Harmonic Technology LP-10 Phono Interconnect - Decent Upgrade For Its Price

So you have chosen your turntable and phono stage. Satisfied with it. Play lots of music. Until one day, for no reason at all, decided to change your interconnects (IC). OK, in this particular review, there was a reason. There was an opportunity to test out the Harmonic Technology LP-10 phono cable.

Harmonic Technology is based in San Diego, USA and was founded back in 1998. Based on their website, this company patented the OCC Single Crystal^TM design process where metal is purified to eliminate any potential crystalline barrier distortion. This design process is claimed to obtain purity levels in excess of 99.999997% in an atmosphere completely devoid of oxygen and other contaminants. More importantly, it is supposed to improve clarity, dynamics and power of the signals travelling through the cables.

The sample I received came with Neutrik Profi RCA and equipped with grounding cable on both sides. Based on the info I received, the LP-10 model is an only China Limited version and most probably not be available in USA. The build of cable is of high quality standard, sturdy with good flexibility if you have a tight spot to connect it to your system. The cable is based on 26 AWG 7N high purity OCC single crystal copper cable. Now, I am not going to go into details of the specifications as readers can get more info from the website here. One thing I am interested to hear is actually the impact of those ground wires that come with the cables. The LP-10 is characterised to deliver a neutral, open and refined sound. So, lets hear it.

THE SET UP

1. Kronos Sparta with ZYX Omega Cart
2. SPL Audio Phonos
3. SPL Audio Director Mk2 pre amp
4. SPL Audio S800 Performer power amp
5. PMC Twenty5 24 speakers

The LP-10 was used in between the Kronos Sparta and the SPL Audio Director Mk2 pre amp, replacing a Siltech Silver Anniversary IC.

Ode To My Family by The Cranberries

The very first thing I notice is how open the sound is with LP-10 in the equation. Dolares vocal sounded so energetic and upfront. I can agree to the claim of being open and refined sound. The LP-10 have delivered an unrestricted sound where every details of this track have surfaced out in a different presentation that I am used to. The sound of the percussion playing sounded sharp but sweet. The bass however can be a bit overwhelming but I know that this track, the bass guitar have alway seems to sound heavy. The guitar sounds was delivered with high clarity note by note. Although I could not find the neutral ground of the overall presentation, the video I shared got the agreement from the Kronos Sparta designer, Louis that it sounded quite beautiful. But I still wanted to explore more.

Moonlight Lady by Julio Iglesias

The open presentation is consistent on this track as well. The soundstage somehow sounded bigger than usual.  Julio's vocal sounded luscious just as the image he carries. On this track, I started to experience the neutral presentation that the LP-10 was known for. There was no overwhelming experience from the different spectrum of sound. Highs sounded crisp and light on the ears. The low end frequency was subtle but still impactful to create that 80s music sound. Sweet to my ears.

To All The Girls I Love Before by Julio and Willie Nelson

This was an even more involving experience with the LP-10. Willie's vocal sounded very lively and emotional with the LP-10. The open sound was maintained but without loosing any depth to the presentation. On the percussion side, the rimshot, snare, toms also sounded quite open and wide without loosing its impact. Refinement is one of the improvement I can hear after putting in the LP-10 into my system. Is it a lot of difference from my usual listening experience? Read the conclusion.

THE CONCLUSION

What is it that make audiophiles debate about the impact of cable, power cords, interconnects? I have always been neutral on this matter. There are instances where I do not find any impact at all and there are times where I will just go -  Wow!

Now, for this particular review, I had to change my set up a bit before I started listening to it more seriously.

• I first replaced my Vermouth Audio Reference interconnect (which is based on OCC as well) with a Siltech Silver Anniversary interconnect. between the Kronos and the Phonos.
• Listened to my system for a couple of weeks
• Replaced the Siltech with this LP-10

The reason I did this is because of 2 reasons:

• The Vermouth Audio Reference was in a different price bracket. The Siltech was retailed at a similar price as the LP-10
• The Siltech is a silver based interconnect as oppose to the Vermouth Audio Reference which is based on OCC copper similar to the LP-10

Comparing the LP-10 and Siltech, the LP-10 have given me a different experience with the 3 tracks above. Key word here is different and not necessarily better. The LP-10 was definitely true to its claim of being open, refined and neutral. Apart form the overwhelming bass on the first track, the other 2 tracks were definitely neutral. I have actually listened to many other tracks with the LP-10 in the past 2 months or so. Mainly to confirm the consistency in its neutrality. I must say that this is LP-10 main strength. It will deliver whatever the sound from your TT as it is. There is no additional coloration or so called extra bass or clearer treble. I believe that with this neutrality, the refinement and open sound just naturally surface out.

