I want a change, but what?

I use a Zu Ash digital cable and I like it a lot, but it cost more than the one you have. I think the Ash can be bettered, but not at the promo price I paid on eBay and probably not at list either. I agree that your front end justifies a better cable.

I have yet to test Audioengr (Steve Nugent)'s contention that 1.5m is better than 0.5m length, when it comes to digital. However I do feel I need to test it, since it appears to depend on poor transport design. I would like to think that is not a given.

I am using an Apogee DA-1000E-20 DAC with my Zu Ash cable. It has balanced outs and, with its power supply, goes for $400-$600 on eBay. I am quite happy with its impact and detail.

If you get the chance, let us know what changes you make, and the results.

Hello Steve, thanks very much for responding. I humbly aver that I did read the article; however, "poor transport design" is my own interpretation of the situation. In other words, I consider the manufacturers' practice, which you describe as "designing-in the slower than necessary 25 nanosecond rise-time", to be poor design because it appears to be an intentional handicap of their products' potential.

Of course, you imply that without this design approach, which I call handicapping (if not kneecapping), the products would not reach the market at all. Under such conditions the manufacturers' approach is understandable, if unfortunate.

You write that you "have never seen impedance control on any Transport or DAC circuit board. " Have you tested a good many stock transports to find that they all have the slow rise time "bug", or is there a "good" group? If so, is Stereo's Proceed in it? How about my own TEAC VRDS T1?

I am interested in any way to be certain that I need to spend twice as much as I thought, or more, on a longer high-end digital cable.

Stereo, I'm not sure either. I have never had a digital cable longer than one meter. When I upgraded my present cable, I went from a 1-meter Wyde Eye to a half-metre Ash. I got more focus, detail and timbral accuracy, and that helped my perception of the bass, certainly. Going to my present DAC made much more difference in extension and energy at the low end, though.

Steve Nugent is a very competent engineer. His advice is worth considering carefully, and although his modding service is not cheap, his clients say you get what you pay for. If you contacted him , he might suggest a way to get more slam out of your current DAC. I really don't know if that would be the most cost-effective way, or how it would affect your DAC's resale value if you ever wanted to move up.

Your second digital cable sounded worse, and it was a short one. It may not have represented a big enough step up. Price is not an indication, BTW--I've listened to one or two very costly cables I thought way overpriced, and one or two I didn't.

There are three of us who look at your list of gear and say the quality of your cable could be improved, and one who seems to be saying it is the cable's length that is most important. Beyond that, Steve Nugent seems to be suggesting your source could use some work. I haven't heard the AN DACs, so I would be guessing if I said your DAC lacked slam. (Steve has heard them--the DAC 4 at least, because he mods it.) I have no problem with the slam of my own DAC, but YMMV.

It would cost you $69 plus shipping, according to Zu's page, to test a 1.5m Firemine, minus resale of the cable you don't keep ; less if you win a promo auction. You might still be looking for more slam afterwards. So it goes.

I'll try 1 meter vs. 1.5 meters of Wyde Eye ( I'm such a skeptic ) in the next week or so, and post the result. I bet I prefer my Ash, and will continue to suggest you try one, but we'll see.

I have finally made up two Apogee Wyde Eye digital cables, identical except for length. They are breaking in right now, but my initial impression is that Steve Nugent is right, and there is an improvement with a 1.5 meter cable over one meter of the same thing.

I'll post with details in a separate thread once I get through testing. I'll title the thread "One meter digital vs. 1.5m--is Steve Nugent right?"

This looks very interesting. It's always fun when something counterintuitive turns out to be fact.

Hey, a transport kit--what a fascinating idea. I'll research this for sure. And you built one... congrats! How did the construction go?