A BLIND SHOOTOUT THAT WILL STUN YOU!
- Thread starter lolzgreg
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AeternusEternus
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- Oct 8, 2008
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jipchen
ForesterStudio
I won't argue that cables can make a difference...
But the whole test is flawed only for the fact that you just can't play exactly the same way each time: distance from bridge, pick angle, pick attack. And also string life can play a difference especially if you had just put some new ones on - not saying IT DID IN THIS CASE, but you can't seriously sit there and believe that it was only the cables making a difference in this test.
A way more accurate test would be to record a DI (with the "best" cable), or a VSTi, and run it out of your interface through each cable and back into the interface, and do a null test by flipping the phase and comparing the cables to each other (not the original, unless you want to test your converters) to see if all of that high end data really is lost. Do it a bunch of times with each cable to magnify the difference, if there really is one.
But the whole test is flawed only for the fact that you just can't play exactly the same way each time: distance from bridge, pick angle, pick attack. And also string life can play a difference especially if you had just put some new ones on - not saying IT DID IN THIS CASE, but you can't seriously sit there and believe that it was only the cables making a difference in this test.
A way more accurate test would be to record a DI (with the "best" cable), or a VSTi, and run it out of your interface through each cable and back into the interface, and do a null test by flipping the phase and comparing the cables to each other (not the original, unless you want to test your converters) to see if all of that high end data really is lost. Do it a bunch of times with each cable to magnify the difference, if there really is one.
turtleheadblues
Lava
Very cool thread and forum here. I work at Lava Cable. This test really shows the difference. Our SOAR cable is a solid core conductor cable. Most cables are stranded. What the solid core cable brings is the ultimate clarity. Gets rid of the boxiness and congestion a poorly made / low quality stranded cable can have.
Our Soar is one of only a handful of solid core cables and costs HALF of the others on the market. We now also have a Mini Soar for wiring racks and pedalboards and is sold in kits including plugs you can solder up.
Not spamming but wanted to make clear < heh> why the Soar has more clarity and focus.
I mostly do our dealer sales and setting up new dealers but I am always at sales@lavacable.com if anyone has any questions. I have gigged near full time for the past 18 years and am a gearhead player first. I will start hanging out here if its ok. Name is Tony.
Our Soar is one of only a handful of solid core cables and costs HALF of the others on the market. We now also have a Mini Soar for wiring racks and pedalboards and is sold in kits including plugs you can solder up.
Not spamming but wanted to make clear < heh> why the Soar has more clarity and focus.
I mostly do our dealer sales and setting up new dealers but I am always at sales@lavacable.com if anyone has any questions. I have gigged near full time for the past 18 years and am a gearhead player first. I will start hanging out here if its ok. Name is Tony.
John_C
formerly Skeksis268
Unfortunately, the effects of a cable are VERY interactive. It's not like a set of independent function boxes one after the other. For example, high capacitance in a cable is next to irrelevant if driven by a very low impedance source, but if driven by a high impedance source it will cause a high pass effect (and that's the simple stuff)
John_C
formerly Skeksis268
I'm very interested to hear more about the physics behind your cables, what features of your cables affect the signal in what ways and what are the mechanisms?
JeffTD
Senhor Testiculo
I am really just not at all buying this solid core vs stranded core stuff. That's NOT how science works. Solid core cable can have less skin effect compared to stranded, but at audio frequencies skin effect is a non-issue.
Can someone tell me definitively why solid core would make a better cable than stranded wire?
Can someone tell me definitively why solid core would make a better cable than stranded wire?
Ah true, I knew something like this would have an effect but wasn't sure how.
What if someone soldered 2 cables into one jack or installed another output jack on a guitar and ran the 2 cables simultaneously to the interface?
Again I'm not denying there is a clear difference here, but to have the same exact signal to compare would be more ideal.
turtleheadblues
Lava
I am not here to argue the science. I go by my ears into my amp.
A better cable? Maybe not for some as the conductors are stiffer. There is an undeniable clarity difference. Its been used in the hifi world for awhile. I think AudioQuest was the first to bring it to market. We sure didnt invent it but we
1. Brought the technology to market at half the cost of others < while being extruded in the same facility as our competition>
2. Use the best copper and extruders in the USA
3. Use our Silver Wire plugs
Every component makes a difference. The Soar is my personal favorite for recording but use a stranded cable live for flexibility. We are working on a stranded cable at the moment experimenting with silver.
John_C
formerly Skeksis268
AeternusEternus
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AeternusEternus
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To my mind, the only thing that makes cables sound slightly different is simply the cable capacitance of each cable... Bleeding off more or less high frequency energy depending on the capacitance value....
turtleheadblues
Lava
Not much to it really.....
Imagine 20 tiny wires trying to carry the same audio signal a solid conductor can. Some of the distortion/congestion is said to come from the strands "fighting" for the same signal. This might explain the faster attack/feel a lot of players report.
I can only speak from our way of doing things but the purity of the copper can make a drastic difference as well.
The biggest advantage IMO to using solid core is the clarity it brings and speed of signal most players can hear and feel.
John_C
formerly Skeksis268
The first point will need some serious justification and explanation. What is meant by this "fighting".
The second is, I agree, quite straightforward, impurities do change the conductivity of copper.
turtleheadblues
Lava
Justify ? It is how I understand it. I know what my ears tell me and is how I understand it to work. The principle makes sense to me and how I have always seen it explained. My ears tell me there is something making it clearer and it is the explanation I have seen and accept.
The HiFi forums might be a good resource for this and I am sure will have no shortage of guys explaining the science.
We utilize solid design principals and ear tune to taste.
JeffTD
Senhor Testiculo
Again, that's not how science works. That's not how current flows.
The HiFi guys can suck it - I've seen many tests where audiophile quality cables were bested by wire coat hangars in A/B tests (and please do not use that as evidence of stranded vs solid, because it's just not).
Great philosophy. For most people it's the other way around, being very scientific in order to appear more serious, disregarding the actual feeling and sound, forgetting that it's the sensory perception and not the logic behind something which makes a great product.
From what I understand good sounding gear can technically be very inefficient or illogical in theory, but extremely good sounding in practical experience.
This might be offtopic but still, could you describe what you think the tonal difference is between the lava soar and the vovox sonoros?
