Past predicting that we will likely hear differences, it’s impossible to predict precisely what cables will do in any given system, room or pair of ears. I’ve had the Vodka cable for so long that I can’t remember if they needed to run in. As advised, I wouldn’t be over eager to give them back without a week or two of time in your system. I suppose it depends on what the refund terms are. In my system, C-Stream is huge value for money considering the performance for the price. But only in certain places in the signal chain. I could get confused and confounded by all the permutations. I’d rather listen to some music.
So far I’m liking the C-Stream from NDX2 to switch and Vodka from Core to switch. Not sure why but the Vodka from switch to NDX2 is bottoming out the bass, whereas with C-Stream full PRAT is restored
@Harry @NigelB @Darkebear - I will give both Vodkas time to settle in the system and bed in before returning (Futureshop offer 60 day money back guarantee ).
60 days should be more than enough. All the best with it.
I have to say, that in comparison to others, both Vodka and Cinnamon were “average”. Comparing stock, ordinary cat5 to Meicord, Vodka, Cinnamon, C-stream, Indigo and Sarum - the old one, that is - neither of the Audioquest cables did anything particularly special. Yes, they were certainly better than standard cat5 but even the Meicord, which I was using at the time, was more involving. Tried the same with an NDX-based system (similarly 552/500) and found the same. It really is worthwhile doing a little bit of experimentation.
Ethernet cables are possibly the most divisive component written about in these pages. It might be to do with their varying interaction with other components in a particular system (network devices/black boxes/other cables), the way in which a LAN is implemented, or indeed the perceived poor VFM, not to mention the run-in roller coaster.
It just goes to show there are no universal truths in this game and always, always trust your own ears.
Totally agree, Nigel. It is indeed a good idea to try a range of options to see which works best for you. The fact that other forum members (one current, one lapsed) were there and came to the same conclusion is completely irrelevant, however I wouldn’t want others to assume that Cinnamon or Vodka were necessarily the route to audio nirvana.
One thing I am certain of in my limited experiments so far is that the Designacable Premium Cat 5e Ethernet cables using Belden 1305A offer greater bass extension than the AudioQuest Vodkas. It’s a bit muddled when new but firms up after around 50 hrs.
i think to remember that you run chord sarum or music ethernet cables?
these are perhaps more audio nirvana, but at what cost?
it would be interesting to compare audioquest diamond, much more refined vs the vodka ( to my ears) vs chord music, 6 times more expensive.
Just out of curiosity: what did you opt for in the end?
I did opt, eventually, for Chord Music but I’m not advocating that that should be the default choice. Yes, it’s a fabulous cable but as FR quite rightly points out, it’s very expensive, although good vfm IMO (yes, I know that seems absurd). Having heard it though, I would have used it as my target “sound” and based my selection on that experience.
@Dave, being a retailer of alcoholic beverages (I own a pub), it would be irresponsible of me to claim that Vodka is the route to any kind of nirvana, audio or otherwise.
You forgot the …Hic😁
I’m trying out the Vovox Textura IC digital and I have to say that it does not impose any questioning like the Cinnamon did.
Dynamic, pleasant across the bandwidth, and run in with an NDX without power supply.
the cinnamon is an ethernet cable, the vovox is spdif. Difficult to compare in that case. There’s no vovox ethernet ?
Well my Audioquest Vodka journey has come to an end after nearly three weeks of letting them run in and they’re going back.
To summarise for anyone interested, this is what I found compared with Designacable’s “Premium Cat5e” using Belden 1305A, a quite heavy gauge broadcast cable with 24 AWG stranded bonded pairs. These cables deliver greater bass extension, over detail, dynamics and coherence compared with the usual budget cables, such as the Belkin Cat5e that came with much of my equipment:
Vodka positives
Broad soundstage and very in-the-room sound.
Low noise floor
Dynamic sound with strong leading edge impact (e.g. bowstroke on strings)
Clear separation of instruments which remains “organic” (individual instrument sounds – e.g. guitar strings - don’t get separated out in space)
Vodka negatives
Bass thinner: less extended and with less detail
Pronounced midrange, but thinner with less micro-detail and instrumental texture
Loss of ambience on recordings in churches, concert halls etc.
Some loss of coherence on timing – sometimes it just doesn’t seem to swing together
To live with, the Vodkas took around a week to burn in on my system, losing some initial harshness, particularly in the treble, and gaining a little tonal texture on “acoustic” instruments and voice.
To live with, I found them curiously imbalanced.
