Blaxius Squared !

[PeterSt]

Yes, after the success of the Lush^2, it didn't take long for the Blaxius to get squared. So there it is :

Blaxius^2

Hi All,

I suppose a few of you already caught the news about Blaxius^2 but I held back a bit because our new born had to burn its *ss in a little first. Additionally my hearing was not the best the past days, so let's say that I couldn't believe what I was hearing in the first place.

As we may recall, the Blaxius was a community effort for a BNC Interlink in general, and what we at Phasure made of it, was an interlink with "blax" sound. Say that the emphasis was meant to go to the bass. This worked well but the Blaxius was so much more. It appeared to be a superb interlink, valued by many (owning $$$$ interlinks in the first place) as 10 fold its purchase price (at 250 euros) easily.

Skipping a few general steps of improvement, recently Lush^2 came about. Lush^2, a USB Audio Cable which emerged from the renowned original Lush and which ^2 version theoretically could create the best Audio USB cable ever just by means of configuration, appeared to be an audio bomb. So much so, that people wondered whether the Blaxius could not be ^2d too.
Initially I said No ...

Maybe a week later, and again someone asking for the possibility, it came to me that the Blaxius, when ^2d, would be a totally different application, electrically, than the Lush^2. And envision, people were actually asking for a digital Interlink - not much different from the Lush(^2). And I wouldn't even be able to test it, would I make one on request. Not really my style ...
But, isn't Blaxius used as analogue Interlink by most (like myself) ? of course it is. So why wouldn't I be able to test it then ?


Electrically different

The Lush^2 allows for configuration of its three different shields (screens). For a USB cable, this is about shields as such only. It is quite harmless, though important. It is harmless because no real current is flowing over any of the shields. It is important because of the shielding configuration making all the difference in the world to the sound.
Okay ...

A cable like the Blaxius, be it used as analogue Interlink or as a digital Interlink (like for S/PDIF or AES/EBU or whatever protocol, especially leaning on 75 Ohm impedance), uses its shield as the ground return. So, it is the gnd wire of the Hot/gnd part. Or plus/gnd if you want.
Over this gnd most certainly flows current ...

The minute I realized this was so ans *the* difference with the USB application, I was sold on it. A cable like the Blaxius should be so so much more be influencable with the current flowing over the shields, than a USB cable where no current flows over the shields at all.
I said WOW to myself already.

Using the same nomenclature as for the Lush^2, look at this configuration :

A:B-W & Y-R, B: B-W & Y-R
Here the current flows over the inner shield, while two additional "JSSG-360" shields form an additional double shield with dielectric, the latter pair doing similar to the signal as how it would to the Lush^2. Well, sort of, because right under it, current flows and it is not even "balanced" (like the Data+ and Data- van USB is).
Must be very very different for the work out ...
And mind you : the work out is very directly when used as analogue interlink, because it is right this signal which goes to the (pre-)amplifier. Compare with a digital signal, which theoretically only needs to comply to an eye opening of the eye diagram (but listen to the Lush^2 to know what already that does to the sound).

A:B-Y & W-R, B: B-Y & W-R
So ... now we have the middle shield carrying the current, under that a shield (W) which is just shield, but shielding as such from the main conductor (completely inside) where the current flows in the opposite direction. On top of that we have another (outer) shield and it connects to this "bottom" shield.
Can we still follow ?

I hope so because these were two configurations out of 1000s again and we can reason possibly even better what electrically might happen than with the USB application.
It's almost dangerous. Electrifying ...

A:B-W & Y-R, B: B-Y & W-R
This wouldn't be allowed. The Black wire, connected to the connector, now does not connect via any of the shields to the other connector.


Electrifying ? (Analogue Interconnect)

Yes. Depending on the type of music, the sound can be described like that.
You thought you knew detail ? hahaha

As is quite usual lately, the detail does not emerge in the highs but interestingly enough in the mid and even lower. You can say that a more square sound is outlined by high frequency support (so highs after all) which makes the square sound less rounded.
At the same time (sit tight) all the lower frequence transients are supported by way more umpf.
Lower frequency transients ?

Both descriptions in the paragraph above are actually the same. It is how a more transient low frequency sound is not overwhelmed by the low frequency itself. Next, the now more square sound has support from below the belt, so to speak. The whole soundscape changes.

The first night with the Blaxius^2 I started a song and right away heard that it was so way different that well before (say 1 minute) before a too much known melody started I asked in the room : "and, do you think you recognize this" ? The answer was No. Definitely not. The whole minute long. Then this real molody started and a "WHAT ?!?" followed.
So yes, this track is played maybe once per 2 or 3 weeks, for many years in a row. And it manages to be unrecognizable.

This happens in this fashion with more tracks and because they are so familiar I try to see what actually lacks or is added that they become so unrecognizable. I hear a melody more in the background instead of it being profound and/but I do not see how this is harmful. It is still there, but something else is more in balance with it now. I wouldn't want it differently, actually being able to envision both the situations (say from last week and from today).

