2. cables
  3. 131981-7564

HDMI cable for I2S

Well, the old upgrade itch had to be scratched, and even though it's a little behind the times now, I've invested in a refurbished PS Audio PWT and a used PWD MKII for my redbook CDs. The former is currently being assessed by the folks at PS Audio because it seemed unnaturally noisy when I received it, and the DAC hasn't actually arrived yet but should be here in the next day or so. So now that I can connect the two via HDMI using the I2S protocol, I need to stir up the old question of whether I'll get any advantage by shelling out some money for a high-quality HDMI cable? There's been a lot of verbiage devoted to this debate, but I would like to hear some real-world experiences. Have any of you compared different HDMI cables in this application, and did it make any difference? Of course one can carry this to its logical extreme, but I was thinking more along the lines of Audioquest Carbon (I use the coax versions of these in my system and think they're very good) or even their very modestly-priced Pearl cable. There's a Wire World Silver Starlight 7 available here on Audiogon just now, but I just can't work out whether it would make an audible difference over a standard (read: cheap) high-speed HDMI cable. Thanks for any input you may have on this.
BTW, speaking of logical extremes: http://www.audiolab.com/audioquest-diamond-hdmi-digital-audio-video-cable-with-ethernet/?utm_medium=...

cooper52

Showing 3 responses by justinm

justinm
31 posts
 
I'm actually in the exact same situation as cooper52, except I'm waiting for my PWD 2 to come back. I got about a month of listening before sending it to PS Audio, to me it sounded pretty good with a cheap 1/2 meter monoprice hdmi cable. This was after using Audio Alchemy v3/v2DTI hooked up with a silver I2S cable for the past 20+ Years. I'm  back to AA dac with PWT and it sounds good, but I sure hope they get the PWD2 figured out. I did a lot of research before purchasing the ps audio dac/transport and remember reading on there forum somewhere that power cables and interconnects have a big influence on the performance. I've got the bug so I have been buying some used power cords from Shunyata and Anticable. I just found a new audioquest  vodka hdmi for about 1/3 the normal cost, unfortunately it was only in 2m version at the best price, I'm sure 1/2m would be better. I'll try and do a comparison between the mono price and aq vodka when I get my pwd2 back. Please let us know if you hear a difference between the Pangea and monster hdmi, I've always been curious about them since I think the designer has worked for quite a few hi end cable cable companies in the past?
justinm
31 posts
 
Hi and sorry for the delay, I’ve been trying to give the Vodka a little time to break in if that’s even necessary for hdmi? Anyway I’m really psyched to have the PWD2 back in my rig and have been listening to the aq vodka for a little over a week, I haven’t tried switching back to the mono price yet but will do so this week and report back next week with results. On another note, unfortunately I couldn’t hear a huge difference between my old AA DDEv3/DTIv2 when switching back and forth with my recently acquired PS PWD2/PWT. There is a slight gain difference between the 2 with the AA dac being a little louder, so this may have gave inaccurate results? In saying this my speakers are definitely the weakest link and may not even be accurate enough to make an appropriate comparison. I like building speakers and have a pair of the older cheap 2way “Andrew Jones pioneer budget speakers for now until I get my latest project finished. Cooper52 thanks for the heads up on the Pangea that’s very helpful info for all. I have a feeling I might get the same results with the vodka vs monoprice, will see? Best Regards
justinm
31 posts
 
I just wanted to give a quick summary of my comparison  on a 1m mono-price vs 2m Audioquest vodka hdmi cable. I really didn’t hear a huge difference between them. They both sound really good to me and I am second guessing myself on weather or not I really heard a difference or not? I think the vodka was slightly better and will be leaving it in and throwing the mono price back in the spare back up drawer. I think the vodka sounded a little more refined overall, like a slightly smoother and detailed tube upgrade. To my ears, which are no where as finely trained as most of you on this forum, I couldn’t hear enough of a difference to spend the extra cash. It may have a bigger impact on video but Ill never know because my home theater projector uses a 30ft run of mono price up through the wall and 2 meters will never reach from the ceiling to the equipment rack. Cooper52 sorry for kinda butting in this thread and wasn’t trying to hijack it in anyway, just wanted to share a little similar experience since we’re all usually looking for the biggest bang for our buck.
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