Beware of the cable claiming long burn in period.

It is Blackcat Silverstar MK2 digital cable.

Upon reading some thread here, I had high expectation of it.

But it is terribly etched out of box..

Some user of the cable claimed more than 100 hours for full burn in.

I also tend to give at least more than 50 hours of burn in before judging the cables.


After 200 hours, it got better but not better than Silnote Morpheus II 200$ digital cable that I had kept earlier.

Actually 200$ cable sounds more organic.

This cable is not terribly bad after full burn in but has no special magic as claimed by some of its users.

Now I may get the lessen.

If I do not like cables after 50 hours, I will send it back.

Some cables may keep getting better after 100 hours.

But they shall be pretty good by that time, otherwise there is no reason to give it more chance.

Thomas

@ aniwolfe

Choice of cable is dependent on system and personal taste.

But I can not recommend Blackcat  digital cable to anybody after 200 hours of use.

As the last comparison, I had been switching back and forth between Zenwave D4 (500$) digital cable and Siverstar MkII for 4 hours this morning.

Zenwave is one and half notch above Siverstar MkII in better focus and natural details and presentation.

I am not willing to spend more of my time on so- so cable anymore.

@ geoffkait

I agree with you that some cables are only 50% at sale requiring lot of burn in time.

I also found some cable which are almost ready to go (90%), but even those cables improve more with burn in.

@ aniwolfe

To be fair to Blackcat Silverstar Mk2, it is pretty fine for the price(260$).

But it sound somewhat thin and not refined in the treble out of box.

I hope that those weakness shall improve with full burn in but it did not meet my high expectation.

Nice thing of the cable is wide and deep soundstage , enough details and good extension from bottom to treble.

If I had found the cable to be very bad, I would have stopped using it after one week.

But I had given 8 weeks ( more than 200 hours to the cable.

After giving enough time, I still favor other digital cables.

Choice of cable is dependent on system and personal taste.

There is no best cable for everybody.

But I will go with Zenwave D4 which is also slightly better than Silnote Morpheus II digital cables in refinement and bass fullness.


I hope that cable companies sell their products fully burnt in.

@ twoleftears

I agree with your opinion that cable manufacturer shall send their product fully burnt in or at least give option at extra cost.

  If manufacturers stand behind their claims that their cables sound better after significant burn-in, then they should, as standard practice, offer those products fully burnt-in, not as some optional, add-on, and always more costly extra. Who else brings a product to market that's only 90% there? (On second thoughts, don't answer that...)

@ jayctoy

Choice of cable is dependent on system and personal taste.

If your system is on the forgiving side, then you may be happy with Blackcat cable.

Mine is on the revealing side with plasma tweeters and SET tube amplifiers.

I could not tolerate the slight harshness of the cable.

Upper model of  Blackcat cable could be better.

But without auditioning it, I can not tell.


I had mentioned about Zenwave D4 cable in your thread about Doug's double IC method.

It is quiet good with nice clean details and overall balance.

Somehow  Zenwave D4 is also excellent as digital cable and I ordered 1.5m length at 700$.

Now my cable rolling is over.

I am not the person who keep changing audio components very often.

I will be happy with my system for next 3 or 5 years.

I may try some tube rolling but otherwise I will just enjoy music.

@elizabeth 

You can enjoy music without spending more money,

I had been that way from 2013 to July 2018.

After hearing my friend's big horn Western Electric vintage system, I started upgrading my system.

It cost me almost 18k$ but the fortunate thing is that it is almost over.

Please do not repeat the same mistake.

Stay away from other peoples high end audio.

Thomas

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/zAUAAOSwKphcVCPg/s-l500.jpg

Ed Sheeran - X

I received this CD from England today.

It sound marvelous with fresh vocal and wide soundstage.

Blackcat Silverstar Mk2 is still connected to Lyngdorf 2170 and it is easy to switch back and forth between Blackcat and Zenwave D4 through remote controller.

Blackcat emphasize sharp focus but it is slightly too hard sounding.

Through Zenwave, his voice sound organic and everything transparent with nice transient.

Zenwave D4 is much better digital cable in my system than Blackcat Silverstar Mk2 .

The quest of digital cable is over unless I change transport or Dac.

I received 1.5 m shielded Zenwave D4 digital cable on Thursday.

Although, Dave of Zenwave had it cooked before sending it, it has slight harsh edge similar to Blackcat Silverline ii out of box.

But after 20 hours of playing, those harsh edges are gone.

That is kind of normal.

I hate cables in need of long burn in.


I had also compared it with Silnote Morpheus ii cable.

Silnote has also relaxed and refined treble but falls slightly short of Zenwave at transparency and extension to bottom.

Zenwave D4 digital have overall balance of nice details, clean treble, excellent extension to bottom and up.

I paid 700$ for 1.5 m cable.

Those who are serious about digital cable may contact David of Zenwave.

https://zenwaveaudio.com/contact-us/

Choice of cable is dependent on system and personal taste.

So you have to try yourself to find out.


Thomas