17-Dec-2014, 22:16
Well, a minor party at my house tonight, following on from the Wednesday Christmas meeting at Newbury races tonight (very near to my house). A couple of folk who have heard my system before, and have no idea about the link cable, have advised that the system sounds more analogue and natural, maybe ritcher, for me, I have noticed more depth in the bass, not more bass or boomy, but far more detailed and resolved. Not what I was expecting, which was maybe better imagery, but yes, hard to describe, but much nicer to listen to in that rich analogue way. Plus the detail and mid range is still impressive. In short, yes I like it. Not sure if it's down to the cable or utilising the XLR input, either way positive so far. A busy night tonight, serious observations will follow at the weekend, but perhaps tonight's casual results when not listening to hard and enjoying the music gives observations that actually matter more then when really concentrating and studying. In summery, try the AES/EBU link. I really think its worth a go! I am someone who thinks digital cables cannot possibly make any difference, but i have heard a couple of things recently that are challenging this. Including what I am hearing now and comments from non audiophile friends tonight. Apart from the qualatve bass difference, there seams to be a more analogue subjective difference that I cannot actually put into words. I'm sorry if this sounds a bit waffling, describing what you hear is difficult. Short summary, try an AES/EBU cable if you have dual mono, I'm glad I did! I think I'll report more at the weekend when I have a chance of some serious listening on my own.
When OAC lent me a demo D250 to try dual mono, they gave me a chord Sarum cable for the link, which I thought was ridiculous because of its cost. However, as soon as I started listening I loved it. But I don't actually think my actual purchased D250 / 800 slave has sounded as good as the demo unit, until tonight with the far cheaper Audioprana. Give it a try!
When OAC lent me a demo D250 to try dual mono, they gave me a chord Sarum cable for the link, which I thought was ridiculous because of its cost. However, as soon as I started listening I loved it. But I don't actually think my actual purchased D250 / 800 slave has sounded as good as the demo unit, until tonight with the far cheaper Audioprana. Give it a try!
