Digital Cable Shoot-Out: Cardas Neutral Reference. Finally, the Results Are In

Finally, I am ready to post the results of my first digital cable shoot-out. As a refresher, here are the contenders:

1. Cardas High Speed Data digital cable (S/PDIF, 1.0m) - retail $77 for 0.5m
   
2. Cardas Neutral Reference Digital cable (AES/EBU, 0.5m) - retail $236 for 0.5m
   

I had originally planned to also include results for a Toslink cable, but bailed in the interests of time (or, laziness?). However, I do feel that the current comparison was well worth the effort. As usually happens when comparing two pieces of good equipment, albeit at different price points, my listening sessions did not indicate a winner per se, but rather revealed cables with different strengths. I did not say "strengths and weaknesses" because I believe that what one person identifies as a weakness, another might identify as a strength, or a plus. So, I will do my best to describe what I heard and what I chose, and let you be the judge.

Before I begin, a summary of today's listening conditions is in order. The BC21.1 preamp is out of order probably until next weekend, when I plan to perform the needed repairs. This means that the analog outputs from the Bryston DAC are routed directly to the inputs of the BC22 monoblocks, and the TacT performs the (digital) volume control duty. I now have an all solid state system for the first time since entering high-end audio proper. This has been an eye-opening experience - some good, some bad - but I will leave a detailed write-up until after the BC21.1 is back in the loop. The music is Ceu's self-titled album Ceu (2006), a punchy but chill Brazilian sound with clear, expressive vocals played through the Arcam. My trusty dog Brodie is lying at the other end of the couch, and I have just started a glass of the fairly good Chalone Vineyard 2007 Pinot Noir.

The Neutral Reference (NR) cable lives up to its name, and its main strength lies in the bass region. Bass notes are more clearly delineated and textured, with a quicker start and stop. Voices are presented slightly forward of the speaker plane, and background vocals are more distinct, or separated in depth, from the main vocal. Background silence between notes is decidedly blacker, though only by a shade. Overall, the NR cable conveys quickness and precision. The HSD cable is also very good, with a nearly equal dynamic performance to the Neutral Reference. Its presentation is more inline with the speaker plane, not forward of it. A main differentiator is that the HSD cable imparts a breathy, glow-y quality to vocals. I would even go far as to say the HSD yields more vocal emotion in that tube way, while the NR is more akin to a solid state sound. Somehow, the HSD seems also to give a more funky, almost laid back, rhythm to Ceu's tracks, like this is a cable that is more in sync with the musical sense she's trying to convey.

As you can see - strengths and weaknesses, plus's and minus's. In my current all solid state setup, I prefer the High Speed Data cable for its more tube like presentation. My choice will probably swing back the other way to the Neutral Reference cable when the tubed BC21.1 is back in service. In fact, when I had a detailed listen a couple weekends ago when the Blue Circle preamp was in the driver's seat, the Neutral Reference cable was my choice.