RCA Phono - 5 Pin DIN Interconnect Cable Recommendation
Posted by: ryder. on 14 January 2017
System sounds lovely as it is. If there is an area which I intend to improve, it would be the cable that connects the Chord QBD76 DAC to the NAC 282 which I suspect may be the weakest link at the moment (or not). A standard Flashback RCA to 5 pin DIN is currently in between the DAC and preamp.
A cheap and cost-effective option would be the Flashback PREMIERE cable which was said to be a nice improvement over the standard Flashback cable. However, I am not sure if the improvement would be worth a punt, that if I could hear a difference.
If there is anyone here who has compared few RCA phono to 5 pin DIN interconnects, I would appreciate your thoughts. I would be particularly interested in the comparison between Flashback standard, Premiere and the better and costlier Chord stuff.
I would be investigating a better USB cable with Type A to B plugs soon as I read that these cables do make a difference, but that another time on another thread.
Adam Zielinski posted:daren_p posted:Adam Zielinski posted:[@mention:32400331793000954]The reason for choosing one interconnect over the other is rather simple for me - I choose the one which I feel sounds better in a particular application. I think Chords SIgnature TA appears to be more suitable for good analogue connections, whereas HiLine works better for me if it connects a CD player or a streamer / nDAC
Just to give you some examples:
* NDS to 252 - I felt SuperLumina DIN was the best choice here
* CDX2 to 252 - HiLine sounds best to me.
* nDAC to SuperNait 2 - here I actually use TQ Black Diamond. I felt HiLine was a bit too bright in my setup here.
[@mention:65907191339557814]Each connection between each component is important. If anything is lost or distorted 'in transit' it cannot really be reclaimed later on.
Thanks Adam, though I was more so interested in how the two compare sonically to each other? (understood that they were likely chosen based on what sounded best for each application).
Do you mean HiLine vs Chord Signature TA
It's a bit like asking which child do you love more and why?But on a serious note - I would say Signature TA is the more 'analogue' sounding one - if there is such a thing.
When used with a good turntable it just sounds 'right'. When I put my HiLine on the same source the sound became 'too mechanical' and 'analytical'. Some of the vinyl fluidity was gone and my RP10 started to sound like a very good CD player.However when HiLine is used wiht a good quality digital source, it just snaps right into place. The analytical nature helps to resolve the digital source and make it sound quite relaxed and 'analogue'.
I do realise the above sounds slightly schizofrenic, but that's how I perceive those cables.
And TQ Black Diamond - it's closer to HiLine, but perhaps a bit more transparent. I'd say this is probably the most specialist application - has to be used with caution.
Thanks for the reply Adam, that's rather interesting. Was a little let down when you first mentioned the HiLine was mechanical & analytical sounding, as this is exactly what I wouldn't want in a cable. So was rather intrigued, when on a digital source your impression is basically the opposite, relaxed & analog.
From what I have read, it seems generally that the HiLine brings more detail, while being smoother/more analog sounding (& not losing anything that the stock lavender is famous for), which would be just what I was after. Sounds like Ryder is getting exactly this with his new Chord cable.