A sounds better to my ears without knowing which is which. With cable B, the guitar is a mess and vocals less clear. Also there is more hiss noise with cable B.
Right now I'm a big fan of Blue Jean Cables because they seem to be well built for the price and share a lot of specs (their interconnects the LC-1 has super low capacitance). Maybe one day I'll try even more expensive and see if I can tell a difference but I feel better using something above the cheap amazon/monoprice cables.
Initially I thought A sounded better and more open, and the first switch to B made it sound "squashed". But after more listening I realized that B was much more "full bodied", and the "openness" I thought I was hearing with A was just a result of the brightness and the lack of bass. Personally I think you only need to spend around £30 to get properly good cables. You just need something well made and properly shielded.
I thought A was better as well. That was my gut feel. We can convince ourselves of anything when we feel we might have got it wrong and should have obviously chosen the "best" option.
B did sound compressed to me as well, my first thought was the static was much more present... Cable A sounded better on the first track because it picked up less detail and static... when the 2nd track came on it was the opposite and cable A's vocals were compressed while B had clearly more detail and resolution.... so in the end on a good track B indeed sounded better and A sounded better on when I could consider a near unlistenable track, shame he used track 1 I think it took away from his point/the experiment
@@gargleit2957I respectfully disagree. To my ears, both tracks were equally as good at showing the effects of a $2 cable. Thank you iiWi reviews for the excellent video.
In this case I knew there will be a difference before listening and there definitely was. What most people don't understand about cables is they don't add anything, they just take. The cheap cable has poor shielding if any thus the high noise (well, they can add in the case of noise), also has a higher resistance thus the weak lows, a poor cable can act a bit like a low pass filter or high pass filter so it will either make the sound warmer or bright *but that's by removing frequencies from the signal not adding to it, that what people need to understand!* You don't need to spend $200 to get good shielding and low resistance, as iiWi said the difference between that $10 and the expensive cables will be very hard to hear. Like anything in life avoid the cheap crap and don't go insane with diminishing returns and you'll be just fine.
Have you seen a shielded speaker cable? I'm sure you understand that shielding needs to be grounded to work? On the resistance you are totally right - best idea is to buy thicker low cost cable to allow for high currents.
@@frankabarca9189 I have Arya Stealth headphones, Geshelli Erish 2 amp and SMSL D300 dac. I was surprised how clear the difference was, especially in the vocals.
We need more people like you covering these topics - simply a great job. Keep on with the videos. Your methods of explaining some of the finer points of enjoying audio should help many of your viewers in making good choices. It makes the topics you cover so much more entertaining.
Ha ha... There is definitely an audible difference listening on my AKG275.. but guess what, I liked A 😂 my ears must be horrible 😁... But at the end of the day, I am surprised that cables do make so much of a difference 😳
I also make my own. They sound very good and cost very little to make once you have made the investment into good tools, cable, plugs, and good solder.
Audio cable is like wine. Most people will be happy with $5 bottle until they get the chance to taste $500 bottle. Even then, someone may still stick with the $5 bottle for one reason or other. But I am certain that the wine lover will be much more likely to find his/her favorite bottle in the $500 aisle than the $5 aisle. The $64k question is whether it is worth $495 more...
I tried many cables under £40. Audioquest, QED profile and pro, Amazon basics, Oelbachs silver ,Fisual . Mogami 2534 Quad cables worked the best for me. Apparently used by the pro music and film industry. Beware - I have realised cables need at least 50 hour burn in. Mogami recommends 75 hours plus for best results. At first I was disappointed, after burn in, I was happy. I was using for Pro- ject D amps.
Huge difference. Blindly, cable A sounded better. It sounded more forward, transparent and clearer. B sounded like somebody increased the mid tones and didn’t sound right to me at all. Much more hiss noise level. Interestingly, the moment you mention B was the more expensive one, mentally I try to rejustify everything, trying to change my perspective that B was actually better than A. I am pretty sure most people here did the exact same thing. Don’t kid ourselves guys!
To me, cable A sounded more forward and full in its presentation with a narrower soundstage while cable B sounded recessed with a wider soundstage. I tended to like cable A in the first track and cable B on the second track. Even after hearing which one was which, it didn’t really change my opinion or my preference. I’m sure the harshness you mentioned on cable A was more apparent in person but it wasn’t audible in this demo once it reached my end.
Those whom cant hear a differences, will try all their best to find scientific evidences and tests to convince others and assure themselves that there is no such thing....
actually it's not fear to compare trash cable with high end. it will be more interesting to compare smth which costs around $20-30 with the expensive one from your friend and I'm pretty sure we will not hear any difference in that case. I'm sure about that because I did the same tests for myself many times
The cheap ones sounded better, but I guess the point you tried to make is that there is a noticeable difference in audio between the two cables. Will have to sit in your sweet spot to really hear which is better. Cool experiment.
This was the first example of a cable making a difference. People saying cable "A" sounds better. I think they are only listening to the bass volume. Cable "B" opens up, like it is a completely different stereo all together. It became more spacious. I even heard something with the acoustic guitar in the right (Possibly Left, Think I had my headphones on backwards) in the first track change. It jumped out at me. Also it gave a very holographic soundstage in which cable "A" was very box-ie sounding. Cable "B" is where its at.
Very well done. Very simple experiment and pretty darn obvious. I will be upgrading my cheap generic cables to mid grade ones for all my setups. Totally agree with your comment about investment into good quality gear. 12:52 . Also agree with measurements comment at 13:36. It’s OK to believe our ears even if we can’t confirm with the current measurements. Laughed at “ for gods sake! “. Nice job overall.
Wow! Just Wow! Thank you so much for doing that my friend! I have already watched like 3 or 4 videos of yours (basically your cheap dacs reviews) but for this video alone,i just hit the subscribe button.For me,that was super informative! I knew speaker cables can make a huge difference,but interconnects? Wow! Being able to hear that via youtube...that much of a difference just from interconnects i did not expect! That was eye opening for me! Thank you so much!