However, it was hard to hear any big improvement when compared to my Vermouth Audio Reference cable. It may be because of a similar base design using OCC but I did not have the overwhelming bass experience playing the first track when the Vermouth Audio Reference was in my system.

At RM 1,490 or SGD 490 for a 1.2 m pair, I would recommend this cable for those who like to complement your TT and phono with a neutral sound experience but with still enough refinement and open ambient. You have the option to have either Teflon DIN, Neutrik XLR (gold pin) or Neutrik Profi RCA. If you are looking at changing your phono cables, do give this LP-10 a try.

For more information, please contact KC

When You Put Current Into Digital Cable - An Acoustic Revive Perspective

Just like any other engineering based industry, the audio industry is never short of advancement. Whether these advancement is valid or not, that is another challenge that this industry faces (or more likely the consumer faces). I now come across a coaxial digital cable that comes with a power supply. Although its not a new design, it is relatively uncommon at least for yours truly to see this being used in a system. When I was offered to try this Acoustic Revive DSIX cable by a colleague, I quickly accepted. The on challenge I face is that I no longer subscribe to the usage of CD player (well at least for the past year). So the only means for me to test this cable is with my Minidisc player.

DSIX stands for Digital Signal Isolation Exciter. Based on their website, this unit electrically isolates the signal loop from equipment by the use of the isolation transformer. In return, the throw rate (start up speed of a digital shape wave) is up to five times faster and the transmission energy is up to twelve times more in a circuit equipped with DSIX.

For further technical talk, please head towards the website. What I am going to explain now is how all these effect the sound.

THE SESSION

As this is an old design from circa 2007/8 and the fact that I am using an MD as a source, it might not be the best representation of the cable. However, I still look forward on how it fairs on a RIP format, feeding into a more modern DAC. In this review, I connected my SONY MDS JA20ES minidisk deck to Musical Fidelity M6 DAC.

This is not a fully loaded review as I only had the cable for about a week. First if all, the power cable is not optional. You have to plug it in a power source to allow digital signal to pass through from your source to DAC.

I was playing random music from pre recorded and recorded MDs. Specifics observation as below:

• My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion - Vocal was transparent and instrument sounded less compressed. Quite free free following. but I lost some level of bass and warmness. there is a stint of improvement in openness. 
• September by Earth Wind and Fire - Disco era came alive. Again, the DSIX opens up the music to provide quite a lively music ambience. But somehow I did not get the weight that I like. Can sound a bit flat at times.
• Whiskey in The Jar by Metallica - Now, with heavier music like this, the weight of metal music was more evident. Pretty psyched listening to this tune as the guitar riffs sounded heavy. I could do with a little more bass impact form Lars's drums and Jason's bass.  James's vocal energetic and didn't sound restricted. This was a recorded version from the original CD.

THE CONCLUSION

I continued playing various songs using this cable and I get a mix of experience. The common parameters that I experience is mainly on clarity and openness of the music when played via this cable. The bass, warmth and weight seems to vary from one music to another. One thing for sure, the addition of the power supply to the cable as a DSIX does play a role in giving the character to the cable. It would be better if it comes with a switch to turn on and off the DSIX so that I can compare between cable alone and cable plus DSIX. Nevertheless, if your digital system needs some clarity and openness, give this cable a demo if you can grab a hold of it.

Special thanks to a colleague of mine a.k.a a new hifi friend Rozmee for introducing me to this cable.

Kirlin Cables - Bold and Big

My curiosity in microphone cable as an element in our hifi system grew bigger each day since my exposure to Kadas last month. Most of the articles on the net concludes towards mic and audio cable have no difference between them apart from thickness. However, there are people who advice never to use mic cable as a speaker cable. OK for line level interconnects but not for speaker cable.

KOGA Audio again loaned me a mic cable, built as an IC with RCA connectors under the brand Kirlin. The model is MBC 20AWG. More information can be read here

As oppose to Kadas, Kirlin seems to be more visible on the net with a properly established website with association with a list renown musicians and artists.

BUILT

KOGA maintains to keep the two left and right channel separate from each other. The cable itself is flexible similar to Kadas. The RCA plug however is of a different version which feels sturdier and also easier to connect to the RCA connections on my source and amp. Again, KOGA Audio did a good job in its workmanship.

