2. cables
  3. 188391-5140

Yes, cables do make a difference -- regardless of price...

I thought you may find this interesting…or not.  I know, another "cable post".  Disclaimer up front — I am a believer that cables can make a difference in the sound that you hear from your system.  With my speakers, like most high(er) efficiency speakers, I can hear large and small changes made to the system components — and cables are part of that system.

What I want to share is an exercise that I went through with my better half in setting up her recording equipment that she will be using to record audio books.  The hardware part of the system is simple:  Audio Technica Cardioid Condenser Microphone AT2035 connected with a XLR cable to the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 preamp.

We started with the XLR cable that came with the microphone and recorded the short introduction of the book she has been contracted to record.  Then she recorded the same section using each of the our XLR cables I have on hand:  Vovox Excelsus, Mogami 2549, Gotham GAC-3, and Grimm TPR. Each of the cables have the same Neutrik connector and are very good studio cables that I have used in my system at one time.

Listening through headphones via the Scarlett 2i2, it was super easy to hear distinct differences in these cables.  The differences were not small and very apparent.  In the end, the Mogami cable was the winner — it seemed more open and warmer than the other cables and suited the tone of her voice the best. I have heard similar differences from these cables in my stereo system but not to the significant degree borne out by this exercise. 

To keep going, today I replaced the $10 USB C to C cable that I bought as an “upgrade” from the Scarlett 2i2 to a MacBook Air with a $70 Audioquest Forest cable. We were more than surprised that with the AQ cable in the system the drop of the noise floor was very significant and the blackness of background made the sound even more crystal clear.

The purpose of this post is not to promote or compares cables, just a public service posting for those of you who do not believe cables make a difference.  They really do affect how your system sounds (positive or negative) and if you cannot hear a difference then maybe looking at the transparency of your system is a place you should examine.

Imagine peace everyone.

crozbo

Showing 1 response by minkwelder

minkwelder
255 posts
 

I got involved in an argument on another site with an electrical engineer claiming that, as long as the cable is of a sufficient gauge, there can be no difference. He was, undoubtedly, referring to the ampacity of the wire which doesn't take into consideration the effect on an audio signal. 

I used the example of electric guitar pickups to illustrate the kinds of differences one might expect. Early pickup bobbins were hand-wound (AKA scatter-wound) in a random manner which caused a very unique, desirable type of distortion that could not be duplicated with the more uniform machine winding.

Likewise, in audio cables, there are different methods to wind wire which affect the reproduction of various frequencies and, hopefully, minimize distortions throughout the audible bands.

I don't think I convinced him but the truth remains that changing audio cables does change the sound. Whether it's better or worse is up to your ears.  

More to discover