Actually on my speaker setup song A sounds better. But thats a thing of the setup. I have listened on my old HP PC .... with my old Vintage amp and my new M Audio BX8 active monitors. They like a bit more harsh sound, because the setup is really warm but also washed out in combination. Cables depend mostly on youre system. I just bought Audioquest Evergreen cables because its said say make the highs and mids a bit cleaner, thats what my system needs. I use ketchup cables right now, lol.
There is a really tiny difference but does not justify the 200$ investment. One of the sound is tiny tiny tiny tiny bit "thicker" or "richer". May be is the shielding of radio frequency in the air wave, or close proximity to other EMF emitting equipment. A 20-30$ cable does all of the necessary shielding within the hearing range of human. Good job in presenting this topic, keep it up.
It just remind me my first cable change when started my journey with hi-fi system and that was Yamaha Piano Craft 20 years ago. And now thanks to your video I could hear exactly the same difference. And I have to tell you what. I am so glad you done it this way as I think nobody done it before. You can hear black and white the difference. Ofcourse set B sounded waaaaay better. Set A sounded completely flat like vintage radio. Set B sounded 3 dimensional even via YT. But couldn't really pick up any specific sharpness of the cheap cables on my headphones due to compressed signal on YT perhaps. BRAVO and thank you for this video. Amazing job. 👍🙃
Just me, but I heard a considerable difference. The beauty is you can create what sounds good to you... Who's to say what sounds good in your scull ?..... Have fun experimenting with sound. What a great gift of life !!!!
I think it's not a cable that sounds better than an other cable but It's more the Interaktion between the cable and the device that change the sound to a more or less audible degree. A cable between a CDplayer A and the amp may give the sound a little bit more dynamic than an other cable. But that does not mean you can hear that with CDplayer B connected to the same amp. At least that's my opinion after 40 years in the Hobby Hifi. It's always a little bit of try and error.
I thought the B had better tonality (less sharp). I notice this with IEM cables the cheaper ones produce a sharper sound. But with IEMs its not cost, you have find a great cable for cheap. But they do matter. I think Copper or silver plated is the level you want to get to (which isnt expensive). I dont believe pure silver is necessary
Some months ago i had the same issue. I used a very cheap (3€) 3.5mm cable and it destroyed the sound. It sounded very very bad. And a 12€ cable make feel like i had a new system...😁
Good demo, i use atlas interconnect equator RCA, and they sound very good with my amp + Bluesound node 2 i + smsl su9. The soundstage is fantastic. I also used atlas hyper cable interconnnect...but they were too warm for me. You're right .... interconnects makes différences !
@@doifeellucky I think our own system influence the end sound. My speakers are warm and highs are refined, so cable A provided more airiness sound without the sibilance.
Cable A sounds closed in spatially, slightly blurry, and a bit shrill. Cable B sounds richer, more open in vocals, ambience, and instrumental detail. I listened via a Meridian Explorer 2 DAC, and a custom 6DJ8 tube pre-amplifier driving a transformer coupled headphone interface into Drop HE-X4 headphones. Quite a revealing comparison :)
This video is great, if for no other reason than to demonstrate that analog cables do make a difference. Other factors like price, construction quality, sonic effect (even placebo effect) aside - what you prefer is up to you - you can't claim that cables don't matter.
I know the video was well meaning, but the worst thing you can do is compare products like this going by price. It tells you almost nothing about how it will preform, and it can make it much harder for people with little to no experience to figure out the real differences and what they should buy. If you want to make a comparison based on price, there are better ways to go about it. For example, compare several cables that all cost the same amount of money. Lets say you have a $500 price point, and you're comparing 3 cables. Get a pair of $500 Audioquest, a $500 pair of Cardas and a $500 pair of Kimber. These are 3 of the biggest companies and just about everyone knows them. So, if anyone following this post wants to know more, you'll be able to find anything you want to know. These brands are everywhere. Setting this type of price point really takes price out of the equation. It forces you to look at other details. If you go over the materials and design of the 3 cables in question, you'll see that they're very different from each other. The point is, we're not dealing with generic products. The same $500 buys you something completely different from each brand. Also, its highly probable that the differences you hear between the $500 cables will be much greater than the differences between the cheap and expensive ones. Also, if you focus too much on price, you can actually over pay. Cable selection is subjective, and you never know what changes in sound you'll hear, if any. Its also very common to prefer a cable that costs less money. You have to go by what works best, not price.
In the beginning of the video, you pissed me off. You owe no one an explanation as to what types of products you talk about on your channel, and how much they cost. If they don't like the topic, no one's forcing them to watch your channel. There's millions of channels on youtube. Let them go somewhere else if they don't like it. I know you're trying to build your channel, and your goal is to make everyone happy. Nothing wrong with that. But you are giving the skeptics way too much respect, and you shouldn't. Respect has to be earned. Keep this in mind when you're dealing with these people. The cable argument has been going on since the 1970's. Almost 50 years. And all this time, they claim to be of science. The skeptics want scientific proof for everything. Here's what they're not telling you. For all their talk of science, the skeptic community has never done, or can even reference, a single test or evaluation, done by a credible source, where real science was used in the evaluation, on any piece of audio equipment ever made by human hands. Not just cables, any audio component. Not a single test. The only thing they can ever come up with is junk science that they try to pass of as real. So, the next time they start complaining, ask them to reference a real, scientific test, and you will never get an answer. And that can only mean one thing. If they can't reference a source for the information they claim as science, It means they're been making everything up. That's why you don't give them respect. The high end audio debate as never been about audio. Its about emotions, and people just wanting to be right, even if they can't back it up.
I ‘m a Atlas integra rca owner and the uge difference whit cheaper cableis is in soundstage and timbric. Obiously, by TH-cam isnt possible hear this.... very good middle class cable.👍
I've been listening to this debate for 40 years. People used to tell me that I do not hear differences! Excuse me? My literal response was, you are going to tell me what I hear and don't hear with my ears and brain? Are you sniffing glue? I agree with you and choose not to debate it with others, even with my brother lol.
Massive difference imo. Amazon Basics suiting me though. Shows that those "free" cables that come with some equipment are at least worth spending just 10 or 20 bucks replacing though.
Cable A was catching EMI noise. The ultra cheap have cables have just poor isolation and too thin wires. RCAs do not need to be expensive, but they need to be well isolated and have enough copper inside.
