At 150 hours I'd put the Belden first with the Viablue a close second.
ghentaudio Ethernet cable review-wow-90 bucks
I had been reviewing ethernet cables threads on AG and noticed a couple of members recommending ghentaudio as a reasonable and valuable upgrade. I am not a flat earther so I was open to spending up to $1000 for a cable in a cable shootout from the cable company. I had been using the ethernet cable that was shipped with my dCS Bartok. I decided to order the Belden CAT6 with Metz ends from ghentaudio. I'm listening to it right now and it is significantly better than my standard cable. I will not be looking for another ethernet cable for a while for sure. The biggest gain is in the depth of image, good improvement! Its sonically slightly more detailed, and musical. These improvements are not huge, but they are audible to me. I would also mention that its very well made and the steel ends are impressive, however I don't really care how it looks, its how it sounds. Thanks to whoever clued me in to this cable. To the bit non-believers, it's 90 bucks, give it try, I think you will be glad you did. This was 90 bucks well spent. BTW it took 25 days to get to me, so you might want the upgraded shipping.
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I got the Sablon today and only have 3 hours on it. It's got that tizzy new cable thing going, but the imaging is deep and wide, bass is solid, decay very good. I didn't give the Belden a fair burn in as I really liked the musically engaging sound of the ViaBlue as soon as I tried it. The Belden was very detailed as you say and that is very worth pursuing the burn in it needs. I'm not to proud to say I am probably suffering from expectation bias. I didn't expect anything much from the first cable the Belden and was really impressed, then expected the ViaBlue to be better, and then the $400 Sablon, thinking it would be better yet. I am going to slow down and stop buying ethernet cables. I did put a deposit on a dCS Vivaldi stack so in a few weeks I'll have a more resolving digital system to re-evaluate these cables. I think this happens to crows when they see a shiny thing on the ground! I'm going to shut up and listen for a bit! Thanks to everyone for the help! |
I'm guilty of that as well. I find the ViaBlue to be the least fatiguing of the 3 cables and tonight that made it my preferred cable. In fact, it had me thinking of trying to find a cable that is even less fatiguing. Did the EtherREGEN significantly reduce the sibilance and digital sharpness in your system? |
You flipped on me! Were you testing me???? Absolutely! The Etheregen was a massive positive for my streamer. In reducing sibilance, was way more musical(took away the digital flatness), and enhanced imaging. Way more than the difference between these digital cables. That said I read a lot about the other switches available but didn't try any of them. The others seemed to be the same old technology with better parts and chassis. The Etheregen had a different approach. As I mentioned before the fact that I tried feeding it with fiber and then copper CAT 6 and heard no difference proved to me that the MOAT concept worked. The unit is made well, and is very well priced, but is so small and light the ethernet cables push it all over. I would pay at least 300 more for it to be in a high quality big heavy case to make it stable. It's literally hanging in the air in back of my rack. (maybe it sounds better like that!) Buy the Etheregen, especially if you have not upgraded your switch yet. So back at you. You like the ViaBlue better than the broken in Sablon 2020, as I'm liking the Sablon a lot already. |
I’m definitely going to buy the Etheregen. The Sablon cable isn’t very flexible so I can imagine it’s physically imposing itself on the ER. I wasn’t testing you :). I just started getting listener fatigue tonight about 2 hours in so the ViaBlue became my cable of choice at the end of the session. All three cables are good but, as the song goes, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. I’m going to hold off experimenting with more cables until I get the ER in my system. Since you like non-mainstream cable companies that offer just a single model of ethernet cable, have you heard of this one: https://triodewirelabs.com/product/freedom-ethernet-cable/ |
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