Elsewhere (other forum) I wrote about a "beating" I now recognize in the lower frequencies (think "warble" to not make oit too complcated for now) and this first minute observation (last Saturday) remained. It has become the character somehow - things which may be able to "vibrato" sure do now. I hear troats doding this beautifully now, while previously they were "straight". It is in everything.
And you now what ?

It is exactly that which make the music musically sounding. It sings all over.

And this is with my third configuration attempt only.


Lushifying ? (Digital Interconnect)

I myself don't have the experience with the Blaxius^2 as Digital Interconnect, but a first quick report from a customer tells that like the Lush^2 the Blaxius^2 implies a less digital hence lush sound (this is from an M-Scaler application which requires 2x Blaxius^2).


Availability

Just now.
The Blaxius^2 can be ordered in the Webshop.

Please mind the waiting time mentioned at the bottom of the page in the Webhop.

Peter

[manisandher]

Thanks Peter.

So 10m of Blaxius^2 is totally out of the question? (Actually, I'd probably get away with 7-8m.)

Edit: Just read,"Would you like 20 meters or even more ? no worries because the Blaxius^2 will perform the same as if it were 1 meter. But better have some deeper pockets..."

I'll check my pockets

Mani.

[PeterSt]

Hi Mani,

I'll check my pockets

I made a spreadsheet, anticipating the question of 10 meters (why did I do that eh ?). 8 meters is also in the spreadsheet (coincidentally). It tells me that I should tell you to have about 1563 euros and 27 euro cent in your pockets.
This is for a pair.

Might you really go for that, then I will aim a video camera on someone here, because it might be the last we see from that person. IOW, I then must really take some breath before telling such bad news.
Bad ass blax news ?
This is about 20 hours in a row caterpillering sleeves around cables and sleeves. The person doing this will be useless for the remainder of life. The aging is not in the spreadsheet yet because it takes real life experience first.

Peter (due zombie hunter)

[manisandher]

Haha...

What if you tell her (him?) that she can make them over a much longer period of time than usual?

Anyway, I probably won't be in a position to place an order for a few weeks (dependent on when a certain Euro client gets it's accounts payable act together).

Thanks for the forward thinking/planning though.

Mani.

[PeterSt]

What if you tell her (him?) that she can make them over a much longer period of time than usual?

Like daily workout eh ?
Good idea !
Now we can cancel that subscription too ...

Thank you, Mani.
Peter

[acg]

Well Peter, I wondered when this would come about and to be honest I thought it might have been a few more months before we heard something.  I'm yet to use my 8m Blaxius interconnects but by the sounds of it I should get in ahead of Mani for some B^2 because only one pair of such length may ever be possible if you wish to retain family/staff...haha.

I'll be interested to read some reports from others in the meantime though and will get around to ordering some cables once my room is better sorted.

Cheers,

Anthony

[PeterSt]

I'll be interested to read some reports from others in the meantime though

Hi Anthony,

Same counts for myself because the task is quite undoable on one's own. Well, with my ears as of late, it is undoable. Stuck to "a" config. 

Regards,
Peter

[Jiffi32]

I think I was the one that first asked
Feel slightly responsible for the family disharmony it may cause

Peter is kindly making me a 1.2m set next week which will be replacing a current set of blaxius between blu2 and Dave, so once I have a bit of time on the new set I can give some feedback between blaxius ^1 and ^2

[PeterSt]

Dear people - finally a more serious report from my side. But let's say, I finally dare to;

Via two other attempts, I think it was 4 days ago, Wednesday) that I landed on this configuration :

A:B-W, B:B-W

This seems pretty basic as it resembles the indeed native Blaxius interlink. And to be clear : I use the Blaxius^2 for Analogue Interlink only.
Thus, the inner shield in use as it always was used for the original Blaxius(^1) and the other two shields, Middle and Outer, not connected anywhere.

Why did I attempt this configuration in the first place ?
Well, because I got scared because of a too strange "manipulated sound" otherwise. Just the theory of an analogue cable which filters (to what idiot degree and what/where actually ??) and that I just couldn't believe what was all happening. The familiar music became too unrecognizable and I just could not see where the truths where.
The most dangerous part in this was the sheer fact that I couldn't see where it went wrong. But I mean, once you hear such profound up to even complete new instruments in a lead in, what to think for real, you being assured that it really is not a different version (master) or anything. Next you can reason out that possibly this new instrument is now audible (and not even softly !) because something else has gone. Say an overwhelming choir which otherwise was there. Take it out and suddenly a complete violin section comes forward. But you don't miss violins and in fact you don't know whether you miss anything at all. It's just (your) theory again.