THE SPECIFICATIONS

Being a microphone cable, it is fully shielded.

FIRST IMPRESSION

It was of different character compared to Kadas. It presented a bigger soundstage and leans more towards a emphasizing the low end spectrum of things.

THE SET UP

Given that I am now quite familiar with my mini set up downstairs, this review was only done by using the IC in between Musical Fidelity M1 PWR power amp and M1 CLiC streamer/DAC/pre amp.

THE SET LIST

1. La Vie En Rose - Louis Armstrong (FLAC 24/192)

2. Rock and Radical - Butterfingers (CD)

3. Pink Panther Theme (WAV)

THE SESSION

The trumpet sounded mellower with the higher frequency was filtered down a notch, creating a less high pitch presentation. Louis's deep and 'rough' vocal blended better into the rest of the songs with minimal focus on the strength alone. It made me feel more at ease as it lets my emotion run free rather than being focussed on his vocal. It was balanced throughout that you dont feel that there was any element of the song that was more revealing than another.

Now, Butterfingers rawness and prowess was felt through and through. Again, no real focus on vocal nor other part of the music. It was well balanced between vocal, guitar, drums and even the bass line was easily recognised. Detail yet balance when it comes to delivering the grunge factor. Emmet's vocal also was more energized as if it was gelled up Loque's shredding guitar. The crash cymbals also sounded more detailed with a distinctive dispersing sound.

To see whether I can get the emotion going without the presence of a singer, I playe the Pink Panther theme. Now, this entertaining yet complex piece, sounded really big that I could not believe my small mini monitors can sound that big. I was concern that given the warm and lower end frequency character in the previous track, it will start distort my speakers. But no! The Kirlin just delivers this track beautifully. In fact, the last strike of at the end of the track which I usually feels that it can sound too high pitched, sounded full and bold that it really gave me a shock.

THE CONCLUSION

Firstly, I do feel the merit of using microphone cable as an interconnect in a hifi system. In fact, maybe it has not been given enough credit in this industry. I am sure there are still the dodgy ones just like the hifi interconnects we see in the market but, it is quite a provoking thought if I change all my interconnects to microphone based cables.

Specific to Kirlin, it does deliver a warmer sound compared to Kadas and also more tonally balanced. Given a good source, this Kirlin will allow the source intended sound to be delivered in details, bold and bigger soundstage to your amp and ultimately your speakers.

Give microphone cables a go. Its relatively an affordable option and if you dont like it, convert it to karaoke microphone :)

Kirlin and Kadas can be ordered to the length you require by contacting KOGA Audio at koga.audio@gmail.com

KADAS Interconnect: Mic-ing The Source

There is always the never ending debate on how interconnect and speaker cable colour our hifi system. But very seldom and maybe even never there is a discussion on microphone cable and how it effects the recording session. As the source is always deemed to be one of the most important element in a system, why don't we go to the extend of using the same microphone cable as the interconnect to reproduce the sound where it originates from? OK maybe not to the extend of the very same cable in the studio but what happens when you use a microphone cable as an interconnect.

In the past few months, there was a big buzz in the local DIY-ers scene on various different cables available for them to toy around with. I was then given this Kadas KE 80M interconnect by KOGA Audio to give it a shot.

BUILT

For physical built, I prefer flexible and separated cables between left and right channel. And thats what exactly I get from Kadas. The flexibility allows user to easily arrange the cables in tight spots. However, the RCA plugs itself is quite tight to connect them to the hifi unit. It is a gold plated RCA and the high quality workmanship of KOGA Audio can be seen.

The cables itself is directional. It is clearly marked on the sleeve, hence I followed it in my review. 

THE SPECIFICATIONS

Non... seriously... I could not find any literature on the net let alone a company website. But google it and you will find many event management or studio websites mentioned about KADAS mic cables.

FIRST IMPRESSION

I was told that the cables have already been run in. The first impression was leaning more towards a high level of clarity on vocals and refined low ends.  It gave me goosebumps as the track was presented in a such detail.

