. I had a pair of Harmonics Pro-Silway 2 before the switch (high quality “budget” ($600?, 25 years ago) interconnects (silver coated copper). I was expecting a notable shift to a bit more trebly sound. No, immediate noticeable change… pretty good for $50. I’ll have to hook them up to my break in system and see what they sound like with a couple hundred hours on them.
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You know this one thread is selling a bunch of their stuff. I bought a pair of single ended interconnects just to see what they sounded like. The only place they would fit was in my headphone system. They sounded pretty good. But to really evaluate a set of interconnects I needed a longer set of XLR. So I just bought a pair.
These I can swap into my main system and test against my contemporary Transparent Ultra. Should be interesting.
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@thyname
Yeah, that is my concern. On the other hand I would not buy a +$10K cable used, except from a reputable dealer. While, they may say Nordost… the wood blocks are a joke… any dealer would know the difference.
Honestly, I am interested to hear one in my main system… having heard a real one. The real one was the best interconnect I have ever heard.
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@harpo75
You got it. I have worked in China for decades. If you are a naive American that contracts in China and gives your proprietary design to contract manufacturer… well you are stupid. Any world savvy business person understands proprietary info and knows they must protect it. Notice that Apple produces most of their stuff in China and they do not have “Apple” knock offs, well, anywhere. If you have proprietary stuff you need to protect it.
I have worked all over the world in high tech manufacturing for over thirty five years. You quickly understand different cultures. Or you don’t.
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Ok. I got my set of fake Odin 2 XLR interconnects today. While not broken in, I do generally remember what my Transparent Ultra XLR (current generation… $3,150) sounded like when I put them in. I put the new Odin2 between my DAC and preamp Audio Research REF CD9se DAC and Audio Research REF6se preamp. Incidentally, the same position I once had real Odin2.
The new Odin sound compressed, harsh, trebly, lacking bass definition… not quiet or smooth. While the Transparent sounded better with time, they never sounded anywhere this bad. I really could not listen to them for more than a couple minutes… they were actually uncomfortable to listen to. Reminding me of inexpensive silver… are they really made of silver? I figures they were colored silver on top of copper.
I have listened to the real Nordost Odin 2 in my system…. There is absolutely no similarity. Not that one could reasonably expect it. This certainly reminded me how much of a difference a single set of interconnects can make. I was thinking that since all my other sets of interconnections were very high quality, maybe one set would not matter that much. Wow, that’s not right.
So, I need to break them in. I’ll have to pull out my break in system. All my systems are tube, so I have a separate system with only a couple small tubes for breaking in stuff. I’ll have to put a few weeks on them to see how much the calm down.
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@thyname
I think these were about $110 delivered. I certainly did not think they would sound like the real thing. But I am a scientist… and couldn’t help but want to actually know what I was talking about.
My interest was, we’re these actually “made in the same way”, so they were really complete rip offs and sounded very similar… with some compromises. Or, alternatively, like Mexican Salsa in Eastern Montana. Yeah… “it is red” in photos… and looks a lot like ketchup… let’s use ketchup!
Yes, when bicycling across Montana and going into “Mexican” restaurants I got served ketchup as salsa with chips (having lived next to the Mexico boarder and spent a couple years living in Mexico, I can assure everyone salsa tastes is nothing like ketchup… anywhere in Mexico.
So my conclusion is that Chinese Nordost Odin 2 knock offs are nothing like the real Nordost Odin 2. They only look like it. Ok, not a surprise… but I know this from experience not just thinking.
I was in charge of all information technology at a global semiconductor company (Burr-Brown Corporation) in 1999. I needed to assess the risk of the “millennium bug” shutting our system and consequently putting us out business when the date flipped over to 2000. I read these ridiculous books that premised that “this chip” has an embedded date with the year represented as two digits (like ‘99, as opposed to 1999) and therefore chips are in 60% of the mechanical devices on earth… so they will all fail. Utter nonsense. None of these idiots actually sampled the percentage of components with the problem and did the legwork to figure out which devices and consequently systems would be vulnerable. What BS. I would read the first few chapters of this stuff and toss it in the garbage.
