Balanced IC suggestions

Andy, I'd go for BICC, most of the belden stuff 'Doesn't have the same pleasing sonic characterists' as the BICC stuff, but the dosh try em all

 

I'm pretty sure the VDH stuff is not the same as the Canare stuff. They may use the same "star quad" configuration but the similarities end there.

For Canare:
Conductor: 21 AWG, 40 strand (x4) Copper conductors
Capacitance: 46.0 pF/ft
Resistance: Cores: <29.9 ohms/1000 ft, Sheild: <9.1 ohms/1000 ft

For VDH:
Conductor: (Eff. Conductor Ø / Eq. AWG No. / Strands) Cores: 0.16 mm² / Cores: ~AWG 25 / Cores: 7; Screen: 180
Capacitance: 86 pF/m (roughly 26 pF/ft much less than the Canare).
Resitance: Cores: 0.43 Ohm/m (roughly 131ohms/1000ft, much more than Canare).; Screen: 0.62 Ohm/100 m (roughly 1.89 / 1000ft, much less than Canare).

The numbers are totally different. What's more VDH use "Linear Structured Carbon" conductors. AFAIK they make them and they are the only ones that use them.

On the whole VDH cables are pretty good value compared to the rest of the audiophile scene. Even their most expensive cables (that I know of ) are only at the £250 level which is positively bargain basement compared to the likes of Nordost and Siltech.

Michael.

 

There's no hope for you, is there Michael. Oh well, at least we can say we tried
BTW, should you look at the Mogami Quad, you'll see that, while not exactly the same, the numbers are pretty close. Mogami also comes in lots of pretty colours
Really BIG cable manus include Furukawa and Hitachi here in Japan, and a large number of Chinese and Taiwanese factories. When I was in Taipei in December, I came across one shop that had an amusing array of what I suspect is quite familiar "made in USA" audio cable for a few pennies a metre.

 

If I can easily get hold of Mogami or Canare "starquad" cable (in short lengths, terminated with Neutriks) in London then I'll definitely try it. I wasn't trying to say anything in my last post other than that they're not the same cable.

VDH "the integration" costs about £110 for a 1m Neutrik terminated pair and is easily available everywhere (even in Portugal)

Michael.

 

'Starquad' is a generic term for a four conductor twisted and screened microphone cable.

Try RS 209-1474 for example. Add on some Neutrik XLRs and a few minutes soldering and you're done. If you use the green cable it will sound better.

I don't think you need starquad for line level purposes, a simple screened twisted pair would do, RS 209-1244 for example.

Neutrik XLRs are something like RS 405-590.

Paul

 

Minimum order is 30m from RS - for which I'd pay as much as a set of VDHs

Michael.

 

have a look at http://www.studiospares.com/default.asp based in camden or mail order,ready made xlr cables (with neutrik connectors)from around £6 for 0.6m ,quadflex( starquad) cable £1.99 a meter, neutrik connectors £1.79 and £1.99. And there nice people to deal with

 

How do one measure impedence of a digital interconnect?
I wonder if my interconnects are actually rated 75 Ohms.
What about the voltage output of CD players.

Could this be simply done using a normal multimeter?

 

For £100 you can make 15 terminated 1m pairs. A nice little profit to be had there, especially if you choose green cable and black XLRs.

Paul

 

What shade of green, btw? Maplins only offer red, blue, or black. Green would be nice, if it isn't too close to either the olive or the lime ends of the scale, the former can be ear-gratingly harsh, and the latter very bright.

-- Ian

 

I've just found RS 365-8696 only £1 a metre, green, and 'Van Damme' so it must be good!

Paul

 

Great - the minimum order for that is a 100m reel

I think I'll just get the Van den Hul

Michael.

 

Update: just ordered 2 pairs of Neutrik XLR terminated Van den Hul D102MkIIIs from hificables.co.uk. Half the price of their "The Integration" cable and probably just as good. What's more, I prefer the yellow jacket

I've used VDH D102MkIII in my system before and was very impressed. Still have an RCA pair in my second system. That's actually another reason I went for this cable as it will allow me to compare XLR vs RCA connections using the same cable

Michael.