Review and detailed measurements of Nordost Tyr 2 high-end USB cable. Listening tests are provided as well. Discussion at: www.audiosciencereview.com/fo...
Fantastic review. As a former exit counsellor getting people out of various cults, it's amazing to see so many similarities between audiophiles and cult members. Using logic, science and plenty of patience, I commend the work you are doing. The bad comments that you receive are just people using Ad Hominem as they have nothing of substance to answer you with. You're a credit to the industry. Thanks.
Much appreciated. And right you are. I used to just say these things and push back was so strong. Now with data to back it, it is a far better situation with many changing their opinion which is great.
That was what drew me to the “audiophile world.” I had no idea these people even existed until a few years ago. My mother is a professor who teaches psychiatry and psychiatric nursing at a local university and watching audiophiles do their thing is a great case study in human behavior, and all the more relevant in this day and age. I remember seeing one of Paul’s videos for the first time and being blown away by the level of “ignorance”, but after watching a few more there was a pattern emerging. What ever could it be?🧐 It would make for a great Phd thesis but I digress.
I would love to invite you to my home listening to some different cables. Im convinced you will hear differences in sound. Im also convinced, they will all conduct electricity equally well.
@@josch614 G'day mate, thanks for the offer. What I'm trying to say is that people micro focus on the effect of cables in comparison to everything else. There is a mathematical model that shows that cables in relation to ALL variants in a system add up to a change of approx 1 percent. This can be easily demonstrated and I have had so many people who had "cables theory" come and once they do the mathematical model, ALL of them and I do mean ALL of them change their minds. I would be happy to discuss with you if you are interested. The best thing is it is all free. I have a fully loaded Sound Room and all these people say the same thing. "How did I miss the Elephants in the Room?"
I find this cable greatly improves the resolution of the AUDIO IMAGE so I can see the boundaries of the SOUNDSTAGE down to the nanometer level. Without this cable, I can't tell where the SOUNDSTAGE boundary is and so I fall off the stage.
Thanks Amir, after watching most of your videos I have concluded that my experiences have been confirmed. Forget fancy cables, power regeneration and other snake oil treatments. DACs, speakers and rooms have the most to say about how music sounds as long as proper amplification is available and ground loops are eliminated. I greatly appreciate your efforts to provide solid educational reviews and electronics common sense.
@@ognyankoynashki It varies. Many people are simply not aware how important the room is. One friend recently got into the hobby when he bought a decent system and we worked together to optimize speaker placement, add diffusers etc. Another guy simply thought his system already sounded amazing and didn't want to bother with acoustics (although I did try to convince him to tweak just minor things because I thought it could sound so much better).
Just take a look at what's in use in any professional audio studio. No $1000 USB, power and speaker cables, I can assure you, and with good reason! Pay attention to the data sheet, not the price tag.
You've more patience that me running these tests. I'd have probably used this cable to tie up the end of my garbage bags on bin night. Hopefully your tests will help someone save their money.
Thank you for taking the time to do scientific measurements on this! While I am happy to pay extra for high quality braided cables (my cat loves to eat rubber ones), this helps solidify that going above and beyond paying for construction quality makes no sense.
Another very informative, enjoyable and entertaining cable review Amir. Thank you. Already 12 pages of discussion on ASR in less than one day. Funny how some of these cables kind of look like snakes... 🐍
Thank you for your reviews from an objetive and empiric perspective, are invaluable for all the people that we love the music, all the other things are marketing, simply smoke curtains and snake oil. I subscribe totally your point of view, take this money and buy music to enjoy with it. Thank you
The claims are mostly adjectives, which are an opinion. Claiming, "This is the ultimate color blue" is way different than claiming the wavelength and intensity.
If a sucker is willing to pay for it and think it is going to work.. Will the package and marketing really make a difference if it is telling the truth?