We, upgraded two systems… (a couple million dollars)… and not a single system failed… I was there at corporate headquarters when we powered down all our system a couple minutes before midnight and brought them back up a couple minutes after. Yawning, and heading home a half hour later.
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@rolox
Good to hear you hear an improvement. What are you comparing it to, and what is your system. Power cords can make a significant difference in sound quality. I certainly have heard it and choose mine with many comparisons.
There is a place under your UserID to put photos and identify your system, this way you need only do it once. You can see my systems there.
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@rfnoise
Where are Neardost Odin 2 sold? I got a pair of fake Nordost Odin 2 from AliExpress, which I commented on. But I guess you got a different kind.
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@rfnoise
Thank you. I understand the slang now. You just never know… it sounds like something you could purchase if the manufacturer / vendor had a bit of integrity.
Yes, I have been breaking in the fake Odin 2. I get about 16 hours a day. They are around 70 hours or so. I thought I would give them a try in a few days.
I had been fiddling with my EtherRegen in my system. I took it out and it made no difference. Then I noticed although the Ethernet cable on the streamer side was high quality but the Ethernet cable on the wall wart extender side was a cheap one. Of course, I expected no different. But guess what, there was. So, I am evaluating / getting accustom to the change.
Hopefully, I’ll be up to thy the Fake Odin 2 this weekend.
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I tested them between my DAC and Preamp on my main system. My systems are shown under my UserID. Aurender W20SE streamer, Audio Research Reference CD9se DAC, Audio Research Reference 6SE Preamp, Audio Research Reference 160m mono blocks.
If you want to play around with them I would put them as close to the source as possible. That should give you the most impact for your evaluation.
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Ok, following up with my testing of the 1.5 meter fake Nordost Odin 2 XLR. I made preliminary comments when I first received them. Recounting a little, I used them to replace my Transparent Ultra between my ARC REF DAC and ARC REF 6SE. Find my earlier post.
I burned them in on another system for at least 120 hours be for putting them back into my main system. I feel that burning them in has notably reduced the overt harshness and dropped the noise floor slightly.
In comparison the the Transparent the fake Odin2 had a notably less dynamic presentation, the voices and mid-range less fleshed out with an overall less natural presentation, the background less quiet. I did not feel interested in continuing the experiment after three minutes… although I am sure I could greatly increase the details of my assessment with more time. Life is too short.
Now how to communicate how big a difference. It was not huge… not even remotely component level or radio shack versus high end. But on the other hand, I am sure my partner who is not interested in my system and listens for five minutes every two years would have chosen the Transparent over the fake ODin2 in less than 10 seconds. For me, I have spent a lot of time and money to carefully get the most out of my system… they have no home here.
Are these giant killers at $100… well no. But they are not terrible.
My system is very detailed with a very deep and well defined soundstage… which very musical and natural. Through put anything not completely neutral in it, and you hear it. So, for me, they have no place in my system. I’ll throw them on the pile of extra interconnects I have. I have a couple friends that are building systems, I’ll lend them these, let them see what they think.
I hope this is useful. In my younger days I would pull out my half dozen “standard” interconnects and compare: Harmonics, Straight Wire, Cardas, and a couple more.
Folks in the Sub - $1000 purchase realm would have to compare themselves… which is usually the case anyway. They are very inexpensive.
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@decooney
Well, for me… I am not interested in playing around with more cables… I did extensive research among well reviewed cables, auditioned and chose what worked best on my system.
The only reason I tried these was because of this thread. I was interested in forming my own opinion. Once in a while, I go test my intuition. I will test things internally think just “couldn’t be”… to make sure I am maintain my objectivity.
