I decided to put this in the water cooler because it really serves no purpose and is a bit of a shrug topic for some.
Recently I put a new DAC in my 2ch setup that really improved several aspects of my listening experience. The new DAC needed both a 3.5mm to RCA cable and a Toslink to mini Toslink cable to connect to my existing components. I figured what the heck and splurged for a Mogami Gold 3.5mm to RCA cable on Amazon. Was around 125$ or so. For the Toslink I bought a generic fiber cable.
Shipping was delayed on the Mogami cable, so I grabbed a cheaper one out of my kit bag I usually use for install calibration. I typically use it to jack my ipad into systems for using Audio Tools during HT setup/phase alignment. Think is was $25 or so at Long and Mcquade.
So the new setup was up and rolling and I dug into enjoying it. All was well.
A few days later the Mogami Gold cable arrived and I swapped it in and threw the other cable back in my kit bag. Sat down to listen, happy that I had a decent quality cable to match the rest of the setup. But….. I didnt like how the sound changed. Yes, it changed. WTF… I thought. So I went to the back of the gear and checked connections etc all ok.
When compared to the generic cable, the Mogami gold was sharper, crisper and dare I say faster. Huh? You say. Yep. I was doubting my ears so swapped back. Generic cable was fuller, more dynamic and smoother. Both sounded fantastic, but different. So there I was in Goldilocks mode. Questioning the universe.
Songs I used for testing were:
Hanz Zimmer- Cornfield Chase (the epic orchestra version)
Heaven 17- Let Me Go
Depeche Mode- World in my eyes
I took my wife to dinner the next day and after we were good and primed with a few drinks we did what all loving couples do when we got home.
Test audio cables. What? We AB’d the cables as fast as I could swap them and listened to three of her favorite songs.
Arcade Fire- Electric Blue
Vampire Weekend- Dianne Young
Jack White- Love Interruption
We listened to one song at a time and I swapped cables. She didnt know which was wich. Just that one was expensive and I was changing them. I called them A and B and she didnt know what was what. Yes, I know, not very scientific (we aren’t scientists.)
In the end she could tell me what cable was what and could reliably point out how the sound changed each time. She asked me if she was “right” and I told her there was no right and I couldn’t tell her my opinion till we were finished testing.
In the end we both agreed emphatically that the cables did not sound the same. Not even close. It was a WTF moment that changed my mind entirely, I think in a good way.
The cheap cable stayed in the system and Mogami in the kit bag.
