God point, and I wouldn’t expect most studios to pursue it. One take is how can it make such a difference on the playback end of the chain? With all the wiring changes, detanglers, patchbays, etc I always wonder how a studio maintains phase integrity, much less temporal integrity. Then there is the mix which again adjusts frequency and phase. It seems the end user has 5% input at best on the playback end. Yet there it is wire can have a perceivable impact.
I recall Water Lilly using a simplified recording scheme to good effect. Apparently Kevin Gray is using an Audioquest loom in the recording chain for Music Matters Blue Note reissues among other things.
Yes - though like video production, that has been “cheapened”, so to speak by technology. I have a $10k computer system on my desk that can do more stuff, better than $100’s of k of gear in a high end editing suite 30 years ago that cost $500/hr.
I think some times audiophiles tend to think in terms of some imagined ideal, such as an acoustically perfect studio with the best gear in the world run by the best ears in the world. That represents a tiny fraction of what gets made. Mostly music and recording doesn’t pay, sadly.
Well I think this is why as critical audio/music listeners, we tend to like minimalist recording chains, fully acoustic recordings, often to a single pair of mics, etc. Not to mention the whole “issue” (only an issue for audiophiles) of the use of hardware and software to manipulate the signal.
I think there are a couple of things going on - one is that microphone cables are better for carrying mic-level signals over greater distances without issue than line-level sources and signals. And as everything tends to be balanced, that helps as well. Even though it was somewhat perceptible to me, I did not feel that the difference between an 8’ Mogami mic cable and a BAV mic cable was worth the difference in cost and flexibility.
Which is another part of the equation here - usability. I was going from a nice condenser mic into a mic pre. The BAV was stiff enough to torque the mic in its shockmount, and did not easily coil around the mic stand. Just not very practical. There is the possibility the Iconoclast line would yield significant benefit sonically - but practically? Forget about it. I’m not plugging one of those beasts into a $6k mic.
Back to cost - it would be interesting if someone knows or can find out (Elk?) what the L.A. Phil or Berliner Phil’s halls are wired with. If it is something more costly than Mogami, I would be shocked, never mind the fantasy notion of kilodollar-per-foot stuff.
Like fine art. You are worth more dead for a generation or many than alive. I don’t think the court jester or musician made very much back in the day either.
Same here on the cost of computers. Every personal computer I have purchased for real work since the '70’s has cost $3k to $5k not including monitors and peripherals. Today’s digital watch does more than my $3k 1978 Heathkit 8080 computer could have done. And except for the last 10 years or so the tech was outdated by the time it hit the ground.
They don’t make a solid silver one, but have you listened to the TPC and SPTPC variants of the Iconoclasts? They don’t follow that rule, and it varies depending on whether it is an IC or a speaker cable.
Right - that has been my experience as well, such that it had become a “rule” in my thinking. That is not my experience with the silver-plated Iconoclasts.
Specifically, in that case, to the speaker cables. I only recently got some IC’s, and though I have experienced the metal formulations acting differently on the speaker cables, I have heard the IC’s sound very different in a friend’s system - seemingly in the opposite way from the speaker cables. But that could just be the Synergy thing.
To be fair, my exact words were “little recessed in comparison to other cables that I have” so you need to read my comment about the midrange being a little recessed in context. That context is that I have other USB cables where the midrange is slightly forward. I also don’t use recessed in any negative way. Perhaps I should have said, “less forward” .
@JMK - agreed and just pointing out this is abstract and language plays a big part of subjective comment (little recessed in comparison to other cables that I have). I didn’t hear it that way, no issue, as Mark points out it is system dependent… and nuanced… and I did not read it as negative, you were just pointing out how it sounded and your comment was not seen by me to be negative at all.
I recently had a very accomplished pro audio guy into my listening space for a demo. He enjoyed listening to my system. When I started explaining how much my speaker cables were worth he looked quite vexed. Wire world equinox are by no means super expensive in the audiophile world but he could have perhaps bought a kilometre of cable for the same money. He did admit that he would have been able to perhaps hear a difference between my cable and a cheap pro cable but when he was rigging up a gig it was about budget and fit for purpose.
Yes - we’re often fretting over the cost of a meter on way or the other, and they’re looking at tens or hundreds of meters, depending upon the application. They typically have less money to throw at it than we do as well.
Exactly - so - Concert Goers (particularly Classical) - Imagine (or better yet) Measure the distance between the stage and the mixing board in your concert hall. Do the math.
Just received the 30cm WW PS7 USB cable ($375) - Isolated the VCC w/ kapton tape. However, I got greedy and just swapped the cable (no VCC isolation) for a peek and holy shiet is this cable quite, and super detailed with zero harshness. Of course it is used so it has been broken in… I now have to wait 2 weeks more for the Curious “evolved” cable to make it fair… patience is important…
