Another cable question

There are lots of variables involved, every situation is different, and it’s also extremely subjective. We can offer opinions and insights on what’s worked in scenarios we’re familiar with, but you’re the only who’s really going to be able to find the final solution through some experimentation.

My only experience with solid silver is that it is indeed brighter sounding by way of somewhat more pronounced upper midrange and treble vs the copper cables I’ve tried. (I haven’t tried a silver coated copper yet) My solid silver cables can be either a blessing or a curse depending on what else is happening in the system. During Christmas my poor speakers get shoved unceremoniously into the corners, and the right speaker ends up behind the Christmas tree, and it audibly obscures output from that speaker in the upper regions. My solution this year was to literally use the solid silver on the right side between the DAC and preamp, and my usual copper cable on the left, and it balanced things out enough that I could at least live with it temporarily...it can make that much of a difference. Now that the tree is gone, I’m finding these solid silver cables are just a bit too much for my tastes, and have gone back to the copper.

There was an upside with the silver, but a little bright can go a long way sometimes was ultimately just a bit over the top for my tastes on this system. The good news is that a nicer set of upgraded copper cables are coming soon for between the amp and preamp...we’ve previously experimented with these and they offered a cleaner smoother sounding treble, which might just pave the way to get the solid silver back between the DAC and preamp....we shall see.

Best of luck on figuring out your sweet spot!

@bikeboy52 

If you’d like to try some pure silver RCA analog interconnects, here is what I have gone to without breaking the bank. The wire is 18 ga single conductor solid silver, and in my experience is not bright, but has excellent transparency, detail, and ease.  Can be done for about $200 a set, if you can solder (I use Cardas solder). 
 

One set of AECO  gold plated copper RCA connectors:   

Enough 18 ga wire with “similar size semi-clear teflon jacket” ($6.98/ft) for four leads of the length you need (two leads per channel):   https://www.tempoelectric.com/cables_DIY.htm

I just braid the leads loosely together with enough separation to reach connectors at the ends. 
 

Good luck!

When you decided to add a ddc was that decision make in chasing a specific SQ change or was it driven by the want to be connected via I2s?

It was purely to get to take advantage of my DAC’s i2S input.  Frankly, I went in kinda blind and not knowing what to expect, but the improvements were significant and immediately obvious.  

@bikeboy52 one more thought based on my personal experience…making vinyl and digital sound the same…do not chase that. Acknowledge the fact that the vinyl will most likely sound different. If you do get your vinyl and digital to sound the same, you will most likely be discouraged from playing records because why would you, with the associated maintenance and care plus inconvenience to get up and flip the record when you just barely relaxed and got the whole soundstage thing going, bother with vinyl if both types of media sounded equally good? Another aspect of trying to achieve the same level of performance from vinyl and digital is you’re going to end up neither here nor there unless you have more or less unlimited funds.
Just something to think about. I know the thoughts to focus one a single type of media/technology, in my case it’s the streaming, crosses my mind very frequently.

@bikeboy52 I'm both a DH Labs and Aurender dealer. I like the Mirage USB cable a lot for the money. I even purchased a Synergistic Research Galileo SX USB cable, as I do utilize the Galileo SX line for most of my loom. I could not tell the difference between the two, so I sold the Galileo SX USB cable off. That said, since the Pontus reclocks signal anyway, you may want to consider using a coax cable instead of USB. The origin clock inside the N200 is quite good, and reclocking it with the Pontus is likely even better. In my experience, Coax and AES have been my continued source interface, producing a thicker, more effortless sound, as I find USB to be more fragile and brittle with Aurender.

That said, for interconnects, the DH Labs Air Matrix Cryo interconnects are really quite good for the money. I prefer it over their more expensive pure silver Revelation and equate its performance to be close or equivalent to the $2K+ Synergistic Research Atmophere Level III cables. Cerious Technologies Graphene Matrix interconnects are also quite good and can be had for $700 or less on the used market. They retail for $1400, though. Any other cables I'd recommend go even higher than that. Both suggestions will be much more open and revealing than your Absolute Copper. I used a few of them early on in my journey and found them to be too rounded on the top and closed in / stuffy.

Another thought for cabling on digital - power might be even more important than the interconnect. The digital signal is incredibly delicate, and proper delivery of current without any peaks will result in a more revealing and more fatigue-free experience.

Last, the N200 is quite a good unit, and one of my favorites in the Aurender line, but it may not deliver the body of a $50K vinyl rig. I've compared the N200 to the N20 to the N30SA (all of which I've had on my floor at one time) and will say that the N200 gets you really far compared to most other streamers, the N20 gets you awfully close to reference level, and the N30SA at reference level is typically not worth it for 90+% of audiophiles. If I had never heard the N30SA, I would be quite happy with the N20. It takes some pretty serious critical listening to discern between the two. The difference is much more obvious when comparing the N200 to the N20.

Hope all of this is helpful.

Juan
Bliss Hifi