Much appreciated bro! Those ultrasonic tidbits really hit the spot :) Part of me wonders what ultrasonic transmutations occur further down the chain, maybe some intermodulation that occurs in a speaker’s crossover or reflective interference from minute impedance mismatches, or like you mentioned the tweeter’s resonant frequency which is also often pushed out into the ultrasonic (31khz) for a pair of older aluminum tweeter kefs I have. It feels rather intuitive to me that the tweeter would loose fidelity if it was in motion outside the audible band, if even just disturbing the stability of an otherwise calm magnetic flux. These are just loose hypothesis, but I’m pretty sure you’d still bounce on a vibrating trampoline, which feels like a fitting analogy for two logarithmically distant frequencies. But if the springs became warm from constant vibrating, it may be less dynamic of a bounce. Likewise the thin copper windings of tweeters may be susceptible to loosing some of their zip when there’s needless energy causing more heat and resistance for the frequencies we want to reproduce, as I do believe thin copper has a positive temperature coefficient of resistance. There’s also something to be said about starting motion from a place of rest, the difference of throwing something and striking something. Like when objects are in contact with each other they can transfer energy more efficiently than if they were bumping around. Perhaps this principle has some merit in the voice-coil/magnet relationship. I’ve seen some drivers have flux stabilizing rings built into them. And I wonder if ultrasonic noise may be stirring the waters of the pond, to the point that Fuji-San doesn’t reflect on it’s glassy surface. I suppose an analogy of water ripples and light would be more like subsonic interference. Which by the way, I also appreciated you expanding your scale into the subsonic, and doing the 60hz transformer test :D
@@AudioScienceReview I think you’re right about that, the power levels diminish, similar to the “Ultraviolet Catastrophe” that created the theory of quantization of energy. It’s like writing out a number and adding decimals on the end of it in an effort to make the number larger. 8.7 Isn’t much more than 8.764839572843 but maybe in instances of very high levels of ultrasonic, where lin this metaphor the decimal exceeds 9. It would be interesting if the conventional scale of measurement is weighted disproportionally in some way that’s been overlooked. Like if we’ve been measuring quantized energy at levels of 10, when they really roll over at a level of 7.
Great to get an engineering perspective on USB cable performance. One again claims by the audio industry for sonic improvements for expensive USB cables are shot to pieces. I really appreciate the time you put into these videos to remove the smoke and mirrors used to flog over priced USB cables.
Apart from basic audio tests, the only way to properly test USB cables (and HDMI, etc.) Is with a cable tester that measures impedances, signal reflections, signal dispersion in the time domain (with eye diagrams), screen connectivity, and so on. Provided that those criteria are satisfactory, a $5 cable will sound the same as a $1000 cable. If it sounds different then it is the USB DAC that is having problems where it should not if it is correctly designed.
I thought the same thing during the review, that its a *data* cable and the audio tests are irrelevant. However, the people who would be interested in such things (you and me) already know that, and know the cable doesn't matter. However to audiophiles such language is every bit as esoteric and incomprehensible as Akkadian or biblical Hebrew. It won't even register. However, putting it in terms of sound quality is something they will readily understand, and showing that it has no effect would be the desired end result in this case.
As I explained in the video, in short lengths that are used in audio, there is little question about signal integrity. If there were drop outs, you would hear them because they sound nasty. Since people buy these premium cables without any observation of data loss, then the question becomes one of audio fidelity. Which is what I addressed.
Tyr ("teer") is the god of justice/war in Norse mythology. It's the root of Tuesday. It's not the most well documented deity. Some sources says he is Odin's son, while others implies they were brothers.
I just watched 20 minutes and 24 seconds of video, over I don't know how many devices, routers, disks, chips, and it all came out perfect. Nobody stuck a high end cable into the last meter to "improve" the experience.
Well to be honest I have bought slightly expensive cables occasionally nothing more than $100 and all I have for that money are well-built cables that look good and I am happy with. That should be enough. Great video
The more i watch u the more i like you. I really like paul from ps audio so obviously i had a problem with you. Paul is like the mr rogers of home audio so its tough to not be on his side but unfortunately for paul i realize that i agree with you. No matter how nice you are money and profit still rules the world. Also you gave good reviews of equipment that i own. That wins anyone over. Anyway, keep up the honest work
I need this to USB cable to plug into my Rechargeable Battery powered lawnmower so I can cut the lawn in half the time while limiting the engines DB’s for a cleaner power flow.. Does it come in 100 foot lengths then I can leave it plugged in so I can mow more than a 3 foot wide swath at a time?
