24-Aug-2017, 16:04
(This post was last modified: 24-Aug-2017, 16:07 by Rufus McDufus.)
The pork pie strategy (and wine) worked! Thanks Guillaume!
I'll add my impressions of each cable.
The cables we tested were:
Audioquest Carbon (supplied with the O'dA).
Audioprana Hybrid
Transparent Reference XL
Shunyata Alpha S/PDIF
Shunyata Alpha Hybrid S/PDIF - AES
Shunyata Sigma Hybrid S/PDIF - AES
Now we spent a few hours evaluating these cables. I'll first post our overall findings:
First off - it was much closer than either of us thought it would be. A few years back when Guillaume first tried the Transparent Ref XL vs the basic cable that came with his D800, the difference was very significant and easy to spot. It seems as if Devialet have improved the master <-> companion link which has almost removed the effect cause by the interconnect.
My impression generally of straight S/PDIF cables vs the hybrids was that the hybrids were slightly 'soft' in the companion channel. It was almost as if the volume was a tiny bit lower. But this is absurd - the communication is digital isn't it? After a while I started to feel this 'softness' was maybe (?) a slight deficiency in separation compared with the S/PDIF cables. One hybrid cable seemed to break this rule though and that was the Sigma hybrid. It seemed well balanced left-to-right.
For each cable, this was my general impression.
Audioquest Carbon (supplied with O'dA). This was a new and unused cable so perhaps a little unfair. It was fairly clearly the worst of the bunch. Separation/soundstage was a bit of a mush in comparison.
Audioprana hybrid - this was surprisingly good. Considering the price compared with the others (the Transparent Ref XL is maybe 10 times the price?) I'd say on a pure cost to performance basis this could well be the winner. It did sound a little soft on the companion side though and I thought it was a little crude rendering dynamics - such as loud piano stabs. It was a bit unrefined in this case. Dynamically it was perhaps a little flat too. Very easy to live with though.
Transparent Ref XL - initially both of us felt this was probably the best cable, but again it just seemed a little quiet on the companion side (to me anyway). It seemed to have that depth that Transparent cables typically give, and a nice musicality, but lacking a little detail.
Shunyata Alpha S/PDIF - this was well-balanced in comparison. It seemed quite lively and bouncy. The detail is probably the best of the lot.
Shunyata Alpha S/PDIF - AES hybrid - compared with the straight S/PDIF this again seemed a little quiet on the companion side. In terms of detail it was excellent,
Shunyata Sigma S/PDIF - AES hybrid - this cable I felt was possibly overall the best of the lot. The refinement was clear and it had a greater focus to the instruments (possibly the TAP module doing its thing). It also rather strangely didn't seem to have the 'softness' in the companion side of the other hybrid cables. It was perhaps a little less lively compared with the Alpha S/PDIF but possibly sonically more accurate.
My personal tastes favoured the Sigma hybrid and the Alpha S/PDIF. The S/PDIF over hybrid generally just seemed a little more 'right'. I can't quite put my finger on it but I came away thinking perhaps the hybrid idea is a little flawed. I strongly suspect a Sigma S/PDIF would be a killer.
Probably the most important conclusion is how close everything is though. Devialet seem to have really reduced the importance of the link cable quality.
I'll add my impressions of each cable.
The cables we tested were:
Audioquest Carbon (supplied with the O'dA).
Audioprana Hybrid
Transparent Reference XL
Shunyata Alpha S/PDIF
Shunyata Alpha Hybrid S/PDIF - AES
Shunyata Sigma Hybrid S/PDIF - AES
Now we spent a few hours evaluating these cables. I'll first post our overall findings:
First off - it was much closer than either of us thought it would be. A few years back when Guillaume first tried the Transparent Ref XL vs the basic cable that came with his D800, the difference was very significant and easy to spot. It seems as if Devialet have improved the master <-> companion link which has almost removed the effect cause by the interconnect.
My impression generally of straight S/PDIF cables vs the hybrids was that the hybrids were slightly 'soft' in the companion channel. It was almost as if the volume was a tiny bit lower. But this is absurd - the communication is digital isn't it? After a while I started to feel this 'softness' was maybe (?) a slight deficiency in separation compared with the S/PDIF cables. One hybrid cable seemed to break this rule though and that was the Sigma hybrid. It seemed well balanced left-to-right.
For each cable, this was my general impression.
Audioquest Carbon (supplied with O'dA). This was a new and unused cable so perhaps a little unfair. It was fairly clearly the worst of the bunch. Separation/soundstage was a bit of a mush in comparison.
Audioprana hybrid - this was surprisingly good. Considering the price compared with the others (the Transparent Ref XL is maybe 10 times the price?) I'd say on a pure cost to performance basis this could well be the winner. It did sound a little soft on the companion side though and I thought it was a little crude rendering dynamics - such as loud piano stabs. It was a bit unrefined in this case. Dynamically it was perhaps a little flat too. Very easy to live with though.
Transparent Ref XL - initially both of us felt this was probably the best cable, but again it just seemed a little quiet on the companion side (to me anyway). It seemed to have that depth that Transparent cables typically give, and a nice musicality, but lacking a little detail.
Shunyata Alpha S/PDIF - this was well-balanced in comparison. It seemed quite lively and bouncy. The detail is probably the best of the lot.
Shunyata Alpha S/PDIF - AES hybrid - compared with the straight S/PDIF this again seemed a little quiet on the companion side. In terms of detail it was excellent,
Shunyata Sigma S/PDIF - AES hybrid - this cable I felt was possibly overall the best of the lot. The refinement was clear and it had a greater focus to the instruments (possibly the TAP module doing its thing). It also rather strangely didn't seem to have the 'softness' in the companion side of the other hybrid cables. It was perhaps a little less lively compared with the Alpha S/PDIF but possibly sonically more accurate.
My personal tastes favoured the Sigma hybrid and the Alpha S/PDIF. The S/PDIF over hybrid generally just seemed a little more 'right'. I can't quite put my finger on it but I came away thinking perhaps the hybrid idea is a little flawed. I strongly suspect a Sigma S/PDIF would be a killer.
Probably the most important conclusion is how close everything is though. Devialet seem to have really reduced the importance of the link cable quality.
