Do Premium Headphone Cables Make an Audible Difference? Norne Audio Cable Review 

ty for all your contributions AMIR.

If you opened up most headphones audiophiles would be horrified to find that the last bit of copper soldered to the drivers is often a single hair width strand

It's amazing how much of a change can be caused by repositioning headphones on your head. I keep fidgeting with my Focal Elear, constantly trying to find the sweet spot. It's a much bigger difference than switching cables or even using a different DAC.

Litze meaning stranded wire in German, and pronounces as /ˈlɪtsə/. And thank you for all the great videos!

Strange you didn't hear your midrange become more chocolatey. You usually get more romatic vocals with diamond coated silver cables braided in Australia or New Zealand, give it a try 😂

I really liked the calm way you expressed the objectivist vs subjectivist debate. You’re setting a great example!

Excellent review. Gracefully done.

I feel bad for spending over £100 on some nice boots but then when i see cables that people buy for $800 it makes me feel better in my decisions.

Ouch ! Excellent video as as always Amir 👌

Stumbled across this channel. Stunning objective analyses.

I don't buy any audio gear without checking for an Audio Science Review first. Thanks for all your effort and hard work.

I enjoyed this review. It was respectful to the businessman who business is to make the cables and the review stood on its own, using your data and your insight without having to call out anyone else. Very well done.

Great review per usual. I like how you didn't beat the manufacturer up too much. I'm not familiar with Norne Audio, but I appreciate that a handmade accessory can be expensive. I think by this point pretty much everyone in the audio community understands that cables don't make a significant impact on audio quality unless they're un-shielded or frayed or something extreme, which could cause distortion or disconnects. I can understand wanting to purchase a premium cable for piece of mind, aesthetics, feel, etc. Some people have bigger budgets and can afford nice accessories, but if one is on a restricted budget fancy cables are best avoided. Thanks again!

Thank you for the honesty!

Amir is the GOAT

This was very useful and will save people a lot of $. Well done Amir!

Great video, keep doing these. You give us chance to concentrate on music and value of audio equipment rather than waste our time on fancy things which worth a fortune, but does exactly the same things.

Your efforts have saved me a lot of headache and money. (This makes it easy to donate!) Very fun and educational too. Although I have an engineering background, I am not that familiar with 'audiophile' hi-fi. THANKS! It motivated me to get a copy of the Sound Engineers handbook to get a bit more background.

I was expecting this :)

Awesome as always

Even without such objective tests, I rued my purchase of a $500 silver headphone cable as I could not tell any difference on listening. This video proves my gut feel. Thanks Amir to remove even the iota of doubt in my mind.

Hi Amir, love your channel. With all the cable and equipment testing you do here, have you considered creating a "recommended" area on you channel? For example, I would find it succinctly useful to be able to quickly see what interconnects, cables, etc are "recommended" so I can confidently purchase. Thanks...your word is gold.

I admire your videos - the pacing and technical level is ideal. I would make one suggestion - in the case of headphone cables it might be important that there is a realistic current flowing in the cable. I did not notice you mention any particular termination in the analyser, so I assumed it was perhaps quite a high impedance, but it might make sense to put a 32 ohm load at the analyser end of the cable to represent a typical headphone load. (Some will ask for 600 ohms or some other value - also a valid point of view.) Most likely there would not be a difference in your findings. Crosstalk would probably remain the same, but magnetic coupling, either between conductors, or from the environment, might be be affected by the load impedance. The source impedance would dominate, I assume. A low load impedance could lessen pickup from outside the cable (such as those anomalies around 120Hz). It probably should make little difference to the effects from within the cable, but I would love to know. As an electronics engineer who had 15 years in audio (never a fan of "high-end" marketing hype, and recently retired), I always advised newcomers to "think about where the electrons go" - It's a great help when looking at noise, grounding and other issues. Thanks for all that you do in your videos.

Thank you for your lessons amir.

I never thought they would.. but they do look cool..

thank you really much for this one!

I'd love to see this test using more modest stock cables for more modest headphones. Nice review!

Thank you for testing these cables! I'm in a bunch of headphone groups on facebook and half of what people talk about is their stupid cables. It drives me crazy.

Thanks Amir, another informative and entertaining review. I was always told that silver cables “sped up “ the signal and that’s why they were very good. In fact on speaker cables I was told that if I moved from copper to silver I no longer needed to keep the runs to each speaker the same length because the speed over silver negated the issue of the speakers being slightly out of phase. My empty wallet solved that conundrum but I would love to know if there is any truth in it. Also I would love for you to analyse from the other way, i.e. starting with a result and going backwards. So take two amplifiers where one sounds much better than the other, why is this? What does your analyser pick up that confirms one is actually better? Is it distortion or dynamics or what? Thanks again and please keep up the good work.

