Mike Homar's Digital Cable

**Gazjam** · 08-08-2009, 10:04

Mike, I've been trying digi cables again recently (ask Marco about the Belden...) and if its possible I'd be really interested to compare yours to the bag of "usual suspects" I have here (Belden, Gotham, NVA..etc)

Thanks!

Gaz.

**Gazjam** · 08-08-2009, 10:06

Originally Posted by Marco

Currently playing with Mike's analogue interconnects...

I had a quick listen last night and initial impressions are good. Instrumental detail and voices are given nice 'texture', rhythms flow seamlessly, and the top end is sweet and completely grain-free, if a little recessed and lacking in leading edge definition, compared to my reference Mark Grant cables.

There is also definite 'correct' directionality, that I have identified, but which I will allow others when trying the cable to determine...

I'll let the cables burn-in over the course of the week, trying them with different types of music, and report back later

Marco.

Marks IC's still that good Marco?
Good stuff - I retried the LV16s I have here, not as big a surprise as the Belden digicable, still a wee bit meh sounding.

But Marks new ones sound good!

**Mike** · 08-08-2009, 10:28

Originally Posted by DSJR

Please humour me with this question - Have you ever measured standard phono plugs for capacitance? On audio cables with ss equipment and their lowish impedance characteristics compared to valve gear, I found this made as much if not more difference than the wires themselves. Not able to do the maths, i'm not sure of this was just imagination or something genuinely important?

I haven't, to be honest... but I can!

I've pretty much 'settled' on a digi cable design now, but analogue cables are a whole different kettle of fish! Bloody things never seem to behave predictably!

I'm not 100% happy with the cables Marco is trying out, hence the need for his second opinion. They can sound a bit too 'creamy', like an over egged pudding! Good in the right situation, but...

**Marco** · 08-08-2009, 10:46

Marks IC's still that good Marco?
Good stuff - I retried the LV16s I have here, not as big a surprise as the Belden digicable, still a wee bit meh sounding.

But Marks new ones sound good!

Gaz,

Yep - they are without doubt the cables (digital or analogue) with the least 'sound' I've ever heard. This is all I want from cables, as I never use them as tone controls.

Are you still using the Belden digi cable, then? From your description above it's unclear which is "meh sounding" - the Belden analogue or digital cable

I agree with Dave... Plugs (and how they're crimped or soldered) make a huge difference!

Mikey, "creamy" is a good description for how your cables sound, which is not an effect I would seek to have in my system. We'll see how it goes over the coming week, though

Marco.

**jandl100** · 10-08-2009, 07:01

Originally Posted by Mike Homar

BTW, I'll be making a few more of these sometime soon if anyone would like to try one.

Cheers...

Coo. I wouldn't at all mind a try, Mike!

__

In response to Marco's PMed query of a week or so back (while I was sorting out a bit of hassle with a tt deal) .... I'm now using the Belden-reversed digi cable, but with a different CD transport unit. My AudioSynthesis/Sony CDT was too bright and forward with the Belden and the StanDAC Caiman ... so I now use my Yamaha DV-LX50 DVD player (as a transport with co-ax digi output into the Caiman for CD playback) - a richer and fuller sound that blends well with what I still think is a rather bright Belden sound.
Synergy! - that's the key.

**Covenant** · 10-08-2009, 07:39

Originally Posted by jandl100

Coo. I wouldn't at all mind a try, Mike!

__
Oh No, I can see it now! Jerry will like the cable, it will become the new fad, Mike will go into mass production and will become rich. Then he wont be bothered with this place when he is swanning round the south of France in his yacht.
Ahhhhhhhhhh!

**Mike** · 10-08-2009, 08:43

Originally Posted by Covenant

Mike will go into mass production and will become rich.

Fat chance!.... have you seen the price of WBT plugs?

I need to sell about 8 cables at the prices I charge just to buy a can of Tesco larger and a bag of crisps!

Actually... I've ordered some different phono's to try, gonna see if I can make em even cheaper!

**Marco** · 10-08-2009, 09:44

Hi Jerry,

In response to Marco's PMed query of a week or so back (while I was sorting out a bit of hassle with a tt deal) .... I'm now using the Belden-reversed digi cable, but with a different CD transport unit. My AudioSynthesis/Sony CDT was too bright and forward with the Belden and the StanDAC Caiman ... so I now use my Yamaha DV-LX50 DVD player (as a transport with co-ax digi output into the Caiman for CD playback) - a richer and fuller sound that blends well with what I still think is a rather bright Belden sound.
Synergy! - that's the key

Absolutely

The Belden/Mark Grant cables (analogue or digital) don't sound in any way bright in my system, or systems belonging to my friends. Therefore, it's not a case of it being "a rather bright Belden sound" (I don't think this is an inherent trait of the cables themselves), but rather the context in which they are used (i.e. the equipment they're partnered with) - like you say, it's all about synergy

Have you tried the Belden cables both ways round in their current application? If not, please do, and let me know what difference (if any) there is. I think it's important that people buying them know which way round to use them from the offset, or at least that they should experiment with this.

Marco.

**Mike** · 10-08-2009, 11:07

Erm... what's that got to do with THIS thread, Marco?

Feel free to 'plug' (no pun intended) Mark Grant cables in a thread thats ABOUT Mark Grant cables as much as you like though...

**Marco** · 10-08-2009, 11:14

Oi, shut it - I was merely responding to Jerry's observation

Anyway, thread drift is just part of AOS - you've been guilty of it yourself plenty of times elsewhere!

Marco.

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