Preferred aes/ebu 110 ohm digital cable you have tried

jfrech · Feb 14, 2014

microstrip said:
I am really confused. Doesn't the CD/SACD transport have an upsampler? Why should the upsampler be needed to listen to CDs played using the Vivaldi transport? I was thinking that the upsampler should only be used with computer files.
...

Yes the dCS Scartlatti and Vivaldi transport up samples cd to 24/96, 24/192 and DSD and can down sample DSD to 16/44, 24/96 or 24/192. What the up-sampler brings to the table for CD replay is better up or down sampling. So you do not NEED the upsampler for cd replay on a Scarlatti or Vivaldi stack, however it does improve CD replay apparently with the better upsampling implementation.

I to am in the Transparent quarantine...hopefully this will pass soon

jfrech · Feb 14, 2014

drdavid said:
I am seriously thinking about using them on my Esoteric Po3/Do3 /Rubidium clock stack

All I can say from my experience is get your checkbook ready....it's not subtle...I was serious when I said I felt like I got a new DAC...what part of the world do you live in...some dealers have this available for demo...

drdavid · Feb 14, 2014

I am in Toronto Canada and no trial available.
I wish I could, rather than taking an educated gamble.Curious why weren't you using AES/ EBU before? I've been told that connection protocol is far superior to firewire . Would have been interesting to hear your thoughts on different AES/ EBU cables as well. Problem for me is Esoteric runs dual AES/EBU so I need to buy almost $8000.00 of TA cable just for the digital link

jfrech · Feb 14, 2014

drdavid said:
I am in Toronto Canada and no trial available.
I wish I could, rather than taking an educated gamble.Curious why weren't you using AES/ EBU before? I've been told that connection protocol is far superior to firewire . Would have been interesting to hear your thoughts on different AES/ EBU cables as well. Problem for me is Esoteric runs dual AES/EBU so I need to buy almost $8000.00 of TA cable just for the digital link

dCS before Vivaldi, only offered firewire for DSD (copywrite secure) connection. With Vivaldi, they've worked out dual AES for DSD...so yes...I had to spend nearly 8k for my dual AES. But...it's been worth it for me. What dual AES cables are you using now?

drdavid · Feb 15, 2014

I now am using Coincident Speaker's AES EBU cables . They are surprisingly better than any I have tried from Stealth Varedig Sextet to Kimber Select 2020 to the Siltech Golden Eagle. Smooth full bodied and very dynamic.

marty · Feb 27, 2014

I am planning to have a good ol' digital cable shoot-out shortly. I have a Metiner XDS1 v2 but the opportunity to evaluate digital cables is possible when hooking up my iPad/iPod to the DAC in the Meitner. I use a Cambridge dock and have been impressed thus far with the Apogee Wyde-Eye 110 ohm digital cable to connect the iPad/iPod to the Metiner. However, the Mogami just arrived today as well as a Wireworld Platinum Starlight USB cable. Meitner believes the very best connection is via their USB input since only that will accept the native resolution of what is being passed into it. The beauty of course is that one can compare 3 cables easily by pushing a single button on Meitner remote. Once I make it through that trio, next up will be the new Shunyata Anaconda AES digital, which not surprisingly, Caelin thinks is one of their finest products. At $1250, it's a hell of lot more expensive than the Apogee Wyde-Eye so that should be fun, as long as I can try before I buy. The biggest surprise thus far? Using Spotify, the iPad and the Metner DAC, my music world has changed dramatically. I may never buy another CD. The A/B of iPad/Spotify/Cambridge/Apogee/Meitner to a red book CD played back through the Meitner is extremely close. And that's with the el-cheapo Apogee cable! I'm not sure who said it on this site, but once you have the world's entire music library in front of you on an iPad, your life will be changed forever.

puroagave · Feb 27, 2014

I used canare (still do) when I had a BADA dac with their Alpha usb. I tried AES/EBU wires from transparent, kimber, cardas and DH labs and could not detect any improvement over canare, ymmv.