This Wednesday became the by far best few hours of playback in my history. It did not matter what I played, it played with music. So this is what happend foremost. Music music music.
This is such a strange phenomenon because it can't be described except for that it is so. But in this case, and I already touched the subject in an earlier post, I think I can definitely recognize what is "making" the music : vibrato;

Suppose we compare a 1980's drum/rhythm machine with a real drummer, then I think we cal all recognize that the drummer is more real because he makes minute faults in the timing. And this could even be on purpose throughout (like each hit on the beat 10ms too late which is what I myself would be able to do), but still varying a few ms per hit. And I know, the more modern rhythm machines back in the days could incorporate such variance, but still. Static robot-like stuff.
Same with all the music you are used to. Well, I bet you.

Now we have this Blaxius^2. And a first technical merit it shows is that it shows 10 times more of everything. 10 times FWIW of course, but more to an idiot degree. It does that in each of the 3 configurations I tried thus far and let's say that the "native" config I showed you above gives me a mental healthy feeling. More at rest, so to speak (and btw with a different sound than the other two configs).

Like my very very first observation and I recall also the very first remark about the sound in the first post in this topic, I keep on seeing the "vibrato" throughout. But this really goes wild and weird at some times.
Let's say that vibrato on a violin is just the longitudinal movement of the finger on the string. Mind you, the finger is not really physically displaced on the string, but the hand moves and this displaces the area where the finger touches the string, with that making the string shorter and longer (maybe for 2mm only). Well, unexpectedly I have no remarks on the violin, but now you know what I mean.
Now we head to the cello and upright double bass. If you hear this, your ears will drop off (so be careful please). Here, the player doesn't move his hand as with the violin player, but he may merely displace the string laterally. Say like an electric guitar play does (the violin type of vibrato can't work for the guitar player because of the frets). And the bass player appears to be doing that all the time. Not that I really noticed before ...

So this vibrato element is in everything. Now compare with the rhythm machine again and see how things suddenly achieved a level of being alive vs being, well, what ... digital playback ?

Maybe I must refer to something stupid as Ben Liebrand and his Iconic Groove album. This is I think his best album and less of a "mix" album, although it is still that. But the key of such DJ like recordings is that those guys tend to do all live. At least they can because they were born to do that. And why always Dutch (for many many years by now) being good at that ? I don't know. Anyway, this album now is completely unrecognizable. E.g. the track "Love" (from originally Donna Summer with "I feel love") is suddenly so full of finesse that because of that reason it is much more "complicated" to recognize it throughout. It's much more intelligent now. Possibly this is because your focus is now completely elsewhere, namely on what all happens in that track for "sounds". But the most strange : this is now so "lively" that it is made by a human while before it was made by a computer. This is a complete contradiction of course, because it *was* made by a computer (knowing how these guys work).

I think I now touched 1.5 example, but I am completely full with them after 4 days of listening to it.

This vibrato thing is thus key, and it shows in everything where vibrato can be. Of course the guitars, but foremost also the voices which are suddenly full with sensitivity ans messages, roaring synthesizes which btw should roar (I have a couple of them myself) but which appeared to be so-so in aftermath and ... well, everything. How is it possible.
And yes, how is it possible that last night we watched Peter Rabbit (which is anime) and that I couldn't prevent myself from crying just because of the sensitivity in the voices of those rabbits. So mind you, indeed it is so that Blaxius^2 operates in the movie domain just the same. Obviously. Same DAC, same speakers with amplification, and Blaxius^2 is in between DAC and speaker(s). And now stupid rabbit voices draw tears ?

That.

That and so much more I can't explain.
Numerous times - no, throughout, I once again notice how I can't stay away from fully interpreting the lyrics. This has been up before and it is a logic thing to happen, but it is only a logic thing to happen when throughout all *is* better. I emphasize the "is" because it should not be subjective once it is so that we can hear better what's being said.
Said ?
That's the whole thing perhaps. Told. So what I seem to notice is that what's being said follows from what's being told (the message) and that in itself is related to all the intonations, support by the feeling which is put into the play as a whole but which again is derived from what the individual instruments do). Because of the support of the instruments, we interpret better what the message is and from there we just "hear" better. A mind thing. But working oh so well.

Example of the above for those who know it (will only be a couple of Dutch) : Doe Maar with "Nachtmerrie". This is about a guy who has a nightmare that he's back in school again. The bass guitar - played by Henny Vrienten who is also the lead singer and which could be crucial for my essay - sings about this nightmare, meanwhile putting an idiot level of vibrato into the bass guitar that now comes across as woiingwoiingwoiing as in a kind of head hammering or Hitchcock like suspense (which latter btw was from the same era as this Doe Maar track). Of course this extreme vibrato has been in there all the time, but I never heard it. Now it is about it. It is this suspense thing.

And indeed, now I write about it, the sound of suspense is something I heard really more than once the past days. Maybe you recognize how this is done with Hitchcock et all, it's (if you ask me) a stroke over the high key strings of a piano. Easy to do with a wing because it is always open. I never heard it before that I can recall. And now several times in a few days ?
The crux could be : do I now suddenly hear this because the sounds are able to express it, or do I hear this because first something else is incurring for it. I mean, if someone strikes those strings I will be quite OK. But if I am waiting for a million birds to show up in front of my window and then I hear this sound, I'm dead.


