Another cable question


Please don’t respond to this if you are a non believer. Just wanted to know if anyone has had a good experience with silver or silver/ copper blend out from they’ve Dac. Currently using older Acustic Zen absolute copper. There has been a number of members saying good things about silver for digital front ends and I think I,d like to give it a try. Streamer is Aurender N200 using DH labs mirage two feeding Pontus two. Budget is $700 max and it’s seems there are a number of cables in that range, thx in advance and happy New Year!

bikeboy52

First, I have a Musician Pegasus that is a very close relative of your Pontus ll, and when I bought a DDC that allowed me to feed it with its God-given i2S input — game changer. Even using a bargain-basement 6” HDMI cable like this (and yeah, you wanna use a short an HDMI cable as possible for audio) the improvement was immediate and significant.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13578

I’d buy this DDC cause it’s basically a Denafrips Iris (that I own) clone and much cheaper…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275587756830

Once you get this taken care of, you should explore AZ Silver Reference interconnects. They Da Bomb! They don’t sound like silver. They don’t sound like copper. They just SOUND. Here are some used examples, but if you can find some used Silver Ref l or ll you’ll be very well served. Just my experience FWIW.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649934003-acoustic-zen-technologies-silver-reference-absolute/images/4226752/

@bikeboy52 

Not that I’m a total “non believer” there are facts in play when it comes to wire/cable. Silver will provide less resistance than Copper but the delta is not great- so with straight silver you will see more conductance. If you go with a blend (Silver plated Copper) your really splitting hairs. 
Be sure you’re aware of the final gauge of the cable as well- especially with Silver or plated Copper as some of the more exotic cables will reduce gauge when changing from Copper. If you drop wire size you’ll end up with more resistance which will defeat the purpose of trying Silver in the first place.  
IMHO- Belden 1694A is about the most bulletproof digital cable you can buy.

@bikeboy52 

I’m using DH Labs Silversonic Mirage USB from my streamer to a Pontus ll and am very happy with it. Are you using the USB output on your N200? What are you looking to change by changing cables?

@kota1 thanks everyone! Lots to consider. Kota1 when you set your path to add the ddc and cable was it to just be able to connect via I2s? or was there a specific change in SQ that you were aiming for by connecting that way? IDK if the exchange rate is favorable right now or what but that upgrade of an Iris and basic hdmi cable is maybe $600 all in, It was one of the changes I was looking into also, thanks again everyone!

My experience has been positive with simple, solid silver wiring from DH Labs.

I have tried silver plated copper and found it starts bright, and then seems to change and sound exactly like copper. 

YMMV.