I agree with you iiWi Reviews. I listened to the samples using a pair of headphones (Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro). I did not know which cable was A or B, before listening. Clearly , the more expensive cable pair (B) sounded better. Wider dynamics in the base and in general more details.
I'm into car audio. The more expensive power ground is extremely important. Cheap cables make things HOT. Learned from experience melting fuse holders and terminal blocks. The more expensive rcas help keep alternator interference coming through speakers. Good speaker wire important too. No argument from me.
The cables do make a difference, because My own Topping DX3 Pro+ gained audible amounts of detail and soundstage after exchanging its stock 1,2 m thin cable with a 2xshielded 0,5 m LINDY cable bougt for 12$... That concurs with Your analysis and conclusion that given a spread of 2 - 200 a wise soundpursuer spends no more than 10-15$ on a single cable... And all should know and remember that it's not the quality of the cable that's most important, but its lenght... So to make things worse for the ladies it all comes to this: THE SHORTER THE BETTER!!! 👺
this guy could say: 0I used tithing I was indecisive, but now I am not sure' ) cables, phono cartridges. 2-way speaker systems from obscure makers are all cons. big time. an audio comparison, over streamed mp3 is pointless.for interconnect, check out Csnsre microphone cable. for speakers, reasonable gauge .twisted copper filament power cable twin, a low cost experiment. most expensive cord is 'voiced', to sound different, coloured. s, on demonstration, different can be upselling 'better'. really.99% of the time.
After the harshness of cable A gets choked by TH-cam, it ends up sounding as "more clear". TH-cam makes it tough to hear the nuances. Even after knowing the answer, and your explanation of what you heard, all I hear on this end is B has a "smoother" texture. Thanks for the demo though. 😎👍 I'm getting good results with cable upgrades kn my system. Each upgrade makes additional upgrades worthwhile. I'm enjoying the journey 😎
don't spend £200 on a cable, you can make a cable yourself that sounds just as good for less than $30 using Van Damme Locap55 instrument cable and a set of Chinese WBT style knock off plugs from ebay
Definitely a difference but I would have gone cable A,..But I'm not In front of your speakers,... Bloody compression .... I always bought cables at ten percent of system cost,. ...
While I will agree if you have nice equipment you should not use $2 cables but $200 nope no need for that either. A$2 dollar cable is so cheap that you will be lucky sometimes if it is even hooked together inside. I would do the comparison with say $30 cable . You probable would not hear any difference between them and 200 cables.
Interesting, could definitely hear a difference but like many people here I thought initially that cable A was the expensive one as it appears to be more open and airy sounding. I think this is probably due to the limits of this kind of test when using just the sound card in my computer and good but not stellar quality headphones such as mine. I think, however, the deniers who say "they all sound the same" should be made to listen to this. They definitely don't 😆
While you were comparing the different leads, did you know which lead, you were listening with, or did you do it scientifically, with a blind test, and have someone else fitting the leads, and randomly swapping them multiple times, to show consistency, in any perceived differences, so only sound quality was being tested, and not price?
I can hear the difference. B is clearer and more substantial, the vocal is pinpoint and there is depth to it. A is somehow diffuse and has less clarity. Oh no! 🤣 I am still using the $2 rca cable connecting my Dac to the power speaker. I think I will have to get a better cable after watching this review. Thanks!👍
i was 100% sure that cable A was the expensive one . I usually prefer more expensive gadgets ,thanks god in this case i prefer the cheaper ,maybe i prefer more bright music
We're on the pro end, studio and live sound. Most people cannot hear a difference in short cables like these. With 20', 30' etc you're goinna instantly hear the difference. Sometimes we use 50' cables, "after" the signal has gone through a 150 snake. Thats 200'. If that 50' cable is unbalanced or not well insulated, you're going to get a ton of noise via EMI, microphonics, and build quality. Yes, cables make a Big difference, but that difference is not very audible in a 3' cable. Change those cables out to 30' cables and test it again, you"ll be amazed at what you find. We build our cables from quality component's, and then cover them with Tech Flex noise isolation and emi isolating sleeving. Dont spend $200 on a three foot cable, but dont buy the $3 one. Spend $25-$30. You'll not tell a difference between one of those and the $200 one at 3 ft.
Surely no soundstage differences could be detected this way but as for the other things I couldn't separate them. That's listening via TV/dac&/LS50Ms, same amp with sony headphones and finally ipad/CXNv2/headphones... no differences at all. About 25% of people are supertasters who can detect way more flavours & much smaller differences in taste and maybe sounds are similar. The differences between two amps is very obvious but I've never noticed a difference by changing a cable. That said, I don't use the really cheap ones and one of my interconnects, according to the label, is the world's best cable (...just in case)!
i didn’t notice, all that much difference in your test with these 2… very different cables; hardly any at all. It’s always best to try and avoid those thin interconnect cables if possible; and go for thicker… higher quality. i listen to a awful lot of CD music; all kinds. And I’m always looking for the best sound quality with components and cables. I’ve made my own coaxial cable.. by using high quality shielded satellite cable. It’s quite thick and stiff. We’ll protect from any interference. Speaker cables are the same. ( high quality satellite cable). i honestly don’t think you are going to get any better than that. Saturday am 22nd July 2023. Southampton England 🏴🇫🇷🇮🇪🇮🇳🇩🇪
Thanks for the good video I do not buy interconnects anymore. The 'good' ones are too expensive for what they are. Now I make mine out of 1mm 99% silver wire wrapped around teflon tubing with teflon tape between and over ('plumber's tape). You can run a ground down the centre from one end to achieve a near balanced state. Finish in simple braid. You can use good to high quality RCA jacks. Another TH-camr uses furniture piping for the centre with calico wrapping. The look pretty impressive but I am OK with what I have.
nice one. stay independent. don't gang up with the audio reviewers clique all of whom seem to amplify the same review of same things almost at same times where everything is good or better. nothing critical because that would dry up their equipment supply.
nobody says a bad cable doesnt exist. compare a good 15$/€ cable with a 2000€/$ cable and when the 15€/$ one is done in a good way for its money, its already reaching whats possible. There is no better. A chinch cable for 15€/$ could alraedy use Neutrik Connectors and solid OFC cable. There is no upgrade from that. You can switch and swap to equally as good components but you dont get anything better anymore.
