Do Fancy Audio Cables Make a Difference?

[@geoemm]

I still cannot believe that amir started a youtube channel. Absolutely fantastic

[@the_wau_]

had exactly the same reaction :D

[@joserafaelhernandezcarucci1324]

Yes, this is awesome

[@MrConcord75]

I heard from Joel. Love ASR. Subscribed.

[@keerthikumar2023]

what is unbelievable about it?

[@SanceShaji]

Malayalees!! 💪

[@drengurola]

I watched this via my audiophile-grade xDSL router and the facts he stated sounded very crisp and forward.

[@bladeduffer]

@@pkdude5334 , lol! Yeah, bought some AQ ethernet stuff a few years ago on clearance. Super cheap. Can't say I noticed a signal dfference and to make things worse, the cable started to get very stiff the way rubber gets when it ages. I will say, their DACs are fantastic but their network cables? Not impressed.

[@IronHorsey3]

Really enjoyed the enhanced midrange especially when the bass rejoined the discussion.

[@s8wc3]

One of the funniest audiofoolery things i've ever seen that wasn't a straight up troll was an "audiophile grade" ethernet switch someone built. I'm pretty sure they just took a standard HP Procurve switch and slapped a toroid in it and some caps, lmao. You guys know all the network transport protocols we use have error correction, right? And well your files are junk anyway because you downloaded them a from low quality modem and internet connection.

[@-aexc-]

@@s8wc3 no way people actually buy that shit

[@s8wc3]

@@-aexc- No they don't buy it, only plebs buy things. They get it custom commissioned by some guy on a web forum and pay god knows

[@Audioholics]

Great to see you on KZbin Amir fighting the good fight. Audioquest is one of the biggest peddlers of cable snake oil. I've been debunking their battery cable for decades 😆

[@nostro1001]

Wait, but you're the same guy that uses cable jewellery (your words) and not the cables you suggest with your affiliated links and expect others to use. And you're the guy that always makes fun of this reviewer and his website at any opportunity. Your comments here are little more than self promotion. Amazing...just no shame.

[@JeremyHansenblue2kid3]

@@nostro1001 he says he likes hi quality cables because he likes the look not the performance, and on his channel he is always saying ASR does a fantastic job and to check them out.... soon are you confused?

[@nostro1001]

@@JeremyHansenblue2kid3 Lmao - so it's fine for him, but nobody else? Here's a dude that's spent 10+ years 'bagging out' high end cables, uses some himself & doesn't use what he recommends to others! To coin a phrase: "You've got to be kidding me?" Double standards much!!! I'm not naive & here's what I think. He'd be embarrassed using cheap looking cables with his high end gear. And because he likes the way they look, he more than likely thinks they sound better; that's merely a matter of how the mind works. Naturally, he can't convey this to his viewers. However, if he had conviction in the products he recommends, he'd be using them. It's that simple.

[@nostro1001]

@@JeremyHansenblue2kid3 Oh, and I forgot....no he never says ASR does a fantastic job. He is still bitter from an old feud with Amir and continually tries to belittle him, along with many other reviewers. He regularly claims that ASR reviews are inferior or can't be trusted due to the equipment being used (they don't use the same high end gear he has).

[@JeremyHansenblue2kid3]

@@nostro1001 but he has photos of blue jeans cables routing his house. I just think you have him confused with someone else , also there are many times maybe not on his channel but just recently he said to loose change that on the topic of speaker measurement's and why they are important that only his team members and ASR seem to care about that anymore. so im just confused why youre coming up with this stuff and youre so passionate did you buy this 3k cable if so fine you do you me personally I buy my copper from construction companies as its cheap true pure coper like the stuff they put in homes.

[@jitrapornpha5104]

Thanks again for bringing sense to an industry poisoned by nonsense

[@AudioScienceReview]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching.

[@fredw61]

@@AudioScienceReview You're the best, you just saved me $2,300

[@edwardbalboa5528]

Indeed ... Can't think of another industry with this much BS

[@HenryT]

@@fredw61 Just get a KabelDirekt cable from Amazon, you will not notice the difference, assuming there even is one!

[@andrewclough660]

@@edwardbalboa5528 Try reading about your Govt etc

[@stopthefomo]

The irony is that $ million dollar music production studios use affordable XLR cables that anybody can afford and yet audiophiles buy “better” cables.

[@momchilzanev5861]

I know a studio that uses $250.000 worth of Audioquest cables so your irony only works if that was true

[@cornerliston]

@@momchilzanev5861 Well, it's mostly true because most studios don't use 250,000 dollar worth of cables. Although most studios (professional that is) don't use low or medium cost cables. However some really successful recording- and mixing engineers actually do use quite low cost cables.