😍🤗Nice work. I enjoy it.

Good info.....please do more cable tests.

Wow. So as someone with a very recent obsession in buying cables, all of which from Amazon and within a return period, thank you 🙏

Hi Amir! Have you found this is also the same with interconnect cables? and would you happen to have some brands that you recommend as far as cables go?

That Video Thumbnail had me laughing right away :D

Another comment from someone else: " I've never heard a difference using cables with any 'normal' headphone. But I was VERY surprised when I heard a fairly clear difference on some low impedance IEMs. Given the [demonstrated effect with IEMs] it'd be interesting to see how it potentially affects heaphones that are harder to drive but still low impedance like some planars, or maybe even ribbon headphones."

Any possibility there will be a review on the Drop + THX Panda Wireless Headphones?

I love the way light braided cables sit on my desk when using, they lay and bend nicely and stay out of the way, versus stock cables which are usually terrible. But damn like $200 is my LIMIT for cables.

A good and important topic. I'd think we might see more of a difference in really bad/cheap cables vs normal cables than normal vs premium.

Thank you, this is what I have been wanting to see. I have been so curious for a long time if there is even a small measurable difference between cables. I have bought many cables for many systems and I wasn't ever sure if it made any difference, I admit I thought I could have possibly been hearing an extremely subtle difference at certain points but it was not why I bought an aftermarket cable. I only ever bought cables for nice build and looks and for custom lengths and terminations. I have since learned to solder and now make all of my own cables. Anyway it's really nice to see just how exactly the same these different cables perform, obviously there is no audible difference or it would show up in the measurements, surely nobody can argue that.

I wouldn't expect a difference between 3 premium cables. The question is do they perform better than cheap cables? Maybe something you'd get off Amazon? Because you can't show a difference between 3 high quality cables does not mean there isn't a line where quality matters.

Many Thanks, thats really refreshing News (":

Thanks for the video, just an idea for blind test- get 3 sets of same headphone with 3 different types of cable - just a thought

Brilliant! Now do Danny's speaker cables compared to electrical lamp-cord.

Thank you for this video Amir. I have a question that this video didn't answer, that is, can there be significant differences between cables in crosstalk? Headphone cables transmit some current, so maybe left/right channel separation plays some role?

Worst thing about some stock cables is the vibrations. I have one cable from them. It was actually cheaper than $200 I believe... Norne cables are well built and really nice looking. Customer support is solid is great too. Well worth it if you have flagship headphones with an ugly or stiff cable.

Thanks for this! If they cost the same, would you choose OFC copper cable, "pure" silver cable, or "mains grade" aluminum cable for your analog interconnect and/or headphone/speaker cable, assuming wire gauge was enough for the power delivery without too much impedance? I assume aluminum cable would be cheapest not considering economies of scale, is there a market for aluminum wire for "audiophile use" where cost is concerned? maybe even iron/steel wire?

Hi, Amir. Do balanced headphone cables make a difference relative to unbalanced ones? I have a headphone that uses unbalanced cable but would like to change the cable and install a balanced one. Your recommendation is highly appreciated.

Hey Amir, Do you know if Topping or SMSL will make new Power Amplifers for speakers? Something along the lines of the Benchmark AHB2. Many review sites have praised the Benchmark AHB2, but it is $3,000 dollars, and it's a stereo amp, not monoblock. Do you know if Topping or SMSL or whoever has plans to release a new product to compete with Benchmark in the power amp category? Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!

I tend to use folks who build cables and sell on eBay in the UK. You get a nice, supple, well built, braided cable to specified length and connector type and colour for maybe £40 to £60. In my view well worth it. I feel no need to spend more. Same goes for interconnects. I haven't found anyone who builds speaker cable yet and unfortunately blue jeans cable ( which I understand are great value ) don't seem to sell in the UK. I use Chord and QED but not the expensive stuff.

Is there a way to communicate questions about a review you performed? Thanks

Thanks for your great videos. Have you ever tested AC regenerator or any effective AC noise reduction solutions?

Thanks for video. Another German speaker here, so lihts, not leitz, for stranded cables. No surprise about results. Have you ever seen headphone cables differ measurably? What is the contributing factor? Wire gauge? connector type? nothin'? Just wondering whether there is anything except feel one should pay attention to when shopping around. Looking for a shorter cable for my Dan Clark Ether 2.