So funny...Yesterday my new cable 3.5 to 3.5 arrived using Aliexpress...10 bucks audio cable similar to coaxial. My setup: Fiio m5 (line out) connected to receiver Yamaha htr 3065 with Dali Spektor 2. Connected through V aux. Reference: cable 3.5 to 2rca ofc cable bought in my country Argentina and much thinner. AND bought with the promise of being high audio quality. Connected to audio in Port. Look I am asuming that the receiver treats this different audio imputs the same way. Well, with Aliexpress cable music sounded much fuller and juicier
There is a slight difference, but from it can be heared on TH-cam video it is impossible to say wich one is better. Also, argue isn't about if 100$ cable is better from one provided in box with amplifier that costs 3$. Argue is about if 1k or 5k $ is better than 100$. Try to test those.
LCD-XC. Not to mention hearing this huge difference between cables A&B I hear not only microfonic table and microfonic cables in your arms but all reflections of your room and how narrow is the window for microphone to pass all these sounds through itself.
I am a 53 year old and due to my age have lost hearing above 11 kHx. I tried my best but could not hear any difference from your cables. The cheap one sounded just as good as the more expensive one. Unless you have a very long run of cables or very high wattage the more expensive cables are not needed. Younger ears may hear a difference however but probably very slight. Just my opinion.
I changed my cables (the ones provided with the DAC/speakers), which was a considerable improvement. Another thing that helps: keep the audio cables far from the power cables. No difference was observed when I used a cheaper DAC.
Cables do make a difference, but super stupid expensive cables are just pure snake oil. Above a certain point (around $200-300, and only that high if you have really expensive gear, otherwise $100 is the maximum, IMO) you aren't really paying for better materials that affect the sound, you're just playing for fancy cosmetics and carnival barker cons
i tried out a par of audio interlinks Van den Hul reference silver plated : €195 euro with Qed profile audio €25 euro in a Marantz ki amp with B&W dm602 s3 bookshelf and actually there is almost no difference..so thanks😎
@ 4:40, It seems obvious to me that Cable B is more extended in Bass and Treble than Cable. Cable A also Blurs notes especially Bass notes. Cable B Rings beautifully the guitar strings. I reckon the extra money buying Cable B is worth it.
Science is a religion on a fundamental basis :) The same goes for graph's - they are not the same that actually listening, there are many variables, such as preference, emotional aspect, memories and so on with listening to music :) for one a cable for 2$ would be better, for one a cable for 2k would be better, totally subjective :) Stil than diminishing returns strike back in any hobby, car's audio and so on. 5% upgrade for 100% the price - only problem I see with expensive cables, and audio gear :) Good Video, rational exlpanation of the topic, sub for this one :)
Materials, construction and the proper use of technology can produce vastly superior results. Otherwise, wire is basically wire…Transparent Cables remove the noise and allow the musical signal through with increased dynamics, low level detail with better tonality. Sound staging is also improved.
ok paused at 7:15, before the reveal. i hear a clear difference. i like A, its clear sounding but with less bass. B sounds muffled. or mudded, but deep and with bassy and sound is more in right earphone. Edit: oops.... hehehehe lol. So A is cheap, B is deep, but why B feels its coming more from right earpiece, while A feels centered? Also the background noise is same. I am using KZ zs10 pro earphones. and boy they have bass and instrument separation is excellent. i need to give it another listen. Edit 2" i dont know why.... but again, the major difference i hear is A singer is sitting in front of you in the center. while B he is sitting slightly above, and slightly right..... what wrong with me? lol
A sounds better to my ears without knowing which is which. With cable B, the guitar is a mess and vocals less clear. Also there is more hiss noise with cable B.
Without knowing what is "A" and what is "B", my ears prefer Cable A.
I hear a hissing on both.
Me too, A sounds better.. maybe its different if youre really there
@@haroldbriones6510 Same. Cable A sounded better to me also.
he mentioned that A is the cheaper cable but I felt it sounded better. B made it sound veiled
@@cybergod77 Definitely darker and mid back.
Listening on phone speaker at arms length and difference is very obvious. Great video.
Right now I'm a big fan of Blue Jean Cables because they seem to be well built for the price and share a lot of specs (their interconnects the LC-1 has super low capacitance). Maybe one day I'll try even more expensive and see if I can tell a difference but I feel better using something above the cheap amazon/monoprice cables.
I like the sound of cable A
Initially I thought A sounded better and more open, and the first switch to B made it sound "squashed". But after more listening I realized that B was much more "full bodied", and the "openness" I thought I was hearing with A was just a result of the brightness and the lack of bass.
Personally I think you only need to spend around £30 to get properly good cables. You just need something well made and properly shielded.
I thought A was better as well. That was my gut feel. We can convince ourselves of anything when we feel we might have got it wrong and should have obviously chosen the "best" option.
B did sound compressed to me as well, my first thought was the static was much more present... Cable A sounded better on the first track because it picked up less detail and static... when the 2nd track came on it was the opposite and cable A's vocals were compressed while B had clearly more detail and resolution.... so in the end on a good track B indeed sounded better and A sounded better on when I could consider a near unlistenable track, shame he used track 1 I think it took away from his point/the experiment
@@gargleit2957I respectfully disagree. To my ears, both tracks were equally as good at showing the effects of a $2 cable. Thank you iiWi reviews for the excellent video.
Idiots. Not like you can actually tell when you're only getting a fraction of the actual bit rate
In this case I knew there will be a difference before listening and there definitely was. What most people don't understand about cables is they don't add anything, they just take. The cheap cable has poor shielding if any thus the high noise (well, they can add in the case of noise), also has a higher resistance thus the weak lows, a poor cable can act a bit like a low pass filter or high pass filter so it will either make the sound warmer or bright *but that's by removing frequencies from the signal not adding to it, that what people need to understand!*
You don't need to spend $200 to get good shielding and low resistance, as iiWi said the difference between that $10 and the expensive cables will be very hard to hear. Like anything in life avoid the cheap crap and don't go insane with diminishing returns and you'll be just fine.
