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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2016 18:25:00 GMT
I'm sure this thread will have the risk of going off on a tangent due it being about cables which appears to be rather emotive and apologies if it encourages that, but I just wanted to write down my experience.
I'd read somewhere (can't remember wherever it was a forum or magazine) that on Hifi streaming devices it was worth separating the Hifi equipment via an independent switch which is then connected to the router and (the elephant in the room) using a better quality Ethernet cable.
So my parents kindly bought me a Chord Ethernet cable and I bought a separate T-Link switch which I've duly connected the Naim NDX to using the Chord cable and then into the Sky supplied router.
Today was the first chance I've had to properly listen and I'm actually sat here quite astonished by the difference it's made. The sound presentation has opened up significantly, bass appears to be more controlled, vocals are clearer and instruments better situated.
So my question is how on earth does can this have made this amount of difference? or is it one of those thing I'll just have to accept as magical Hifi stuff?
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Post by John on Jan 21, 2016 18:38:31 GMT
I think to a degree we become sensitive to subtle changes I used to use Cat 7 its main difference was the connection and I preferred it to Cat 5 and 6 when I used to have a two pc set up
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Post by MartinT on Jan 22, 2016 8:52:05 GMT
The waveform might be generally the same but it depends on how much jitter is introduced by the different cables. Timing differences can be critical to how a DAC performs.
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Post by nrg on Jan 22, 2016 9:49:21 GMT
Not with Ethernet Martin. The differences noted are likely to be caused by ground plane separation between devices and the effect of that noise on the DAC o/p circuit
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Post by MartinT on Jan 22, 2016 10:31:19 GMT
Yes, ground plane connection can be an issue, too. However, ethernet does not disguise all packet issues. Just try wi-fi versus cable ethernet and you'll hear for yourself.
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Post by dsjr on Jan 22, 2016 11:55:34 GMT
I'm so glad I don't hear as much difference as you chaps seem to. Makes for a far better life!
Paul, forgive my opinion here, but anything from Chord company (cables) makes me full of suspicion. They want their dealers t make 60% profit on them and they also have to make a good living themselves. What's left is a plain-jane cable with shedloads of hype around it. Been there, done it on both sides of the fence and lived to tell the tales I'm afraid...
I bought a USB/SPDIF converter for twenty quid on eBay (the one The Doc was using). It comes with a nice blue-coloured USB cable with ferrite on one end iirc (can't see to check as it's hidden behind the PC at floor level) and I used an ever-so-expensive (not) 75 ohm Van Damme video cable from adaptor to DAC. Sounds absolutely lovely to me and I certainly didn't need to spend thousands on a Naim box to give me loads of musical music. The PC is in a very old beige case, has a several year old mobo with overclocked up to 3GHz core-2-duo, so hardly worth mentioning and I tend to play FLACs I've made through foobar - very cheapskate. Sounds amazing to me!
It's something like this but without the led...
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-TO-SPDIF-COAXIAL-DIGIT-SOUNDCARD-CONVERTER-ADAPTER-/320588365594?hash=item4aa48e3f1a:g:jlcAAOxy7MtRuoD7 |
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Post by AlanS on Jan 22, 2016 13:48:10 GMT
So you are certain you listened to the same music at the same volume from your last session and can remember what it sounded like enough to swear it has this huge difference? I listened to my system this morning, HiRes, Rips and CDs each recording sounded different in this session let alone what it sounded like last time I listened.
I sometimes hear differences between analogue (I/C, speaker) cables but anything conveying digitial my prejudices seem to kick in and refuse to hear what my logic tells me just isn't there. Enjoy your amazing experiences.
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Post by MartinT on Jan 22, 2016 15:29:19 GMT
I don't know who you are addressing, Alan, but I have heard many 'impossible' things which can affect the conveyance of digital signals. All of this effort in streamers to render the most perfect conversion from digital to analogue covers the 'magic' of getting it right, even down to the RAM used in the motherboards of computers used for playback. Master clocks are another thing, and so on.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2016 20:22:21 GMT
So you are certain you listened to the same music at the same volume from your last session and can remember what it sounded like enough to swear it has this huge difference? I listened to my system this morning, HiRes, Rips and CDs each recording sounded different in this session let alone what it sounded like last time I listened. I sometimes hear differences between analogue (I/C, speaker) cables but anything conveying digitial my prejudices seem to kick in and refuse to hear what my logic tells me just isn't there. Enjoy your amazing experiences. Yes very much so, did it all in a 30 minute period, listened to the same music and hadnt adjusted the volume and found quite amazing levels of difference. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2016 20:31:29 GMT
I'm so glad I don't hear as much difference as you chaps seem to. Makes for a far better life!
