In article , Iain Churches wrote:
It was only because my colleague is a professional sound mixer that I even
entertained the notion of bothering to try this at all. I've no idea what
could
have happened when he swapped cables to make his system sound different,
and it's
rather worrying that someone doing his job might be "hearing" differences
that
aren't there. Apparently even the people that mix the original material
are human
too, so where does that leave objectivity?

Every concert sound mixer has his preference for cables.
I know of none who choose them for their sound.
Mechanical integrity and reliability are the key factors.
A cable problem, epecially a mic cable, during a concert
recording is the concert-master's worst nightmare.
A wise concert rigger uses only ten lines
from twelve, leaving two spare on each box.

This is all true of course, but the cables in question were domestic hi-fi
ones, and my colleague actually was convinced that they made a difference to
the sound of his hi-fi system. Normally I'd have dismissed this as the usual
self-delusion of somebody who has been conned into spending a ridiculous amount
of money on something that hasn't made any difference and wants to cover his
embarrassment, but the fact that he judges sound quality for a living suggested
that just maybe this time there was something real to be investigated. I still
haven't quite decided whether I was relieved or disapointed when the most
objective test I could quickly devise indicated that there wasn't.

Rod.