It could be my ears but for me both of them sound the same
Have you seen a shielded speaker cable? I'm sure you understand that shielding needs to be grounded to work? On the resistance you are totally right - best idea is to buy thicker low cost cable to allow for high currents.
And OCC copper cables take away even less. :)
@@frankabarca9189
I have Arya Stealth headphones, Geshelli Erish 2 amp and SMSL D300 dac.
I was surprised how clear the difference was, especially in the vocals.
well said also you wouldnt be able to tell over youtube ... pause your music and crank the volume all quite all good you can be happy with your cable
We need more people like you covering these topics - simply a great job. Keep on with the videos. Your methods of explaining some of the finer points of enjoying audio should help many of your viewers in making good choices. It makes the topics you cover so much more entertaining.
Ha ha... There is definitely an audible difference listening on my AKG275.. but guess what, I liked A 😂 my ears must be horrible 😁... But at the end of the day, I am surprised that cables do make so much of a difference 😳
Well that would be odd, cause we are testing the interconnects, for which we do not need to touch the microphone when switching between them
I'm annoyed to admit that there's a BIG difference, and even more annoyed to admit I prefer the expensive cable B 😆
I could easily here a difference just on my phone. Cable B did sound better to me. Nice video, keep them coming.
I always make my own cables.
I only pay a tenth of the price, for true high end cables
Most of my own cables are also DIY. I try avoiding big brands with big prices. :)
Is there a tutorial to make own DIY cables? Maybe iiWi can do a video on how to make cables !!
@@PuneetMehra Plenty of videos on yt about making your own
I also make my own. They sound very good and cost very little to make once you have made the investment into good tools, cable, plugs, and good solder.
Audio cable is like wine. Most people will be happy with $5 bottle until they get the chance to taste $500 bottle. Even then, someone may still stick with the $5 bottle for one reason or other. But I am certain that the wine lover will be much more likely to find his/her favorite bottle in the $500 aisle than the $5 aisle. The $64k question is whether it is worth $495 more...
I tried many cables under £40. Audioquest, QED profile and pro, Amazon basics, Oelbachs silver ,Fisual . Mogami 2534 Quad cables worked the best for me. Apparently used by the pro music and film industry. Beware - I have realised cables need at least 50 hour burn in. Mogami recommends 75 hours plus for best results. At first I was disappointed, after burn in, I was happy. I was using for Pro- ject D amps.
Try a thicker mogami. 3xxx series. It's even better as the 25xx series cannot pass low frequencies too well aka missing bass.
I forgot to add, cables are “tuning” tools to tweak the sound of your gear!. Totally agree with your observations!
Nice video, keep the good job! (Strange but cable A sounds better for my taste!)
Huge difference. Blindly, cable A sounded better. It sounded more forward, transparent and clearer. B sounded like somebody increased the mid tones and didn’t sound right to me at all. Much more hiss noise level.
Interestingly, the moment you mention B was the more expensive one, mentally I try to rejustify everything, trying to change my perspective that B was actually better than A. I am pretty sure most people here did the exact same thing. Don’t kid ourselves guys!
To me, cable A sounded more forward and full in its presentation with a narrower soundstage while cable B sounded recessed with a wider soundstage.
I tended to like cable A in the first track and cable B on the second track. Even after hearing which one was which, it didn’t really change my opinion or my preference. I’m sure the harshness you mentioned on cable A was more apparent in person but it wasn’t audible in this demo once it reached my end.
The Kef speakers are known to be a little bright, so is cable A more accurate?
The same for me. A for the first track and B for the second track.
Those whom cant hear a differences, will try all their best to find scientific evidences and tests to convince others and assure themselves that there is no such thing....
actually it's not fear to compare trash cable with high end. it will be more interesting to compare smth which costs around $20-30 with the expensive one from your friend and I'm pretty sure we will not hear any difference in that case. I'm sure about that because I did the same tests for myself many times
Expensive cable doesn't do much difference in cheap systems. But will make big difference in higher end system
I preferred A and just saved money!😂😂😂🤭🙄🙄🙄
Highend tires benefit a highend Ferrari, not a hyundai. In other words, audio rigs that don't show a difference is probably a hyundai.
The cheap ones sounded better, but I guess the point you tried to make is that there is a noticeable difference in audio between the two cables. Will have to sit in your sweet spot to really hear which is better. Cool experiment.
My ears say cable 'B' gets your attention more by bringing the music front and centre, as opposed to cable 'A'.
This was the first example of a cable making a difference. People saying cable "A" sounds better. I think they are only listening to the bass volume. Cable "B" opens up, like it is a completely different stereo all together. It became more spacious. I even heard something with the acoustic guitar in the right (Possibly Left, Think I had my headphones on backwards) in the first track change. It jumped out at me. Also it gave a very holographic soundstage in which cable "A" was very box-ie sounding. Cable "B" is where its at.
Very well done. Very simple experiment and pretty darn obvious. I will be upgrading my cheap generic cables to mid grade ones for all my setups. Totally agree with your comment about investment into good quality gear. 12:52 . Also agree with measurements comment at 13:36. It’s OK to believe our ears even if we can’t confirm with the current measurements. Laughed at “ for gods sake! “. Nice job overall.
Close your eyes. There's no audible difference. Cable Snake Oil!
B's soundstage is so much more than A. B is more open and has less harshness.
Wow! Just Wow! Thank you so much for doing that my friend! I have already watched like 3 or 4 videos of yours (basically your cheap dacs reviews) but for this video alone,i just hit the subscribe button.For me,that was super informative! I knew speaker cables can make a huge difference,but interconnects? Wow! Being able to hear that via youtube...that much of a difference just from interconnects i did not expect! That was eye opening for me! Thank you so much!
Actually on my speaker setup song A sounds better. But thats a thing of the setup. I have listened on my old HP PC .... with my old Vintage amp and my new M Audio BX8 active monitors. They like a bit more harsh sound, because the setup is really warm but also washed out in combination. Cables depend mostly on youre system. I just bought Audioquest Evergreen cables because its said say make the highs and mids a bit cleaner, thats what my system needs. I use ketchup cables right now, lol.