[@whiskeykilmer1866]

@@momchilzanev5861 Wow, I'm convinced.

[@Corle0ne]

@@momchilzanev5861 One out of how many? x'D Most studios don't use big $$$ on cabling because they know that it doesn't matter past having a proper strain relief and being made from OFC copper.

[@momchilzanev5861]

@@whiskeykilmer1866 I don't want to convince anybody into buying expensive cable, I am just trying to avoid generalizing.

[@RowanTasmanian]

fantastic. We need a thousand more people like you in the industry to weed out these charlatans. A huge thank you.

[@shams350z]

More controversial videos please. We could learn so much from these.

[@Daves2024]

Excellent video. Always wanted to know if I was missing out by not spending $1000’s on esoteric cables. Now I know I am not. Measurements don’t lie and shines light and dissolves the snake oil! More reviews like this please!

[@DaveJ6515]

Give it a try with your own ears, in your room, with your setup, and your favorite music. When I was young and had a mid-fi, cables made no difference whatsoever. With a higher end setup, they do. Well, not all of them, but some do.

[@h.k.203]

@@DaveJ6515 I got me some good cables and were sure there is a difference, until i made a blind test with my girlfriend unenthusiasticly switching cables (or not) and i could not differentiate. My buddy said it was becauce i did not have a matching good speaker cable and brought his. My girlfirend did never switch any cable this evening, just pluggin in and out, and embarrassing us a bit.

[@roccoxxxx1]

​@@DaveJ6515unfortunately without a proper blind test it's probably just the brain making you perceive the change especially since you are expecting to notice positive changes to justify your expenses. So we need proper reviews with proper tests. You can't expect people to spend 2000 dollars for a cable just so they can listen with their own ears. Yeah sure, and 99% of the time they will just be fooled into thinking they heard a difference

[@DaveJ6515]

@@roccoxxxx1 Uhm.... nope, because I listen to music though my ears, not by reading number and measurements. If you prefer numbers, go ahead, why should I tell you how to enjoy your hobby?

[@roccoxxxx1]

@@DaveJ6515 your ears can deceive you since your brain also plays a part in it. This could make you believe that an expensive product sounds better while it really doesn't. Psychoacustics is real

[@ruia.6729]

Amir, I run a 3,6k member audio FB forum and I can testify you are making a change in audiophile minds. Always supporting you! 🙏

[@cornerliston]

Good to see. These diagrams should be obligatory for every manufacturer in the same way as energy efficiency charts. Maybe that patented battery powered thingy on the Audioquest cables actually made them more sensitive to interference? You should reach out to Audioquest to get a comment from them. I'm sure they would try to claim your tests were wrong in some way and then you should ask them to do the same test and make it public.

[@willbrink]

Obviosly their response can't be tested with normal instruments and only "using your ears" can test such cable. If on listening you can't hear a difference, they will respond you don't know how to listen (golden ear syndrome) and or, your system is not resolving enough to hear it. It's good to see someone actually applying objective testing and reality to the audio topic, as i have in my industry, also full of scams/scammers who don't science.

[@alanhuth7568]

Great video, Amir! My vote is for more. But, what I’d really like to see is recommended cables. What SHOULD we buy? Are the hardware store/Amazon Basics cables fine, or do we need to go a step or two up from those?

[@gregwolking]

Quick answer: Yes, "Amazon basics" (or almost any brand of cable, for that matter) will do just fine as long as (in the case of speaker cables) they're of sufficiently heavy guage to carry the power required, and (of cables in general) any connectors (RCA jacks, banana plugs, phono plugs, etc.) are robust and secure enough to provide a reliable, solid connection. Most of this fancy "audiophile" crap is an almost-complete waste of money and materials.

[@kingdavid7571]

Yes, more of these type reviews please. Audioholics agrees with your assertion that fancy cables don't sound better, but when I read advertisements for 'great special cable technology' I still get influenced. I need to be reminded what snake oil smells like!

[@bcardamone]

Yea another poster makes the point … a $30 cable is better than a $1 cable. A $5,000 cable is indistinguishable from a $30 cable.

[@fubartotale3389]

Always keep your bullsh!t alarm in good working order!

[@dingdong2103]

Building your own RCA cables is good fun. Buy good quality cable by the meter, fancy connectors, some silver solder and you can build your own custom cables that look awesome, work perfectly but cost a fracition...

[@ramencurry6672]

I use fancy cables. They’re not really expensive but I use them because it looks good and a part of the visual theater

[@andydelle4509]

Another important observation here is that Amir's measurements show the calibrated scale. And these are direct printouts from the analyzer. When most audiophile vendors show measurements, you never see the scales that were used and often the images are an artists rendition, not a screen grab or printout from the analyzer.

