Why do digital cables sound different?

****"Why is it so darn difficult for some people to accept the simple fact that some listeners have better hearing ability than others; wether because of physiological differences, experience, or training? "

ITs not hard to accept that, but knowing who those people are for sure can be a challenge.****

Does it really matter who those people are? Seems to me that if we accept that simple reality, then one can go about the business of trying this cable (or whatever) or that cable to see if we can hear those differences; and if those differences constitute an IMPROVEMENT in our estimation. Bottom line: we accept that differences exist and if someone else wants to kid himself about a particular difference, who cares? The key is to keep an open mind about the possibilities. If we can't hear a difference we should just move on. We spend so much time disputing what someone else claims to hear. Why?

I agree with Frogman, If someone claims they can hear the difference and are willing to spend the money, Thats great, it's their money and ears. I for one, do hear differences. I have had to train myself to UNDERSTAND what i am listening for. For example I find that evaluating spdif cables is way different that evaluating IC's. Also, I have compared speaker cables where I heard minimal differences and returned them so sometimes you win sometimes you lose.

Some people, convinced that digital cables cannot make any difference, claim that people who can have to be under influence of placebo effect. They don't realize that their strong conviction makes them unable to hear the difference because of negative placebo effect.

I am convinced that digital cables can make a difference, but in practice to date, I find that the differences attributable to cables I have used alone are not nearly as significant as many other factors and that once I have a handle on the big fish I do not find much to inspire me to tackle testing different digital cables alone. Its just not been worth it in my case to date, not to say it may or may not be for others.

A friend lent me 4 digital cables. 3 sounded the same but one sounded very different. You just have to find there "one"