http://www.malcolmsteward.co.uk/?p=2495
Part 3
I decided to consult R&D engineers at an audio manufacturer just to prove once and for all whether the net terrorists who accused me of being delusional were correct. Surprisingly, these professional digital engineers did not consider it in the least bit odd that a SATA cable could influence musical performance. We listened to dozens of SATA cables before we selected the ones we use in our equipment, I was told at the outset.
I argued the assertion that digital was just 0s and 1s it was either okay or not and was told
It might be 0s and 1s at either end of the cable but between the connectors it is effectively an analogue signal albeit a square wave at a very high frequency. Effectively, one software engineer argued, digital is best regarded more as a concept than anything concrete. (
Please note that this is the way he expressed this notion and is not my words. I am not saying anything philosophical about digital: I get in enough trouble just by saying it is imperfect. And it must be, else why does it need error correction?)
I do not wish to put any more noses out of joint but is it not interesting that a highly successful British manufacturer one that has not become subsumed into a Chinese brand collecting empire nor is running on empty at the bank like some treats SATA cables as regular components, just like resitors or capacitors, not as some perfect digital entity that cannot possibly influence sound quality?
The companys MD, two R&D engineers, one of whom specialises in writing software, and I then compared a selection of cables in a hard disk player. Each displayed its own sonic character. The lead the company has produced, which is optimised for the equipment into which it was fitted proved better in musical terms than both the samples I provided.
What I call the Super SATA is clearly the better choice in my NAS but was not superior to the standard lead in the HD player. The situation therefore seems even more convoluted than before. At least, however, I now know that I am not delusional. Or if I am then so are the individuals in the company I visited. Mind you, if they were I doubt it would be turning over the GBP millions it does.