I commend you for even running all these tests. I assume that people who are willing to spend $1000 on a USB cable will not be swayed whereas most people probably expected the results you showed (because afterall there are people who understand that there is a difference between analog and digital signal transmission =)). I really appreciated your comment that there’s nothing wrong with someone who thinks they can hear a difference when there isn’t one there, and that you’re susceptible to that as well. You put that very humbly. :) So cheers to you and I hope you’re having a great day!
Its a real shame that those people we cant sway will take Amir saying that Hes susceptible to hearing differences as an argument for there actually being a difference.
I bought my USB cable in my supermarket, a nice supple cable with a braided outside. Even sturdy connectors! Price: 8 euros for 2 meter :) Any advice on a DAC for a hifiset (not headphones) with multiple inputs? Preferably 3x optical (tv, cd, streamer). Budget probably somewhere between 1k and 2k. I preparation of my trusty Marantz AV 8003 preamp, which is getting old. Still sounds amazing though!
After electrical engineering school back east, I knew audiophile snake oil when I saw it. However, I was fascinated, and got some $1000 speaker wires for $300, and had the mystery wonderment experience for a while. Changed them out, etc., and yes, it faded, so I sold them. My snake oil friends however just told me I didn't give them enough, 'break-in'. Hahahaha. Rescuing device, on cue, well rehearsed. Oh well. The brainwashing runs deep. Fun while it lasts I guess, but at what ridiculous price! Oh--the grandaddy of 'em all--from my Navy Chief sonar pal. "We can hear things that aren't measurable..." Presumably things that $20000 DACs can elucidate...Thanks again Amir.
They must all be able to hear things that were not put in the song by the artist too since none of them use any of these idiotic strings of wastefulness and probably dont use speakers or DACs totalling over a grand.
I appreciate your work here. I'd of been shocked if there was any difference. Right off the bat any improvements claimed are dubious at best. It's USB, simple. This is basically an attempt at gouging a gullible customer.
The DX3 pro plus is a very resolving DAC. What measurements do you use to show that one DAC has a higher resolution than another DAC? Also what measurements do you use to show one set of headphones is more resolving than another set? Are there objective measurements for soundstage and imaging?
The whole notion of a "resolving" audio component is 99.44% pure audiophool codswallop invented by "high end" marketing folks. A DAC that measures well is going to be more than adequately "resolving" and Amir knows what to measure.
I saw 20k USD cable. This amount of money can feed a village in third world country for a long time. Everyone decides how to spend their money, but the ethics of companies like ps audio, dragon quest, etc. are very very questionable. Old audiophiles like to claim that there is "something" that measurements can't catch it is like saying "can you measure how music sounds on MDMA". You are the nicest and most articulate person in this hobby, yet I've seen all kinds of shady people attack your credibility and saying inaccurate stuff about ASR. It is sad and funny at the same time.
Very kind of the person to loan the cable for testing. I have some Ocean-Front Property in Vegas they may be interested in too. Just kidding. Hey, if they can hear the difference and it brings them enjoyment, who am I to criticize?? BTW< I have the Topping DX3 Pro+ and I love it. I wonder if the USB connection in the DAC (ANY DAC for that matter) can take advantage of the stellar performance of the high-end cable??
We have a large swath of people now who think they must buy these cables. With data like mine, they now see that they don't need to do this and have evidence to prove it.
Thanks for your videos. Like your methods to testing. I think after watching a few of your videos you are clearly rigorous. I agree with using your tools to find sometimes cheap vs expensive is minimal if any difference. What about other factors? Longevity, reliability etc? Build quality not only on function. Other factors. Maybe this cable lasts longer or maintains better connections internally. Functional equivalency is expected (mostly). But there are more factors? Right? I suppose debunking the more expensive components claims is your thing…and we appreciate it. But dissection of the products at a build Level may be good too. I go to the hardware store and see millions of screws. Which one is not going to strip? Well…what you find is that not all products are equal even though equivalent in function. Are you going to do some vintage gear? Be neat to see you do some comparison of older products to show whether they shield better? I have some cables from the 80s and those are fine for me. Quantifying these things is great. But being an engineer myself sometimes our tools don’t precipitate the differences. It’s all in the testing regiment. Normally you get what you pay for. If anything is too expensive or too cheap you may want to understand why.
It is hard to evaluate things like longevity. Best to ask other users about the item. And yes, I do fair bit of vintage gear reviews. Last set was on Carver gear. See: www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/carver-m-1-5t-review-vintage-amp.30983/
In this case, it's such an huge discrepancy in prices that quality built is not enough to justify getting these cables. Assuming performance equivalence you can easily get premium quality cables for a fraction of the price.
