Skyline Tonfabrik, Düsseldorf (D)
"It was clear from the start that we’d only settle for the best ingredients for our new mastering studio. Despite, or actually because of, the fact that cables and other ‘details’ like power supply are often either treated as HiFi-madness or completely neglected, we decided to conduct a blind-fold test to get to the bottom of the matter. We tested 5 different cables of only one meter’s length. That’s not much, but it was enough to provide significant results. We played 3 different songs from our ½” tape recorder through each cable to the cutting system. We always used the same converters, levels and signal paths for the listening session, of course. The result was astonishing. The blind-fold test was conducted by 5 different sound engineers and musicians. Although the differences were small and psychoacoustic effects can’t be excluded, they were significant. And this with only a one meter cable-length on line level – imagine the difference a 30 m microphone cable would produce! There was no winner eclipsing the others in all disciplines (stereo image, bass definition, presence, sound intensity) with all pieces of music, but clear tendencies were detected. For us, VOVOX emerged to be the over-all winner. It offered an open, yet not sharp sound, and a warm, but not dim, low end. In addition, the stereo image was more 3-dimensional when compared to other cables’ images. We’re very satisfied with the result and don’t regret the investment, since our ‘darling’ is wired only once and we don’t settle for second-best."