AudioQuest Wind High-end Cable Review

[StefaanE]

When this cable nulls just like all the other cables (send it to Ethan W) we will know how it handles music as well.
I can make an educated guess.

Off topic, but did you know Ethan wrote a cello concerto and recorded it instrument by instrument? Pre-echos of these COVID days. Germany is locking down, and at the end of yesterday’s concert, the Berliner Philharmoniker added a bonus piece to their concert: John Cage’s 4:33.

 

[noiseangel]

The conundrum posed to High End Cable Believers is this:

If expensive, modern high end cables are necessary to reveal and transmit the sonic riches of a recording, how did all that glorious sonic information get there in the first place?

The the recordings audiophiles listen to - even standard classic "reference tracks" - were recorded with miles of bog standard audio cable. Much of which had been through rough times.

This means that every single time an audiophile throws in his new high end cable and marvels as the sonic purity and quality of sound, he is by default hearing the quality of sound captured and produced by cheaper run-of-the-mill cabling used for the recording. It doesn't matter if you put Nordost's most absurdly expensive cables in your system. The logic is inescapable: it can only reveal that the original non-audiophile cables used for the recording were up to the task of transmitting that very sonic information.

It's just a weird bit of inescapable logic that cable lovers never seem to contemplate when they fall for all this "We make our cables from unobtanium" marketing stuff.

There's a reason why Mogami is called "The Cable of the Pros." Virtually every major recording facility is wired with Mogami, which means that just about any music you listen to has passed through Mogami somewhere in the recording chain—from Fleetwood Mac to Foo Fighters, from Prince to Pearl Jam, and countless others.

Why do so many discriminating artists and studios choose Mogami over other cable brands? It's simple. Mogami is unmatched for accuracy, extremely low noise, ease of installation, flexibility, and superior quality. Professionals and enthusiasts alike rave about the amazing clarity and silent background of Mogami—technicians swear by it, not at it.

Seems to me you cant go wrong with this stuff.

http://www.mogamicable.com/additional/best_cable.php

 

[pavuol]

photo taken at "Die Münchener Messen hifideluxe und High End 2019" (Munich/Germany audio show)
"Mythical creatures speaker cables" // as already mentioned #8

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Why do so many discriminating artists and studios choose Mogami over other cable brands? It's simple. Mogami is unmatched for accuracy, extremely low noise, ease of installation, flexibility, and superior quality. Professionals and enthusiasts alike rave about the amazing clarity and silent background of Mogami—technicians swear by it, not at it.

Endorsements are not evidence.

Seems to me you cant go wrong with this stuff.

Nor with any of many alternatives.

 

[CDMC]

There's a reason why Mogami is called "The Cable of the Pros." Virtually every major recording facility is wired with Mogami, which means that just about any music you listen to has passed through Mogami somewhere in the recording chain—from Fleetwood Mac to Foo Fighters, from Prince to Pearl Jam, and countless others.

Why do so many discriminating artists and studios choose Mogami over other cable brands? It's simple. Mogami is unmatched for accuracy, extremely low noise, ease of installation, flexibility, and superior quality. Professionals and enthusiasts alike rave about the amazing clarity and silent background of Mogami—technicians swear by it, not at it.

Seems to me you cant go wrong with this stuff.

http://www.mogamicable.com/additional/best_cable.php

No you can’t go wrong with it, just as you can’t go wrong with Canare, Belden, Gotham, and the countless other cables pros use. They are fungible.

 

[JonP]

Late to this party, but what the heck...

I came to the Auidiophile World kinda backwards, starting with DIY speakerbuding, then going to shows. Kinda blew my mind seeing prices on stuff, as well as what kind of stuff can command such. I have an electronics/engineering background, so I was/am pretty leery of $2000/ft speaker cables and "good rule of thumb is spend 20% of your system price on interconnects", and such. Ah well...

But, I believe in evidence based "good enough", and for cables, thats pretty low. At least probably below the 2-3 figures level rather than the 4 or 5! Me, I like Blue Jeans cables and their philosophy. They make basic but good stuff, quality wire, decent but not crazy connectors, you know the wire manufacturer and can look up specs, etc. And, cheap, er, affordable!

I did like the shielding test Amir came up with, with the transformer. One of the jobs of an interconnect cable is shielding. I'd like to see a test of several RCA and XLR's comparing that, as a one off test.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Late to this party, but what the heck...

I came to the Auidiophile World kinda backwards, starting with DIY speakerbuding, then going to shows. Kinda blew my mind seeing prices on stuff, as well as what kind of stuff can command such. I have an electronics/engineering background, so I was/am pretty leery of $2000/ft speaker cables and "good rule of thumb is spend 20% of your system price on interconnects", and such. Ah well...

But, I believe in evidence based "good enough", and for cables, thats pretty low. At least probably below the 2-3 figures level rather than the 4 or 5! Me, I like Blue Jeans cables and their philosophy. They make basic but good stuff, quality wire, decent but not crazy connectors, you know the wire manufacturer and can look up specs, etc. And, cheap, er, affordable!

I did like the shielding test Amir came up with, with the transformer. One of the jobs of an interconnect cable is shielding. I'd like to see a test of several RCA and XLR's comparing that, as a one off test.

I've done testing where I wrapped ICs around the PS for a desktop PC. Had the pc running a video test. Xlr doesn't care. Rca varied greatly and picked up nasty artifacts only 40 db down. Even Rca moved away 8 inches (20 cm) was fine however.