The good news is that the Nordost is performing almost as well as the Amzon Basic!!! LOL!! Great review and test especially acknowledging the fact how influenced we get when plugin in new gear!!!
How do you measure soundstage? How do you measure tonality? Frequency range, dynamic range? How do you measure timbre? How do you measure speed, rise rate and decay rates?
I can't measure what people imagine if that is what you are asking. The music itself is in control of the factors you mention. Your cabling is completely transparent about all of those factors. There is not an ounce of engineering or research to say otherwise. A bunch of audiophiles and reviewers have made up those notions changing to sell and justify cables. Don't fall for it please and repeat their talking points.
So I just started addressing room acoustics and cables...usb, rca, xlr, power, hifi wall outlet w dedicated run. I've watched so many videos and I am always open minded but try my best not to fall for gimmicks. I really appreciate this video, and certainly don't want to assume anything with hifi. This video pertains to USB, which is digital, where does that leave analog cables and power cords? Seems like there are so many brands as well as many variations of how they are made, much more than usb. One thing we know about XLR and RCA is there is a difference in sound between copper and silver, i guess I'm wondering do the differences stop there? Any help and advice is appreciated. There is so many opinions but I must say this video has left a greater impression on me and I feel most other reviewers are either benefiting financially in some ways or perhaps bias and its hard to know who to trust. Thanks in advance.
Does anyone know if Amir has tested the USB connection to a DAC vs I2S? This is something reviews always comment on as well as the manufacturer saying the I2S always sounds better. I2S is not common and therefore some people would then buy a DDC to convert which is added cost. I’d love to see something on this if it exists or perhaps in the future.
Got one question. If digital signal cable makes no difference in transferring digital data, then should there be any difference in different CD player(SPDIF out)? Or like, different digital devices transferring the same data via different usb out put system？（ie. notebook direct usb out vs roon nucleus with a good usb bridge out)
That is a different situation. S/PDIF has implicit clock mixed with the same signal. Player must extract that clock and use it to drive the DAC. Should the source have high jitter/noise, that can get transmitted to the DAC and its output. Fortunately DACs perform filtering on that input and are able to sonically achieve transparency. From measurement front though, I often measure jitter from SPDIF but it is harmless as far as audibility (with rare exceptions). USB originally had the same problem (and worse) but for the last 15 years or so, we have gone to "asynchronous USB" where the DAC clock is generated internally and USB clock is only used to fetch the data. So in that situation it is better than S/PDIF and usually provides better performance (objectively) than S/PDIF.
You are doing a great job Amir with the measurements. The problem is that in a high-end audio system everything matters. You can hear a clear difference between different USB cables in a modestly resolving system. No one knows why there is a difference and I think people just don't know how to measure it. Audio business is very small and no one has contributed resources to develop measurements that will quantify audio quality. I like your approach, but I think that people should judge by themselves if there is an audible difference and not be prevented from maxing out the performace of their systems. in my system I can tell 10 times out of 10 whether a stock USB cable is playing or a custom USB cable is playing. The difference is night and day. And I have a 100$ USB cable, not a crazy priced one. I can even tell 10 times out of 10 the difference between a stock USB cable and 30$ Belkin Gold USB. I don't understand how people can't hear that. I did a demo for my friend who is not an audiophile. He though that I am crazy. He also picked the 100$ USB cable over the stock one 10 times out of 10 and he did not know which cable was playing. Take away what you want from this rant, but cables do matter.
Do us a favor and record a video of you passing those blind tests. That way we can tell what you are doing and attempt to replicate. On the rest, if there is no measurement that indicates what these cables do for sound, how on earth is the manufacturer verifying after production that they are doing this?