Bruce B · Feb 27, 2014

puroagave said:
I used canare (still do) when I had a BADA dac with their Alpha usb. I tried AES/EBU wires from transparent, kimber, cardas and DH labs and could not detect any improvement over canare, ymmv.

funny you mention Canare... I went to a soldering seminar last night. It was more geared to the pro studio world and they said Canare is the best they've used/heard. I actually use Canare BNC MADI cables in the studio.

puroagave · Feb 27, 2014

Bruce B said:
funny you mention Canare... I went to a soldering seminar last night. It was more geared to the pro studio world and they said Canare is the best they've used/heard. I actually use Canare BNC MADI cables in the studio.

which is why the boutique store wont sell it, no margin

carnare's spdif cable pictured above uses a true 75 ohm RCA plug, so impedance matching is maintained if your gear doesn't accept BNCs.

marty · Mar 5, 2014

I'm almost embarrassed to to report this. Russ came over and we compared the Apogee Wyde-Eye, Mogami Gold and MIT Oracle 110ohm AES digital cables. The Apogee is a very good cable; the Mogami and MIT are superb cables. As to which of those was better, all I will say is that no matter who was listening or had a preference, that preference was not repeatable in double blind testing by either of us. The Mogami cable is $60. The MIT is, well, I'm not sure except it has a lot of zeros. I'm an MIT fan, especially for interconnects and speaker wire, but I admit this comparison was sobering. Try it yourself. You might find you suddenly have a few grand to spend on something that is worth that kind of money. The MIT 110 ohm cable is not as long (1m) as the Mogami Gold (1.5M or longer) is but it is readily available for a fraction of the price. Next up, we'll add the Wireworld Platinum Starlight USB into the mix. It arrives tomorrow.

c1ferrari · Mar 5, 2014

marty said:
I'm almost embarrassed to to report this. Russ came over and we compared the Apogee Wyde-Eye, Mogami Gold and MIT Oracle 110ohm AES digital cables. The Apogee is a very good cable; the Mogami and MIT are superb cables. As to which of those was better, all I will say is that no matter who was listening or had a preference, that preference was not repeatable in double blind testing by either of us. The Mogami cable is $60. The MIT is, well, I'm not sure except it has a lot of zeros. I'm an MIT fan, especially for interconnects and speaker wire, but I admit this comparison was sobering.

No reason to be embarrassed...I would rather commend you

I'm extremely interested in the concept, too.

Scott W · Mar 6, 2014

marty said:
I'm almost embarrassed to to report this. Russ came over and we compared the Apogee Wyde-Eye, Mogami Gold and MIT Oracle 110ohm AES digital cables. The Apogee is a very good cable; the Mogami and MIT are superb cables. As to which of those was better, all I will say is that no matter who was listening or had a preference, that preference was not repeatable in double blind testing by either of us. The Mogami cable is $60. The MIT is, well, I'm not sure except it has a lot of zeros. I'm an MIT fan, especially for interconnects and speaker wire, but I admit this comparison was sobering. Try it yourself. You might find you suddenly have a few grand to spend on something that is worth that kind of money. I'm not sure the MIT 100 ohm cable is as long as the Mogami Gold is readily available for a fraction of the price. Next up, we'll add the Wireworld Platinum Starlight USB into the mix. It arrives tomorrow.

Marty,

I sent you an email about a USB cable. Let me know if you did not get it.

Regards,
Scott

Rufus McDufus · Mar 8, 2014

I'm testing 3 AES/EBU cables at the moment with a Moon MiND 180D into a Devialet 170 with Raidho C-1.1 speakers.

Theser are my impressions:

Transparent Reference 1m: Wonderful depth (as well as soundstage - it's a true 3D cable) and conveys acoustic instruments such as piano, acoustic guitar, double bass etc. beautifully & delicately. It seems to have a bit of a top-end 'dip' though and is quite muted there. On vocals, because of this, to my ears it can lack a little clarity. It's a hugely enjoyable cable though and I could listen to it all day without fatigue.

Chord Sarum 1m: A fantastic all-rounder. I'm a big fan of Sarum analogue connectors and to my slight surprise, seeing as it's digital, this has the same characteristics. Fairly forward, wide soundstage, wonderfully clear separation of instruments. Like the Transparent I find I can push the volume up without harshness.