[@SteveMclarenF1LM]

The MAN himself. Great to see you're making video reviews now. can't wait for your review and measurements of the Tone2Pro Amir..

[@jimmykaka89]

“Do you want me to do more controversial videos or go back to products tests” please please please do carry on exposing brands like audio quest for their snake oil products and at the same time humble those fools who have more money than sense who claim to ‘hear’ a difference with their ridiculously priced cables. Honestly Thankyou on behalf of the audio enthusiast community as a whole for this video. I enjoyed reading your reviews on equipment and have only recently come across your YT videos, this one has been amazing. If you’d have found a discernible difference between a generic cable and this ridiculously priced cable I’d have still laughed at anyone who paid their asking prices and just put it down to having more money than they needed but this is actually satisfying. Keep up the great work!!!!

[@StewartMarkley]

Amir, I just saw this video after the one you just did about Danny Richie's video about speaker cables and EMI. I think you should continue making videos like this and help bring some sanity to the audio community. And maybe keep some people with too much disposable income from supporting the audio snake oil industry and encourage them to give it instead to people that can really use that money to stay warm and feed their kids.

[@welderfixer]

100%

[@edwardbalboa5528]

That guy is full of BS also

[@RennieAsh]

@@edwardbalboa5528 you mean cheese 🧀 ;-) Once I tried to ask him to explain why something was better/how it was better, and the reply was basically "it just is"

[@renr17]

I just watched that video too!

[@zogzog1063]

This is a great service to the audiophile community.

[@garygriffiths7353]

Brilliant video amir. I think you are the most important member of the audiophile community right now. You are saving people a lot of money. Btw what are your thoughts on the dan Clark ether closed and the mass drop version?

[@AudioScienceReview]

You are very kind. I have not tested my Ether CX in a while. I mainly got it as a tough load for headphone amps. I will review it formally soon.

[@JesusMartinez-mk6fc]

Another must see video for all audiophiles. Great job Amir! About five years ago, I was lent an Audioquest Water balanced interconnect by a local audio shop to try at home. Another battery strapped cable similar to the Wind but a few notches down in the Audioquest hierarchy and much lower in price, about $700. Something was fishy about it and it didn't feel right. I always felt Audioquest was full of snake oil, now I know for a fact. Actually, I've come to realize in the last five years that most audiophile cables are snake oil.

[@AudioScienceReview]

Thanks Jesus.

[@zackschindler8334]

Correction, all audiophile cables are snake oil.

[@edwardbalboa5528]

ALL of them are

[@RennieAsh]

@@edwardbalboa5528 some of the cheaper ones are great if you want something that looks cool

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

I don't like aq, for these reasons. However.... analogue cables do sound different. I.e. i had a vdhul cable cs-122 (about 200 euro), which was nice, but serious bass control issues. And replaced them with inakustik 1602, second hand (new 2500 euros...), and the difference is just breathtaking. I am not talking subtleties here either. Bass issues gone, everything sounded more realistic, better sound stage and so on. (And No it doesn't have batteries;) ) The advice will always be, go listen.

[@TomasPiliponis]

This was extremely amusing to watch, thank you. I am still very new to this world of "audiophile grade equipment" and honestly I could not believe that 50cm cable can cost that much (even if it did something for that price).

[@joemato]

Thanks Amir, I hope some audiophiles will be convinced now that some companies in audio business are ripping people off. Nice to see you on KZbin.

[@ehabBar]

You may call this series "Audio Mythbuster". A lot of misinformation out there and I'm glad we have someone like you to call out the BS. Thank you Sir!!

[@thekelseychannel1962]

Finally a channel with proper engineering and information, excellent work Amir.

[@painpeace3619]

Please make a video on 'does hi-res or mqa make any difference then the ordinary cd quality audio'

[@homeboi808]

Amir has stated before that, in terms of fidelity, he has no strong feeling on MQA, that it’s not better or worse. However, my issue is that you need a device with the capability to decode MQA, and that comes with licensing, which increases costs of the gear, so even if you don’t use MQA, you are paying more money for gear because of it.

[@ReTr093]

A much more relevant question is whether 320 kbps is good enough

[@homeboi808]

@@ReTr093 It for sure is enough. But does “enough” mean you can’t hear better? Because if so, then no, some people with some songs can hear a difference between it and CD.

[@ReTr093]

@@homeboi808 has to be proven beyond doubt. people claiming they can hear a difference is completely useless as factual evidence. theoretical advantages and disadvantages also need to be clearly explained.

[@homeboi808]

@@ReTr093 researches at McGill have an AES paper on it. The paper is free. Just search “McGill AES MP3 vs CD”.

[@Anon00731]

The everyaudiomans hero!!!! Someone donate this Hero a 4K camera! Well done Amir, please keep them coming.