They have a big, dynamic, in-the-room feel which sometimes worked well with certain kinds of music in my system, such as progressive trance and heavy rock. The accentuated midrange, low noise floor and lack of micro-detail and texture could sometimes create a sensation of greater detail and more space between instruments because less low-level information was coming through, but it meant that classical, jazz and flamenco in particular suffered greatly: big orchestral crescendos lost their swell and menace, timpani lost their impact and rumble, clarinets became honky reeds and not woodwind, strings lost their sound boxes, piano notes lost their natural decay, castanets lost their woodiness and became clickers, clapping became slapping, the tonal differences between small hand drums were lost, the tonal complexity of different makes of pianos and many singers’ distinctive voices was greatly diminished if not entirely lost, voices felt less coherent and so on. The Vodkas also created an artificial sound stage in my experience, the orchestra is no longer arrayed before you as it would be in real life but thrust up in your face, almost like listening to headphones. There was a loss of forward to back depth in contrast with the broad sound stage.
Most of the time I refrained from any cable swapping. I simply plugged in the Vodkas and let them get on with it, but late one night toward the end of this 3-week trial period I plugged the Designacable Beldens back in and it confirmed my impressions. Coming downstairs the morning afterwards, however, I was astounded at how the Vodkas had transformed, thinking thank goodness I had listened to forum advice and let them continue to burn in…. only to find I had left the Designacable Beldens in from the night before! That pretty much rammed home to me how much I had been missing.
At the risk of sounding like a reforming alcoholic I have to say that I have never felt happier than when I got the Vodkas out of my system….
To put it in a nutshell: I found going back to the Designacable Cat5e cables (albeit not bog-standard Cat5e), an altogether more satisfying and moving musical experience.
I add the usual caveat that this was with my ears and my music (both stored and streamed from Qobuz using Roon) in my system. The Vodkas were from router to Cisco 2960 switch and from it to the Roon Nucleus and to the ND555, so 3 in all.
Futureshop have been very good about honouring their 60-day return period and have promised to send some Wireworld Cat 8 cables to see if I like them better.
I also bought a pair of Synergistic Research Blue fuses from them, to hear if there was anything they could bring to the party. The trial of the fuses was kept entirely separate from the trial of the Vodkas. My notes for them are not entirely dissimilar, however: accentuated leading edge, balance tilted to higher frequencies and midrange but bass and midrange thinned out. I really didn’t like what these did and they’re supposed to be half-burnt in because of some zapping treatment they get, so I didn’t give them much time. Still, changing fuses can change the sound…. Futureshop are also happy about these being returned.
So far their service has been excellent and I can thoroughly recommend them for those whose Naim dealers do not offer a wide range of ethernet or other cables to audition. Credit where it’s due.
Where does this leave me? Well, disappointed with Audioquest, obviously, as much as many others like them. But it’s clear that Ethernet cables make a difference, whatever the reasons for that. And I’m pleasantly surprised with these Designacable Beldens, which were a little flaccid particularly in their extended bass in the beginning, but changed rapidly with burn-in. They were recommend by Phil of Cymbiosis for the simple reason that they’re well-made. He didn’t push any sonic benefits, but there a very clear step up from budget consumer cables and indeed, in many respects, from the Vodkas as far as I am concerned. They could be sees as a sort of English equivalent of the Blue Jeans cables from the States, although they don’t come with a test certificate. They also use a different Belden cable, which features solid wires albeit of the same 24 gauge. I may succumb to the temptation of getting some to see whether that makes any difference to the sound. And of course in the meantime the Musicline cables will be arriving, though I am fast losing faith in the esoteric cable people once again. Complicating things, I have found out about a company called Sablon, operated by a very nice guy in the UK called Mark Coles. His cables have got great online reviews (albeit by people with very different hi-fi and musical tastes from my own) and he goes in for high-quality rather than esoteric materials. I’ve liked my interactions with him and will probably take a punt on his cables. The 1m ones come with a 28-day return if not satisfied, but daft longer lengths such as I require from my switch to ND555 don’t. Does anyone on the forum use Sablon cables? He does mains, speaker and interconnect cables.
Hi Michael…could not find the Musicline cat8 cable on the future-shop website, is it expensive. The Sablon cables seem reasonable price, but first i have heard of them.
Nice write up sorry it did not work out, but just reinforces the message of got to listen for yourself or disappointment is possible.
Sorry Gazza, complete cerebral malfunction there: Wireworld Cat8 was what they mentioned. As far as I am aware, Muscline don’t even make ethernet cables!
@Richard.Dane Would you mind correcting that for me (can’t edit the post any longer) so that I don’t go confusing anyone else and getting to them to go on fruitless searches? MTIA!
Done for you.
Thanks Michael, hope that cable works out for you