I did this in a casual way, so let's not get all worked up about how the test should have been done or all the reasons why it's flawed. You can judge the comparison and results on their own merits and either take them under consideration or not. I felt there were some interesting results and I was frankly surprised that there were so many differences in the gear that was sampled. There is also a V3/R4 comparison thrown in just for fun.
I did this for my own uses, but thought many others would find it useful, so here you go.
All the info is below, enjoy.
Cheers, Phil
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http://www.turtleside.com/misc/nashphil-cable-comp/Cable_Test/All of these various samples were recorded with a stock Edirol R4.
The mics used were a matched pair of Schoeps CMC6/mk4 and a matched pair of Studio Projects C4.
Cody Kilby (from Ricky Skaggs Band) is playing a Collings Acoustic Guitar and mic pairs are placed
about 10 inches away from guitar and directly in front of the 12th fret.
The two pairs of mics were attached together using rubber bands to place them at
exactly the same angle and distance from the source. Each pair were placed
as close to each other as would allow. This gives you a good comparison of two cables at a time,
plus an interesting (but flawed) mic comparison between the $2000+ Schoeps and the $300 C4's.
The cables used are:
Van den Hul's Mic Hybrid (provided by Eugene Hi-Fi)
Hi-Ho Silvers (provided by The Great Gumbino)
Mogami Quad 2534 (their best cable)
Canare Mini-Quad
Guitar Center Cheapo Cables
TEST 1
test1a_hybrid
test1a_silvers
test1b_mogami
test1b_canare
The hybrid/silvers are the Schoeps and the mogami/canare are the C4's
==========================================================================
TEST 2
test2a_hybrid
test2a_cheapo
test2b_mogami
test2b_silver
The hybrid/cheapo are the Schoeps and the mogami/silvers are the C4's
==========================================================================
TEST 3
test3_R4
test3_V3-digiout
This test compares the R4 pre's/ad converter alone vs the V3 digi-out to the R4.
The two samples are the schoeps pair with hybrid cables, were recorded in
stereo seperately, and aren't the exact same performance. However, it does give
you an idea of the differences between the overall sound of the two units.
==========================================================================
TEST 4
test4_R4
test4_V3-analogout
This test compares the preamps of the two units. The R4 sample is mic direct
to R4 using hybrid cables. The V3-R4 sample is the mic to the V3, then
analog out to the R4 line input. Between this and Test3, you get an idea
of what the preamps and AD converters sound like in comparison to each other.