[@darthdurkelthewise320]

Oh boy, I knew when I saw this cable that we were in for a treat! The audiophile community needs more of this thing called truth and oh, science.

[@RJ_Chicago]

Amir, please continue the “controversial” reviews. This industry is in need of policing and debunking hype. I would like to see reviews of Synergistic Research’s products, including their network switch and other audiophile network switches. Thanks.

[@AudioScienceReview]

Thanks RJ. I get so much pushback on the ASR forum and so many arguments that it is difficult to do too many of them at once. That said, I am anxious to get coverage on Synergistic Research so hope to get access to some of their cables to test.

[@americanidle1277]

Definitely sharing this video! Usually a good quality 12 AWG normal speaker wire is sufficient, and inexpensive.

[@welderfixer]

i would like him to test a length of plain old 14/2 AWG Romex or SOOW cable or lamp cord. I bet that would be awesome and funny!

[@metal571]

Can't wait for the test on JPS cables

[@mrsurname9217]

Point of order: You seem bemused that the cable picks up magnetic interference with the comment of "it's supposed to be shielded". Screened (shielded) cables do not protect against magnetic fields. This is simple physics. In radio we actually use coaxial (i.e. screened) cable to wind transformers. This is simply because the magnetic field goes right through the screening as if it wasn't there. Screened cable protects against electric fields, which are a completelty different animal. The orientation of the cable to the magnetic field makes the biggest difference, the screening/shielding does nothing, and cannot be expected to.

[@DEALUX]

But the added noise makes it sound analog lol.

[@marcin_szczurowski]

Unless you lay down that cable next to a laptop, then it makes it digital.

[@a0r0a7]

Brilliant🤣

[@richardmelville5973]

I would guess that the open ended "battery" circuit is an excellent antenna. This might account for the excess noise in the system.

[@dogbucket]

Exactly. I'm puzzled that Amir did not discuss this.

[@tesmith47]

👍 yep

[@user-vi3tb3bw5t]

Abyss would like to know your location.

[@AudioScienceReview]

I would imagine so. :)

[@jr-6025]

Love these myth-busters videos. Audiophiles constant struggle for another upgrade and never being happy with their system is another interesting topic. I've also seen many manufacturers sells power-related products (like PS power plant) for outrageous prices. I suspect they're up to no good?

[@AudioScienceReview]

I have an old PS Power Plant which I have been meaning to test.

[@Mark-lq3sb]

@@AudioScienceReview Find a new one that is being sold currently. Old means nothing. As you know technology changes.

[@zackschindler8334]

@@Mark-lq3sb No one has ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

[@logotrikes]

Not up to no good necessarily, just satisfying a market for upgraditis, beating the Jones, and the audio equivalent of the bigger the exhaust the smaller the dick.... Suckers and money?

[@harleysrocknrollchat]

Companies like Cardas have made millions from this fallacy. I remember a local high end audio store trying to convince me I needed $10K cables. I was born at night, not last night.

[@Mark-lq3sb]

I was born at the dinner hour, I'm hungry.

[@mikepaul2372]

Folks who continually try to think I have no idea about what I hear etc. Thank you Amir to proving to them what we have said.

[@billmilosz]

There are some useful differences in audio cables- there is a difference between a $7 cable and a $0.99 one. For RCA type cables the quality of the connectors matters, really cheap ones can corrode and provide a poor connection. For cables from your phono cartridge to your preamp input you probably want to use low capacitance cable. If you want really long cables, again you probably want low capacitance cable. Proper shielding is also a good thing, most cables above the throw-away kind have good shielding. Certain mechanical properties like flexibility and durability vary among cables. But you can get a cable that hits all these quality marks for under $10~20 for a 1 or 2 meter length. High priced "high end" cables are among the items with the highest profit margin and mark-up among all audio products. I don't know if the folks making and selling this snake oil are just cynics looking to drain consumer wallets, or if they actually believe their own marketing pseudoscience.

[@laurentlefers3610]

Great !!!! Could you make this kind of test with a power cable ? Would be very interesting.

[@pedrocols]

Do you really think that's necessary? There would be zero audible and potentially objectively zero difference.

[@r.charbon2028]

Please do more cable evaluations if possible, thank you.

[@richarddegannes2928]

The best of the best. Amir along with Audioholics & Erin's Audio Corner are their fathers in knowledge. Thanks for enlightening us novices. Consumers get justice from these reviews.

[@shaunvickers9255]

great to see you posting these videos to educate us! How about a video about determining whether or not something is audible in your set of tests? The underpinning targets you look for and why those are the right targets.

[@AudioScienceReview]

Audibility requires controlled testing and more than just me. With the pandemic, it is just not possible to test other people. Once we are past that, I hope to conduct some tests on speakers with our audiophile society.

