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6 Ethernet Cables Compared


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1 April 2014                                                                                  Loch Stahkenberyl NSW


 


 


One aspect of cable technology which I feel is sorely neglected is that of cable colour. Audiophiles consider cable construction, materials, etc. but often disregard cable colour, typically settling for plain-vanilla black cables. I decided to try and provide some definitive information that hopefully can help others avoid less than ideal choices of cable colour.


 


I chose to test six high quality CAT 6 RJ45 Ethernet Networking Cables which were identical in all parameters except for the colour. I used these cables to connect the NAS to my music server so they are at the beginning of the chain where the differences should be most audible. I numbered the cables and had my wife switch them out of my sight (she's an angel the way she puts up with my expensive hobby!). She was instructed to choose the cables at random and allow for repetitions. I should note that I'm colour blind, I hope that doesn't make this test a DBT and it gets removed.


 


My test rig consists of:


 


Muse LanDisk NAS w/SanDisk Ultra Plus SSD > Test Ethernet Cable > custom PC Music Server > USB Cable > Questyle CAS192 Mini Dac > Questyle CMA800R Headphone Amp > Sennheiser HD800 headphones > Ears > Brain > Me


 


All music was in flac format, and Foobar the player.


 


I spent many hours listening over several days. The music was all classical as it comprises well over 95% of my listening and I'm most familiar with the genre. I was quite surprised at the differences.


 


 


Black:


 


With the Black cable the sounds were slightly dark and veiled and somewhat muddy. They are quite organic although not as organic as the Green cable. The PRaT is quite poor compared to the Yellow. And some counter-intuitively, the black cable doesn't excel at portraying the space between the instruments, i.e. the 'blacks'.


 


Still, it's a good match for music like Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht or Mussorgsky's Иванова ночь на лыÑой горе. Over all, compared to the Blue and even the Red, several of its weaknesses are quite noticeable. We miss a lot when settling for Black cables.


 


 


Green:


 


The Green cable had the most organic sound. It's a good match for pieces such as Beethoven's 6th Symphony and much of Grieg's work. Unfortunately the notes had an elongated oval shape which I found quite unpleasant and they decayed quite rapidly. Also, as a consequence of the less than desirable note shape the articulation of voices wasn't very precise which I found distracting on many vocal works. And although soundstage is exceptionally high, it is quite narrow.


 


 


Yellow:


 


The Yellow cable was striking. It is quite warm, although not as warm as the Red. It had the best PRaT, and immediately noticeable was the exceptionally wide soundstage. Whereas on most recordings the soundstage is spread across about 150 degrees, with this cable often the soundstage was so wide it actually wrapped around the back of my head. The impression that some of the instruments were actually behind me was rather disconcerting, like sitting in the middle of a circle of performers. Also the soundstage was exceptionally deep which on some recordings was like listening to the music in a hole.


 


With the Yellow cable the notes were rather triangular in shape. This was most notable on pieces where the notes have sharp attack such the Soler harpsichord works. The contrast to the Green where the notes have an elongated oval shape was pronounced. The shape of the notes made for exceptionally clear articulation of voices. Even though it's the king of PRaT, its deficiencies in other areas keep it from the top of the list.


 


 


Red:


 


The Red is a very fast cable. It's Ferrari-like fast, easily the fastest of this group. It's also quite punchy and has the broadest frequency response. It really digs out those low lows with exceptional grip and the high highs are scintillating.


 


It has good PRaT, exceptional dynamics, good air, the notes are well-formed, and the soundstage is quite wide. However it isn't very neutral, rather it's exceptionally warm which affects the accuracy of the timbre. With its speed it might be a not be the best choice for classical music but with rock and electronic music it should sizzle.


 


 


White:


 


The White cable is easily the most transparent. However it is so transparent that at times it was as if one could see right through the notes. This was most noticeable on works such as Mahler's symphonies where the notes lacked the substance and solidity needed to convey the weight of the music. However with Debussy the effect of the diaphanous notes was pleasant as it was with some New Age Ethereal music.


