First off, I wanted to again say thank you to Jason for being generous with his products to allow us to try them out. He truly is a cable maker for the people with the interest of best sound possible as priority #1. As I sit here typing this, I find myself longing for a past love in the form of usb cables.
I'm currently listening to my stereo which up to a week ago I thought sounded pretty damn good but as I can now see is hatefully bland and vague. For reference, my system is a mix of affordable basics and very few nice pieces of gear. My reference point is my Schiit Sol turntable, Benz Micro Zebra L cartridge and Project Tube Box S2 s/ tungsol tubes. On that I have the Quiescence C from table to phono, and Ember rca to receiver. On my digital side it's a gaming PC going to Schiit Modi MB and Breathe C cable to receiver.
My vinyl setup has far surpassed the sound (and price) of digital side but when working from home I'm not about to stop a zoom call to flip a record. Could you imagine the look on my boss' face? Lol. So my comparison for good sound has been how close it comes to sounding like vinyl. I was hopeful in getting to test out the Ember and Aero cables back to back that I might hear some differences and find out some cool things about my system. My current USB cable is a mass market budget friendly option, similar to that of a Ford Taurus. No, we're not talking a new Ford with nice interior; we're talking a 92 Taurus L wagon with manual locks, roll up windows, and bad alignment.
This cable was inexpensive to get into and still functions to move you from point A to B but leaves A LOT to be desired. I thought it was ok and that was fine until now. I will leave the cable names and specifics out of it, cause I now have to talk some trash on it.
Jason was kind enough to let me test the Ember USB at the same time so he mailed that out while the Aero cables were at the precious tour stop. Right away the Ember calls attention to itself greeting you at the doorway to where all the quality sound has been hidden. Immediately the sound was full and welcoming and only increased in detail the longer it played. It is a smoooooooth criminal. Drums were much more appropriately spaced, separated and tangible. Vocals and guitar were places right at the front of the soundstage telling you to sit down and enjoy the show. Separation was very good and the sound was coherent even through complex passages. This is very similar to the sound of my vinyl rig so I was already impressed. As a couple days rolled on, I couldn't help but giggle how good everything sounded and how much fun I was having. By all accounts, this cable reminded me of a BMW M3 where it has some seriously good engineering and is just flat out fun to drive. It can behave like a luxury car but can get wild on a track day if you let it.
Aaaaaaand then the Aero arrived. This cable is bad news, and I say that in the absolute best way possible. First couple songs really took me a minute to wrap my head around it. The soundstage was a much more even keel presentation; very grown up and sophisticated and gone is that midrange forward sound. About the third song in, I really started to hear all the little nuance I had never PROPERLY heard before. Separation of instruments were unreal. Cymbals had actual sizzle that you could almost feel. Strings had so much buzz on open strums and I couldn't believe all the sliding hands over the strings that had never been there before. Has it been there the whole time? Must investigate further. As I kept listening, the magic everyone talked about really came alive. The attack and immediacy of notes had so much more punch than before and the tone was always 100% spot-on. I had not upgraded any components, but the sound was so vastly different that it absolutely sounded like I had upgraded several. This cable does not tell a lie. I still could not believe how good the drums sounded. My cousin plays drums so growing up listening to him always made me appreciate the sound. Listening to the way a cymbal can clearly be identified being struck on the center or middle or the edge or how the texture of the snare stayed true all the way through the decay ringing was astonishing. When a jazz drummer was using brushes vs sticks or even the sound of different impact from different styles of holding the stick, it was astonishing at the real 3d image that gets painted. In the hands of even my modest system, with better than average recordings could be nothing short of pure magic. I say this last bit with the only caveat on this cable. It cannot tell a lie. When listening to well recorded albums like Opeth Damnation or Steely Dan Groucho, the sound was absolutely superb. With Alice In Chains MTV Unplugged album, you could almost smell the candles that were at the front of the stage. On the other hand, when listening to poorly recorded punk rock in heaven forbid a 192kb mp3, the cable called attention to the shortcomings of the recording. Screaming into a mic can actually hear the distortion caused by the mic, the poorly treated recording studio they were in, and the grain in the guitar distortion. The upside to that is it gives a much more visceral performance where you can feel the intensity and connect with the music much more intimately, and with ANY volume level. The excitement it brings at barely any real volume or at full tilt is the same. No longer do you need to have an ultimate stereo system to see massive improvements, or to crank the volume to be excited and really hear the music. This cable is all about the pinnacle of what is possible, similar to that of the Pagani Huayra, due to the highest quality materials, extreme level of
craftsmanship, and absolutely bonkers level of performance.
This is the absolute pinnacle of engineering I never thought possible. This is not an everyman car for casual driving situations, but the absolute best in performance and luxury in one amazing looking package that is exciting at any speed. This is a truly bucket list, end-game performance cable.
Going back to the other cables again, my original cable is unlistenable. Just can't do it. What was once acceptable is now very much not. It now sounds grainy, bloated down low, harsh up top, and coated in a thick wooly layer blocking all of the detail I know is in there. Jason has spoiled the party. When I swapped back to the Ember cable, details re-emerge, vocals are clear and have texture again (although Eddie Vedder is still incoherent, lol) and the soundstage once again gets that rich tone that brings out that upper bass and midrange. This cable does not outright deceive, but it does impart small lie of omission making poor quality files or poor recording quality less noticable. Think of it like a traction control system keeping you from smashing into a wall around a bend. Just enough control to keep everything moving nicely, but not where it interferes with the experience at all. You just have to ask yourself, are you planning to go for a cruise or do you need to drive flat out? There is no wrong answer.
Again I have to say a big thank you for letting me test these cables. We'll be talking soon...
-Lloyd
