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Help me pick a digital cable

What is a good digital cable for about $150 USD (max 200).

I am looking for a neutral cable that is very open sounding.

I will need RCA connections and will go between my Parasound (CEC) 2000 belt driven transport and my Wadia DAC.

Also what is people experience with 1m vrs 1.5 meter lengths. I read the article written by Steve at Empirical audio. Has anyone compared 1m to 1.5?

Cheers,
Nick
nickway
bigkidz
3,413 posts
 
Buy a used Audience digital cable. All the others are very good too. The difference being you can resell the Audience if you don't like it, the others don't seem to have a big resale value.

Happy Listening.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Jeff_jones, I have performed the test you ask about. I used Apogee Wyde Eye in 1-meter and 1.5-meter lengths. I made the cables up using Canare RCA connectors and 2% silver solder. A pal and I did listening tests using his Theta transport and Kora DAC, and my TEAC transport and Apogee DAC.

The difference was notable in terms of sound source positioning and delineation, depth and width of soundstage, orchestral focus and cohesion. In general terms, the music was less confused, more coherent, with the longer cable. We had no doubt that longer was better.

Higher quality cable does make a difference. In some ways I preferred a 0.5-meter Zu Ash to a 1-meter Wyde Eye. However the 1.5-meter Wyde Eye would have been my choice even over the more expensive Zu, if the Zu cable were just a half meter long.

Chadnliz, the Steve you refer to is of course Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio. His moniker here is audioengr.
jeff_jones
418 posts
 


Agreed, but was wondering if any of you had done an honest blind test to verify that there is a difference. The mind plays tricks on us all, and that is in no way intended to be insulting. Really just am very very curious if anyone has done a legitimate & repeatable test using sound experimintal methods.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Goodness, Jeff_jones, I'm shocked. Are you saying my test wasn't honest? ;o) Why, I'm the soul of accuracy in all things.

Actually, kidding aside, I would welcome the description of anyone else's minutely rigorous blind A-B test. The results in the test I describe above were so obvious and clear to me and my pal that we felt we needed to go no further into testing. The difference in sound quality was large, the buying decision was plain as day. One pleasant surprise was how good an economy cable like the Wyde Eye could sound, as long as it was the right length.

Jeff_jones, would it be a bother for you to post a detailed procedure for conducting the kind of repeatable blind test of digital cable lengths you might find legitimate? I might learn something from this...
nickway OP
168 posts
 
Hi Guys,

Just wondering, between the Moray James Digital coax and the Stereovox which do you think would be better?

Cheers,
Nick
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