Paul, forgive my opinion here, but anything from Chord company (cables) makes me full of suspicion. They want their dealers t make 60% profit on them and they also have to make a good living themselves. What's left is a plain-jane cable with shedloads of hype around it. Been there, done it on both sides of the fence and lived to tell the tales I'm afraid...
I bought a USB/SPDIF converter for twenty quid on eBay (the one The Doc was using). It comes with a nice blue-coloured USB cable with ferrite on one end iirc (can't see to check as it's hidden behind the PC at floor level) and I used an ever-so-expensive (not) 75 ohm Van Damme video cable from adaptor to DAC. Sounds absolutely lovely to me and I certainly didn't need to spend thousands on a Naim box to give me loads of musical music. The PC is in a very old beige case, has a several year old mobo with overclocked up to 3GHz core-2-duo, so hardly worth mentioning and I tend to play FLACs I've made through foobar - very cheapskate. Sounds amazing to me!
It's something like this but without the led...
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-TO-SPDIF-COAXIAL-DIGIT-SOUNDCARD-CONVERTER-ADAPTER-/320588365594?hash=item4aa48e3f1a:g:jlcAAOxy7MtRuoD7 I understand your sceptasism Dave, personally I bought the Naim NDX purely because I really like the sound of their source equipment, having the CDX2 and previously CDI CD players. Re Chord cables, I've used their cables in my system for a while and have always heard a difference when adding or removing them from the system. I can't explain the cable elements of Hifi and I'm sure there are companies that many view as selling overpriced tosh. |
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Post by dsjr on Jan 23, 2016 19:19:40 GMT
"Re Chord cables, I've used their cables in my system for a while and have always heard a difference when adding or removing them from the system."
That for me is the main issue. One reason why I've largely gone over to Klotz, Mark Grant and Van Damme based interconnects in my non-NVA systems. All slightly different, but not so different that you sit up and take major notice - I mean, the Klotz AC110 and MG HD1500 cables I had from new did sound slightly different at first (I needed headphones to really notice these differences at the time). After a few months regular use, I was darned if any differences existed, as one had livened up and the other seemed to have toned down a little...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2016 0:12:17 GMT
Fair enough, I think it is all rather subjective really and being entirely honest as long as I hear something when I upgrade a component be it a cable or something larger then I'm happy. Some may think it's not possible to hear differences and if so that's their opinion but I for one believe I can and that's all that matters.
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Post by The Brookmeister on Jan 24, 2016 20:42:44 GMT
I'm sure this thread will have the risk of going off on a tangent due it being about cables which appears to be rather emotive and apologies if it encourages that, but I just wanted to write down my experience. I'd read somewhere (can't remember wherever it was a forum or magazine) that on Hifi streaming devices it was worth separating the Hifi equipment via an independent switch which is then connected to the router and (the elephant in the room) using a better quality Ethernet cable. So my parents kindly bought me a Chord Ethernet cable and I bought a separate T-Link switch which I've duly connected the Naim NDX to using the Chord cable and then into the Sky supplied router. Today was the first chance I've had to properly listen and I'm actually sat here quite astonished by the difference it's made. The sound presentation has opened up significantly, bass appears to be more controlled, vocals are clearer and instruments better situated. So my question is how on earth does can this have made this amount of difference? or is it one of those thing I'll just have to accept as magical Hifi stuff?Do you need to be told the cable is making the sound better, I have told you no go and enjoy the music chief! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2016 23:53:20 GMT
I'm sure this thread will have the risk of going off on a tangent due it being about cables which appears to be rather emotive and apologies if it encourages that, but I just wanted to write down my experience. I'd read somewhere (can't remember wherever it was a forum or magazine) that on Hifi streaming devices it was worth separating the Hifi equipment via an independent switch which is then connected to the router and (the elephant in the room) using a better quality Ethernet cable. So my parents kindly bought me a Chord Ethernet cable and I bought a separate T-Link switch which I've duly connected the Naim NDX to using the Chord cable and then into the Sky supplied router. Today was the first chance I've had to properly listen and I'm actually sat here quite astonished by the difference it's made. The sound presentation has opened up significantly, bass appears to be more controlled, vocals are clearer and instruments better situated. So my question is how on earth does can this have made this amount of difference? or is it one of those thing I'll just have to accept as magical Hifi stuff?Do you need to be told the cable is making the sound better, I have told you no go and enjoy the music chief! Good point well made, thank you I shall  |
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