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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
ejresch
13 posts
 
Another inexpensive cable you might want to try is the Bettercables Siver Serpent Digital. 30 day money back policy and only runs around $80/meter.

About a year ago I had one meter lengths of the following cables and tested them by using the dual digital output of my transport, going back and forth. Illuminations D-60, Bettercables Silver Serpent, Canare L-77, Cardas Lightning. I wanted to hear a difference between cables, but differences I thought I heard were proven wrong as I could not differentiate when a friend did the switching and I did the guessing. Long story short, I kept the Silver Serpent and Canare cables and am satisfied that for my ears (and equipment) they are every bit as good as the more expensive cables.
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
I'm with Tobias--when it's there--well, it's there.I have been burning in a no name(that I can remember);cable for 7 days straight.--You know, a 750 value for 125,used)-Then I went back to the big buck Syn Rea. cable. You just kind of jump out of your chair--- only the hearing impaired can't hear the dif.Actually the music was playing during this cable change and when you come out from behind the rack the dif is "there"-tons of it.
jeff_jones
418 posts
 
Tobias - think my last note was submitted before your note was posted, certainly didn't mean not honest as in not truthful.
Anyway, there is an old saying that I like, "In God we trust, everyone else needs data".
An honest blind test would be something like;
1. You have someone connect cable x in your system and write that down.
2. You listen & write down whether you think you are listening to cable x or cable Y.
3. You walk away and have the other person flip a coin, heads they swap cable x for cable y, tails they don't.
4. You repeat steps 2 and 3 enough times to be comfortable with the results (random chance says you will be right 50% of the time so you want a few reps. to take away the chance of being fooled by probability). Someone who remembers the statistics formulas could give you an estimate on the probability of accuracy based on sample size, if anyone does the test maybe we can get a statistician type to chime in.
5. If you are right 100% of the time, it would be hard for a reasonable person to argue with you. If we really wanted to be anal about it, the same kind of test should be independently verified once or twice, but since this is probably less important than cold fusion I say that is overkill.
Best Regards.
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
While there are many changes that are the kind where it does "this" better/ and "that"; not quite as well. Then there are changes that just make you smile. I like to smile and don't feel the need for blind testing to confirm why I'm smiling.--My ears;my money; my smile.This hobby can drive you crazy mixing and matching---when you find what it is that makes you smile;don't fight it--enjoy it.---It's ok to do this with both eyes wide open; and nobody trying to water down that smile; is good thing.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
In the case of my cable test, the difference was so obvious that there was no hesitation whatsoever in saying which one was better and why. There were absolutely no disadvantages in using a 1.5 meter cable, only advantages.

I went to some expense and trouble to do the test so that I could be sure there was no self-deception, spending extra money to make up a second cable I was not sure I would be using. This was worth doing, to me, because the result claimed was counterintuitive. In all my previous experience, shorter has been better. However that was the case with analog connections, not digital. My previous tries with digital cables had involved improved cable quality, not different lengths.

Still, I am glad to know how a blind test should be set up. When the pal who helped me with the last test gets back to town, we ought to set one up with the same cables again, and see if we learn anything new.
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