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Do you consider yourself an audiophile?

Are you an audiophile?

  • Yes

    Votes: 32 13.7%

  • No

    Votes: 84 36.1%

  • Audiophiles are deluded bullshitters

    Votes: 117 50.2%
  • Total voters
    233
I am a die hard believer in the fact that copper is copper but my real world experience in HDMI leads is that the more expensive cable works.

Not in short lengths, my home system is plumbed together with whatever HDMI leads I have purloined from work.

This is mainly proved when you start dealing in lengths of 5 metres or more. I install HDMI cables 15 - 25 metres on a weekly basis and if we have resolution problems, sparkles, digital noise etc. it is invariably solved by using a (more expensive) Guaranteed 1080p cable.

Any sort of projector install will require at least 10 metres of HDMI. 2 metres at the projector, 3 metres at the wall, 2 metres to the table, 3 metres user.

Having said that, the most expensive cable we have had to use is 25 metres and cost us £130. It was flawless with a very weak video conference camera signal. So £500 or whatever is clearly mental.

So, I would be very interested to hear what makes the difference if anyone can explain 'cos i'm baffled. Copper is copper is copper, right?
 
spitfire said:
I am a die hard believer in the fact that copper is copper but my real world experience in HDMI leads is that the more expensive cable works.

Not in short lengths, my home system is plumbed together with whatever HDMI leads I have purloined from work.

This is mainly proved when you start dealing in lengths of 5 metres or more. I install HDMI cables 15 - 25 metres on a weekly basis and if we have resolution problems, sparkles, digital noise etc. it is invariably solved by using a (more expensive) Guaranteed 1080p cable.

Any sort of projector install will require at least 10 metres of HDMI. 2 metres at the projector, 3 metres at the wall, 2 metres to the table, 3 metres user.

Having said that, the most expensive cable we have had to use is 25 metres and cost us £130. It was flawless with a very weak video conference camera signal. So £500 or whatever is clearly mental.

So, I would be very interested to hear what makes the difference if anyone can explain 'cos i'm baffled. Copper is copper is copper, right?
Click to expand...

I've no idea about HDMI, but my experience with video running over co-axial / s-video / VGA is that it is much more susceptible to interference & degradation than audio is, especially interference from power cables for lights on dimmers. (it's the changing levels of power rather than the amount of it.

I would guess that the more expensive cables have better shielding. When we started using tri-core co-ax we stopped having issues with signals because they had much thicker shielding. Probably thicker cable cores as well.

From the sounds of it though you are installing into offices/conference centres etc? which should be a much easier environment than temporary installs with silly amounts of power running around them and earthing issues from old power units in semi dubious nightclubs :D
 
Thanks Big Tom, that would make sense. We always have our kit running on a different phase to lights/AC etc. It sounds like you don't get that luxury. VGA is positively bullet proof compared to HD signals, they give me a bleeding headache.
 
spitfire said:
Thanks Big Tom, that would make sense. We always have our kit running on a different phase to lights/AC etc. It sounds like you don't get that luxury. VGA is positively bullet proof compared to HD signals, they give me a bleeding headache.
Click to expand...

Always on a different phase to sound and often to lights, but not always. Sometimes you get to a club and think you are plugging into different phases but you're actually not, or there just aren't enough phases available, so sound gets 2 of them and light and video on the third.
 
I feel I should say that for anyone at home you should buy the cheapest standard video cable available. It's only on runs of 10m+ or much longer with good tri-ax bnc (150m is the longest I remember doing) that interference/degradation is an issue. Much like audio cables any bollocks you read about special anything is balls, unless your house has a 125a 3phase supply that hasn't been earthed properly, and you've got some seriously interesting lights plugged into the same phase as the tele. Even then you just need some decently shielded coax rather than solid copper core.
 
wemakeyousoundb said:
wrong.
you MUST rub your £1000 a meter cable in freshly squeezed grease from a ritually slaughtered baby seal, at dawn, on the 6th day after the full moon, otherwise it will sound below par.

I can offer this service for a very reasonable fee.
Click to expand...

Needs moar pseudo-scientific bullshit. Something about the grease helping to ensure that the electrons can flow smoothly in the wire with as close to zero friction as possible. Chuck in a few charts showing how baby seal grease is the greasiest grease, and how friction, and the heat generated thereof causes both very noticable and subtle differences to your sound.
The friction makes it sound rougher of course, whilst the extra heat, by expanding the electrons, causes higher volumes, but crucially those volume changes vary across the bass, mids and tops as the expansion of electrons in those sound ranges happens differently because (of course) bass uses larger electrons, which means a smaller surface area:volume ratio and thus slower expansion than the smaller electrons that the tops use.

So really baby seal grease is like an EQ as well. Bargain of a lifetime. Re-application of baby seal grease recommended every 6-12 months for best performance.
 
BigTom said:
Needs moar pseudo-scientific bullshit. Something about the grease helping to ensure that the electrons can flow smoothly in the wire with as close to zero friction as possible. Chuck in a few charts showing how baby seal grease is the greasiest grease, and how friction, and the heat generated thereof causes both very noticable and subtle differences to your sound.
The friction makes it sound rougher of course, whilst the extra heat, by expanding the electrons, causes higher volumes, but crucially those volume changes vary across the bass, mids and tops as the expansion of electrons in those sound ranges happens differently because (of course) bass uses larger electrons, which means a smaller surface area:volume ratio and thus slower expansion than the smaller electrons that the tops use.

So really baby seal grease is like an EQ as well. Bargain of a lifetime. Re-application of baby seal grease recommended every 6-12 months for best performance.
Click to expand...

That reminds me of the fuckwit who reckoned that PTFE-insulated cable was best for interconnects "because the electrons can flow more easily in a non-stick casing". :facepalm:
 
I've just waded through all 29 pages and a very enjoyable evening it was too.

You always know it's going to be a good thread when it's hocus-pocus, self-deluding, voodoo bullshit vs science.

Anyway. I'm gonna get my Dark Side of the Moon CD out of the freezer, and see if I can detect the make of microphone stand they looped the tape round in Money. I'm sure it's there in the soundscape somewhere.

audiophiles.png
 
This is pretty special - http://www.vintageking.com/Antelope-Audio-Isochrone-10M

For those refusing to accept compromises with the audio quality there is the Antelope Audio Isochrone 10M - a Rubidium Atomic Reference Generator based on real atomic technology. The 10M is designed specifically to appeal to the most discerning audiophiles and audio professionals. If your goal is to set up your studio for maximum performance, you will certainly appreciate a clocking reference that is a staggering 100,000 times more accurate than the quartz oscillators used in most equipment.
Click to expand...
 
You have got to be fucking kidding me :D Quartz oscillators are accurate to many thousand times higher frequencies than are audible.
 
The user testimonials are hilarious - could they possibly be genuine quotes?

"With the Atomic, I'd say there was a 20% improvement which for me is mind-blowing. The image was wider, more solid and the vocal appeared to project towards me!"
Click to expand...
 
Crispy said:
:D you just have to google their part reference. Jesus. There's one born every minute isn't there? :D
Click to expand...

I wonder what the hit rate is though. I mean, how many people actually have paid for one of those things? Do the peddlers of this snake-oil just put out the products in the hope that now and again someone will fall for it? How many products are just abandoned by the manufacturer because no-on was dumb enough to buy one? I'm really interested in the economics of it.
 
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