Lessloss Digital: I've actually bought this cable as that's the way it works with Lessloss. You can audition for a month but there's a 15% penalty if you then wish to return it (a 'rental fee' as they put it!). This cable is much less expensive than the other 2 though so I took the risk. This cable seems to be incredibly focused. It is pin-sharp especially at the top end. It's thin in the bass so far, or it's so tight that any boom is reduced? It has an expansive 2D soundstage but is lacking depth at the moment. I have only had the cable around 5 days and the recommended run-in time is 2 weeks so I'm hoping it will improve as I really like the good qualities. It is definitely forward and top-endy, almost the opposite to the Transparent. I'm in two minds about keeping it as it is as the other 2 cables are superior right now but I think it has potential.

jfrech · Mar 8, 2014

Rufus,

Great informational post. What version of the Transparent Digital are you using? A few months ago they upgraded but not sure if they notated with a version #. I have the Ref XL digital and I am thrilled with it (about 6-8 weeks old now). I was able to change my digital filters on my dCS..before I was using filter 3...which restricts bandwidth a little. With the new Transparent digital cables, I am using filter 1...

Rufus McDufus · Mar 8, 2014

jfrech said:
Rufus,

Great informational post. What version of the Transparent Digital are you using? A few months ago they upgraded but not sure if they notated with a version #. I have the Ref XL digital and I am thrilled with it (about 6-8 weeks old now). I was able to change my digital filters on my dCS..before I was using filter 3...which restricts bandwidth a little. With the new Transparent digital cables, I am using filter 1...

I *think* the Reference is the current version. It's a browny-brick red in colour. I'm told it's had enough running but I'm pretty sure it's the version that was released in January (?) or so.

Oh - would love to hear if anyone else is using the Lessloss AES cable as I want to know if it improves significantly? It has potential, I can hear it, but is still a little frustrating at the moment.

moreno1973 · Mar 9, 2014

jfrech said:
Rufus,

I have the Ref XL digital and I am thrilled with it (about 6-8 weeks old now).

I agree with You 100%. Ref XL is fantastic digital cable. It helps to listen to music all day long... it is such a great pleasure. Wonderful soundstage, 3D effects, very musical and transparent.

GuillaumeB · Mar 10, 2014

moreno1973 said:
I agree with You 100%. Ref XL is fantastic digital cable. It helps to listen to music all day long... it is such a great pleasure. Wonderful soundstage, 3D effects, very musical and transparent.

I am also using the Transparent Reference XL S/PDIF and AES/EBU cables. They are nothing short of extraordinary and have taken my system to a completely new level. I cannot recommend them enough.

MRJAZZ · Mar 14, 2014

Andre Marc said:
The DH Labs D-110 AES/EBU is easily the best I have tried.

Assuming you don't have low price aversion, it is a great sounding cable.

http://www.silversonic.com/docs/products/D110.html

How long did it take for your DH LABS to break in, and do you recall what the changes were that took place from new to finally broken in.

THANKS, and CHEERS....T

audioblazer · Mar 14, 2014

GuillaumeB said:
I am also using the Transparent Reference XL S/PDIF and AES/EBU cables. They are nothing short of extraordinary and have taken my system to a completely new level. I cannot recommend them enough.

Yesterday I had an opportunity to audition Transparent reference XL aes/ebu on my MSB Diamond DAC connected to Aurender. Compare to my older version Transparent reference digital cable , its physically thicker & much stiffer , it's SQ is nothing short of transformatory. Auditioned it with a couple of songs especially my current favourite , Nneena Freelon Live , Send in the clown ( you must listen how she presented this song so emotionally ) . The presentation with Transparent Reference XL has much better musical weight . Her voice sounded more natural. Even the initial clapping by the audience sounded more real. The soundstage expanded , I heard more details & better separation . The accompanying mid bass is much fleshier . Bottomline it is as though I have upgraded to MSB select ! Can't believe a mere cable can make so much difference & don't understand why the skeptics claimed that cables don't make any difference . This is definitely 1 of the digital cable to buy

jfrech · Mar 14, 2014

Audioblazer +1. I felt like i upgraded my dac also...

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