Tag Archives: Graham Slee

Chord Cable Interconnects – To The Test

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Chord Cable Setup1

The overriding opinion of those who stick with their free RCA interconnects (often provided with Hi-Fi seperates) is that any money spent on upgrading them is wasted. Quality cabling is a slightly alien concept to be fair; the signal passes from A to B anyway, why spend money on cables which will achieve the same end?

Speaking as someone who has thought exactly this in their time, I was interested to know the actual difference between some of Chord’s offerings, and the skinflint equivalent. Is any improvement noticeable at all, how is it better, and is it worthwhile?

To determine this, my colleague John set up a blind test between a studio grade RME audio interface taking a signal from a computer, and a Graham Slee Solo Ultra Linear. These great amplifiers can switch between two inputs using a control on the front of the unit so is perfect for A/B tests. The inputs of the Slee amp came from the same source but using either the high end Chord Anthem Reference cable, or the entry-level Crimson cable.

Being an informal and quick test, rigorous procedures were not followed; I was aware of the cables being compared and it was just me doing the test. I operated the switch myself to select the cables, but I did not know which cable was feeding which input.

Feeling a little nervous, I noted down some of the impressions I got from listening to Level 42’s ‘Something About You’ through a Fostex TH900, with a Grado PS1000 ready for another listen later. I was encouraged to find that perceived differences were quite easy to spot.

  • Bell sounds which are pure and stand clear of the mix sound flatter and harder to pick out.
  • A synth with a bit of distortion on it (starts on beat 3 of the song) sounds as if it is going through a bit-depth reduction effect or ‘bitcrusher’.
  • The bass is slightly muddier with less definition.
  • Backing vocals are blended together and less distinct; voices are cleanly separated with the Anthem Reference cables.
  • Hi-Hats are more splashy and ill-defined.

Not surprisingly I guessed the correct channel for the cheaper Crimson cable; the blind test showed very clearly the differences between the cables.

I then swapped headphones to the Grado PS1000 – an open headphone of similar quality to the TH900. I found that the PS1000 made it more of a challenge to spot differences but they were still there. Another thing I noticed was a loss of soundstage height with the PS1000 when listening to audio through the cheaper Crimson cable.

In the spirit of further thorough experimentation, the “free with hifi separates” cable was tried. Predictably, the differences were more marked.

  • The bells sounds are flat and dull.
  • The distorted synth sound requires focused attention to hear through the mix.
  • Bass is flatter and flabbier.
  • Backing vocals are more blended; both blended together and with the rest of the music.
  • Hi-Hats sound more like brief bursts of white noise than cymbals.

The overall impression was of an old cassette recording, relatively speaking. The soundstage was practically limited to the width of the headphones , and high frequencies are messy and splashy. There was a large portion of distortion throughout.

Verdict

Although premium cables like the ‘Anthem Reference’ cables may be out of immediate reach for the average listener, I found that the entry-level ‘Crimson’ model is certainly a worthwhile improvement over the generic black/grey RCA cables. At £55, it is clear to see that this represents great value considering the sonic improvements it offers.

Graham Slee Bitzie DAC – Review

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Graham Slee has a great reputation for amps and related products, so how does a DAC from this company fare? Lauri Cular gives the Graham Slee Bitzie DAC a look-see.

There’s no shortage of external gizmos out there to improve the output of the average computer, but this is a worthy contender from Mr Slee. It presents itself in a sturdy but light case made of aluminium; small enough to be portable and large enough to handle easily when on the tabletop. It does not have its own power source however, so true portability may be limited to users of larger music sources such as tablets and laptops.

I disconnected my budget Behringer USB soundcard and connected the Bitzie. Unfortunately my copy of windows 7 decided to label the Bitzie ‘Behringer USB’ when detected, making for a furrowed brow; but I got through that by scrawling ‘Behringer’ on the thing. Don’t tell the boss.

There’s some debate over the value of more expensive USB leads such as the recommended Lautus; I’ll admit that I was sceptical. It’s data, right? It goes from A to B and you hear it perfectly.. or not. How can there be an in-between?

I didn’t notice anything much wrong at first whilst trying a cheap USB cable with the Bitzie, I was using full size headphones of one sort of another when trying the DAC, and gave the cable issue no thought at all. Then I tried listening with some in-ear headphones, the classic (and soon to be vintage) Phonak Audeo PFE 232s, expecting great things. With no source audio playing at all and the volume down, I was presented with the unsettling sound of a dozen tiny squealing mice coming from the Bitzie. It appears that even USB cables are susceptible to interference, and whether audible or not this unwanted signal will be affecting all audio coming from the device. It isn’t loud, but it’s bothersome with more sensitive in-ear headphones.

I recorded it to look at the waveform; there’s a very random pattern at around 15kHz and, zooming out, another waveform at 50Hz.

So on to the sound; for my test I chose two bits of soundtrack music, one was the Main Title from the original Taking of Pelham 123 movie soundtrack, and the other from Saturday Night Fever – Night on Disco Mountain. Both by David Shire.

The Pelham 123 tune has a lot of brass; and the Bitzie really brought this to life. I love a low brassy grunt or two, and the detail revealed by the Bitzie made me sit up past my bedtime enjoying the added depth this soundtrack now had to offer. In a comparison with my M-Audio Audiophile 24/96PC soundcard, the Bitzie had a clear edge and didn’t feel as if it was trying very hard either.

Night on Disco Mountain, although cheesy, has a lot going on for the Bitzie to cope with and it did a great job. I wasn’t so much listening as fully immersed. There’s a great sense of space and depth and it’s difficult to turn the thing off and go to bed. The Bitzie is bags of fun, but watch for bags under the eyes.

One thing I would say is that the Bitzie has a limit where it comes to amplification. Perhaps due to the fact it draws power from the attached source or device. My HE-400s are a thirsty pair of headphones, and the Bitzie did not get them up to a decent level. However, for dynamic headphones of 300 Ohms and lower I’d say the Bitzie should be fine without further amplification.

Graham Slee Voyager headphone amp – back in stock after long delays

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The Graham Slee Voyager headphone amplifier is back in stock after a delay of some months. The delays, due to a shortage of the parts, has meant the Graham Slee portable headphone amp has been out of stock with many UK retailers for an extended period of time.

John Cadman, Graham Slee’s production manager, reported that the delays have been caused by a shortage of the Voyager case component. The case is manufactured outside the UK (in Canada) and the shortage of this one component has held up production.

About the Voyager

Graham Slee produced the Voyager headphone amplifier to be used with MP3 players, such as the iPod, and other portable audio devices. The Voyager amp simply plugs into the headphone output of the audio source and you plug your headphones or earphones into the Voyager’s headphone out.

Alternatively the Voyager can be connected to an iPod with a cable that connects directly to the iPod’s dock connector. This setup provides a better quality line level signal than the headphone output socket.

About Graham Slee

Graham Slee have a long standing reputation in the British audio world for producing phono pre-amplifiers (for vinyl record playing turntables) and high quality desktop headphone amplifiers, such as the Graham Slee Solo.

The Solo headphone amp is popular in broadcast and recording studio environments. The Voyager is the first venture into portable headphone amplifiers for Graham Slee and has been very well received by the audio and HiFi press.

More Information

For a range headphone amplifiers, including the Graham Slee Voyager, please visit the HiFi Headphones store.