@@AudioScienceReview I don't think they are verifying it. They probably only listen to a cable on many different systems. They try different materials, different geometries and listen to the results. Thats why I am a strong beliver that price of the cable does not indicate if it is gonna fit your system. In my system I have cables that do not exceed 100$ per cable. I tested others costing hundreds of dollars and found them to actually sound worse. I think that it should be rational to just borrow a cable, put it in your system, evaluate it and base your purchasing decisions based on this evaluation. I never ever buy cables without listening to them in my system. I did that in the past and it was a financial loss. I advice people to always listen to the cables in their system and if they don't make a difference, don't buy them. Strangely many audiphiles are buying aftermarket cables. If they don't make a different in sound, why so many people are willing to spend their hard earned money. It looks like a mass conspiracy and those people were fooled :) Ok, I can record a video. Why type of video would you prefer? recording the sound of a stock USB cable and 100$ USB cable? Even on youtube you will be able to tell a difference. Or a blind test? I can record any type of video you wish to prove my point.
Hello, would you consider putting the rating section at the end of your reviews? It spoiled the review for me knowing how it will perform before even reading the review.
Just watched a counterpoint video from Paul at ps audio who said he could walk into the room and tell if the USB cable had been changed. I think that sounds like a good place to start for an actual test. Too bad he would never be crazy enough to try one. I guess he has to feed his family too.
To test any USB cable for "audio quality claims" you'd just have to transfer a file from one device to another and compare the two files. If they are the same after the transfer then there is no difference. I guess one could also test power drop at max load ratings for longer cables if power transfer to a device is required. Not sure why a listening test is needed (especially done by one person) even for audio use but there isn't any "science" added by doing that. Nice to debunk the claims though, hard to believe they could even sell one of those cables these days.
To be fair to the other camp, playback of audio uses a different mode of operation on USB than file transfer. So testing the latter doesn't prove the former. But yes, your larger point is correct.
Another relaxing ride though manufacturing claims via instrumentation and clear speech. Thank you! Amir, I presume you have heard of Chesky Records? I just listened David Chesky talk to Steve Guttenberg about his new project, quote: "'The Audiophile Society'" is the brainchild of composer, pianist, and audio pioneer David Chesky. The new label will focus on bringing even more realistic three-dimensional recordings to market with their Meta-Dimensional Sound, The Audiophile Society’s name for their unique two-channel 3D audio that can play on all existing two-channel stereo, while showcasing emerging artists working in a multitude of genres. The ultimate goal of The Audiophile Society is to change the way you hear music." So it's a website of that name, with the stated goals in upcoming recorded products. Chesky goes into detail on the recent "Audiophiliac" channel show. Chesky sounds absolutely sincere, and will produce some very low exposure artists, so the motivations look authentically about trying to do good things. I hope you consider explaining for us some of the audio reproduction goals aimed for by T.A.S., what they mean, if they attained, etc. In a rare case of application of your skills, I'm hoping you find merit. In any case we all win listening to your evaluation including Mr. Chesky.
Yes, I recently heard about that and downloaded the demo package from them. Hope to evaluate it soon. I have known David Chesky for more than two decades and I suspect he has done good work there.
Have you reviewed headphone cable? Some people think they can hear a difference between various types and purity of copper of course silver cables sounds much brighter than copper.
I have indeed. Please see: www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/do-premium-headphone-cables-make-an-audible-difference-norne-audio-cable-review-video.22481/
Better blacks, much wider images, much more typewriter-like. It's like night and day, but only if you have a high-end very resolving printer using a printerphile-grade power cable.
You can't use a DAW to compare such captures. You have to be able to align to sub-sample accuracy which your DAW can't do. As a result, your nulls will play music not because there is a difference, but because of clock drift.
Why would they? I have yet to see someone buy one of these cables and regardless of what equipment they have, praise that it removed veil, etc. How come they don't doubt those observations?
@@AudioScienceReview not to dismiss your effort, but if this video was made with the intention of "saving" misguided audiophiles and help them realize the truth better, then pairing with other expensive gear pieces might be the better option. in their mind, that will be a better equation and because the gears are expensive, they can say that you *at least* tried it, and you even have scientific data to back up your claims. they will run out of excuses or valid arguments, and therefore will have an easier time accepting it. Plus the people who buy all these fancy things are mostly pairing them with hi-end gears, so if your scenario is a better match they cannot blame the major component (dac/amp/preamp) for its fault. I know you provided plenty real data and real examples, but I think that's how the average, deep-in-rabbit-hole audiophile thinks. I used to be one and I was quite like that too :D
Impedance is a non-issue in short cables. I've tried all kinds of rca for spdif and they all work. Be it coaxial, dual wire, quad. Copper is just too damn good at transmitting electrical signals 😅
Trained ear and experienced person can notice what may be no audible for most people . But it is not any problem - if it is not noticeable it does as much harm as sand seed to driven car on highway. Nobody should turn normal people attention to wipe it before continuing way. All they they must is to drive on . It is deliberate harm to people
i have the first modi... never had a problem with the computer i was using before.. both are now retired. maybe ill bring it out. then if theres noise maybe ill get the expensive USB cable so i can get it working properly :D
When i was learning digital audio production and film production is UNI we did test 4000€ nordost USB cable in our 3.000.000€ Gelenec studio (with top end genelec speakers that costed over 150.000€). Just for giggles, no difference at all. Not slightest.