There is a really tiny difference but does not justify the 200$ investment. One of the sound is tiny tiny tiny tiny bit "thicker" or "richer". May be is the shielding of radio frequency in the air wave, or close proximity to other EMF emitting equipment. A 20-30$ cable does all of the necessary shielding within the hearing range of human. Good job in presenting this topic, keep it up.
I liked cables A better, and I call my self an audiophile, lol! Audiofool maybe
Definitely A is better for me. A has a more open, airy, clear, and livelier sound. B sounds slower, thicker, and more veiled.
2 bucks for cable is extreme, the difference if using a 14 bucks cable would be interesting
i should finish the video first before commenting 🙂
It just remind me my first cable change when started my journey with hi-fi system and that was Yamaha Piano Craft 20 years ago. And now thanks to your video I could hear exactly the same difference. And I have to tell you what. I am so glad you done it this way as I think nobody done it before. You can hear black and white the difference. Ofcourse set B sounded waaaaay better. Set A sounded completely flat like vintage radio. Set B sounded 3 dimensional even via YT. But couldn't really pick up any specific sharpness of the cheap cables on my headphones due to compressed signal on YT perhaps. BRAVO and thank you for this video. Amazing job. 👍🙃
All component make difference, I just change an earphones connection and have a big surprise 😦
Just me, but I heard a considerable difference.
The beauty is you can create what sounds good to you...
Who's to say what sounds good in your scull ?.....
Have fun experimenting with sound.
What a great gift of life !!!!
I think it's not a cable that sounds better than an other cable but It's more the Interaktion between the cable and the device that change the sound to a more or less audible degree. A cable between a CDplayer A and the amp may give the sound a little bit more dynamic than an other cable. But that does not mean you can hear that with CDplayer B connected to the same amp. At least that's my opinion after 40 years in the Hobby Hifi. It's always a little bit of try and error.
I thought the B had better tonality (less sharp). I notice this with IEM cables the cheaper ones produce a sharper sound. But with IEMs its not cost, you have find a great cable for cheap. But they do matter.
I think Copper or silver plated is the level you want to get to (which isnt expensive). I dont believe pure silver is necessary
Some months ago i had the same issue. I used a very cheap (3€) 3.5mm cable and it destroyed the sound. It sounded very very bad. And a 12€ cable make feel like i had a new system...😁
Dammit, I preferred B and I was hoping that would be the cheap one
Story of my life. 🤣
Great video - objective without any obvious biases.... more video's like this are needed!
Good demo, i use atlas interconnect equator RCA, and they sound very good with my amp + Bluesound node 2 i + smsl su9. The soundstage is fantastic. I also used atlas hyper cable interconnnect...but they were too warm for me. You're right .... interconnects makes différences !
there is a clear difference. A has better high end details
A noticeable difference. I actually thought B seemed a bit flat compared to A in track one. Definitely more hiss using A in track one.
@@doifeellucky I think our own system influence the end sound. My speakers are warm and highs are refined, so cable A provided more airiness sound without the sibilance.
Cable A sounds closed in spatially, slightly blurry, and a bit shrill. Cable B sounds richer, more open in vocals, ambience, and instrumental detail. I listened via a Meridian Explorer 2 DAC, and a custom 6DJ8 tube pre-amplifier driving a transformer coupled headphone interface into Drop HE-X4 headphones. Quite a revealing comparison :)
This video is great, if for no other reason than to demonstrate that analog cables do make a difference. Other factors like price, construction quality, sonic effect (even placebo effect) aside - what you prefer is up to you - you can't claim that cables don't matter.
I know the video was well meaning, but the worst thing you can do is compare products like this going by price. It tells you almost nothing about how it will preform, and it can make it much harder for people with little to no experience to figure out the real differences and what they should buy.
If you want to make a comparison based on price, there are better ways to go about it. For example, compare several cables that all cost the same amount of money. Lets say you have a $500 price point, and you're comparing 3 cables. Get a pair of $500 Audioquest, a $500 pair of Cardas and a $500 pair of Kimber. These are 3 of the biggest companies and just about everyone knows them. So, if anyone following this post wants to know more, you'll be able to find anything you want to know. These brands are everywhere.
Setting this type of price point really takes price out of the equation. It forces you to look at other details. If you go over the materials and design of the 3 cables in question, you'll see that they're very different from each other. The point is, we're not dealing with generic products. The same $500 buys you something completely different from each brand. Also, its highly probable that the differences you hear between the $500 cables will be much greater than the differences between the cheap and expensive ones. Also, if you focus too much on price, you can actually over pay. Cable selection is subjective, and you never know what changes in sound you'll hear, if any. Its also very common to prefer a cable that costs less money. You have to go by what works best, not price.
In the beginning of the video, you pissed me off. You owe no one an explanation as to what types of products you talk about on your channel, and how much they cost. If they don't like the topic, no one's forcing them to watch your channel. There's millions of channels on youtube. Let them go somewhere else if they don't like it.
I know you're trying to build your channel, and your goal is to make everyone happy. Nothing wrong with that. But you are giving the skeptics way too much respect, and you shouldn't. Respect has to be earned. Keep this in mind when you're dealing with these people. The cable argument has been going on since the 1970's. Almost 50 years. And all this time, they claim to be of science. The skeptics want scientific proof for everything. Here's what they're not telling you. For all their talk of science, the skeptic community has never done, or can even reference, a single test or evaluation, done by a credible source, where real science was used in the evaluation, on any piece of audio equipment ever made by human hands. Not just cables, any audio component. Not a single test. The only thing they can ever come up with is junk science that they try to pass of as real. So, the next time they start complaining, ask them to reference a real, scientific test, and you will never get an answer. And that can only mean one thing. If they can't reference a source for the information they claim as science, It means they're been making everything up. That's why you don't give them respect.
The high end audio debate as never been about audio. Its about emotions, and people just wanting to be right, even if they can't back it up.
I ‘m a Atlas integra rca owner and the uge difference whit cheaper cableis is in soundstage and timbric. Obiously, by TH-cam isnt possible hear this.... very good middle class cable.👍
You can hear it.
