Acoustic Zen Silver Bytes digital cable

Don't mean to complicate things but recently I saw an A'goner here selling a Silver Byte and in the ad claimed that Acoustic Zen told him/her that when using RCA connectors the Silver Byte was superior to the MC2 which was really designed for balanced use? Have any of you guys heard this?

I'm curious about this because I'm thinking of trying an AZ Silver Byte also.

Tooter,

That's a first for me. I've never heard that one. One way to find out is to contact Robert Lee at Acoustic Zen.

InfoZen@AcousticZen.com

One thing to consider though. A couple years ago, I bought a BAT VK3i to pair with my BAT VK200. I was at the time and still am using exclusively Acoustic Zen interconnects, but they were all single ended. On the advice of Victor Khomenko of Balanced Audio Technology I bought a balanced version of the Matrix Ref II to run in between the VK3i and VK200. When I compared the sound when switching between an RCA Matrix Ref II and a balanced version I could hear no difference at all.

If you peruse the discussion forums you'll find examples of people realizing huge sonic gains when connecting gear designed to be used in balanced configuration, so I was shocked I detected no difference. When I mentioned this in the forums someone remarked that it's possible the Acoustic Zen Matrix II with XLR termination wasn't a true balanced design. I never confirmed this either way, but it is something to consider when someone says that the MC2 was designed to be used as a balanced connection. It would be best to ask AZ directly.

Good luck!

Tooter, I've heard this too with exception that both are equally good with neither being superior when talking about RCA type link. What I heard was silver byte was designed to be RCA type and MC2 to be XLR type, so between these 2 in RCA version, silver byte should be as good as MC2. I will research this further, but according to folks who replied to my post, they heard noticable improvement when switching from silver bytes to mc2. I guess it also depends on a system it is being used in. It may give different results in different systems, but it is kind of interesting to compare the 2. I will try and do that in next few weeks.

You're probably right. It really depends on the system, and the listener as to which they'll prefer.

Would the Silver Byte be better suited to a warmer, laid back system than the MC2?