@@AudioScienceReview My teacher was actually on of the scientists that was making the first digital audio/video codecs. He confirmed that there is no way digital cable can alter the coded data. Ever. IF it can do it, it must have world's most powerful AI in it. Decode the data to audio, alter it in editing software and the code it back to data and do it all in real time. But that is still a star trek level of Sci-Fi fantasy..
Thanks for saving me money on cables. I can buy the Amazon one and have enough change to buy a good CD player. I doubt the $20,000 USB cable you mentioned would any different from the Amazon one.
Just invite one to a blind test. Suddenly they're all gone :D Nordost sellers have all the time in the world when you show you have money, and are suddenly super busy when you propose them to take part in blind tests. Weasly little cowards.
Superb review. It just makes me laugh when amirm starts these reviews just thinking about how this is gonna end up. Can't believe we are still debating how two different strands of metals can change the audio signal...
I've tried a few audiophile usb cables and have never experienced any improvement. Same with big fancy power cables. Never really noticed a difference between just standard good quality cables vs audiophile cables.
Initially I thought of the same thing, of all cables USB should not make a difference, but I was wrong. I had Generic USB cable, upgraded Straightwire USB cable and it was definitely an improvement. And I thought it can’t get better than this then I upgraded to an Oyaide USB cable just for grins and giggles. I am still using the Oyaide usb cable extremely happy. I never measured these cables but definitely hear a difference between these cables. I am however amazed how some people don’t hear the difference when it’s abundantly clear at least to me
You're perfectly demonstrating the placebo effect. You think the cables sound better because they cost more and your brain decided ahead of time that they must sound better. Do a real blind test between the cables. If you can tell the difference correctly 8 out of 10 times then you can actually say you can hear a difference, but I would bet you would not be able to do it.
@@DustinHaning Expensive don't always equal better sound, thats not what I am saying. I also understand not all systems are equal, some systems reveal and some don't. Cables are usually a sensitive subject because there is lack of understanding. I don't usually swap cables frequently so in the event I do, my system is revealing enough, I can clearly tell the difference, I don't need to be blind folded to hear its too obvious. Let's call it placebo effect as you say it is do you think it's possible to fool this many people for this long? Do you know how many cable companies exist and thriving? You sound new to this hobby, in the beginning I use to think the same way... here is a spoiler alert.. in the end its an expensive hobby but a rewarding one so place your bet where it matters.
In old times producers mainly offered pro for pro people and ordinary gear with ordinary connections for ordinary . Ordinary people were so happy to enjoy sound that stories and shops were growing everywhere . . Since then they made massive step ahead and they offer science gear and science connections for ... scientists who are very happy to know how good is. But shops are closing.
Meanwhile on some fb groups people talk about how better is the floor noise,soundstage,etc since the got a linear power supply for their pc, a master clock for their audiophile network switch and usb cables. Fun fact I proved them that the audiophile switches they got was only a lynksys unmanaged switch inside. hehe
Just looked at the specification for this cable. It looks like the most expensive material used is silver foil for shielding. I was hoping for NASA-grade exotic stuff.. Then maybe it's handmade, and 1m of cable is made by one person in one month. In that case the price is right, I think..
