Crystal Cable $400 iPod stereo connector
By Barb Dybwad 
posted March 25th 2005 12:33AM
posted March 25th 2005 12:33AM
You're not a true audiophile until you shell out more for the cable for your iPod than you've spent on the iPod
itself. So what if the vast majority of our music collection consists of MP3s encoded at 128Kbps? Don't bother us with
trifles — we've gotta have the very finest in audio quality, folks. We'll stand for nothing less than Crystal Cable's
ultra-thin silver conductors with gold infusions. All of our molecular gaps are filled in this cable, people. Will you
check out the translucent outer Teflon jacket on that thing? Who can go back to a stiff $20 Monster Cable after
witnessing the slinky flexibility of the Piccolo iPod connector? We can't go back. Only $400 for helically wrapped
Kapton film? Hello, bargain!
[Thanks, David]
That's completely insane.
yeah crazy, given that ipod does not have particularly good S/N ratio, almost any cable would not make matters worse..
Very lame and unlikely to improve the quality of sound - but as always... people will swear by these things. *shrug* to each their own.
Wass this on P-Diddy's wish list?
ohooohoohhooo...
Kapton®......
But which kind? DoI have a choice?
Begin excerpt:
Now, DuPont has introduced four new types of Kapton® : corona-resistant Kapton® CR, water-resistant Kapton® WR, arc-resistant Kapton® AR and radiation-resistant Kapton® RR. These new types of Kapton® share the same outstanding combination of physical, electrical and mechanical properties as Kapton® HN and Kapton® FN (Table 1), as well as unique features that make them ideally suited for specific applications ranging from powerful traction motors to large plant generators and transformers.
http://www.dupont.com/kapton/general/elec-design.html
I don't think I've ever seen so much sarcasm in a single post on this website, and this is Engadget we're talking about.
Bravo.
That cable doesn't make any sense unless you're ripping to Apple Lossless.
It's because the 3G's look way the hell better than the 4G's. That's why they're using it...
Laying it thick with the sarcasim.
cant agree with you more #8.
Cabling is the snake oil of the audio enthusiasts, no matter how dubious, some will still swear by their chosen brand.
These days I just make my own using Cat5 cable, if the wires good enough for gigabit ethernet, its good enough for analog audio signals.
What a complete waste of money!
"Cabling is the snake oil of the audio enthusiasts, no matter how dubious, some will still swear by their chosen brand."
Generally true, but on the other hand, the anti-cablists go pretty far overboard too. Some people will argue that a $5 s-video cable is the same as a $50 s-video cable and I can tell you from experience that is most definitely not true, especially if you have a lot of components in close proximity. Signal leakage and interference is a big issue when you've got a mass of cables (including power cables) in close proximity to each other.
That said, $400 for a cable is nuts.
Gotta comment on this, though:
"yeah crazy, given that ipod does not have particularly good S/N ratio"
Define "good", then. The iPod's s/n ratio is 98-100dB. It doesn't get a whole hell of a lot better than that. The iRiver players, for example, have an s/n of 90dB (and this is a logarithmic scale), the Creatize Zen (the new one) has an s/n of 96dB.
i've seen some of the crap audiophiles do
i'd say they're the most insane and obsessed group of people
wtf is with the cd demagnitizers and crazy cabling jobs?! But it is true that a slightly better cable will improve your audio quality, and yes, the CAT5 audio cables are good if you make them right.
#8 - Funny, I always thought the 3G line was Apple's biggest mistake. Moving the buttons above the wheel was such a step backwards in terms of usability of the unit. I'm glad they're using the click wheel in their new line.
anyone notice some of the other prices of the cables on that site? the most expensive onr is $4600.
to #14
"The iPod's s/n ratio is 98-100dB."
Any link to confirm this data? All reviews I have read say that sound quality is a drawback of ipod.
Stupid. The music quality on your iPod is not good enough for a cable like that.
regarding #13.. Cat5 is not rated for Gigabit. Cat5e will do it but better to just go with Cat6. I just had our building recabled and went thru a mile and a half of Cat6.. :-} Sorry, just my NetAdmin/Nerd side started screaming when I read that...
#19 - the sound quality is good on the ipods line out, but the headphone out on it is weak and underpowered. It wont go loud, because otherwise some dumbass will go deaf and then sue, and it lacks the power to controll a difficult set of headphones, like anything better then the rubbish buds they supply.
This isnt isolated to the ipos, all portable players have a suckky output amplifier, as it means they get better battery life.
"The iPod's s/n ratio is 98-100dB"
lol
"But it is true that a slightly better cable will improve your audio quality.."
LOL