The more accurate cable

[Speedskater]

good XLR interconnects use a Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) cable. The best ones have a braided shield (rather than foil & drain wire) and a symmetrical core wire placement. With a cable that is unshielded and uses solid core wire, it's anybodies guess as to what noise & interference it may pick-up.

[Speedskater]

12 hours ago, Kimo said:

I wonder how the noise typically changes sound.

There is no typical answer. Such a wide range of sounds and volume levels.

But sometimes audiophiles enjoy a bit of added background noise.

 

John Atkinson at Stereophile magazine, wrote:

 

I think that what the listener perceives with this cable is that at low levels, the sound is fattened and made more coherent-sounding by the dominant second-harmonic distortion. In addition, the presence of background noise cannot be dismissed, as there is some evidence that introducing small amounts of random noise results in a sound that is preferred by listeners. At higher signal levels, transients are accompanied by bursts of higher harmonics. However, these subside as quickly as they appeared. The overall effect is to render the system sound as being more vivid,
John Atkinson
August 2005

 

[Speedskater]

1 hour ago, Kimo said:

Thanks.  I don't believe that I heard any differences with Ferrites added, so that is that. 

Cables acting as interference antennas is very situation specific. Rearrange your equipment differently on another wall and everything changes. There is a lot more to Ferrites than would first appear. Again, it's very situation specific.  Core material choice and placement are very important. It's not a case of one and done.

[Speedskater]

13 hours ago, Kimo said:

 

The louder brighter cable is the shielded one in this case?

Just the opposite! The apparent brightness/sparkle/detail is causes by noise/interference.

 

DF96(RIP) posted these responses on another forum:

 

How do you know this "detail" is in the recording? There is reasonable anecdotal evidence that some people confuse noise and interference with 'detail' - for example the popularity of badly-made DIY cables.

 

What is wrong with that is that perceptions of "detail" can be fooled by the presence of extra noise and interference. Hence you may be choosing the amp with inferior interference rejection. This issue is a reason why some DIY cables (with appallingly bad design or construction, so admitting lots of RFI) are perceived to give more 'detail'.

DF96 28 July 2016

 

[Speedskater]

5 minutes ago, Kimo said:

 

This is the brighter bigger cable.  Well shielded and twisted.  It seems like this would be much more immune to noise and interference then the unshielded Vovox?

The Grimm Audio interconnect looks like a well designed Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) cable. So yes it would be much more immune to noise and interference.

[Speedskater]

It's doubtful that many (if any) of those reports could be supported by proctored, ears only listening tests.

Or measurements.

[Speedskater]

Do you think that many of us can read that?

and no, Google translate doesn't speak hi-fi.

[Speedskater]

Now don't think that all analog interconnects sound the same!

 

But when real differences are heard, it comes down to:

a] noise or interference

b] some overlooked uncontrolled variable or poor test protocol

c] a circuit or cable defect

 

[Speedskater]

22 hours ago, fas42 said:

Just chased down this interview, https://www.lightsoundjournal.com/2016/05/29/interview-with-jurg-vogt-ceo-of-vovox/. He makes the right noises about what to listen for, what counts - and I like the fact that he understands static issues. A key part is this,

He points out that:

I have to underline that i’m very much a materials engineer rather than an electronics engineer

 

Which is obviously true because he doesn't understand electric circuits.