THE SET UP

The IC was used in two different set ups:

Session 1 - Between Musical Fidelity M6 DAC and M6i integrated amp in my usual set up

Session 2 - Between Musical Fidelity M1 PWR power amp and M1 CLiC streamer/DAC/pre amp

THE SET LIST

1. La Vie En Rose - Louis Armstrong (FLAC)

2. Rock and Radical - Butterfingers (CD)

3. Wake Up Boo - The Boo Radleys (MD)

THE SESSION 1

Louis's vocals gave me the goosebumps. I seldom like listening to digital tracks for songs that I have the LP but in this case, to my surprise, his vocals sounded smooth with no sign roughness. Quite a warm ambience and full of expression which usually, I only get when listening to it on LP. It does focus a lot on clarity of vocals. And somehow, with that level of vocal clarity, it lifted the whole soundstage to a different level.

Rock and Radical was presented in its rawness where Emmett's vocal was again the centre of attraction (as always when it comes to this Malaysian Kurt Cobain). But this time around, all other instrument shared the same lime light. Loque's guitar was surprisingly mellower than usual but in this case it was good because of the high pitch notes. The drums, hhhhmmmm... hard hitting snare and sharp crash. I like it. 

With the Boos.... it was indeed a beautiful morning to wake up to. The intro gave me a shock with the level of energy. The wind instrument sounded refreshing with high level of detail. The details of the percussion which I believe a tambourine, was lingering nicely as the background sound as if it was a layered recording. Nice. Again, for the third time, vocals seems a strong virtue of this IC. Can it be because it is a mic cable?

THE SESSION 2

Not to say I was not convinced with the findings, but hey, it is my first review of a hifi related product after I have moved my set up from downstairs to upstairs. So it might be due to different room acoustics. So, for the fun of it, I then connected this IC to 'newly' set up mini hifi downstairs. Hence, why this review took a bit longer to be published. The mini hifi consists of my existing MF M1s but I threw in an unused full range speakers to the equation.

Louis's vocals was again exceptionally the centre of this track. Excellent delivery of clarity and strength. Just listen to the clip above. I have yet to experience this track in this level of emotion as this is not my favourite Louis's song.

Rock and Radical, although the vocals was also the centre of attraction, the overall 'balance' sound of all the instrument was not at the same level I experience with Session 1. But I am quite sure this is due to the speakers I am using here.  The percussion while was still authoritative, was not hard hitting enough. The shredding guitars lost a little bit of rawness.

The Boos, also was presented in a similar manner like Rock and Radical. Vocals was upright and shining, while the wind instrument and percussion took a little of a backstage compared to Session 1. Nevertheless, I do believe it is the speakers limitation.

CONCLUSIONS

It makes me wonder.... why there is no notion to use the same mic-ing cable that the studio uses as part of our hifi. We always say that the recording quality is very important to ensure the playback on our system is the best. So, I am sure the studio too uses good quality cabling. So, why not use the same in our system? A question to ponder.

On this KADAS.... lies a vocal strength. Clarity and high level of details are some of its strong virtues. Suffer from muddled vocals in your system, give this IC a try. Contact KOGA Audio for advice on this.

Audience For The Simple Minded - My Hifi Shop

On Monday, 5th October 2015, I had the pleasure of attending a small do by the latest outfit to the list of hifi shops in Malaysia. My HiFi Shop Sdn. Bhd. is located in Jaya One just besides the recently opened Swedish Statement hifi shop.

My HiFi Shop is actually only scheduled to be opened in a couple of weeks time but as the CEO of Audience (yes, the brand), Mr. John McDonald was on his Asia tour, the shop decided to host a small informal do for the local hifi fraternity.

 

Yours truly arrived at 1145 am and was greeted by the Director himself, Mr. Thomas Teo. After a quick look around of the shop (which is still in final touch stage), I was introduced to John. John is such a down to earth hifi enthusiast and full of passion when it comes to hifi talk.

By 1230, there was already a crowd in the venue. Familiar faces from Audiofi.net and AV2Day.com are among the audience besides the owners of the famous Leben amps. John then gave an introduction to some of his famous cables, interconnects, power conditioners and The One full range speakers which was on demo. The audience threw out some interesting questions and these are some of the jeez of John's respond:

• Silver vs copper... which one is better?
• I prefer copper....
• Directional vs non-directional?
• Audience cable have markings on them but its more for indicative purposes
• XLR vs RCA... which one is better?
• XLR suits better in an all round balanced set up
• What is the optimal length for your cables and interconnects?
• We build to whatever length you require
• Thin or thick cables?
• For power cables, the proper gauge is more important. For the rest, other factors like material and insulation is vital.

The attendees then were treated with beautiful music played from Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird TT and Leben CS-600 integrated amp.