I just picked up a pair of HifiMan Edition XS and the only reason I ordered aftermarket HART cables was due to the short cable length they provided. I like the quality of the rubberized cable provided but I need 10 feet and I would prefer not having to use an extension cable. I get that the cable length is ideal for use with cell phones so I can't really complain about that.

I am always amazed at the wire snake oil. For the most part, wires are simply wires. I have always used properly sized zip cord for speakers and nicely made cables for headphones. As Amir has shown, spending thousands of dollars on wire is always a losing proposition.

Very nice! I wonder if ANY legitimate cables on the market have any audible difference (for the worse)

I know it might seem like the same thing, but I'd be extremely curious to see this done with speaker cables, if you'd be willing to humour it - I've never experienced notable differences in headphone cables, but I took part in a listening test where people could consistently tell the difference between a Van Den Hul: The Wind, and an Audioquest: Oak cable. Roughly the same result was the case between Van Den Hul: The Air and Audioquest: Rocket 44, which would suggest the characteristics are fairly consistent across the two brands high end models, in case you cant get the specific cables. It might be complete nonsense, the test just got me curious, since I generally hadn't been a particular "believer" in cables, and am now at least curious, since that test seemed to be an anomaly, even if anecdotal.

Back in the early 2000s Cardas cables for the HD650 were all the rage

For me the significant difference between headphone cables is how much more microphonic some are than others. It's annoying hearing a loud sawing sound if I move my head and the cable rubs on my clothes. I find that cheap, thin, flexible, plastic coated cables tend to be better than thicker and more expensive cables, especially if they're sleeved in fabric.

And work we use Phase Stable Cables for testing equipment... This means the frequency response is always the same no matter how you move the cable. Not sure if the audio world has something like this yet.

most of the times I do switch cables but only to balanced option and that give my headphones more power so there is a difference 👍 and if I want it to look cool I pay extra for it

Would you look into "better power supply" topic next time? I time it is another great one not already discussed here. Because it seems that really every people recommend "upgrade" the power supply to even low end stuff like Topping E30 with some fancy switching power supply or linear. Is there some truth in there? Thanks in advanced.

But did you use regular electrons or the specially curated bespoke dedicated audio electrons? You need to use the ones that were gathered during The Big War.

If you EQ a pair of HD600's to be identical (frequency wise) to a Focal Stellia, would you be able to tell the difference between the 2 headphones (in terms of sound only)? What affects things like timbre? Does using different amps change the frequency response? If using different amps still gets you the same FR on a graph, why does changing amps change the sound overall?

You can also get some flexible custom XLR braided OOC copper cables just like these ones for about $50 from China :)

Someone else's comment: "Jay Kay-Bull yeah yeah, Amir should test the cable hypothesis especially those IEMs with large impedance swings like the Campfire Andromeda or the ATH IM or LS balanced armatures. "

Amir, I want to see a video for multi-bit DAC vs sigma delta DACs. I think more then of few of us would.

So the wires inside the actual headphones are always extremely thin yet the wire leading up to them is supposed to make a difference. And then with power cables for separates is the opposite. The wire inside the house is cheap and basic yet the last few feet of extremely expensive power cable is supposed to make a difference. These audiophools will buy anything

I wish this video was more popular.

I was thinking to get some Aliexpress cables for my Focal headphones, what do you reckon?

awesome!

I've never heard any difference in cheap cables either. Feel is a big thing though. The springy garden hose cable that come with Hifiman Sundara was driving me crazy. I like Hart audio cables. Reasonably priced, good feel, and their multikits are good for connecting to various amps.

LOL, Jude at Head-Fi, and thousounds of other cable pundits' hearts, egos, and pocketbooks are now shattered. :-P Thanks for that! As long as the physical construction of the cable, its connectors, and their termination seem sound, I've always purchased interconnect and headphone cables based on how flexible/nice the cable and/or sheathing is in use, along with the quality & size/ease-of-use of the connectors. In the Telecom and aerospace industries, the most critical part of any cable is its soldered or crimped termination quality, and the quality and longevity of the contact that the specific connectors that are used provide. Good stuff, Amir. I can't thank you enough for providing these reviews and especially the data to dispel these perpetual myths! 👍👍

Video idea - Your take on upsampling (DSD via Roon for example).

Amir, i believe these can make a difference. I had a situation with of my earphone's cable, it transferred every, even slightest touch, to the earphones, i heard when cable was rubbing clothes. So i changed it to fancy, silver coated, braided, 10 euro aliexpress hi-end cable and problem gone instantly.

