Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Okay, I'll play - I don't really care if I'm wrong, I just find this kind of stuff fun. So for kicks I gave these three a listen, even though I've not heard "stunning", "amazing", or "dramatic" differences in my very, very limited cabling changes over the years:
To make sure I understand how this was setup, here's an example of how I comprehend the test - A, B, and C do not necessarily correspond to 1, 2, and 3:
Sample A = L burned in, R new
Sample B = L burned in, R new
Sample C = L new, R burned in
Assuming I understand the setup correctly (or even if I don't, I suppose it doesn't matter), here's my feedback...
FWIW, I first trimmed the start of each file - each had a slightly different delay before the music started, and I didn't want that to influence my testing.
After trimming, I hear a definite difference between 1/2 and 3. I was quite surprised! Whether or not the difference is due to the cables, I don't know since I'm not entirely sure how the samples were produced. But, the difference is there and easy for me to pick out in an ABX test when focusing on specific portions of the sample. For example, listen at the 3rd beat / ~1 sec mark when comparing 1 or 2 v. 3. On the 3rd beat, the guitar in sample 3 reveals a higher tone than samples 1/2.
I ABX'd 1/3 and 2/3 ten times each and went 10/10. However, I failed
miserably ABX-ing 1 and 2 - total crapshoot on that comparison, I simply could not tell the difference.
While I'm confident of the differences I hear between 1/2 and 3, I really can't say which cable is burned in and which is new. If I had to guess, I'd say in Sample 3, R = burned in, L = new, and the opposite for samples 1/2.
BTW, I don't feel I have especially good ears. But I do think that over the years I've learned how to listen - this factor is probably more important than the specific gear used for playing back music. I didn't do the testing on a terribly high end system. My playback was:
PC soundcard >
AKG K501 headphones
and
Waveterminal 2496 digi-out >
Bel Canto DAC1.1 >
Audio Experiences Symphonies preamp >
McCormack DNA-1 power amp >
Von Schweikert VR-1s
SparkE! - PM me with the results?