Thank you Thomas and Isaac for the invite and good luck on the official opening.

The My HiFi Shop is located at:

H-97-1, Block H, 

The Suites, 

Jaya One,

No. 72A, Jalan Universiti,

46200 Petaling Jaya,

Selangor
Tel: +603 79321883 or +6016 6661699

Audience The One full range speakers are quite impressive for its size. It could fill up the listening hall with ease. 

Audience The One Version II

Some of Audience RCA and speaker cable range and also John's full range driver design

Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird 

Leben CS-300

Leben CS-600

Dr. Feickert Analogue Woodpecker

Interconnect Overload: DIY Wonders Part 2

Now that I have established how these 4 interconnects perform for analogue source, I then connected these interconnects to my reference DAC Musical Fidelity M6 DAC to see how they perform for digital source.

THE TRACKS

For consistency purpose, I played the same track I used to review these ICs in Part 1

1. Era Gia Tutto Previsto (Andrea Bocelli)
2. Whiskey In The Jar (Metallica)

THE SESSION

Gotham GAC-2 AES ultra pro

While this IC still have the tendency to be heavier on the bass, it sounded smoother than when it was played from a TT. The piano intro sounded more refined and Andrea's vocal was sound more luscious and unrestrained. Bass was more controlled and extensive. At times, it still sounded a bit muddled due to low end spectrum of the track, but it was not as bloated as it was connected to the TT.

The finding was quite similar to the above where Lar's bass pedal sounded very authoritative and leading the track but in a more refined and smooth way. However, James's vocal emerged to be more balanced and blend into the track. Definitely a more enjoyable presentation for a metal track. Kirk's solo was more revealing in a sense that it sounded more involving.

The 'restrain' I experienced when this IC is connected to the TT was slightly changed where the sound stage sounded bigger with minimal loss in detail and refinement.

Gotham GAC-2 AES-EBU

Changing the IC to this model, it sounded even more refined and warm. A very luscious and sweet vocals from Andrea and the music sounded very fluid. It just flow with emotion and energy. It definitely lifted the track to a very enveloping sound.No harshness can be heard when using this IC..

With Metallica, the high spectrum of the music became more apparent. Lars's control on the opening of the hi-hat was very convincing. The guitar also sounded melodious and well blended into the music on the whole. A very balanced, open and refined presentation.

Gotham GAC-2 V1

Similar to the TT session, this IC model seems to be the one that delivers the best performance. Every element, musical instrument of this track seems to be well presented with such refinement and detail. Andrea's vocal was very energetic but yet still had a stint of emotion and good vibrations. The sound stage also sounded elevated and more natural.

With metal music, it was a bit more laid back but still had that zest of Adrenalin behind the forceful guitar riffs and drums. James's vocal sounded more involving and blended well with the bassline and drums. No harshness detected. Overall, a very clean and crisp sound.

Micron Acoustic

The Micron Acoustic somehow could only deliver a basic presentation of Andrea's rendition of this track. Not very involving and sounded a bit flat. I didn't experience the different layers of musical instrument It was still an honest presentation where it does not really emphasize any specific spectrum of the music frequency range. Sound staging was more towards airiness and less controlled.

For Whiskey In The Jar, it sounded a bit clinical and safe. Not much energy can be heard with which makes the metal influence sounded a little bit raw and 'undercooked' if I may use culinary terms. Overall, it reveals a very digital based character which may also be what the design suppose to do.

THE CONCLUSIONS

I can't help but to feel that these interconnects sounded better when used with digital source rather than an analogue source. Nevertheless, all of them have their own character that may be able to provide solution to your system depending on what character you are looking for. And the best part of it, it does not cost an arm and a leg.

If anyone is interested to try out these ICs, kindly contact Mizal via Whatsapp on 012-2746548

Interconnect Overload - DIY Wonders Part 1

The beauty of this hobby and passion in hifi is you tend to meet with other people that has one or two tricks under their sleeve into achieving their each own audio nirvana. In the past few months, I was added into a KOGA Audio Whatsapp group where its members are a bunch of light headed hifi enthusiasts. And among all of them, there is one member that works offshore and has a an electrical knowledge in the background. So, in his free time, he actually does hifi DIY stuff. Among them is that he makes his own set of interconnect based on two brands; Gotham and Micron Acoustic.

