Allison Karuss - When You Say Nothing At All

30th

  • individualism
  • lacks slam and impact
  • HUGE sound tall and wide
  • heightened and elevated sound
  • bass a bit thin, not as impactful, esp vs DC
  • very great sounding, huge sound
  • A tame overtone

DC

  • Bass detail and weight far surpasses the 30th.
  • Just sounds more like the real thing
  • Not as great resolution and detail (maybe better with the danceable ICs....must try)
  • Hard to decide because I like the focus and detail of the 30th, and the 30th still maintains a natural timbre and melodic tone.
  • DC has to be in the chain.
  • Piano sounds much more natural than the other cables but lacks a little bit of refinement and delineation.
  • That bass is super important in some of the transitions of this song, which isn't really present in the rest of the cables.

CC

  • Definitely not as much slam as the DC, similar to 30th
  • Amazing resolution
  • A bit abrasive in the treble. Toothache.
  • Not great for female vocals.
  • Blackest background for sure.
  • 30th just has a much better timbre, drums sound more realistic, decay is more natural, vocals are smoother.
  • Sounds like it tries too hard, esp vs the DC and 30th. High energy, esp in treble.
  • A bit messy when the back up vocals come in at 2:00 mark. The harmony is much better on the 30th. With the CC, it's just not present.
  • Fatiguing at times
  • A bit screechy for sure

SP (sanity check)

  • There's  a little bit of harshness in the vocals but great bass response
  • A fun sound but smeared and no delineation
  • Lacks texture and body
  • A great value, lacks a bit of detail.
  • Super smooth. Smooth and delightful, no separation.

Curious

  • Few complaints. Very clean, pitch black background, very close to the CC in tone,
  • Slight grainier vocals, heighten treble
  • Nevertheless, a great sounding cable, good energy
  • Never irritating
  • Good balance overall
  • MUCH MUCH better than the SP

Kimber silver

  • Similar tone to the CC but the CC is better as far as humanistic qualities and timbre
  • CC has more meat
  • Overall not a bad sounding cable

Kimber cu

  • Man, does sound better than the SP, but not as good as Curious
  • Super flat, no textures, no body
  • Great timbre and tone though
  • Shaking my head...way too flat, no separation, no layering.

Audience

  • Bass is pretty light
  • very relaxed and neutral sounding
  • Not very engaging
  • Kinda greyish
  • Nothing good or bad
  • A bit flat with some bumps in the low end
  • Layering and delineation is ok
  • Nothing special

Purist Ultra

  • Sounds great, really good.
  • Vs Kimber silver...hmm...Purist has more bass, Ultra sounds more exciting, both sound great.
  • A bit of a toss up here
  • Better than the silver. The silver is a bit too bright and the timbre is off. Ultra just sounds more in line and more enjoyable over all. More musical.
  • vs the CC, the CC is much better. A balance between the Kimber silver and Ultra. The resolution the CC is ridiculous and the pitch black is addictive. Timbre is still off fro the CC but it is a dam impressive cable.

Final ranking

  • 30th ($1,500)
  • DC ($895)
  • SOtM filtered USB
  • Lush
  • CC ($1,250)
  • PU ($900)
  • Kimber silver ($1,200)
  • Curious ($480)
  • Vovox Textura
  • Audience AU 24 USB ($595.00)
  • Kimber Cu
  • SP
  • SOTM Generic (sounds pretty exciting but pitchy)