 


Somewhat paradoxically one area where the white cable excelled was in the 'blacks', i.e. the space between the instruments. Here the cable's transparency really enhances the emptiness. It is a palpable void, not just mere silence. Quite impressive.


 


 


Blue:


 


The Blue cable is quite crisp, neutral, very elegant and linear, and the notes are exceptionally well formed. Nothing 'blue' about the sound of this cable! While perhaps it isn't the best in any one area, it definitely has the best combination of PRaT, soundstage, transparency, musicality, dynamics, resolution, air, and other important criteria. It works exceptionally well with a broad spectrum of classical music, from monumental orchestral works to solo guitar. Easily my top choice.


 


 


I hope you find this information useful, I know the comparative listening really opened my eyes (ears?). At first glance it doesn't seem possible that the cable colour would influence the sound. Then it occurred to me that perhaps Quantum Chromodynamics comes into play, since the colour of the quarks play a role analogous to that of electric charge. Strange things happen at the quantum level.


 


Thanks for reading!

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Do you think you should list the colour of your equipment too? I've always found cables can behave differently with changes in equipment. I've also noticed differences between silver aluminium racks and anodised black racks, but I never extensively compared these differences.

Overall, top marks for a thorough synopsis!

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Do you think you should list the colour of your equipment too? I've always found cables can behave differently with changes in equipment. I've also noticed differences between silver aluminium racks and anodised black racks, but I never extensively compared these differences.

Overall, top marks for a thorough synopsis!

 

Thanks for the comments Stereophilus.  Good point about the colour of the equipment.  Mine is all a brushed aluminium silver which I find the most sonically neutral.  I've never understood the predilection towards black equipment given the obvious sonic drawbacks.  Perhaps it's style over substance.

 

 

Totally irrelevant & dismissible findings from the op here, the colour of his underwear was not divulged at the time of testing!

 

My underwear is a neutral gray,  helps keeps things under control.

 

 

If OP is being serious.....then...oh dear. Ethernet cables do not make any difference to sound whatsoever. :sarc:

 

If you have an open mind (ears?), listen for yourself,  you may be surprised at what you hear. 

 

 

But coloured ones may do, although have not tried it yet . ;)

 

Try it.  It's inexpensive to try,  and as I said in my original post, I was surprised at the differences.

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If you have an open mind (ears?), listen for yourself,  you may be surprised at what you hear. 

 

I've tried and have not, not surprised given the networking specialist in me knowing the protocols and standards of how these cables operate and work. At worse you might get crosstalk with a frayed cable but no chance in hell of a fresh cable giving off sound improvements, you might be disrupting the transfer of bits 0's and 1's between the two terminated ends of the cable to there respective connected devices.

Edited by DefQon
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Have you considered some simple tweaks, such as adding some small strips of black tape at regular or irregular intervals?

This may make the sound less coloured or monochrome.

Would be interested to hear your reports, if you try it.

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not surprised given the networking specialist in me knowing the protocols and standards of how these cables operate and work.

 

Well that explains a lot. :thumb:

 

 

Have you considered some simple tweaks, such as adding some small strips of black tape at regular or irregular intervals?

This may make the sound less coloured or monochrome.

Would be interested to hear your reports, if you try it.

 

Thanks, interesting suggestions.  I think I'll try intervals based on the Fibonacci Series.

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My underwear is a neutral gray,  helps keeps things under control.

 

 

 

The risk of using the best cable is that your underwear may change colour if your system becomes capable of reproducing the legendary brown note.

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The risk of using the best cable is that your underwear may change colour if your system becomes capable of reproducing the legendary brown note.

Something to be said for chosing a darker colour, then.

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Well that explains a lot. :thumb:

 

 

 

Thanks, interesting suggestions.  I think I'll try intervals based on the Fibonacci Series.

Fourths or Fifths? Or even diminished? The difference is quite significant, when calibrating according to the Fibonacci series.

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The risk of using the best cable is that your underwear may change colour if your system becomes capable of reproducing the legendary brown note.