Hi Amir, nice debunking. I always enjoy your testing. However I would like your short comment on a long winded explanation. I have retired two years ago and moved into a small flat and assigned one room (3 x 4 m) as my listening room come study or just where I would work on my PC. This method of acoustic treatment may appeal to some of your followers experiencing the same circumstances I do. Firstly I got rid of over 120K worth of equipment, in fact I simply gave it away. I only kept my Rodgers LS3/5A which I bought in the early eighties. I then designed an extreme quality single ended class A amplifier capable of 12 watts per channel. Then I performed a complete polar response on a single loudspeaker on a calm day, placing the speaker on a 3-meter pole in the middle of a rugby field near where I lived. This is an urban field and has no grand stand or even seating. The closest reflective structure was the school building, some 300 m away. I performed a polar response for both azimuth and elevation by having the mic placed on the axis exactly between woofer and tweeter, one meter away. Then rotated the speaker through 360 degrees. I did it three times with me standing in different position just to ensure that I was not an obstacle that would impair my measurement. These plots ensured that I could calculate the SPL at any angle from the centre of the speakers. (In the end having a polar plot did not make much difference since I never bothered using it.) My next step was a simple room deadening exercise, which involved placing 10 cm thick fibre wool on all the walls and ceiling. The ceiling wool was secured using black 40% shade net and hanging from ceiling to floor heave thick woollen curtains, four drops on the short- and 5 drops on the log walls. There are many deep pleats. I installed a very thick pure wool wall-to-wall carpet and placed only my desk and chair with the PC/screen combo on it. I placed two desk lamps on either side of the screen and my two speakers on either side of the lamps. My chair is a very nice soft executive chair which I had covered with a custom-made sheepskin cover. The amplifier was mounted under the desk and has no controls and driven directly off the USB port through a Topping DAC off the PC. That is since I have decided to either stream or play my (WAV) music files directly from the semiconductor hard drive. Wiring from amp to speakers is about one meter and consists of 8 mm² PTFE cladded fine strand silver wire, for no particular reason, I had a roll of it, and it would not make a hoot of difference to the sound I can assure you. I also have the whole room in black. It has a very strange effect on you when you first step into it and see only black and could hear your heartbeat, nothing else. All the walls of the room are load bearing thus a double brick wall with a 50 mm spacing thus there is not much sound coming through the walls either, besides being a very quiet neighbourhood. The noise floor measured -101 dB SPL, 0 dB SPL referenced to one watt pink noise from a single speaker while the mic is placed in the centre of the room. Preparing the room was not hard work, but the curtaining being custom-made cost a little, but not extravagantly so. By now you certainly realized that I am a near field listener and having no reflections and only absorption is a good thing. Both the speakers are placed on two oval shaped sheep skin mats, however they are solidly anchored with spikes onto the desk which is 32 mm black speckled granite and is angled directly to my ears in my favourite listening position. The experience is quite extraorally, it sounds like an excellent pair of headphones without the headphones, sound from one speaker reaches the opposite ear at the time it should. Width, breadth and depth as well as instrument placement I would say is exactly what the mastering engineer intended. When only listening to music, I actually cover the PC screen, unless I watch a film of course. I have never before even in my treated rooms and fairly exceptional equipment experience music like I do now. It was a bit weird in the beginning to sit in an absolutely black room that has no sound in it whatsoever. Maybe there are followers of your programme that would like to try this. Near-field listening on very accurate small speakers driven with a class A amplifier is also quite an experience. Thank you for your program. I find everything you divulge both interesting and informative. Cheers, Nico
Yeh, the giant headphone environment can sound really good. I know an audiophile with $200,000 massive tower speakers that he too places very close to listening spot.
All the Nordost naming in the NORSE series cables, is from NORSE mythologi: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology - And I belive all the cabels have their names from the gods and other beings in this universe. TYR, LOKE, FREY, ODIN. HEIMDAL is where they lived, and so on.
Hi Amir. Thanks for your valuable inputs on an overpriced product. I do indulge in IEM cables, not as expensive, but my intention is purely aesthetic. If I can make a request, can you do a objective analysis on how cables and eartips of various materials make difference to IEMs sound..? Since IEMs are less affected by resonance induced by our outer ear, the slight variations can be better captured. Thanks and take care Amir.
I have actually done an analysis of cables for headphones. Please see: www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/do-premium-headphone-cables-make-an-audible-difference-norne-audio-cable-review-video.22481/ I don't believe they have any impact on the actual sound of the IEM. But I would optimize for comfort, look, and microphonics.
I can't remember which company but I've seen power cables that have directional arrows on them.... Claiming the electrons flow better in one direction.