Wow, its impressive to see how all the measurements are the same.

I’ve never tested high end headphone cables vs. the stock cables you get with your headphones. However I have tested speaker cables and what I discovered is that the biggest difference between a stock Amazon speaker cable vs. say a high end cable is you get better definition in the bass and a larger/clearer/better defined sound stage. This varies from cable to cable but the differences are audible and very noticeable. So measuring frequency response and distortion doesn’t really give you the whole picture. You need to actually listen to the cables and see if you can hear a difference.

changing cables is like seasoning your food... subtle but noticeable differences...... once i tried 1/2 dozen speaker cables just to settle on one that blends well with the power amp and speakers.... but if you base your hifi experience on graphs and measurements then may as well just look at your gears and don't turn it on.....

They look like nice ornaments.

One measurement would be to test "microphonics".. because at least theoretically, the braided cables will be worse as they are loosely around each other, allowing much greater movement of the conductors in relation with each other.

yeah.. bought some silver balanced cables for my shure se 846 and se535 and it took out all the bass... had to go back to the stock cable

whats Silver OCC ? Oxidized Copper Coated? this definately affects the sound but not in a good way haha

The only difference between my £14 and £35 IEM cable (and it is a big one) is how much noise it picks up from the cable rubbing or “microphonics”. The £14 cable has about 80% more at a rough guess

Can you do a video or test on MP3 vs FLAC vs MQA?

How much is the input impedance of the oscilloscope?

Brilliant video Amir. Now the headphone crowd can have their snake oil cake and eat it too. 😂🐍🤑

You can always send them to Danny to see if they make good antennas!

I would have expected the silver cable to have a slightly lower resistance and therefore produce a slightly higher sound level. A next to nothing increase and completely inaudible, but still measurable. Lovely to be proven wrong. By the way compared to what most other cable companies charge for similar these are almost bargains.

I might just be dumb but on that first chart, isnt there a difference of ~7.5 db in that area about 10khz theres those 3 dips after 5khz the one before 10khz and the one right after i can see a color gradient, blue is the lowest, followed by orange then brown, and theres also a small dip (like maybe a db/half a db) Im not going to claim that it makes a difference or is audible because quite frankly im in the camp of "only buy nice cables because theyre built like a tank or for the aesthetics" But if im not seeing things i would be curious about why theres a difference there

I did try compare copper cable and silver cable, it have dramatically change in tonal character. The silver cable have excessive high frequency presentation!

The guys over at Abyss also have a company that sells very high end cables. Theirs aren't even the most expensive ones you can get. I've found cables upwards of 10K online. It blows me away. Human ears are great, but they aren't that discerning.

There is a difference a cable can make though which is cable noise. The standard cable for the Meze 99Classics for example are terribly noisy when rubbing against clothing (for me at least), but their upgrade cables don't have this issue. In terms of sound quality I notice no difference. There could maybe be a slight difference, because I don't get distracted by cable noise and can just enjoy the music.

the secret is matching a cable to the right IEM or Headphones......I might not be special, but I love music and can tell a difference between Copper and Silver !

If I'm using cables or wire for audio I'll just go with Canare and solder them myself. Impossible to get better construction quality and shielding and it's cheap.

Who would have thought...

Yeah, all the IEM manufacturers (and armature manufacturers) know the only wire that really matters is inside the housing. Varied diameter wire brings different impedance to the armature, and can all be messed with for fine tuning. But the main cable itself is always bigger than those tiny wires and doesn't matter.

My Hero

Placebo is a powerful PR tool.

They can improve things if the impedance of them does what you like to the sound. Everyone knows an impedance change or mis-match in audio cables can change the sound, either make it worse, or make it better.

I've heard people be like buying a 30$ IEM with a 30$ upgrade cable and describing the difference like it's an entirely new IEM. That said, how about the difference between impedance?

Do we have tests across different manufacturers? I mean, I’d like to see these same tests across Moon, Norne, Nordost, Chord, Cardas, etc because I see less “zomg chocolate oil jacuzee rolled off smooth sounding” type of reviews for some brands, but none for others. SURELY, there should be a reason why in some brands people are reporting audible differences at a mass scale (50+ reviews and up) at a rate that beats the Pareto ratio for the other brands? Norne’s amount of reviews doesn’t really do this video justice. You’d have to compare the mainstream brands. What would achieve cut through of the “headphone cables don’t matter” message would be a video titled “Cardas vs Chord vs Nordost vs Norne - why they’re all actually the same cable” and actually test them.