Intrigued by numerous debates on the web about audiophiles spending insane amount of money on ICs and cables, I decided to request for a few samples of these DIYed ICs for a review. I must admit that I grew in the hifi scene with the basic red and white ICs that comes along with a hifi unit that we buy. As time goes by, I went through the journey of finding the most suitable match with my hifi and I have settled with Siltech. So then, I received 4 different ICs for this review to see whether is it true that cheaper cables give an inferior of sound.

BUILT

All the ICs have a quite a flexible built. It is sturdy enough to withstand any unintentional force applied to them. Their conduit also feels a little too rubbery for the local tropical climate here. I do wonder how the built quality will deteriorate with time.

The cables were also terminated to a moderately priced of RCA which allow easy connection on the hifi units. Overall, you will enjoy the flexibility especially if you set up your hifi too near to each other.

I am also happy to report that all these ICs do not create any hums when connected to the Lenco.

THE TRACKS

I have chosen only two tracks but these tracks I have them on vinyl and CD/Digital format

1. Era Gia Tutto Previsto (Andrea Bocelli)
2. Whiskey In The Jar (Metallica)

There are 2 sets of review:

1. All ICs used between my Lenco GL78 and the Musical Fidelity M1 ViNL phono stage (analogue)
2. All ICs used between my  Musical Fidelity M6 DAC and M6i integrated amp (digital)

THE SESSION

Gotham GAC-2 AES ultra pro

Gotham GAC-2 AES-EBU

Gotham GAC-2 V1

Micron Acoustic

Gotham GAC-2 AES ultra pro

Bass heavy. That's how I would describe this Gotham IC model. Once connected to my system, it immediately brought up low end notes up a notch. Even with the piano intro sounded quite bassy and it made Andre's vocal sounded deeper. At times, it sounded a bit bloated with bass but after listening to the track a few times, its more focus towards piano strokes. 

For Whiskey in The Jar, the rendition by Metallica version, Lars's drum pedal was dominating the overall track. It sounded very authoritative. James's vocal took a step back and was buried within the music. Kirk's guitar riffs and solo was very revealing. It truly presented this in a heavy metal fashion.

Sound staging is a little bit effected somehow as at times, I felt that I have lost the big sound from my system.It may also be that the IC provides a more controlled reproduction of the tracks.

Gotham GAC-2 AES-EBU

With this IC model, the overall musical presentation is more balanced where the bass injection is more subtle but still bold enough to be noticed. The warm envelop is more evident with this model. The piano strokes sounded extended with its low notes while Andrea's vocal sounded more dynamic and energetic.

With Metallica, the drum pedals no longer dominate the performance. James's vocal came out more alive than the previous IC. Its more nicely blended into the musical arrangement. There was also a stint of Jason's bass line can be heard. A more refined presentation compared to AES Ultra Pro.

Gotham GAC-2 V1

This was the best presentation of Andrea's rendition of Era Gia Tutto Previsto. Vocal was very emotional and fluid, blended well with the rest of musical equipment especially the piano. Even when Andrea was hitting the high notes, it sounded so natural. The piano keys sounded neutral and sweet.

This was more of neutral presentation overall. Bass was not too heavy. Detail and clarity were more evident with Jason's bass line was brought up with much more detail but was not over powering the overall track. Lars's footwork sounded more laid back and Kirk's solo was more melodic compared to the other two Gotham ICs.

Micron Acoustic

The piano strokes was buried behind the powerful voice of Andrea. This is one IC that helps to bring out the clarity and refinement of vocals. At high notes, Andrea sounded a bit restricted but this was compensated by airiness of the vocals. Some layering and colouration between the different musical instruments and the vocals were very evident. This helps a bit with sound staging that the Gotham AES Ultra Pro fails to deliver fully.

The hi-hat on Whiskey In The Jar track was restricted from sound extended as if I am not mistaken, Lars was playing with an open hi-hat set up. It sounded 'safe' and more localised. There was a good blend between vocals and music with a similar layering was experienced. The bass line from Jason was less revealing, which took away the warm character that I heard from Gotham. Not necessarily a bad thing.  

THE CONCLUSIONS

The table is a summary of my review on the 4 IC. Stay tune for Part 2 where all these ICs are used to run digital platform.

If anyone is interested to try out these ICs, kindly contact Mizal via Whatsapp on 012-2746548

Interconnect Galore: Gotham & Micron Acoustic

Another local DIY-er have just sent me samples of various interconnects he built based around different models of Gotham and Micron Acoustic cables.

Watch out for the review soon.