There is another thing I should mention;
Generally my ambient music does not work (out) any more. It depends a bit on what it is, but I feel there's too much of a shift downwards (frequency) to let it still excel on what it was selected for : higher frequency melodies and sounds. Two things which occur to me here :
1. My mood goes vastly south (downhill) when one after the other ambient track just is worth nothing much any more and looks to be at the A-B position in the player;
2. With the normal music I never see lacking anything while my mood goes up north rapidly again and that even up to the extreme.

I am very unfamiliar with that as it should be the other way around but I guess that the normal music is now so good that I could prefer it infinitely. And oh, say that 25% of the time I play that anyway, but usually something is going to disturb at some stage, and then it is easy to fall back to the ease of ambient. Ease ? maybe not because it is the most complex music of all, and it is there where now something doesn't go right. But, I am at my third Blaxius^2 only, plus I am alone, so far (help !).

To counter attack the above "lacking of something" (if I am right on that to begin with), yesterday I had the too far out idea to add mid to the "sound scape" in general.
Say what ?
Yeah, add mid. And with the Blaxius^2 I have no idea how to do that, as it seems mostly about how to avoid too much bass (which could be the same). Anyway, no idea and no input from others as of yet as well.
And so I came to the scary idea of now changing my Lush^2 to a more "mid" presentation, because the Lush^2 coincidentally seems all about : how to avoid too much mid. And well, the experience with the Lush^2 is already there to some extent and the configs which clearly bring too much mid are among it. And indeed, in the past week I already had virtual nightmares about combinations with the Lush^2 in general (it is too outrageous to even think about it) but since I now seen to have a clear objective with it (more mid), why not try it for an evening.
The complexity of it all is that nothing lacks when listening to normal music (up to not perceiving a difference at all with some types), also no mid, while it is the ambient which seems to lack all of it. Really strange.

Or ...

Or it should be so that the high frequencies of ambient eat the current for the mid. It still is so, of course, that we are doing very strange things to an interlink. In Dutch we say "je weet nooit hoe een koe een haas vangt" which seems equal to : you never know how a cow catches a hare.

Peter

[PeterSt]

And so I came to the scary idea of now changing my Lush^2 to a more "mid" presentation, because the Lush^2 coincidentally seems all about : how to avoid too much mid. And well, the experience with the Lush^2 is already there to some extent and the configs which clearly bring too much mid are among it. And indeed, in the past week I already had virtual nightmares about combinations with the Lush^2 in general (it is too outrageous to even think about it) but since I now seen to have a clear objective with it (more mid), why not try it for an evening.

And do I did. For even three evenings by now.

The result is more unexpected than I expected () because
a. The Lush^2 quite strongly overrules what the Blaxius^2 "does";
b. The result implies that we must be talking about a mutual influence.

Ad b.: Which is exactly what I have been saying all along, although that was more in between the lines and an expectation.


Changing the Lush^ to the more higher-mid (lower-highs) focused balance, just readily brings back all the goodies of that Lush^2 configuration, though now sauced with the Blaxius^2 configuration. Not the other way around as I expected it. Thus envision :
The Blaxius^2 setting in combination with "a best" Lush^2 setting implies a quite (highs) rolled of sound, that in itself implying a heavily filtering Blaxius^2. This with the notice that this was relative to the Original Blaxius. Still you can hear that it is not normal filtering as such because it is not about lacking highs. It is about "low-highs" which are under that. Thus :

Lush^2 with A: B-Y & W-R, B: B-Y & W-R config
Blaxius^1
    A. gives a sound which is heavily low-highs focused.

Lush^2 with A:B-W-Y-R, B:B-W-R
Blaxius^1
    B. gives a most enjoyable sound which is accepted by all, also those not using Blasxius^1.

Lush^2 with A:B-W-Y-R, B:B-W-R
Blaxius^2 with A:B-W, B:B-W
    C. gives a way darker sound, but super most palpable and seriously bringing music (see previous post). Low-highs seems to lack for music focusing there.

Lush^2 with A: B-Y & W-R, B: B-Y & W-R
Blaxius^2 with A:B-W, B:B-W
    D. almost brings back the situation of Blaxius^1 (see config-combi A above)

Now on the latter :

"Almost" means that the enjoyment didn't feel different from the sessions playing with the "darker" and all so musical sound, but with this combi all really "worked" again for me, meaning that I had no-where anywhere the slightest idea of a stuffed ear feeling and this in itself allowing to play may ambient again. But better : it brought back the longer cymbal I think I talked about for this Lush^2 setting in particular.
I was all over happy again.

But it isn't really about that ...

If we observe the transition from B. to C., it is the conclusion that the Blaxius^2 with that config, filters.
But does it ?
If we next observe the transition from C. to D., where the Blaxius^2 does not change for config, the filtering is suddenly undone ?
Nah, that can't be.

And thus it must be so that the two cables now influence each other. This with the notice that both at least cross at the DAC's output end and that we may expect radiation (patterns ?) to be at play there.