 

I'm readily willing to take that risk in order to get the ultimate sound

 

Something to be said for chosing a darker colour, then.

 

Not worth the possible degradation of sound quality

 

 

Fourths or Fifths? Or even diminished? The difference is quite significant, when calibrating according to the Fibonacci series.

 

Not sure. I have to do some research and testing.  I also need to avoid a conflict with the Brilliant Pebbles on the cable.

 

 

Oh, one other thing, make sure it's not elided.

 

I once inadvertently elided a Fibonacci sixth, when testing power cables on a CD player.

 

I won't tell you how that ended!

 

Sounds terrifying. Thanks for the warning.

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Guest fordgtlover

Thank you so much for doing this. Finally someone brave enough to put their own prejudices aside and really listen for these differences.

 

Have you tried using connector boots? Mixing and matching different coloured boots and cables allows you to balance the positive and negative qualities - eg. a red cable with blue boots will sound less warm than a red cable without boots. I was amazed at the differences the boots made. They absolutely slaughtered the cables without boots.

Boots.jpg

 

 

The man at the computer fair told me they were good, but he didn't tell me just how good. My good missus walked into the room when I was testing these and asked whether I wanted a cup of tea. I asked her how it sounded, she said "It's a cup of tea. It doesn't make any sound".

 

Be warned though, the sound stage does sound a little more 'closed in' and the micro dynamics are much less transparent than those with the open clear cat 5 connectors.

 

The PRaT remains inexplicable.

Edited by fordgtlover
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I have a yellow cable with a single blue stripe running its length. I found this the best compromise as the transparency of the blue ameliorates the hard edges on the triangular notes characteristic of the yellow.

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I've heard about quantum chromodynamics. I'll soon be releasing some interconnects and cables based on this principle and will be giving SNA members a first look promo pricing. Expect less than $100,000 per interconnect strand - what a deal!! I cannot however reveal how my particular application of the quasi-quark-super-spin-electron-transfer model is implemented though because I used to work for the military and it's super top secret super classified. Such sound. much quantum. Wow.

Edited by CryptiK
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It is this sort of community approach which helps all of us here on SNA.  I'd come across lots of woo-woo and smoke-and-mirrors on this topic but donb you have taken the time and effort to bring us the facts. Of course i would have left it at that except that Dr Nick has a solution I'd never have considered (the 'stripe') and fordgtlover's contribution about the boots certainly gives one pause for thought.  I'm now thinking seriously about the clear boots, in combination with blue cable and a red stripe.  Or maybe just one clear boot.

 

Has anyone done blind testing of different boot combinations?

 

BTW FWIW CryptiK, methinks you are taking the p----.  You do our fellow SNAers a disservice.  (Sorry, but someone had to say it)

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Thanks for the comments Stereophilus.  Good point about the colour of the equipment.  Mine is all a brushed aluminium silver which I find the most sonically neutral.  I've never understood the predilection towards black equipment given the obvious sonic drawbacks.  Perhaps it's style over substance.

I've always been a fan of black, but as you say, purely for aesthetics. Same reason I have a wife.

Recently I found adding a gleaming silver component into the rack made a huge difference to the sound quality. The best way to describe it was like adding sparkle and shimmer to the notes.

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Brilliant post fordgtlover,  thank you for sharing the genius idea regarding the boots.

Very clever Dr Nick,  another truly innovative solution.

CryptiK,  I'm a bit sceptical of your claims.  Do have have independant DBT or ABX tests to back them up?  Anyone can make claims like yours and throw in some scientific jargon to try to hoodwink the gullible.

Thanks for the comments ThirdDrawerDown,  I too appreciate the community approach here on SNA.  I hope people stick to facts that can be scientifically established and keep SNA a woo-woo free zone.   I'm very interested in the boot testing you propose,  and the stripe idea mentioned.  I will be doing more testing when I can obtain the gear.

Thanks again to everyone for making this such a rich and useful thread.

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I've always always found that the soundstage of d cups are bigger in the bass than b cups when standing in the doorway! :bump:  :bump:  :bump:

Edited by groot
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