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Analysis Plus Oval Digital XLR Cable Review

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Analysis Plus Oval XLR "Digital" cable. It is on kind loan from a member. I had a hard time finding information on this cable as it is not listed by Analysis Plus but there are sellers who do carry it. It costs US 190 for a one meter length of it. The description on those sites raves about 75 ohm matching impedance but AES digital audio is a 110 ohm standard, not 75 ohm. Maybe that refers to the RCA version.

The Analysis Plus Oval cable doesn't look too bad and is not overly stiff:

Analysis Plus Oval Digital XLR AES Cable  Review.jpg

There is a patent number on the cable which I did not other to look up.

Digital Audio Cable Audio Measurements
I thought I start by using my Audio Precision APx555 in its digital analysis mode. Here, it is able to extract jitter from the digital stream and analyze it as if it is audio:

Analysis Plus Oval Digital XLR AES Cable Jitter Measurements.png


The signal being played is J-test which is at 12 kHz and has a 250 Hz square wave riding along. So any jitter artifacts tend to show at those two frequencies as we see. The signal in red is Analysis Plus Oval. We see that the spikes are higher than the Mogami "analog" XLR cables that I purchased from Audio Precision. So we have a bit of degradation instead of improvement here.

Here is a comparison against a Mogami Microphone cable I use for my analog audio measurements:

Analysis Plus Oval Digital XLR AES Cable Jitter Against Mogami Mic Cable Measurements.png


Once again the Mogami wins even though it is not a "digital" cable.

Of course as noted, none of this matters as far as audibility. Jitter is incredibly low and no way it could cause any audible difference.

Next, let's see what difference the cables make on a DAC, specifically the Topping D90 when using its AES input. First up is the Analysis Plus Oval:
Analysis Plus Oval Digital XLR AES Cable Topping D90 Audio Measurements.png


Let's now switch to Mogami microphone cable:

Mogami Mic Cable Topping D90 Audio Measurements.png


No difference whatsoever.

Finally let's measure jitter coming out of the DAC in analog domain:
Analysis Plus Oval Digital Cable Topping D90 Jitter J-Test Audio Measurements.png


Here, the Analysis Plus is a hair better than the Mogami Mic cable. Slight impedance differences, length of cable, etc. can cause these variations. Key is that none of this matters as far as audibility as difference is well below -130 dB and our hearing dynamic range at best is 116 dB. Most audiophiles fail to hear differences that are orders of magnitude worse than these.

Conclusions
Need I say it? Don't waste your money on such "high-end" cables. In short distances we use in home audio, "digital" cables make no difference one way or other. Cables remind me of dog toys. They are made to appeal to their owners in stores to buy them, not what the poor dog sees in them. Your audio gear doesn't get excited over that thick cable, fancy geometry, etc.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Entire living room is now filled with huge boxes of products/speakers to test. My wife is suggesting that I go see a doctor as I must have become sick or something. Such doctors don't come cheap, nor take insurance. So please donate what you can using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 

Xyrium

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Umm, does this mean the D90 has replaced the DX3 Pro in your measurement rig?

Stunner on the cable results. ;)
 

jaynyc

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@amirm does your equipment have the ability to measure the impedance of the cable/connectors to determine if it’s really 110ohm? I’ve seen anecdotal discussions over the years that many cables which claim 75 or 110 ohm impedance actually are not...
 

JDragon

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Love the line about the dog toys. I just bought "audiophile" power cables to replace all my power cables because I was sick of having an unruly mess behind my audio rack. My listening experience is much better now that all my cables are neat and orderly and the right length. China puts out a pretty premium looking product for ~$20 + free shipping off AliExpress. I think some of my dog's toys were more expensive than that.
 

anmpr1

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For me the deal with cables is whether 1) they are flexible and 2) wires at the connectors don't fail after use. That's about it. I have some Mogami RCA to RCA I bought in the 1980s that still work fine. Nice connectors and limp. They were not very expensive. When I bought my Benchmark DAC/amp I didn't have any XLRs so I had them throw a set (and a run of SpeakOn cables) in the box. These were the most costly wire I've owned, but quality is excellent. The speaker cables are a little thick, but locking banana plugs on the ends are very nice and tight. Certainly their cost is not out of line given their construction. One could make something similar for less dollars I suppose if they wanted to take the time.
 

Ares347

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Now amirm you should gt those "meme" energy cables from Waudio that are gigantic for like 30 bucks.
 

DivineCurrent

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confucius_zero

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Mogami vs amazon basics plz
 

mansr

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The Analysis Plus Oval cable doesn't look too bad and is not overly stiff:

index.php
What's with the heat-shrink over the connectors? Don't they want people unscrewing them and seeing the poorly done termination? Judging by the visible contours, the connectors are exactly the same as those on a £5 cable I have lying around here.
 
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