Back to what I said elsewhere :
The configuration possibilities of the ^2 cables - and then looking at one on its own - will be implying

1. a different radiation pattern from inside of the cable to outside;
2. a different level of radiation capture of the cable itself from environmental devices;
3. a kind of recursive effect will be in order when the cable can also captures its own radiation field; now both 1. and 2. are in order already for the cable itself.

Ad 3.:
Which is similar but different to combined radiation fields from *and* environmental devices *and* from the cable itself
where
the "environmental device" is that other cable. Like Lush^2 vs Blaxius^2. And the other way around which makes the relationship already recursive (sort of) in itself.

So wow.

Sound of this combination

New nomenclature L> for Lush and B> for Blaxius.
(E> and C> coming up soon - haha)

L>A: B-Y & W-R, B: B-Y & W-R
B>A:B-W, B:B-W

Maybe the first what occurs is the again more firm bass. And mind you, I recall from the Lush^2 config alone that the bass could be with too much energy (could buzz at a higher frequency than actually being in the music). Deep down earth bass is now the result for some music (this is readily noticeable) and otherwise the bass is super throughout. This was not zo with the same Lush^2 in the same config and Blaxius^1.

The second what occurs is the all over present highs again. Not only the low-highs being represented again, but also the longer highs/cymbals (possibly this is the same thing).

The great fun with this combination is that previously both the Lush^2 application for this config combined with the Blaxius^ on one hand and and the Lush^2 regarded best config by all (see B. config more above) combined with the Blaxius^2 config we see in C above) ... eliminates the downsides (to these ears) of the former. So, two birds with one stone ?
Maybe.
But for now I have the hunch that this is no coincidence and that the both just interact (see above on the radiation fields) and that there's a balance in that too.

The sound is just all over superb with a now musical flavor of the Blaxius^2 in a, mind you, actually one-tried config only. Of course this was a kind of given by the last tried with the Lush^2 regardless, but still. This is just the beginning ! (I'm confident).

I think I was the one that first asked

Yes ! That is why the photo below is from yours. Official production version.
Btw, left 5 minutes ago ... Due tomorrow.

High Resolution link Blaxius^2 01

N.b.: This is the configuration for the Digital application (for now). My description and configuration more above was from the Analogue application.

Peter

[PeterSt]

All right. Envision :

You play Talki Walki from Air and each of the tracks you never heard before.

You play Faithless, track 01 - Bombs, then track 02 Spiders [...] ask the people in the room whether they ever heard it. Answer was No. Then towards the end of track 02 a very recognizable sequence of sounds occur, and I asked : "Still not ?" Big surprise because indeed I played it a maybe 50 times.
I said "wait, I'll help you" (because now track 06 - Last this Day was coming up). First 20 or so seconds, no recognition anywhere (also not by me). Until Dido starts to sing and this can't be missed.

Of course this wasn't about others who never heard it, but about myself checking against others. It is just freaking unbelievable.

Everywhere it is for a majority about the same thing : deep vibrato in all kinds of instruments and voices. And hey, I forgot to tell about the electric pianos. Like the Rhodes which plays at Riders on The Storm (The Doors). Even the Hammonds like from Jimmy Smith are capable of showing the vibrato explicitly, while it already was there (obviously, for a Hammond).

Day before yesterday I was shocked about John Lee Hooker - I Cover The Waterfront. At least this is normally recognizable but the now deep flanger going on throughout. This is so much so, like with say a difference of 6 dB more and less all the time (make it 3dB and I won't exaggerate) that again it reminds me of the "beating" (did I talk about that in this topic ? not sure). WehwWehwWehwWehwWehwWehw (one Wheh is about 1 second long).

That this all can happen is one, but that this just wasn't there before is down right spooky in itself. If you'd hear it side by side (OK, one after the other) then you'd bet a million some processor (DSP) suddenly is at play.

This is all still Blaxius^2. It is the biggest change in sound ever. And mind you, what I was used to against Blaxius^1 was "just better". And many of you would agree. FYI : World wide the Blaxius^1 is appreciated as an interlink which sounds even far better than anything people know (and spending multiple 1K on a pair of interlinks). Right ?
Yeah, so be it. Now try Blaxius^2. It transforms your complete system. All new, all different, all better. And in there the same cable resides ?
Yes.

But outside of Blaxius^2 we also have the new/old Lush^2 configuration I talked about in my previous post. Because this gives emphasis to the mid (high-mid / low-highs) you see the strange combination with the all so super tight / straight for example strings. Again hard to explain. But a metal guitar string, not further moved, sounds as straight as can be. Especially not when it is an electric guitar without acoustical body. It is the opposite of vibrato and flanger. And mind you, I talked about this more than once, though in the Lush^2 topic and thus for this A: B-Y & W-R, B: B-Y & W-R config (I did not look it up, but I am pretty sure it was about this one). So we have the super straight mids now combined with the all so musical lows. This combination is of a dimension that can't be expressed. OK, the analogy with this comes to mind : an Italian hors d'oeuvre which is about hot toast and something hot on it, but with cold tomato and herbs on top. It is hot and cold at the same time and for that reason super special.