[@stopthefomo]

You’re on fire Amir!

[@shodan6401]

Hi Amir, I have one question: if you're not using it, can I have the battery in that cable? My remote is dead and I can't find a single battery now that I need one...

[@chunkylover5367]

Thank you for the objective test results! What a silly world we live in.

[@matts.1190]

I would love to see the test with a xlr or line cable by the brand vovox. They're still high up in studios, are quite expensive and their company put loads of fancy words on their website, but no measurements). 🙂

[@dell177]

One question: when you tested the magnetic interference susceptibility on the AudioQuest did you try moving the transformer closer and further away from the battery case? did the waveforms change as you moved the transformer along the cable? Great video with repatable tests on very good equipment! I've always thought the important thing with cables was the metal used, the insulation used (dielectric) and the shielding used. What it looks like has nothing to do with how it sounds. Just buy some good wire and attatch good connectors to it and you should be all set.

[@shankararora8117]

Amir, I’ll have to admit I really enjoy the humour in your reviews; the Persian winds reference in the AQ marketing really got me cracking up. Being the user of a high end AQ Tornado mains cable and AQ cables throughout my system - I’ll have to say this and your other reviews provide a sobering truth to the so called myth of high end cables. This is a stark claim but I do believe that a lot of audiophiles buy high end cables to feel better, to plug a hole that’s often caused by addictive behaviour. This brings things to the realm of psychology and behavioural science; sadly nothing has been done in this field, but I’d imagine it would paint a canvas closer to reality. The lack of measurements in most high end cable manufacturers website is probably the most glaring observation and has certainly made me more aware of the so called claims. They surely went through the marketing course in deriving the acronyms of claims, NDT, ABC, XYZ etc. Thumbs up for a great review sir!

[@AudiOhm]

It is funny when you talk about the placebo effect. Years ago I invested in SACD. The first time I listened to Fleetwood Mac Rumours, I know I could hear music in the songs that I have never heard before. The disk was a hybrid, and not paying attention to my player settings I switched to the CD layer, and I could still hear the same differences, what a shame for some who fall into the trap, and are not smart enough to escape...

[@Poraqui]

Another interesting topping would be about blind\double blind and ABX tests to see if people can distinguish "high end" components from "regular" budget ones (ex. Amps). Also, between hires files from regular res files with the same mastering.

[@histubeness]

"topic"

[@michaelbeckerman7532]

Yes, 100% agreed. Back when we still had the annual Rocky Mountain Audiofest here in the Denver area, I would often encourage companies exhibiting there to set up a blind-test room where they had a $500 system, a $5,000 system and a $50,000 system in the room, all set up behind curtains so that no one could tell which setup was which. The idea would be to have show attendees come and listen to each system playing the exact same source content at the exact same volume level and then vote as to which one they liked the best and which one they thought was at each of the three price points. It would be VERY interesting to do such a blind test with the general public and then see the results of hundreds or even thousands of listeners. Of course, no one ever wanted to take me up on that offer and set up such an experiment - and I'm sure you can probably imagine why.

[@Poraqui]

@@michaelbeckerman7532 Of course they wouldn't take you up on that. But the issue has two sides and, I believe, a lot of consumers prefer to cater to their belief system rather than their auditory one :⁠-⁠P

[@abxaudiophiles]

Your my new favorite KZbin channel. SPOT ON !!!

[@vote4ulvio]

What do you think of Blue Jean speaker cables??

[@Xeon1791]

I found your review on H95. then I got interested in your reviews and now your channel! what a legend. Exposing all the nonsense on paper with numbers. Keep it up !!

[@johnratcliffe6438]

I didn't realise ASR had a YT channel - subbed! :)

[@wh0tube]

Refreshing to hear the sound of reason in an age when logic and science are under attack! Thank you Amir 🙏

[@azzinny]

Long time ago, I experienced higher noise in MIT interconnect cable than generic cable. I also experienced poor quality control in Monster Cable's RCA connectors. One of the four male connectors in a pair of interconnects was too tight. The RCA socket in the Marantz gear came out while I was disconnecting the cable.

[@markwaldrep5143]

Bravo Amir! People should also know about the analysis I did of AQ's line of pricey HDMI cables. Remember the D-Tronics YT video. that made the claim that the greater the cost the better the frequency response AND the louder the signal got? It was all faked. They are certainly not alone in peddling high-end bogus cables. Their products should be avoided until they can prove that their products actually do something beneficial. Cheers.

[@randykalkwarf]

Is there any interlink measured by Amir that he did like? With good measurements. He can measure everything but why doesn't he listen to the cable? You can show all kind of numbers but does he also listen? Because is we must believe Amir all cables and audio gear sounds the same. But when I switch my two sets of interlinks, there is a very noticeable difference in sound. So I'm very curious if he even measured some interlinks which he said are good.

