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RE: Sorry ... what about the Analog Devices AD1852 ?

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In Reply to: RE: Sorry ... what about the Analog Devices AD1852 ? posted by TBone on April 30, 2015 at 06:32:44

Hi ! yes exactly !
My chain is now:
win 7pc (sadly not 8.1) > belden usb cable > Gustard u12 > Sommercable Binary AES/EBU cable > Apogee Rosetta 200 dac > Cardas Hexlink 5C > SAC Headphone amp > AKG k501
I have very few hours on the cables but i start listening something interesting.
I know that Cardas have a long break-in before sounding complete.
With 4 hours a day of use i am afraid they will take months to be burnt-in completely.
I have to stick with HP listening for sometime but i find the k501 quite revealing in the midrange that is my main interested.
In the weekend i will put a usb power supply on the Gustard that does not work without power on the usb. It does not wake up.
I hope it will be beneficial.
All in all i like the sound signature of Cardas cable a lot indeed.
I also read an interesting comment about the good quality of even the Cardas XLR entry level (Crosslink, Mic cable and 300B).
While the differences between the same models but RCA should be more pronounced ( i do not know if this is true or not by the way).
I cannot afford the most expensive models. Neutral Ref could be my perfect cable.
But i think that cables are important in the end. Even if they sometimes color the sound ?
Moreover a friend will give me his old Benchmark DAC 1 to try out.
I am curious to listen to it because i have seen that many Inmates still use it ... maybe it is not that obsolete.
When i will get the sound right with headphones ... well that will be a good day. Headphones do not forgive a lot, especially in the midrange.
Thanks again.
Kind regards,
bg

Edits: 04/30/15 04/30/15 04/30/15 04/30/15 04/30/15 04/30/15

Follow Ups:

golden hex5c ... - TBone 10:06:01 04/30/15 (2)
are my favorite sounding Cardas IC, by a country mile, IMO the GH5c is a different sounding animal compared to both older and newer Cardas wires.

The litz based wires do take their time breaking in (their tonearm wires take forever), but you won't suffer much in the meantime.

I used to think I was alone with my above thought, but here is a quote from the site hi-fi advice:

"Very different from the Cardas house sound of late. Literally all other cardas cables sound very different from the Hexlink. The Hexlink was the top of the line before the Golden Cross and is still a remarkable cable but its character has to match your setup and taste. It is very fast, open, bold and dynamic while maintaing a natural balance. The cable is very good for acoustic music and Piano has never sounded better. It does lack the last nth of air and fluidity that newer Cardas cables offer"

As for the balance version, tried a pair of Hexlink 5c (not golden) years ago using my CDP ... however, my system sound much superior via it's single ended connections.

It should also be noted that in order to get the best out of my GH5c, I modded nearly all my equipment w/Cardas RCA's.

tb1
- Another strong and valuable suggestion ... - beppe61 00:00:17 05/01/15 (0)
  Hi ... yes i have read two strong and valuable suggestions from:
  1) a famous sound engineer
  2) an engineer from Belden
  both recommending to try some good AES/EBU cables also for balanced analog connections.
  Their point being that the requirements for digital signals transfer are much more strict than for analog.
  A recommendation based on science let's say.
  I am using those now ... i have to wait for them to settle in a little
  There is detail ... good one.
  But the Cardas' midrange is gone ... now it is grainy and flat.
  Exactly how digital without tubes sound. Bad.
  I have to wait more but i think that enamelled solid core cables is the 1st choice for wiring in general and so also for cabling.
  Thanks again.
  Kind regards,
  bg
  
  Edits: 05/01/15 05/02/15 05/03/15
- RE: golden hex5c ... - beppe61 10:26:54 04/30/15 (0)
  Hi and thanks a lot for the very helpful advice
  Actually i come from unbalanced connections (and sometimes i think that i should have stuck with that).
  I have experience of 300B and Neutral Ref rcas (older models i understand)
  The 300B is nice (i have a pair). The Neutral are very good indeed (a friend lent me his pair to try).
  They made my humble Rotel 970 cd player sound quite well indeed.
  Very good outcome.
  My present dac has only XLR outs ... so i was forced to go XLR.
  And honestly i did this with cables price in mind. For this rumor that even entry level XLRs can sound quite nice or that the differences are less pronounced than with RCAs.
  So now i am balanced.
  I just hope that some of the good things you say about the RCAs are also valid for the balanced version.
  I am waiting with hope.
  For now in my set up are quite ok. No bad sounds.
  Thanks again.
  P.S. i would like to try the Neutral because they were quite neutral.
  Every Hz treated in the same way ... very democratic cable.
  Kind regards,
  bg
  
  Edits: 04/30/15

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