This "straightness" brings a clarity unheard. Yesterday I played example after example because I can make up in advance where it works explicitly. There's too few time for this hobby now because all is a super surprise and while it is 8am here right now, I am already longing for the 10 hours from now. All this beautiful music you heard all of your life is suddenly completely new and all for the so much "more". You have no idea ...
OK, so you think you have eh ?
No. No matter how much I try to bring it across. No. As long as you won't even be able to recognize any of the tracks of Talki Walki, triple No.

Peter

[PeterSt]

Me again ...

First off I am the most happy to announce that from of tomorrow I won't be the only one spouting about Blaxius^2 idiocy. Better : then I will get help doing it.
And a few more next week. 

Here is my own config which may not change soon :

L>A:B-W-Y-R, B:B-W-R
B>A:B-R, B:B-R

(remember, L> = Lush^2 and B> = Blaxius^2)

"Whether I had changed something" the question was yesterday. "Yes a new cable" was my answer.
OK, I changed the config ...

Last mentioned configuration (one but last post) in the end did not make it. I found the highs too much "tearing" which in the end is cause by the Lush^2 config (A:B-Y & W-R, B:B-Y & W-R). Too much high mid. Or : takes out too much goodie of the Blaxius^2 - not sure.
After first changing the Blaxius^2 to A:B-R, B:B-R it seems to worsten. But it also had something. And so I tried the combination I put down above, and hey ...

I am not sure where it exactly changes things, but let's say it is a mad house thing because, well, it is. I will try to give an example.

Look below, Ring Ring Ring from De La Soul (on De La Soul is dead). This suddenly starts out with a riff I have never heard. OK, so far so good. However, when I talked about it outloud, I was told "oh yeah, that was there all right because I was waiting for it". Well, that will be so, but then in a fashion that I totally don't recognize. Probably it was there as a sound, now it is there as a riff (with the characteristic of hearing all the strings stroken).
But while this what I noticed as a first, this is not the reason for posting. This reason starts 20 seconds or so later in the track ...

What these (De La Soul) guys most often do, is making the sound explicitly LP like. I am not even sure why this is (because they're from the still existing vinyl era (at first) anyway) but I guess this gives the sound a certain flavor which in the end makes them recognizable. Say explicit bad sound (noise, huge wow / flutter) while the SQ in itself is very OK. Now :
This track has the LP ticks almost throughout. Mind you, like an LP which was a 1000 times thrown with. Thus full with scratches.
What the guys back then (1991 in this case) forgot to think of, was 2018 and an ^2 application from some idiot. So what they couldn't hear is that by now those scratches come so loud forward that they are louder than the remainder music and text. "Something is broken" was thrown at me. But no.

So this is what can be done today and with this example, which is a sound fairly on its own, we can see how somewhere in the more lower frequencies a square sound emerges to so super square and loud that you can't believe it is right. Still in each situation I carefully listen what would be wrong with it. But I don't see it.
N.b.: I mention "lower frequency" because that is what vinyl ticks become when they are severe scratches. When not so severe, they are much higher frequency ticks only. Well, how this Ring Ring Ring was at first.

The complexity in explaining is that it is
a. about super fast lower frequencies which
b. emerge to higher frequencies.
Notice : super fast = super transient = super square.

This phenomenon in itself I mention at least for the 2nd time in this topic, maybe the 3rd. Something got blazingly fast and while the highs (at least in my system) were already that, it is now the low frequencies following all BUT shown by the support of more highs.
Can you follow ?

A much longer time ago, suddenly the metal of the upright double bass started to emerge like crazy. Maybe people remember this (I think this was an NOS1 thing but not sure). Well, this is real highs and not what I mean (also, I did not notice a change there yet - maybe I play too few Jazz). What I mean is the support of highs to low frequencies. Yesterday I heard this one again :

wow-wow-wow-wow
from a synthesizer. So again the vibrato in it where I never heard it. But I carefull listened and the effect is imposed by higher frequency. So *that* part I actually never heard. And again : is that fundamental (!!) high frequency ? NO ! It is the squareness of the fundamental (of say 100Hz) which now is worked out to real harmonics (200Hz, 300Hz, etc.) and them even interactibg with each other (in oscillating fashion) and there you have the wow-wow-wow-wow.
Oh, seeing myself writing this : the wahwahwah's are also a continuously occurring effect. Thus, the well known wah effect (pedal). It is so fully expressed while ... the whole pedal was not there before.

What I noticed with this particular config (but mind you, from one few hours of listening only) is that this time no bass is there where bass should not be. Some times this can come across as sheer lacking bass, but I don't think this is the case for real. What it does though, is yet again emphasizing all there is, which actually was overwhelmed by the bass to some extent. What I anyway clearly noticed and which makes me very happy, is the now *not* present "buzzz" in the bass. I think I described that with the other Lush^2 configuration and with normal Blaxius(^1) while the Luch^2 config with B-W Blaxius^2 at both ends showed too much bass although not disco like. This time (yesterday) I had no remarks about the bass at any time, unless it would be about the bass really be lacking somewhat (which is possible).