[@DrMuFFinMan]

Stuff like these cables will always be around because it cost $10 to make sells for $2000 and other cables cost $2 to make and sell for $10. It's all bragging rights and money can make some people a little insane.

[@navidhosseini7052]

Thank you mr majidi for your honest review, the cable can't increase audio tonality or quality it just has a prophet to save the audio characteristic from amp to speaker with lower distortion

[@daviddelossantos6075]

I’m new to this hobby and the amount of conflicting information is astounding. Finally stumbled across ASR and saw some videos of Amir taking measurements. This video is shocking. I wonder what AudioQuest would have to say in their defense lol. Incredible. Thanks, this is so interesting.

[@dariosarti2791]

The biggest issue is that scientific measurement do not necessarily work in the audio department. Everything here is based on trial and error as you are unable to predict how the system as a whole will sound to your particular ear. I'm not convinced to Amirs testing after he mentioned that he did not hear a difference between the generic and Wind cables. This is highly not probable as they should sound DIFFERENT. Each person will hear a different change but it will be there. Also analogue signal is influenced by absolutely EVERYTHING so I do not believe his review strictly from the audiophile point of view. Last week I once again heard that power cables have a huge impact on sound.

[@DescartesRenegade]

​@@dariosarti2791 what is sound? Pressure waves. What are pressure waves? Compressions in the air. What causes these compressions? The moving cone on the speaker. What causes the cone to move? The signal going to the speaker. THIS is why measurements matter. They literally tell the speaker how to move. For you to say "measurements don't work in the audio department" depicts your profound lack of understanding of basic science. If the measurements don't change, the sound won't change. If the measurements change, the sound will change. Anything your ear can hear CAN be measured. Otherwise, your brain is tricking itself, ie. the placebo effect.

[@kentlarsen578]

Fantastic analysis and video, thank you Amir! And like others have already asked if you could do a test power cables, another one where I certainly don't have theoretical knowledge to back up sonic performance differences. The power itself I can see, here if you are near a factory with big frequency converters creating lots of noise, but that last cord of 3 feet what is happening there? Again thank you so much for this video on signal cables.

[@AudioScienceReview]

Hi Kent. Yes, I have planned to do shortly.

[@kentlarsen578]

@@AudioScienceReview Awesome, you really put some work into it and its much appreciated

[@prateeksamuel8603]

This is starting to become my favorite time of the day. 😁😁😁😁

[@AudioScienceReview]

:) My lab/studio is open to the rest of the house and this is the main quiet time. We have two dogs that love to bark when mail people come to the door earlier in the day.

[@Gabriel-of-YouTube]

For that money you can buy a really good audio system.

[@chamade166]

Hardly...amp and dac combos that have great musicality and extremely three dimensional soundstage will cost you more than that.

[@andybright3809]

@jzo I'm thinking chamade166 was being sarcastic.

[@andybright3809]

@jzo Hehe. That would be a shame. 'Musicality', '3-dimensional soundstage'. I can't can't imagine anyone using those terms seriously :)

[@allorgansnobody]

@@andybright3809 wait I can understand "musicality" is super ambiguous and woo-y but what's wrong with soundstage? That seems pretty sensible to me... our ears can tell the difference between sounds behind, in front, all over the place.

[@ahappycoder2925]

@@allorgansnobody amp or dac shouldn’t add anything at all.

[@bobe2933]

I see the metal rhodium being used in cables frequently, specifically on connectors. Mr. Amir, would that be considered a passive component of changing the "sound"/electrical profile of a cable? I asked an actual manufacturer of headphone cables about rhodium specifically and why he uses this metal and my question was completely ignored. I also asked why more conductive metals wouldn't be used, like silver, on connectors, instead of rhodium? I wonder if it a cost thing? Rhodium did become more expensive recently, so idk..

[@welderfixer]

Rhodium is just another big word like titanium used to fool fools into parting with their cash. A certain speaker company uses names like copper, ceramic and titanium in their descriptions. Just marketing blah blah blah. And, you are right, silver is the most affordable of the higher than copper conductors. Copper plated aluminum wires are a joke and will likely fail do to galvanic action. (edit/added) - However, the proper metal to use in any AC current conductor is Vibrainium. 😉

[@ReTr093]

Keep doing video reviews. If there's one thing you need to do, it's to improve your PR.

[@eddiejennings5262]

Amir, thank you for the scientific review. We all understand and some thrive on the placebo effect, possibly myself. I really appreciate the "just the facts" scientific reviews.

[@adaboy4z]

I bought an cheap after market power cable because I wanted the red black colors to accent my setup.

