BEST DIGITAL AES/EBU CABLES - 2011

It's been a while since I have had other digital cables but I spent a great deal of time auditioning prior to selecting the MA-X. For me, it was simply better at everything and the gap was not a small one. Both the Sextet and Emotion are very nice cables as is the Valhalla but none of them produced the level of detail and even more so, image placement, that the MA-X did. Some of the comments above describing the Sextet as musical, rich and full sounding is very much what I heard as well. It produced a massive stage in my system and is overall quite pleasant. The Emotion is very similar, slightly less detailed and less articulate in the lower registrars.

At this level it is important to spend time with these cables in your own system. I think you will find that they all have different character's so it becomes a subjective choice. I'm a detail freak....Spectral/MIT/Wilson/Berkeley so the MA-X fits my taste well. Others prefer some bloom and more warmth and could care less about getting exactly what was done on the recording. Many many flavors for many many tastes....

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your great input. As described the Kubala-Sosna is for people who love very warm sound...
As I love details (though I am not freak ;=)) and neutral sound (why I love Millenium MK IV), you can easily make differences with different component (pc or interconnect).

...how you would describe MIT vs. Sextet in case of neutrality and instruments sounding close to real?
...Is MIT able to deliver instruments warmth or is MIT a lot of dynamics and details leaning a little bit more analytical side comparing to Sextet?

...Frankly saying if we assume that system is E2E a very neutral sounding from recordings point, but instruments should take a little step forward sounding a more real which one you would recommend?
(Taking guitar and playing it vs. recording)

Sorry that I tried to approach a same thing from different angles, but hopefully you understand what I am looking for ;=)

Yes, we audiophiles have different tastes, but there are also the people who share the same taste ;=) My perfect audio nirvana is that instruments e.g. guitar sound close to real and neutral (warmth sound is there when it is there) even I would played myself at the same time when playing the same song from front end (source) ;=)

Ijarvile....I really am not sure, it's been some time since I had other cables here. I definitely found the MA-X more true to the source. My system does produce very "real" sounding instruments and I suppose the digital cable is an influence but all of my gear was selected for accuracy so it's also a sum of the parts.

Do let us know the outcome of your trials.

I have all JPS Aluminata in the studio. I've tried lots of cable from Mogami to Transparent.

Ij,

Did you get to here the ASI cable?