I've been listening to this debate for 40 years. People used to tell me that I do not hear differences! Excuse me? My literal response was, you are going to tell me what I hear and don't hear with my ears and brain? Are you sniffing glue? I agree with you and choose not to debate it with others, even with my brother lol.
I heard big difference B sounds better every time.
TH-cam thru my Buchardt Amp and dac and Buchardt S400MKll speakers.
Massive difference imo. Amazon Basics suiting me though. Shows that those "free" cables that come with some equipment are at least worth spending just 10 or 20 bucks replacing though.
Cable A was catching EMI noise. The ultra cheap have cables have just poor isolation and too thin wires.
RCAs do not need to be expensive, but they need to be well isolated and have enough copper inside.
I agree with you iiWi Reviews. I listened to the samples using a pair of headphones (Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro). I did not know which cable was A or B, before listening. Clearly , the more expensive cable pair (B) sounded better. Wider dynamics in the base and in general more details.
Cable A = More noise, lighter, less body, not hollow but definitely less impactful
Cable B = Warmer, fuller and more rounded (Winner)
I'm into car audio. The more expensive power ground is extremely important. Cheap cables make things HOT. Learned from experience melting fuse holders and terminal blocks. The more expensive rcas help keep alternator interference coming through speakers. Good speaker wire important too. No argument from me.
B was much better, more warm and wide dynamics. There weren’t any dynamics in cable A and a sharp unpleasant sound.
Good video btw!
Killer video ...short and sweet and to the point...the difference was beyond what I anticipated...cheers
The cables do make a difference, because My own Topping DX3 Pro+ gained audible amounts of detail and soundstage after exchanging its stock 1,2 m thin cable with a 2xshielded 0,5 m LINDY cable bougt for 12$... That concurs with Your analysis and conclusion that given a spread of 2 - 200 a wise soundpursuer spends no more than 10-15$ on a single cable... And all should know and remember that it's not the quality of the cable that's most important, but its lenght... So to make things worse for the ladies it all comes to this: THE SHORTER THE BETTER!!! 👺
Thank you for your reasonable review.🙏 I think B was a better sounding cable. Wtaching from Sweden.
this guy could say: 0I used tithing I was indecisive, but now I am not sure' )
cables, phono cartridges. 2-way speaker systems from obscure makers are all cons. big time.
an audio comparison, over streamed mp3 is pointless.for interconnect, check out Csnsre microphone cable. for speakers, reasonable gauge .twisted copper filament power cable twin, a low cost experiment. most expensive cord is 'voiced', to sound different, coloured. s, on demonstration, different can be upselling 'better'. really.99% of the time.
After the harshness of cable A gets choked by TH-cam, it ends up sounding as "more clear".
TH-cam makes it tough to hear the nuances.
Even after knowing the answer, and your explanation of what you heard, all I hear on this end is B has a "smoother" texture.
Thanks for the demo though. 😎👍
I'm getting good results with cable upgrades kn my system.
Each upgrade makes additional upgrades worthwhile.
I'm enjoying the journey 😎
don't spend £200 on a cable, you can make a cable yourself that sounds just as good for less than $30 using Van Damme Locap55 instrument cable and a set of Chinese WBT style knock off plugs from ebay
Definitely a difference but I would have gone cable A,..But I'm not In front of your speakers,...
Bloody compression ....
I always bought cables at ten percent of system cost,. ...
Even through my crappy PC speakers I thought B sounded better. Well done mate, but no doubt it wont stop the naysayers
B is hands down much clearer & accurate.. A sounds terrible in my opinion. thats before your reveal.. Thank you for your video.
While I will agree if you have nice equipment you should not use $2 cables but $200 nope no need for that either. A$2 dollar cable is so cheap that you will be lucky sometimes if it is even hooked together inside. I would do the comparison with say $30 cable . You probable would not hear any difference between them and 200 cables.
Interesting, could definitely hear a difference but like many people here I thought initially that cable A was the expensive one as it appears to be more open and airy sounding. I think this is probably due to the limits of this kind of test when using just the sound card in my computer and good but not stellar quality headphones such as mine. I think, however, the deniers who say "they all sound the same" should be made to listen to this. They definitely don't 😆
Audiophiles dont listen to clarity...they listen to musicality..including PRAT.
I chose B staright away....without knowing its the more expensive one.
It all sounds bad. Room treatment, just saying. I could tell "b" was the expensive cable by how fast the sound decayed. "A" played better highs.
It was starkly apparent that the cables sounded quite different. To me cable b was easily smoother, less congested and harsh sounding than cable a.
While you were comparing the different leads, did you know which lead, you were listening with, or did you do it scientifically, with a blind test, and have someone else fitting the leads, and randomly swapping them multiple times, to show consistency, in any perceived differences, so only sound quality was being tested, and not price?
I can hear the difference. B is clearer and more substantial, the vocal is pinpoint and there is depth to it. A is somehow diffuse and has less clarity.
Oh no! 🤣 I am still using the $2 rca cable connecting my Dac to the power speaker. I think I will have to get a better cable after watching this review. Thanks!👍
5:28, B is the $200 one, at least the better one, wider and clearer sound. A is muddy. Let's see. I want to this lot ago, great job:)
Bingo. Cables matter very much. That's why my cables cost some bucks. headphone HD600 + Macbook pro.
i was 100% sure that cable A was the expensive one . I usually prefer more expensive gadgets ,thanks god in this case i prefer the cheaper ,maybe i prefer more bright music
Yeh sorry A Sounds better. More open. B is the one that sounds muffled.
Clear difference absolutely. Cable B sounded more "full bodied" I'd say and cable A sounds sort of bright. Amazing video mate, well done !
Yes a had the same experience more bodie. For me cable B. A sounds charper and not so warm.
No difference. If you watch, you need to watch either with your eyes closed, or scroll up so you can't see when A goes to B, rinse, repeat
Massive difference!! And that’s through my AirPod pros and iPhone 12 max. 😮😮😮
We're on the pro end, studio and live sound. Most people cannot hear a difference in short cables like these. With 20', 30' etc you're goinna instantly hear the difference. Sometimes we use 50' cables, "after" the signal has gone through a 150 snake. Thats 200'. If that 50' cable is unbalanced or not well insulated, you're going to get a ton of noise via EMI, microphonics, and build quality. Yes, cables make a Big difference, but that difference is not very audible in a 3' cable. Change those cables out to 30' cables and test it again, you"ll be amazed at what you find.