An other notice which could be a logical one :
I am used to my system requiring warm up of 20 minutes. At 9 something starts to happen but at 20 all is fine (and all is on 24/7 but does not play outside of listening hours);
For the so many-ith time, I yesterday noticed that maybe the required warm up is largely extended now. The logic of it would be that all is so much "accurate" (FWIW) hence pin pointed, that the slightest being off (when cold ?) is audible (as a form of distortion). Otoh I consider that it requires getting used to.
There is no way that the highs are too loud or anything because as said (quite often by now), it is about the lower frequencies shows square hence harmonics. These harmonics are not profound hence do not hurt or anything. But they seem to make the sound more grey when all is cold. I think this is not an unknown phenomenon to most, but if you first try to envision a full bodied sound with harmonics you are not used to (read : how can you know what I am referring to) and next all this "addition" shows grey, then the warming up needs to be more thorough hence longer. When this has been done, all what remains is a room full of sound. Really.

Speaking of which ...
An other notice is that there now is a clear differentiation between recordings which don't show ultimate high frequency and which come across far less "stereo" separation plus they clearly exhibit a required sweet spot (you can hear the highs increase for level - something I am not used to at all), vs the recordings which were made with more attention to where sounds must come from and which exhibit *more* stereo.
Both exhibits come together in my view, when we'd see that highs are more pinpointed indeed (thinner beamed, more accurately represented in mid air) and when left and right are the same with it, all adds up right in the middle and there only. On the other hand, when highs were thoughtfully separated in the left and right channel, it exhibits exactly the other way around : all gets more spacious.
So what I perceive if this, is all very well explainable to me, is not a downside, but is more "mono" for the mere "stupid" recordings (sadly I must mention the same De La Soul album again, as an example of that).

Peter

[briefremarks]

Peter,

Waiting for the B^2 to arrive so I can comment on my experience.  I have not experimented too much with the L^2 configuration since settling on what is shown in my signature.  I think I mentioned that putting in a dedicated circuit for the audio system helped.  I can turn on LED lights, etc. and there is no buzz/crackle like before.

Ramesh

[PeterSt]

I think I mentioned that putting in a dedicated circuit for the audio system helped.  I can turn on LED lights, etc. and there is no buzz/crackle like before.

Hi Ramesh - Although I know what you are talking about, I don't think this will be related to any ^2 shielding for better performance. At least that is not what my message is. This is merely about how the system itself generates the RFI (including the cabling) and how to protect from that. Both from the outside (into a cable) as well as from the inside (cable emits).

Waiting for the B^2 to arrive so I can comment on my experience.

We're starting right at this time on yours. Managing before the end of the day (UPS deadline) seems tedious, but it could ... If so, prepare for Wednesday, otherwise Thursday.

I am the most happy to announce that from of tomorrow I won't be the only one spouting about Blaxius^2 idiocy. Better : then I will get help doing it.
And a few more next week.

Sadly, the "from of tomorrow" appeared not to be working out with the customer himself not present. So his Blaxius^2 arrived all right, but he is out travelling for a couple of weeks.
The "few more" this week, should apply, though.

Regards,
Peter

[PeterSt]

Meanwhile ...

Yes, I could use the help (on new configurations), but I start to wonder ... It is all becoming really outrageous over here.

I think I can derive from the posts in here that I must be having my own Blaxius^2 at work for close to 3 weeks now. Consider this kind of time for burn-in. But also consider required burn in of some sort per configuration. This is what I seem to notice but this is also what seems quite logical to me. This is because the signal flowing over the shields (at least one of them).

This is what I am (still) using, since Oct 29 :

L>A:B-W-Y-R, B:B-W-R
B>A:B-R, B:B-R

Three days ago for the first time I started to notice that something was vastly improving without me doing anything. This continued day before yesterday and yesterday I just lost all my references ... Not explicitly, but to the sense of not knowing "where to look" any more. All is one big stream of new information and with now x things at the same time being new, it becomes impossible to focus on "a change".

On a side note, yesterday (and three days ago this happend to me exactly the same) I was so in ecstasy that I considered of giving you all the Blaxius^2 for free instead of giving you the chance to miss out because you think it may be too expensive, it not being worth it, or whatever you may abusively think. But it wouldn't be a practical idea. And if we could say that we'd have standard lengths people could exchange ... but we can't. The Blaxius^2 is either too long or too short.
Anyway message : that enthusiastic I now am.

The real reason of this post - and this too is occurring since 3 days : cymbals.

I don't know what happened or where it happened hence what now actually causes this, but the cymbals show something I was not prepared for, did not see coming at all, and did not know it even existed :

1. whoosh;
2. angle of hitting.