[@ychilds99]

Amir M. on my right shoulder and Hans B. on my left shoulder. Which one should I listen to? Actually both. Hans for the dreaming and Amir for the sanity check.

[@heathwirt8919]

Seen an advertisement today for speaker cables, there were many confusing selections. One set was based on your speaker manufacturer and the other on the genre of music you listen to. These snake oil claims have reached new heights.

[@0-60STYLE]

Amir, what cable for speaker would you recommend? I'm using basic reel I got from Amazon, does it get any better than that realistically?

[@homerjones3291]

If you can promote a lie and have other people repeat it and defend it for you, your work is done and you are a success.

[@JordanKL1]

Content like this will flatten nonsense audio companies given enough time. Thank you.

[@MachielGroeneveld]

Please keep us al sane with your clear cut analysis. Too much money being wasted on snake oil. Imagine donating that $2000 to charity having the same effect on your listening experience.

[@IliyaOsnovikov]

Amir, that's very interesting. But, as I understand, that DBS thing should only help with the issues related to dielectric absorption of a cable insulation. Can you measure the dielectric absorption effects with a sinewave test signal?

[@astroporpoise7802]

Wow, so nice to see you on KZbin!! And you have a very friendly and calming voice :)

[@trito408]

I want to believe that quality speaker wires and cables shouldn't make a difference but I see a lot of reviewers who said they thought the same thing till had some incident that changed their minds. The problem with measurements is that you can only measure what you know but there are so many variable goes into play to get a sound source to our ears that you might be missing something. I would love to see a reviewer like Jay (I doubt Danny would agree) who claims they can hear a difference in cables send you 2 of their cables that they know sounds completely different. You measure them to see if they are identical. You (or someone you trust) then bring them to Jay's listening room and see if Jay can tell the difference in a blind A/B test.

[@jonedwards7019]

In this case it made a difference - the overpriced AQ cable was measurably worse than a freebie cable due to ineffective shielding.

[@berlyfredy7153]

Savage review 😂 you just killed it. Keep it coming.

[@ujean56]

Amir, you should start your own cable business selling ordinary every day cables at a really reasonable price. You could advertise them as the cables that don't do anything.

[@xthechar]

Such sellers exist, Blue Jeans Cable for example (as long as you stay far, far away from their "Iconoclast" collaboration).

[@papoosee]

Do you have a video covering the SHUNYATA NR series power cords? Supposedly bidirectional noise filtration.

[@logotrikes]

An excellent and pragmatic approach to the pseudo science of audio tomfoolery dude. These outrageously priced cables belong in the same bin as gold audiophile fuses, audiophile mains cables, audiophile solid silver speaker cables and shiny heavy wooden boxes placed on top of audio gear to magically improve things...

[@Sweet-Vermouth]

Loved this! We need a video comparing MP3 192kbps vs MP3 320kbps vs FLAC. Time to settle this! PS - I understand that there might be subtle variations across files. The real question is are those variations below the threshold of hearing?

[@kendoglarson5419]

I did my own test. 160-180 is where a decent quality mp3 starts. 320 mp3 or 500 vorb is pretty indistinguishable on small devices and for most people on a big rig stereo. However, 320 does lack the dynamics the higher grade file has. That's all those details most people miss throughout the spectrum. For most people it's lost on the high hat and cymbals, but the other losses aren't t even noticed.

[@mrronenza]

I truly believe in Amir ! I really don’t understand how a big Audio company like AudioQuest makes very expensive cables and succeed to sell nothing. 🤔

[@rotecrl9719]

Practical application which I just got from this: absolutely separate any NF cables from power supplies in the rack / shelf.

[@baohoaily]

The more "normal" looking Audio Quest cables that I buy on clearance are perfectly fine though. This fancy stuff... God Bless Amir.

[@j777]

It must be picking up some extra low frequency "detail" you were missing before ;) ;)

[@vdochev]

I applaud your patience to measure these snake oil products. You are doing god's work.

[@ezra8s]

Keep them coming! Great video. Btw, can you record it with a bit higher volume? These tend to sound good, but so much lower.

[@AudioScienceReview]

I am trying to troubleshoot this. I have set levels quite high but somehow they are getting reduced in the pipeline somewhere. Should not be too hard to find.

[@billmilosz]

Well actually if the battery is connected to two electrodes but not a complete circuit what you have is a CAPACITOR across the output of the battery. No DC flows but there is a tiny charge stored in the field between the elements of the capacitor. That's the theory of these Audioquest cables, they are putting a potential across the insulator in the cable, the theory being that the insulating material works "better" some how with a static bias across it. If this effect were real there would be some physical tests to show it. The burden of proving that biasing the cable's dielectric actually does something is on the company, but they haven't put forth any physical measurements or any statistically valid listening tests. There used to be consumer law in New York that prevented the sale of goods with such unsubstantiated claims.