 

[RayDunzl]

Muted Focusrite 4Pre USB outputs to inputs - rat's nest of cables, not a "sterile" environment

No Name TRS to XLR (with TRS adapter)

vs

No Name TR to TR shielded guitar cable - AC power harmonics and USB 8kHz interference visible

Zoomed way in:

 

[WeHaDude]

Just another “hater” rant from the nattering nabobs of negativity peddling “objective” analysis! Certainly no better than the snake-oil salesmen you deride so readily. Empirical audio, then JRDG, now Audioquest, blah, blah, blah, all designed to give comfort to lamp cord denizens and gleeful, free generic cable hoarders! Can’t just be happy you don’t have to shell out $$$ for such “dreadful” equipment, huh? Who you going after next? Your beloved Benchmark? Laughable. Wanna impress? Build and market the ideal product in every category. Until then...trust your ears. Happy listening.

 

[Emlin]

Just another “hater” rant from the nattering nabobs of negativity peddling “objective” analysis! Certainly no better than the snake-oil salesmen you deride so readily. Empirical audio, then JRDG, now Audioquest, blah, blah, blah, all designed to give comfort to lamp cord denizens and gleeful, free generic cable hoarders! Can’t just be happy you don’t have to shell out $$$ for such “dreadful” equipment, huh? Who you going after next? Your beloved Benchmark? Laughable. Wanna impress? Build and market the ideal product in every category. Until then...trust your ears. Happy listening.

... and breathe...

 

[pkane]

Just another “hater” rant from the nattering nabobs of negativity peddling “objective” analysis! Certainly no better than the snake-oil salesmen you deride so readily. Empirical audio, then JRDG, now Audioquest, blah, blah, blah, all designed to give comfort to lamp cord denizens and gleeful, free generic cable hoarders! Can’t just be happy you don’t have to shell out $$$ for such “dreadful” equipment, huh? Who you going after next? Your beloved Benchmark? Laughable. Wanna impress? Build and market the ideal product in every category. Until then...trust your ears. Happy listening.

That was such a helpful post! I can finally trust my ears, phew! You don't know how hard it's been not to trust them all this time.

I'm throwing away my oscilloscope and buying 10 meters of the Windy cable, the "ideal product." Thanks, man!

 

[infinitesymphony]

Just another “hater” rant from the nattering nabobs of negativity peddling “objective” analysis! Certainly no better than the snake-oil salesmen you deride so readily. Empirical audio, then JRDG, now Audioquest, blah, blah, blah, all designed to give comfort to lamp cord denizens and gleeful, free generic cable hoarders! Can’t just be happy you don’t have to shell out $$$ for such “dreadful” equipment, huh? Who you going after next? Your beloved Benchmark? Laughable. Wanna impress? Build and market the ideal product in every category. Until then...trust your ears. Happy listening.

Here at ASR, Benchmark have the top-rated speaker amp (AHB2), but their DAC3 is now equaled or bested by $130 devices like the Topping E30 (granted, no balanced output). So we've already disproven your remark in both directions.

 

[amirm]

Just another “hater” rant from the nattering nabobs of negativity peddling “objective” analysis! Certainly no better than the snake-oil salesmen you deride so readily. Empirical audio, then JRDG, now Audioquest, blah, blah, blah, all designed to give comfort to lamp cord denizens and gleeful, free generic cable hoarders! Can’t just be happy you don’t have to shell out $$$ for such “dreadful” equipment, huh? Who you going after next? Your beloved Benchmark? Laughable. Wanna impress? Build and market the ideal product in every category. Until then...trust your ears. Happy listening.

The only negativity is yours. I am actually pretty happy with the AQ Wind cable. When my back itches, I can use it over my shoulder and scratch it. Can't do it with non-audiophile cables.

Did have to take out the batteries though and put them in backward. Felt nicer on my skin that way!!!

 

[pjug]

It would be cool if the DBS had exposed terminals that you could press with your tongue.

 

[Blumlein 88]

It would be cool if the DBS had exposed terminals that you could press with your tongue.

You are not fooling anybody. If you had them that way, the batteries wouldn't last long at all. We know you are shock jock.

 

[pjug]

You are not fooling anybody. If you had them that way, the batteries wouldn't last long at all. We know you are shock jock.

Maybe in my younger days I'd wear out the batteries. Now I would just want to know the DBS is working. The tongue test is way better than some blue light.

 

[noiseangel]

... and breathe...

He needs Valium. And yoga. And some soothing 417Hz solffegio tones. Some bourbon. And then some more Valium. i think he is beyond breathing it out. He certainly gets wound up. His BP must be off the chart.

 

[GimeDsp]

Talking about speaker cables.
I had to make a 100ft one for a pro audio subwoofer running at 1000 watts.
I went to home depot, got 8gauge stranded wire, 400ft.
Then I made 2 twisted runs, so each lead had 2 8 guage strands twisted to reject interference.

IT SUCKED, but there was NOTHING I could find in similar spec, twisted, etc.
There is no "magic" in wire, just good engineering.

 

[dc-sound]

Ok so having established that $2,300 is a ridiculous price to pay for a pair of interconnects that dont even work. I would be very interested if someone had tested a pair that did in fact show a reasonable benefit.......or should I just go with the cables that come in the box?

 

[GimeDsp]

Ok so having established that $2,300 is a ridiculous price to pay for a pair of interconnects that dont even work. I would be very interested if someone had tested a pair that did in fact show a reasonable benefit.......or should I just go with the cables that come in the box?

For perfomance it doesn't take much for interconnects to reach peak performance.
Just be aware that if you do pay more for them it should be for looks.
MANY people pay all kinds of money for watches that look better, do they "perform" better?