Although #1 seems easy to explain, I think it is not because the nomenclature for it possibly has died out. I think it is a thing from the past and possibly even only "Dutch" :

de cymbaal (bekken) zuigt lekker
  or very freely translated :
the cymbal nicely sucks.

I think you can see that I have problems with the translation, already because the phenomenon seems to have died out. Possibly it is even an analogue thing. The "sucking" is literal but I dedicated it "whoosh" ("sucking" is literal and in a very positive sense). It's an inside out sound and will be about how the cymbal develops its sound when the edge of it is hit (not too loud because we'd have the "crash" sound). The color of the sound changes; it also gets louder underway and when it dies out the color changes again.
Of course in real life this sound is there, but from "a stereo" I never really saw it happen. Now it does all over. And it just flipped-in (3 or 4 days ago).
Precisely together with this, #2 emerged and this won't be a coincidence (read on).

#2 is something which is so, so important (I now see) that it can be considered an other dimension again. But how to bring this across ...
An attempt :

Envision a rock drummer. He does not have one cymbal only (like a Jazz setup often has), he has several. He will have one (or more) to the left of him and he will have one (or more) to the right of him. What he can do with this is hit the one after the other with one hand by twisting his wrist. Envision the stick hitting the one cymbal and after that the other while the stick has been twisted a 180 degrees. He is not doing this continuously (left-right-left-right) but it is a reoccurring sequence with one left-right only. Now :
First off, such a sequence never even occurred to me and you can well say that this is because the two hits blend too much. Oh, you may hear two hits all right, but not that it will be from the same stick. So there it starts ...

In whatever I listen to now, I hear the cymbals to the right and to the left and under what angle the cymbal is hit. This is also related to the angle of left and right with the same hand, will not be the same. Hard to explain, but this is about how "deep" the edge of the cymbal will be hit, assumed it is the edge which is hit and which already not necessarily is so when the wrist twists for the 180 degree different hit. But the deeper the cymbal is hit (say the stick hits the edge more towards the hand) the softer and darker it will sound (this stick is more thick there and there's also less momentum).
What comes from this all is that you suddenly see the drummer sit and how he moves to do his act.

The logic of the #1 and #2 occurring together : well, logic, because #1 already tells about how the cymbal develops its sound, which is 100% related to where and how it is hit. So if that works, #2 is bound to work as well. At least this is my explanation of it.

I could try to add a #3, but this is only new during this writing and with that it is theory : there's now a clear differentiation in color of one cymbal hit.
Eh ...
So yes. If you follow my spouting about cymbals and color and too white or too China or too small etc. etc., and you could read back on all this, you'll always observe the same : it is or this or that. Is it ever right ?
Virtual excerpts of that :

- The cymbal seems to be too white.
- The cymbal sounded ugly; this improved.
- There's more color in them now.
- They are too long; throats will spit with them.

If I may start with the latter :
They are now longer than ever and it does NOT happen because of the Lush^2 config which implied that (because I am not using that config).
There is no spur of overly detail (no spitting anywhere), while they thus still sound long.
They sound long while (mind you !) they die out and even come back. Just like reality. Well *that* is new.

And about the other two bullet points :
It is not in order because they develop color underway. The "develop" means : it just changes from hitting to dying out.

So you got that, right ? But now envision how ALL of the sound is influenced by whatever similar "appliance" because when it works with a cymbal, it will also work with a voice and a guitar and a piano and a floor tom and a sax and a violin and ... what not.
So this is what I mean with : I lost my reference. Nothing compares any more.

One thing I will add because it keeps on being in my mind :
Two days ago I was already focusing on this and on what to play to enjoy more of this fantastic sound. I envisioned Angie (Stones) and this thus because of the cymbals alone. I don't know why exactly (I really never play the song) but I "saw" something. And so I did. I even announced it over here in the room, as in a "watch this".
No, nothing appeared to be there as how I envisioned it - the cymbals just aren't there to begin with. Or at least not in the first 2-3 minutes when I stopped it already. But still ...
IIRC in the first 45 seconds somewhere there's this opening and closing hi-hat. It is a one time thing. Jagger and all played at realistic levels. But this hi-hat appeared halfway between me and the speakers, oriented to the right and say 1 meter under the (3m) ceiling. Louder than I would be able to play the hi-hat myself. The specialty of it was the full image of the hi-hat. So not a sound, not a particular part the remainder left for your brain to work out. No, a spooky hi-hat of the right size, but way too loud. Jumping at your like a ... wasn't it Halloween ?

All I can envision in aftermath is that the hi-hat was way too much amplified, because, well, it always is. This has to be so because else it is underwhelmed by any other cymbal or snare or guitar etc. etc. It is a weak thingy that won't express much sound when not touched with the stick (only open and close by means of the pedal). Btw, here (Angie) the stick was in order all right.
Summarized, this hi-hat in Angie completely failed. It jumped out like an elephant. Still nothing in itself was wrong with it.

If there's one time when I dare to say "things really start to work !" it is now.
Maybe you see better now how early in this post I said "I don't know where to look". But man, how interesting this is ...

Peter