[@mpd4167]

This does not make the circuit a capacitor. It makes it an open circuit with a voltage potential. Not even in the same ballpark as a capacitor. Voltage is not the same thing as charge. There is no stored charge.

[@mpd4167]

To be clear: I'm only trying to reinforce that this is all pseudo-scientific garbage.

[@AudioScienceReview]

A battery is a battery though, not a capacitor. Regardless, even a capacitor with one leg connected and the other in the air does nothing.

[@billmilosz]

@@AudioScienceReview You didn't understand my comment. The battery is connected "across" the cable's insulation. The CABLE is the capacitor in this instance. The battery is providing a small charge across the insulation. To say that " capacitor with one leg connected and the other in the air does nothing" isn't correct. A capacitor can hold a charge, that is to say, it can hold a potential across it's dielectric. If you think a capacitor with "one leg in the air" does nothing, I suggest you use a DC voltage (analogous to the battery in this cable) to charge a 100 uF 400 VDC electrolytic, remove the voltage, and then leave "one leg in the air" for some time. Now, grasp both terminals of the electrolytic in your hands and tell me that the capacitor "does nothing." You will find that the capacitor "with one leg in the air" has indeed been doing SOMETHING - it's maintained a charge across it's dielectric. This is what this cable does. It establishes a static charge across the dielectric of the cable's insulator. The manufacturers of this cable claim this improves the cable's signal-carrying ability. Actually, placing this bias across the cable's insulation has no effect on it's ability to transmit signals- the manufacturers claim that placing the cable's insulation in a DC electric field makes the cable better for transmitting audio, but this can't be demonstrated so is unlikely to be true.

[@billmilosz]

@@mpd4167 If you put any voltage across any dielectric there is a stored charge. Why do you think coax cable is rated in pF per meter? ALL capacitors store charge. Why would they rate coax cable in pF if there wasn't capacitance? Basic physics. Trust me, a substantial length of shielded high voltage power distribution cabling can store a HELL of a charge. Of course a 1 meter piece of coax with maybe 10 pF of inter-conductor capacitance is not going to store 40 Coulombs, but the instruments used to characterize coax cable work by measuring the ability of the cable to store charge- minute amounts of charge, surely, but there is no doubt that it is an absolute fact that coaxial cables are capacitors. The cable capacitance will have some loss of course, and so the charge will dissipate quickly. Unless the charge is maintained by a battery. This is all basic physics.

[@fan2hd277]

Next Audioquest cable will be named “diamondBS”.... glad you also debunked this. There is so much audiophile nonsense debunk videos you could do ;) 👍

[@barrymiller3385]

Have I understood what you are saying correctly? Your position is that you can tell what something sounds like by conducting a series of measurements? So I presume it follows that designers/manufacturers can develop new products just by using these measurements?

[@NinJa-yg7kh]

those noise that the cable picks up makes it sound good

[@trog69]

Long has this been a needed channel! Great job, sir!

[@franknielsen7597]

Great video. Thank you. How do you plugs the cable in the spectrum analyzer when you measuring the noise?

[@AudioScienceReview]

The cable is still connected between the source and sink of the analyzer. It is just that I don't turn on the generator. The receiver in the analyzer digitizes the source and performs a spectrum analysis using FFT. Did I answer your question?

[@pinoyxbox]

Finally a youtube channel!!!! Subscribed 😁 Looking forward for more reviews 👌

[@Phoenix_1991]

Thank you very much for this video Amir, it is greatly appreciated, I'm subbed! Do you perhaps have any recommandations for XLR or speaker cables that measure well and doesn't have to cost hundrets or thousands of dollars like the audioquest cable that you showed here? What do you personally use/recommend? Thank you very much and looking forward to more of these videos, we are all learning a lot!

[@exif6839]

Amir, you have forgotten to use the small pyramids in combination with the fancy cables. The energy of the pyramids make the Noise shaping. Only in combination with this pyramids you get fare mor better measurements as your generic cable 😁😁

[@scotth6814]

LOL. Your comment reminded me of the old claims that putting razor blades in plastic pyramids made them automatically sharpen themselves.

[@sylvainpaquette6132]

Refreshing to see some measurements and logic instead of the usual audiophiles bias/beliefs/opinions.

[@gamingandmusic9217]

What is the difference between 4v and 5v XLR output of a DAC to connect my headphone amp? Is the 5v better than 4v ? Is the extra dynamic range gonna improve sound quality?

[@abrahammartinez3524]

Thanks for sharing, You confirmed my guess. my generic cables sound even better that a couple of super expensive that i have. amazing