I remember nearly 18 years ago I was having an heated discussion with a climate change denier. I realized I had not refreshed my true knowledge for ten years. So, I went back and built my knowledge from scratch. I read source publications, NOAA, NASA, a couple summary books, fundamental peer review papers. I even deeply researched the two legitimate scientists that claimed climate change was not real… I literally found the tax documents showing one had received $500,000 from oil companies and that he had founded a radical fundamentalist church (the documents of him founding the church were on line… and news about it). Well, my internal knowledge was good on that one. Ok… sorry, got sidetracked.
So, if I needed cables would I buy and try these? No. I really do have an ethical problem… they are certainly no Nordost killers. There are lots of well reviewed cables at all price points available from companies that do their own research and development and cross no ethical boundaries. Buy from them.
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@rolox
Thank you for sharing.
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I don’t find anything ambiguous about the Ali site. Real Nordost Odin 2 power cord $20K… Ali Nordost Odin 2 power cord $100.
Having had the pleasure of actually experiencing a pair of Nordost Odin 2 interconnects and a set of fake ones from Ali. My mom taught me only a few things, but they included don’t get in a car with a man with candy, if it sounds too good to be true, and don’t buy property in Florida unseen.
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I become less and less comfortable with buying these things. I bought a couple just to be sure when I said they don’t sound like the real thing, I really tried them. Ok, mission accomplished. I had real Nordost Odin 2 in my system and the fake ones do not sound anything like them.
But there is a lot more important point here. Buying stuff that you know is fake is ethically wrong. The problem is there is a large aftermarket for cables. I have bought Transparent and other cables (as test cables). Buy flooding the world with fake branded cables they fuel the used market. I will destroy the fake Nordost that I bought, but will everyone? Will many folks decide to sell them in the used market? This is a real problem.
So, it is really best no one buys these things.
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@roxy54
Absolutely, yes, I did buy some. That was not a good thing. I thought about it. Realizing that if I never resell them that harm is somewhat mitigated. I will not be recommending them to anyone or buy any more. Experiment complete.
I have spent over thirty years working all over the world in global manufacturing and logistics. The purchase also provides food for a few poor Chinese, so, there is that. I have been in factories all over China. Most produce good and not stolen products. Most have benefited them and us. Like all things there are exceptions. Because China does not have patent laws more goes on there than in most other countries. Much happens in off beat factories as are producing these clones.
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@pprocter
I had the privilege of auditioning a set of real Odin 2 ($17K) in my system for several weeks (my system is shown under my ID). I replaces a set of Transparent Ultra Gen 6 ( ~$3K). They sounded very similar for a few days… then I started to realize I was hearing slightly more detail, but the details were more natural sounding… and real… the more I listened the better they sounded. I had to pull them from my system… I could not afford to buy them… but they are clearly world class interconnects… pretty awe inspiring. If I could afford them, I would upgrade my preamp (to the Top of the line ARC)…. Then buy Odin 2 interconnects and. cables.
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OP,
about @mihorn . I try to be positive… but yeah… you are 100% correct. Indicating you can’t tell the difference on a YouTube video does completely discredit a post. Actually pretty funny.
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My real concern is the secondary market. Those buying used cables five years from now.
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@tweak1 …”, my guess is as long as the seller presents them honestly,” This is where I have the concern. First one buys counterfeit and then years later… think folks are going to explain they are counterfeit? Sure a few. But the used audio market is international. If you look for cables… there are lots of sellers from all over the world.
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@tksteingraber
Could you clarify something? You are saying Audiocrast speaker cables sound better than authentic $20K + speaker cables?
I personally had some authentic Nordost Odin 2 interconnects in my system for a couple weeks… and I find it hard to believe some $75 knock off are competitive. I did buy some Odin 2 knock offs… and they in no way competed with the real thing.
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OP “…I think that members should be aware that there are legitimate, well-built cables from Chinese manufacturers,”
+1 Don’t support companies directly creating forgeries. That really makes you ethically complicit… much better to buy a brand that creates their own.
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