@@ASSOpid my xlr to trs cables have that but I believe its for shielding, they go the wrong way though, also noticed later that the trs to xlr adapters that came in the box have some extra length in the wire and if I unscrew them its just long enough if I stack my dac and amp so I dont have a bunch of cable sticking out. DOnt feel like having to resolder them everytime I bump it a bit to far and the tiny wire breaks so jsut using the linger ones I bought for now though.
@Douglas Blake dont they both reference to ground though? otherwise the rx and tx would be mixed together, so when one is high and the other high in the other direction it would appear as both are low. I think you may be getting confused with ethernet where there is a positive and negative rx and tx for 4 wires total, which also are twisted to cancel out the magnetic field Smart ethernet, if only the cable connector was as good as the cable). Maybe usb superspeed which has mroe wires does this though.
Interesting as always! I have a question, I know that most of this is just to get money from people, but let's say you have a bird's nest of electrical, signal and USB cables, would a shielded USB cable in fact be better for the DAC not having to error correct? LOL! Love that your wife tried to confuse you and hoped you would doubt your judgement:-)
But there is no error to correct. If even a single byte becomes corrupted, you will hear distinct static in your DAC. If you are not hearing such impairments, then you don't have any data errors to worry about. But let's say you did. You want a cable that is tested for such a situation. None of these audio cables are as they have no certification let alone functionality in this regard.
@@AudioScienceReview I did just imagine that USB would work as all other data transmissions do, they lose a bit here and a couple there and an error check system either correct the error, or if impossible, asks for a resend. I did also think that such errors, if it's a very bad cable near i.e. cheap SMPS, some bad power cables or whatever, could make the data stream fairly bad. LOL! No I can not imagine any "high-end" USB cables being constructed for anything other than looking expensive. :-)
Hi Amir, I like watching you videos but the conclusions seems always the same to me? Measurement won’t show any difference and a listing test show differences but thats our brain playing tricks on us. Devices don’t do what they claim because the measurements don’t show it. Are we that hear differences then all “crazy” and should we buy the cheapest good measuring devices and leave al optimization devices out of the chain?
No, it doesn't follow that you should buy the cheapest. The cheapest may look ugly, not have the features you want, lack support, and pride of ownership. For the longest time I kept my Mark Levinson DAC in my music system for those reasons. Eventually I replaced it but am sad every time I look at the small box that the replacement is! :) My wish for high-end audio is to take care of performance first, and then do what they are good at which is packaging, branding, potentially more reliability, etc. I would be one of their first customers if they did that. Instead, it is an inverted world where you pay more and frequently you get less. That is not right. What you don't want to do is to evaluate audio products without following the right protocols where only your ears are involved in that judgement. The moment the test is non-blind, then your brain does a wonderful job of yielding wrong conclusions. Just do the testing blind and controlled and indeed you can throw out all the measurements and decide what you buy. Finally, when it comes to things like speakers, it is very hard to buy cheap and get greatness. You can get the right tonality but if you want deep bass and great dynamics, price skyrockets. My speakers are $23,000 a pair for that reason. So this is not a game of cheapest is great. It is making sure that performance is there first and foremost.
i used to believe that cables dont make a difference bits are bits etc , then i started to experiment and change out my cables , i used the cable co. to borrow cables to test. starting with the usb streamer>DAC , then speaker, then xlr , then power i was able to hear differences with a/b testing, not always for the better i will admit but the change in sound was there. take a silver cable vs a copper cable and there is a difference in sound even if they measure the same. i have been able to drastically improve my listening experience changing from my mogami/canare/furutech reference (still VERY good) to some higher end cables. did it change the sound yes was it worth it to me yes. will it do the same for you i dont know. all i can say is try it yourself. i think the human ear has evolved over 200,000 years to be able to pickup nuanced differences in sound that may not be detectable with lab equipment. i think one of the biggest changes i got with higher end cables is smoothness of sound and the ease of listening at high levels. i like to listen loud now i can for much longer. ask my wife lol
All of use perceive these differences. Sadly we do so even if there is none! Our brain has a way of tricking us this way. And because that is so, the effect will wear off over time.
@@AudioScienceReview i get your point and agree there is some of that but ive herd the difference in my system ive tried to go back to other cables here and there after listening for months if anything to prove your exact point to myself but its so obvious to me the difference. Anyway thank you for your input and devotion to our community.
