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Belden ICONOCLAST XLR Cable Review

Rate this cable

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 152 53.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 86 30.5%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 21 7.4%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 23 8.2%

  • Total voters
    282

BDWoody

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Ouch! You really said it. Prepare yourself for severe dazzling! Or wait, is that baffling maybe?

I felt more bedazzled...
 

Blumlein 88

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I felt more bedazzled...
Bedazzled was a pretty decent movie. Both in 1967 with Raquel Welch and in 2000 with Elizabeth Hurley. But I don't remember anything about transcients in them.
 

dananski

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You can listen to Amir's null yourself. He posted a link to it. BTW, what research has been done indicates we aren't very much bothered by lots of phase differences at higher frequencies. Yet such phase differences will ruin a null.
Ah I missed the link somehow, thanks. I can't hear anything in there of course. Needs nearly 50dB added to hear it at my normal listening levels.

But I'm still curious about the actual difference in the cables if you were to measure the propagation speed of different frequencies. If the cable design makes a difference in these measures, it means the cable did what it said, and thus this approach doesn't help in audio and no one else need go down this route for audio - though there may well be other applications. Whereas if it made no difference whatsoever then this cable hasn't given any evidence to disprove the premise.
 

DonH56

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A frequency-dependent difference in delay would cause problems in pulse integrity and affect the phase, which in turn would show up in things like the 32-tone and null tests. Perhaps the easiest test would be to measure and compare the group delays (related to the derivative of <change in> phase) over frequency.

Non-constant group delay (etc.) is a real problem, particularly for the 30~60+ GHz bandwidths encountered in my day job, but I am having trouble believing it is a real problem at audio frequencies. Below a GHz or so we tend to neglect it and it is insignificant below 100 MHz or so for the lengths of cable we use (typically <10 m).
 
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AudioSceptic

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Or you could just use a high resolution DAC+good enough studio monitor to test it cheaply, like I do.

Thanks to your information I've google a bit on drift velocity, now i knew exactly why connect L-2s2s and TC core 20/0.012 serially create compressor effects. I knew what was compressor effect, it's a transcient response alteration that compress and release signal accordingly, just didn't related two things together.

Should have followed the old hifi rules book and use a y splitter to connect those two pair of cables parallelly instead of connect a bigger gauge solid copper to smaller gauge TC core cable in serial position. (Was thinking of utilize the high pass filter but it change the eris 3.5 signature)

But it's my design and although a little bit artificial coloured, it do retain the old vintage warm in low and middle and tight crytal clear in high. Just need to know why :)



Not with transcient response, just like frequency response it's kind unmistakable to a trained ear, unless you had very low resolution DAC (lower than 192kHz )or you didn't utilised "near-field" studio monitor (use it to fill the room etc) properly. I mean, that's what they're designed for right?

When you hear a music you knew very well ( any source utilsed every frequency), you will noticed how close or how far the drummer, guitar solo agaisnt the vocal... That's the clear frequency response image if you know what's their acoustic range. Ofcourse your case might be they only listen to middle frequency piece like pop song or bass heavy song. I admit not everyone can do this but fairly common if you listen to very complex musics over a decades or two.

As for transcient response, it actually nothing to do with loudness but the time and spatial accuracy of frequency transitioning (aka muddiness in human perceiving range). Like the vinyl vs cd, tin vs gold vs copper vs silver vs their combination.

Slower transcient response can be create by proper material( tin or gold ) with specific gauge, they kinda add a unique warm thick body to bass and middle, but muddy and mellow signature to high timbre harmony (also depending on gauge size and strands count). Faster transicent response (Copper, silver) had thinner low and mid (with specified gauge and strands count), but they had crytal clear and "exciting" high and timber. Combination of alloy like the TC core is a good trade off cause some frequency had more "skin effect" than other and even had minor reverb.

If you still not understand just think about it's microphone/speaker diaphragm, lower diameter and thickness had faster transcient responses, but might overshoot, and vice versa.

Physic is that simple actually, cause everything followed a few simple law. Don't overthink it. just order a proper size 2 meter cheap TC core cable that existed for few decades and you will understand.
" proper size 2 meter cheap TC core cable". Such as? What is proper size, and how cheap?
 

MacCali

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This should be required viewing for all participants in all internet audio forums.
damn that's super crazy, thanks for sharing. Very interesting watch.. I think this goes back to Amir's reviews of music and probably was going to be a similar response to show us what's going on. Think it was on his DSD video Piece of S Audio dsd recordings
 

CtheArgie

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Absolutely - the critics would be doing well to write as clearly in the criticised's language.

Critique the ideas, not the language capability.
Spanish is my first language. I try to be careful when I write in English. I try to check spelling and review before I click “post”. The same thing with what others publish. I read carefully, check references and take my time.

The fact he said he learned physics by Google and doesn’t read much or check autocorrect, which is annoying, I know, tells me he is not careful with his thinking process.

”criticised’s”. I’m just making fun here.
 
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antcollinet

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.

”criticised’s”.

Not really a word - intended to mean ”the language of the person being criticised” (‘s indicated “beloning to“ as in “John’s” and criticised as a noun - the person being criticised)

- I thought about it. :D
 
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CtheArgie

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How can I argue with the Brits? Their competitive advantage in the world is that they speak English better than anyone else…
 

antcollinet

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How can I argue with the Brits? Their competitive advantage in the world is that they speak English better than anyone else…
Our disadvantage is that we fail (miserably) to learn other languages. Due to the advantage we have in already knowing English :)
 
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