Cabling
Contents
AAI Ethernet cable
The 1-meter Ethernet cable (€690) goes into the Alpha Audio PC. This is the cable that was also tested in Martijn’s setup and we hear the same result. There is more calmness in the soundstage, allowing you to hear more details. The projection of the sound grows in height, width and especially in depth. The combination of the extra ‘quietness’ and the large soundstage is that you get more insight into the music, but without loss of coherence. You can hear more clearly in the Vega Trails track that the live effects at the end of the song, over which the saxophone plays, come from speakers set up behind the players in the recording room.
The effects in Depeche Mode’s “Freestate” spin nicely around the music which is solid in the middle of the soundstage. It is only now that you notice that after the intro and in addition to the effects, the beginning of the song consists entirely of acoustic instruments. What is especially noticeable is that the high notes are rounded out. Depeche Mode can sound shrill, but the hi-hat now falls back much more into the mix and demands less attention. The wind instruments in “Arcana” have also been stripped of a sharp edge, but without losing their brilliance or fierceness.
Jaap checks that the Ethernet cable meets the specs and notes with satisfaction that the cable’s shielding is attached at both ends (as it should be). Audio manufacturers tend to attach the shielding in Ethernet cables for audio sometimes only on one side and we don’t like that idea. We both think it sounds very pleasant, it’s a good tasting cherry on the cake. An expensive cherry, though.
AAI Speaker and XLR Cable
The 3-meter speaker cable (€3230) lets the midrange area come out emphatically. Especially in the Depeche Mode track, the high is emphatically present. What the Ethernet cable brings to round out the highs the speaker cable undoes. The whole cable plays very forward, by which we mean that the stereo image moves closer. Actually, the stereo image tilts forward creating a gap to the bass. The 1 meter XLR cable (€ 1725) has had very little playing time and we let it get used to the set during lunch. That is of course much too short. But the first impression with the XLR cable is the same as with the speaker cable, we hear exactly the same thing happening in the midrange and imaging. Below are a few measurements of the cables. What strikes is that the impedance of the speaker cable is a lot higher than competitors. That may have an influence on the reproduction. We will write an extensive article about measurements.
Measurements AAI XLR interlink
Measurements AAI speaker cable
AAI USB Cable
Connecting the USB cable (€690) initially leads to consternation. What is happening here! The USB cable is between the Alpha Audio PC and the Mutec. We are treated to a lot of spaciousness and quietness in the music, just as with the Ethernet cable, but a scoop more. Again, the highs sound rounded and lack every trace of the pregnant sound in the highs that many people still associate with digital.
In the Vega Trails track, so much detail emerges that in the bassist’s snort, the difference between breathing in through the nose or mouth becomes audible. But what is most striking is that we cannot describe the sound in any other way than as “warm. And we don’t understand that. We bring in other USB cables to hear if we’re not fooling ourselves. We stick with the Vega Trails track to hear differences properly. A USB cable from QED is standard in the chain. If we put it back the soundstage becomes flatter and we also get less information from the room where the musicians are playing. The track does become more lighthearted, the attacks on the saxophone and bass are a bit more on top.
An Audioquest Carbon USB cable gives a soundstage that is more diffuse. The saxophone is placed much further back. There is a lot of calmness and especially the sound of the bass is more defined. In timbre, it sounds more like saxophone and double bass are playing live in front of you.
A nameless USB cable that is floating around and that you buy at, for example, the MediaMarkt, is used last. The saxophone snarls and we are treated to a wobbling ‘wah wah wah wah’ sound, as if the sound is slipping.
Finally, we do a comparison between the QED and the AAI with Varèse’s piece, a symphony orchestra playing at full volume. The AAI shows a rounded high with a lot of Concertgebouw spaciousness and clearly a warm sound in the brass. However, this comes at the expense of the degree of accuracy in instrument placement and rhythm in this tightly rhythmic and impulse driven piece. The QED does the exact opposite: tightly rhythmic, precise placement, but at the expense of spaciousness.
The extent to which this differs must be read keeping in mind that we are listening very intently for differences, on a system that is built to conceal nothing. If you have music on at home and are doing something else at the same time and we unknowingly swap USB cables, it probably won’t be immediately noticeable.