We build our cables from quality component's, and then cover them with Tech Flex noise isolation and emi isolating sleeving.
Dont spend $200 on a three foot cable, but dont buy the $3 one. Spend $25-$30. You'll not tell a difference between one of those and the $200 one at 3 ft.
Surely no soundstage differences could be detected this way but as for the other things I couldn't separate them. That's listening via TV/dac&/LS50Ms, same amp with sony headphones and finally ipad/CXNv2/headphones... no differences at all.
About 25% of people are supertasters who can detect way more flavours & much smaller differences in taste and maybe sounds are similar.
The differences between two amps is very obvious but I've never noticed a difference by changing a cable. That said, I don't use the really cheap ones and one of my interconnects, according to the label, is the world's best cable (...just in case)!
i didn’t notice, all that much difference in your test with these 2… very different cables; hardly any at all.
It’s always best to try and avoid those thin interconnect cables if possible; and go for thicker… higher quality.
i listen to a awful lot of CD music; all kinds. And I’m always looking for the best sound quality with components and cables.
I’ve made my own coaxial cable.. by using high quality shielded satellite cable. It’s quite thick and stiff. We’ll protect from any interference. Speaker cables are the same. ( high quality satellite cable). i honestly don’t think you are going to get any better than that.
Saturday am 22nd July 2023. Southampton England 🏴🇫🇷🇮🇪🇮🇳🇩🇪
Thanks for the good video
I do not buy interconnects anymore. The 'good' ones are too expensive for what they are.
Now I make mine out of 1mm 99% silver wire wrapped around teflon tubing with teflon tape between and over ('plumber's tape).
You can run a ground down the centre from one end to achieve a near balanced state.
Finish in simple braid. You can use good to high quality RCA jacks.
Another TH-camr uses furniture piping for the centre with calico wrapping.
The look pretty impressive but I am OK with what I have.
nice one. stay independent. don't gang up with the audio reviewers clique all of whom seem to amplify the same review of same things almost at same times where everything is good or better. nothing critical because that would dry up their equipment supply.
nobody says a bad cable doesnt exist. compare a good 15$/€ cable with a 2000€/$ cable and when the 15€/$ one is done in a good way for its money, its already reaching whats possible. There is no better. A chinch cable for 15€/$ could alraedy use Neutrik Connectors and solid OFC cable. There is no upgrade from that. You can switch and swap to equally as good components but you dont get anything better anymore.
So funny...Yesterday my new cable 3.5 to 3.5 arrived using Aliexpress...10 bucks audio cable similar to coaxial. My setup: Fiio m5 (line out) connected to receiver Yamaha htr 3065 with Dali Spektor 2. Connected through V aux. Reference: cable 3.5 to 2rca ofc cable bought in my country Argentina and much thinner. AND bought with the promise of being high audio quality. Connected to audio in Port. Look I am asuming that the receiver treats this different audio imputs the same way. Well, with Aliexpress cable music sounded much fuller and juicier
Words. No scientific data. There's a reason why all cable manufacturers never publish specs for cables.
There is a slight difference, but from it can be heared on TH-cam video it is impossible to say wich one is better.
Also, argue isn't about if 100$ cable is better from one provided in box with amplifier that costs 3$. Argue is about if 1k or 5k $ is better than 100$.
Try to test those.
Definitely A
LCD-XC. Not to mention hearing this huge difference between cables A&B I hear not only microfonic table and microfonic cables in your arms but all reflections of your room and how narrow is the window for microphone to pass all these sounds through itself.
I am a 53 year old and due to my age have lost hearing above 11 kHx. I tried my best but could not hear any difference from your cables. The cheap one sounded just as good as the more expensive one. Unless you have a very long run of cables or very high wattage the more expensive cables are not needed. Younger ears may hear a difference however but probably very slight. Just my opinion.
I changed my cables (the ones provided with the DAC/speakers), which was a considerable improvement. Another thing that helps: keep the audio cables far from the power cables. No difference was observed when I used a cheaper DAC.
Cables do make a difference, but super stupid expensive cables are just pure snake oil. Above a certain point (around $200-300, and only that high if you have really expensive gear, otherwise $100 is the maximum, IMO) you aren't really paying for better materials that affect the sound, you're just playing for fancy cosmetics and carnival barker cons
i tried out a par of audio interlinks Van den Hul reference silver plated : €195 euro with Qed profile audio €25 euro in a Marantz ki amp with B&W dm602 s3 bookshelf and actually there is almost no difference..so thanks😎
@ 4:40, It seems obvious to me that Cable B is more extended in Bass and Treble than Cable. Cable A also Blurs notes especially Bass notes. Cable B Rings beautifully the guitar strings.
I reckon the extra money buying Cable B is worth it.
Science is a religion on a fundamental basis :) The same goes for graph's - they are not the same that actually listening, there are many variables, such as preference, emotional aspect, memories and so on with listening to music :) for one a cable for 2$ would be better, for one a cable for 2k would be better, totally subjective :) Stil than diminishing returns strike back in any hobby, car's audio and so on. 5% upgrade for 100% the price - only problem I see with expensive cables, and audio gear :) Good Video, rational exlpanation of the topic, sub for this one :)
Materials, construction and the proper use of technology can produce vastly superior results. Otherwise, wire is basically wire…Transparent Cables remove the noise and allow the musical signal through with increased dynamics, low level detail with better tonality. Sound staging is also improved.
ok paused at 7:15, before the reveal. i hear a clear difference. i like A, its clear sounding but with less bass. B sounds muffled. or mudded, but deep and with bassy and sound is more in right earphone.
Edit: oops.... hehehehe lol. So A is cheap, B is deep, but why B feels its coming more from right earpiece, while A feels centered? Also the background noise is same. I am using KZ zs10 pro earphones. and boy they have bass and instrument separation is excellent. i need to give it another listen.
Edit 2"
i dont know why.... but again, the major difference i hear is A singer is sitting in front of you in the center. while B he is sitting slightly above, and slightly right..... what wrong with me? lol