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Comparing the tone of three different "boutique" cables

#21
I don't have the money to invest in any truly high-end cables for this test, but if anyone is willing to lend them to me, I will happily provide RTA test comparisons with any of them.
JAUQO III-X said:
It doesn't prove that there is no difference in sound. When people really can hear a difference. Whether it's in their mind or not.

Now if you want to prove otherwise, why not take the same three cables and have the outer covers and ends all branded differently.
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Jauqo, can you see the cable ends and outer covers of the cables I tested? After I named them and showed their prices, did the graph change?
 
#22
bongomania said:
I don't have the money to invest in any truly high-end cables for this test, but if anyone is willing to lend them to me, I will happily provide RTA test comparisons with any of them.


Jauqo, can you see the cable ends and outer covers of the cables I tested? After I named them and showed their prices, did the graph change?
Click to expand...

I don't get into the debate of whether or not one can hear a difference in instrument cables.


If some people want to think that different cables do sound different. that really is on them no matter how one trys to change it.

I was just saying why not take three cables(insides exact as well as the jacks) and change the brand name and see how the player would react.
 
#23
Oh yeah, well I already did that experiment -accidentally- on myself! :) The reason I heard differences between the cables was because, subconsciously, I expected they would sound different. And that was because of prior mental associations I had with the brands and models.
 
#24
bongomania said:
I don't have the money to invest in any truly high-end cables for this test, but if anyone is willing to lend them to me, I will happily provide RTA test comparisons with any of them.


Jauqo, can you see the cable ends and outer covers of the cables I tested? After I named them and showed their prices, did the graph change?
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this!

Any chance of throwing a $15 Hosa, Whirlwind, etc into the tests?
 
#27
This definitely needs testing by bongomania of cheap AND not-so-cheao cables side by side. Howaboutit, b?


BTW, as I write this I am suffering from gas. No, real gas, as in "ahh, jeezus....sunofa..."

(definitely different tones involved)
 
#28
I'm glad you got to the root of it. Good for you for using SCIENCE!

I guess the real question is "Do you still prefer one of the cables over the others, barring significant differences in utility (length, connectors that are obnoxious, ect)?"
 
#29
MooseLumps said:
I'm glad you got to the root of it. Good for you for using SCIENCE!
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shark_shirt_300.png
 
#31
MooseLumps said:
I guess the real question is "Do you still prefer one of the cables over the others, barring significant differences in utility (length, connectors that are obnoxious, ect)?"
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I'm reluctant to do any more A/B listening tests with them! :p At least, not until I can get access to a proper ABX blind system.

On a tactile level, I do like the cloth-covered Fender cable a lot more than the other two. It's not as stiff as the Elixir, and not as prone to tangling as the Canare.
 
#33
john turner said:
can you make a bigger picture of the graph? sorta hard to make out what's going on in that one - especially that little peak at 180 hz or so, and the little shennanigans going on at 60 hz too. that's interesting, at least to me.
Click to expand...

It would be interesting to see a bigger copy of the pic.

But I'm guessing that most of the differences are down to errors/noise. That small peak is pretty interesting, tho when you take into account the X-axis scale, that one distinct peak is only 0.1dB (if that)!
 
#37
This is why I should not be allowed to have a credit card. And my sense of curiosity should be lobotomized. :D

I just bought:
Monster Bass 21'
Planet Waves Cable Station 20'
Horizon cheapo 20'
Musician's Gear cheapo 20'
Lava Magma 20'
Analysis Plus Bass Oval 20'
Evidence Audio Lyric HG 20'

If anyone knows some special techniques for analyzing relevant parameters other than spectrum analysis, please let me know. I have TrueRTA already, so if you know some expert tricks with that, that would be awesome. I'm also happy to invest in other useful analysis software.
 
#38
bongomania said:
Link Removed

Although I'm guessing those blips are just spurious artifacts of the testing machine. I'll run another set later tonight, and compare to see if they're still there.
Click to expand...

The bumps are from power line interference. They appear seemingly at random because they are effectively at random phase compared to the measurement window. So, sometimes they average out and sometimes they don't.

If you want to measure cable capacitance using your RTA, I can advise on how to do that. Also, check out a free program called "visual analyzer."
 
#39
A little anecdote that may be germane:

A friend of mine recently invited me to a meeting of his "audiophile club", so I went along to see how the other half lives. In addition to listening to some nice music on a very nice hi-fi (and imbibing in some excellent comestibles courtesy of the host), they wanted to do some listening evaluations to compare some boutique AC power cables (!) to conventional stock IEC power cables.

Now, I know enough about the physiology of perception, & conciousness, & Expectation Bias, as well as cable design, AC power, and snake-oil in general, so I knew this exercise was going to be amusing at best and most likely exasperating. There was no provision for blind testing, no ABX, no level-matching, no instant switching (which presupposes that's a good thing...but I digress), they just played some tunes, then crawled around behind the power amps, swapped cables, then played the same tunes.

Not only did everyone in the room swear they heard a difference, but everyone in the room identified & described those differences in essentially identical ways.

...including me.

I don't believe for an instant that these listening tests were valid, or that we legitimately demonstrated there was an audible difference between these power cables. I think the only thing we proved was how pervasive Expectation Bias can be in a poorly executed comparison.

But it did give me a lot of insight into how people can be convinced that there are differences and that those differences can be audible.
 
#40
Love it! Great thread- thanks, Bongo. Keep the tests coming!!!!

I, for one, am inclined to believe the graphs over anecdotal evidence any day of the week! At least as far as what the test's show- each cables frequency response is essentially identical.

Now, there are factors (both real & 'imagined') that can affect one's performance. Gear often has a subtle psychological influence in how we play- thus resulting in different experiences. This is the fun part! But... science is science- looks like no difference at all in the cables overall frequency response with the given test.
 

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