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Comparing the tone of three different "boutique" cables

For people asking whether I can do this with cheap cables or with Monster etc., the answer is back on page 5. :)
This first test method here is as follows:
RTA software (TrueRTA) generates a pink noise test signal, and sends it to the output of my audio converter (a PreSonus Firestudio Mobile). The cable being tested is plugged into the output of that box, and the other end of the cable is plugged into the input. :) The input is connected back to the RTA software, which then performs a spectrum analysis by comparing the input against the output. Each reading gets saved in a memory location, so they can be overlaid or otherwise compared.

I'm still waiting on the arrival of the capacitance meter I ordered, but I did receive some of the cables I ordered, so here is another spectrum analysis shot:
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I think this forum shrinks attached photos to fit, so click on the link to see the full-size version.

Musician's Gear 20', $8.89, approx. 1 ohm resistance
Analysis + 20', $159.00, approx. 0.2 ohms resistance
Horizon 20', $10.99, approx. 0.8 ohms
Evidence 20', $155.00, approx. 0.3 ohms

So the expensive cables do have demonstrably lower resistance than the cheaper ones. Also, interestingly, the resistance readings for the two cheap ones bounced all over the map, from very high to very low, so the numbers I picked were the numbers they settled on for the longest period; whereas both of the expensive ones were very stable in their readings. Now, it's important to note that my DMM is a cheap one, and its accuracy in this very low resistance range is questionable. So take this bit about the resistance as an "interesting observation" rather than hard scientific data. :) I'll improve on that accuracy later.

OK, I just did the RTA on the cables in series with a P-bass pickup.

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Click the link to see it full-sized. As you can see though, while the pickup drastically changed the overall frequency spectrum, all eight cables performed exactly identically. Hopefully within a few days I'll be able to test the capacitance, and within two weeks I'll be able to test the timing and accuracy of transient peaks.

Cables in this test:

Analysis Plus Bass Oval 20', $155
Elixir Premium 20', $70
Evidence Audio Lyric HG 20', $159
Horizon standard 20', $11
Lava Magma 20', $25
Monster Bass 21', $50
Musician's Gear standard 20', $9
Planet Waves Cable Station 20', $23 (approx)

And as noted in that last bit, the tests are ongoing--I will be applying more different tests as the tools become available to me. And I'm totally open to suggestions of new tests! The one about musical material as opposed to pink noise is a bit tricky to do scientifically--but I'll work on it.
 
Glad to hear that bongo. Oh btw, so because audio and our ears were tested to this nth degree, you're saying it's been tested enough? that we know all we need to know about it? just curious as to your rationale behind that statement.

No, I'm not saying we've reached the end of possibility--I am saying that we have done so much testing that comparisons to primitive villagers observing the stars, or Madame Curie getting radiation sickness, are not even remotely apples-to-apples.

An example that approaches "appleness" and might support your position is something like relativity or quarks. We have been applying all our known science to them, and we still can't say a whole lot with certainty, and new potentially-valid hypotheses pop up semi regularly.

The difference with acoustics and psychoacoustics is that the published test results can be independently verified with relative ease, without having to resort to supercolliders where they can only measure the probability of a given result having occurred.
 
i 100% agree with you, bongo. It is the constant testing, debunking, and retesting of scientific truths that makes science continue to be a relevant field today. I myself am not casting any doubt on your findings, i think that they are INCREDIBLY interesting.

I guess i'm mainly just being philosophical, when i really need to shut up and go back to lurking... :ninja:

it also takes a lot of balls to buy one of the helio-whatever 150 dollar cables that you bought, i remember the thread where they were first mentioned, and the pr guy who replied to the email said he wasn't at liberty to disclose what made them better, to just trust him that they were better. Bull.
nah, no need to go back to lurking...but tb is a place where pseudo science isn't very well tolerated and good science is respected, as you insinuate in your third paragraph ;) and i believe bongo's science to be good.
 
the same reason you're adamant against it, my dear Execut1ve lol I've already told bongo i'm interested in future findings (and I myself will try ABX testing of this eventually), i'm not trying to give him a hard time, i was just pointing out a possible theory as to why the results are what they are, as opposed to the "YES! cable makers are evil" point of view...just trying to add perspective to the situation. If that is not appreciated in a forum then maybe i'll refrain from commenting in the future?
 
no, you're missing my point... I was legitimately just curious. you can certainly say whatever you like, it just struck me as an odd thing to get so passionate about. FYI, I could not care less about the cable makers being evil or not - I am a man of science (physics degree) so i get all kinds of excited when I see a graph or spectrum, and I am interested for no reason other than knowing how these cables truly behave. Geeky, I know, but what can I do? :D
 
nah, no need to go back to lurking...but tb is a place where pseudo science isn't very well tolerated and good science is respected, as you insinuate in your third paragraph ;) and i believe bongo's science to be good.

i cant believe how much extra money i have spent on monster fender platinum mogami golds.:mad: could some of them be worth a little more because of there shielding methods and gold ends??
 
I for one was puzzled at first about the bottom and top-end rolloff in the first graph. Now that I think about it, that looks to me like it's not a property of the cables, but rather highpass/lowpass filters in the converters used for the test. Are you going in/out at 44.1khz?

I propose a control sample where you test the response of the system without a cable... :ninja: j/k