So What Is Real?


There is a newsletter I subscribe to because the guy seems to talk about reality and not what some sales dude wants to sell you. mwaldrep@aixrecords.com   Now the funny thing to me is that all these cable specialists of high dollar remedies for flawed playback are somehow going to magically change what you hear and will then rise above the abilities of the music file limitations and recording engineers. A dumb wire that is used to create the hi-res recordings so sought after is not somehow suitable for the playback of the same. The following is from Waldreps newsletter and I fully agree. I love this guy and he is a light shining through all the smoke and mirror BS of high end audio. I confess I too am a cable denier and incapable of hearing " further uptick in micro-dynamic jump " but love the delicious word salad these guys create to try to describe something that is not there. I can see the cable guy sitting there with his buddy. Wow did you hear that uptick in micro-dynamics!!  You just know that's how he would talk, right?
  As an aside here how does one become a professional listener? What is the criteria for attaining this lofty goal? How do you know when you have arrived and what governing authority sets down the requirements for such a thing so you know  you are not deceiving yourself and others? Is it a nebulous category that is assigned to you when you spend a certain level of money or do you have verifiable and provable abilities above the norm as recognized by a large group of people including recording industry engineers, professional sound installers and high end audio system owners? In other words anyone but cable sellers?

  The following is from "Dr. AIX Post for January 25, 2020"

 " Cable Nonsense

What is it that Art Linkletter used to say? Kids say the darndest things. Well, it seems some FB audio group administrators, audiophiles, high-end audio salespersons, audiophile society officials, and manufacturers also say things that make little or no sense when talking or posting about cables.

I usually steer clear of FB posts or online magazines that promote high-end audio cables. It's just never safe to present with science, established electrical engineering theory and practice, or objectiveness when cables are concerned. A recent exchange on a familiar FB audio group page resulted in a member calling me a "cable denier" because I advocated for science and physics in evaluating power cords.

The thread basically dismissed my comments because I'm a member of the professional audio engineering community. Audio equipment salespeople, FB administrators, high-end audio marketing managers, and the general audio buying public are claimed to be better and more reliable sources of information when it comes to recommending expensive accessories and cables. According to the gentleman below, they are capable of listening in ways that audio professionals can not.

One commenter wrote:

"Mark is a pro and speaks just like one, but he is not a professional LISTENER, like you (Writer's NOTE: the guy offering the ultra expensive power cords), I and so many others in the high-end industry. Interesting is that most so-called experts are also naysayers who work in the recording industry, not in the high-end industry."

What does this statement actually claim? That professional audio engineers and producers do not know how to listen? That spending one's professional life in front of speakers in a control room doesn't require listening?Maybe...just maybe...the engineers responsible for producing the recordings that are played back in these guys high-end systems are correct in their assessment of power cords and expensive USB/Ethernet cables. Image that!

Can you really trust a gentlemen that just launched a new cable company that offers a 6-foot power cord for $3150? Oh and this person also believes that cables are directional! BTW They are not.

Here's a couple of additional comments...

"Cables can make a difference. I’m glad I can hear those differences it truly enhances the experience. I have been a dedicated audiophile and in the industry for over 45 years and have been able to identify those differences since my first experience with Smog Lifters in the 70’s. I search for and usually discover great products that deserve special attention by people looking for the last bit of resolution and coherency. I’m truly sorry for those that wouldn’t hear the difference."

Here's a comment from an individual that swapped a normal Ethernet cable for an expensive one.

"...the Vodka seemed to remove a layer of film for superior textural reveal. There was also a shade more tonal depth and recording space ‘air’. Most noticeable of all was a further uptick in micro-dynamic jump."

I don't know about you but I cringe when I hear people talk about audio in such terms. And this after listening to a commercial album and then stopping, swapping the cable and relistening. It's unbelievable.

I could pull quotes from cable reviews all afternoon but I think you get the point. When anyone starts spewing nonsense about power cords, digital interconnects, or network cables, run away. Keep your wallet in your pocket and unsubscribe from that group or online magazine. Their motivations are suspect. They either want to sell you something (usually at very high cost) or are dependent on advertising dollars from the companies they write about or the individuals they interview.

"
mahlman
I stand corrected. I held an audio cable up today and everything ran out the end onto the floor. I had no idea it was turned the wrong way.

" Superior reproduction equipment allows one to better hear what is on the recording. It all starts with the recording, hardly a moot point. The capabilities of High End gear to reproduce music is in general far superior to the sound quality contained in the vast majority of recordings. "

I  agree 100% with that.

" "How does one become a professional listener?"

Give yourself a mental enema. I am not sure you are capable
of this... "
Sure a great reply that does not answer the question I was asking in all seriousness. I want to know, if being a professional listener is the only way to accurately judge cables how do you do this? I want to know there is more than look at how much I have spent garbage behind that comment from someone who want to sell 3500 cables.
We had a term for the challenged listener:

” a short between the head sets “

@bdp24 makes a most excellent point and I would add the Chesky produced records with crystal microphone cable....
Are you serious about becoming a more astute listener? There is a search function, I know at least one thread this subject with some very well thought out posts.... 

start there


IMO ya also need some self awareness and the cruel but accurate SPL meter, few audiophile have the tools :-) 
Let's see now. A better amp can improve the original recording's "signal" as well as a better source. We've all seen and heard it be it analog or digital. No one argues with that. I'm not talking about manipulating the signal with higher rez: just using the original recording.

And here we have a cable, which is, in effect,  a capacitor, and having a better made one can't bring out more in the original recording like a better amp or source can?

How can you take both sides of the argument when it suits your fancy?

Using the old, lousy cables in the recording chain messes with what is heard at the time. Most of that signal made it intact at the receiving end, despite the quality of the cable used at the time. So, just like a better amp or source that can extract that extra ounce, so, a better cable can unmask more of the signal which was always there.

The argument that better cables can't replace what inferior cables did at the time of the recording presupposes that those were lousy cables used at the time of the recording. Thanks for admitting that.


All the best,
Nonoise