2. cables
  3. 128927-305

Most Important, Unloved Cable...

Ethernet. I used to say the power cord was the most unloved, but important cable. Now, I update that assessment to the Ethernet cable. Review work forthcoming. 

I can't wait to invite my newer friend who is an engineer who was involved with the construction of Fermilab, the National Accelerator Lab, to hear this! Previously he was an overt mocker; no longer. He decided to try comparing cables and had his mind changed. That's not uncommon, as many of you former skeptics know. :)

I had my biggest doubts about the Ethernet cable. But, I was wrong - SO wrong! I'm so happy I made the decision years ago that I would try things rather than simply flip a coin mentally and decide without experience. It has made all the difference in quality of systems and my enjoyment of them. Reminder; I settled the matter of efficacy of cables years before becoming a reviewer and with my own money, so my enthusiasm for them does not spring from reviewing. Reviewing has allowed me to more fully explore their potential.  

I find fascinating the cognitive dissonance that exists between the skeptical mind in regard to cables and the real world results which can be obtained with them. I'm still shaking my head at this result... profoundly unexpected results way beyond expectation. Anyone who would need an ABX for this should exit the hobby and take up gun shooting, because your hearing would be for crap.  
douglas_schroeder
Post removed 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
dynaquest wrote,

"Geoff chastises for "appealing to authority" and then he immediately turns around and "appeals" the the "authority" of three, random, unidentified cable reviewers. Who, since they said the cable made a huge difference, it must therefore be true. Baloney."

>>>>>>You don’t even know what an appeal to authority is, do you? You don’t know what empirical evidence is either as we shall see below.

Then dynaquest wrote,

""Appeals to authority are not valid arguments, but nor is it reasonable to disregard the claims of experts who have a demonstrated depth of knowledge unless one has a similar level of understanding and/or access to empirical evidence." Which Geoff does not."

>>>>But I do have access to empirical evidence. I just provided it. Hel-loo! You know, the 3 guys without impaired hearing. Duh! You apparently don’t know what empirical evidence is, either. That's two strikes. ⚾️ ⚾️ I can throw them slower for you, just let me know.


jetter
3,116 posts
 
I was just hoping that Geoff wasn't going to give a pop quiz like he did yesterday.  But don't you know it, now he is testing to see if we know what empirical evidence is.  Lets see, does it have something to do with "The Empire Strikes Back"?
jinjuku's avatar
jinjuku
226 posts
 
Empirical evidence is obviously what Geoff says it is. I can't wait for his rebuttal video where he, without realizing it, refers to himself in the 1st person. 
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,491 posts
 
I can see how a different cable could make a difference but ONLY with crap equipment. Just consider that there are electrical signals coming in and going out through the ethernet port.

If your audio device is crap then presumably the simple act of receiving a burst of signal or transmitting a burst of signal on the ethernet port may disrupt or add noise to the analog output. (Like transformer hum 60Hz power supply noise that somehow makes it to the analog out)

For such a crap device, perhaps a different cable will be less noisy who knows... it is hard to conclude anything with such poorly designed and constructed equipment. 

The key is to understand that properly designed equipment will ensure that ethernet communications are totally isolated from the analog output. This is a MAJOR design requirement for a good DAC - just like channel separation, THD+N and other specifications - a GOOD design isolates everything that is not audio (power supply, physical vibration, remote control interface etc) from contaminating the analog output.


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