Need your opinion on Blue jeans LC-1 stereo interconnect

[shanmune]

I am in the process of setting up a computer based USB playback setup.
Here is how my setup will look like:-

Computer->ODAC->NAD AVR->PSB Image B6

The above setup is just a low-end setup. Keeping the above setup in mind, I am planning to get a decent RCA interconnect (for connecting ODAC and NAD). I assume the expensive interconnects (I mean a truly hi-fi) may not fit my bill for two reasons. One is the budget. Also, I can justify buying an expensive interconnect provided that I have a fairly good resolving system. For me, anything above $80/$90 (per meter) is an expensive one.

Having described my requirements/context, I would like to hear your suggestions on having a decent interconnect (which is as per the budget and fairly transparent). The first thing that came to my mind is Blue jeans LC-1 interconnect. I also found the cost to be very reasonable ($34 for 1.2 m - excluding the shipping+duty tax). I am excluding the shipping cost as I will be getting it through one of my friends who is making a short trip to USA.

The overall review comments indicate that it a very good cable for the price and I also hear that it is better than the ones which are slightly expensive. Few have said that it's strongest point is it's performance for mid-range frequencies. Of course, I read these comments only from the Internet forum. I would like to hear from the owners of LC-1 and get to know their actual experience. Probably they may also have compared the LC-1 with their older interconnects.

The other alternative I am thinking of is getting Murthy's cable. Of course I am waiting for my ODAC to arrive (expected to get it by this week). I believe both blue-jeans and Murthy's cables are not only performing good, but also they are also sensibly priced without any inflated profit margin (that the dealers normally do for the cables - I believe). Considering this, I have limited myself to these two brands (of course if there are other suggestions, they are welcome).

 

[gobble]

I have the BJ LC-1, purchased it a few years back. It sounds bolder, more upfront and louder than the Nordost Blue Heaven, but over extended listening I realized it does not provide the more delicate and nuanced presentation of the Nordost. So I use it for my DVD player instead. But given the rest of your chain it fits in perfectly art the price point.

G0bble

 

[srinisundar]

These are much cheaper and good cable too but not equal to Nordost.. High end Audio Interconnects cables - Imported cable - Chennai - Home Appliances - Electronics

This is not my advt...

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Here I go again with another Blue Jeans plug...

(and no, I still haven't actually bought anything off them* )

Check their site out. Read their articles. If you like what they say and the way that they say it, then you probably wouldn't buy from any of the hifi people, let alone the "boutique" people, ever again. Blue Jeans is bull-free cable.

Hope I haven't put you off :lol:

PS... do you have your ODAC already? The standard ODAC comes with only 3.5mm socket, there is an RCA option on ordering. But you probably know what you are getting, even if you haven't got it yet. Just thought I'd mention it.



*And no, I have no interest in the company other than intellectual. I regard their articles as reference grade. And when I do need something better than a bit of wire, yes I will buy it from them

 

[jls001]

If you are willing to DIY, buy Gotham GAC-2 balanced cable (either the analog or AES/EBU cable will do). It will be less than a dollar to the feet. Approx 7 feet (2 metres) will be about $ 7.

Four REAN RCA jacks will set you back by Rs 120 x 4. For less than Rs 1000, you can get a very good cable comparable to those costing many times more.

I have not done an A/B with the Mogami 2549, but from audio memory, I think it is at least the equal of the 2549, if not better. And the best part is you can you can make balanced or unbalanced cables.

 

[BLASTO]

BJ IC cable -

Big bass, bold dynamics, reduced details, reduced nuances.
If you like a big rounded off sound, you will like it.
If you have a system sounding thin and anemic, this cable will help improve.

 

[gobble]

BJ IC cable -

Big bass, bold dynamics, reduced details, reduced nuances.
If you like a big rounded off sound, you will like it.
If you have a system sounding thin and anemic, this cable will help improve.

I was searching for words to describe this cable...Blasto's done a superb job of detailing it's characteristics ...

Yes that's how it is... for sure.


G0bble

 

[shanmune]

Check their site out. Read their articles. If you like what they say and the way that they say it, then you probably wouldn't buy from any of the hifi people, let alone the "boutique" people, ever again. Blue Jeans is bull-free cable.

Yes, I went through their website and very much impressed with their philosophy. That is the reason for my inclination towards Blue Jeans.

PS... do you have your ODAC already? The standard ODAC comes with only 3.5mm socket, there is an RCA option on ordering. But you probably know what you are getting, even if you haven't got it yet. Just thought I'd mention it.

Thanks Thad. I have ordered the one with the RCA o/p. I am yet to receive it (hope I get it by this week).

 

[shanmune]

I have the BJ LC-1, purchased it a few years back. It sounds bolder, more upfront and louder than the Nordost Blue Heaven, but over extended listening I realized it does not provide the more delicate and nuanced presentation of the Nordost. So I use it for my DVD player instead. But given the rest of your chain it fits in perfectly art the price point.

G0bble

BJ IC cable -

Big bass, bold dynamics, reduced details, reduced nuances.
If you like a big rounded off sound, you will like it.
If you have a system sounding thin and anemic, this cable will help improve.

Thanks for sharing your experience with BJ IC cables. If I have understood correctly, BJ seems to lean on the warmer side. The current setup already has excellent dynamics, good bass and sounds lush in the midrange and lower midrange. I hear ODAC leans more on the brighter side and I guess BJ LC-1 will blend well with ODAC.

 

[manniraj]

Thanks for sharing your experience with BJ IC cables. If I have understood correctly, BJ seems to lean on the warmer side. The current setup already has excellent dynamics, good bass and sounds lush in the midrange and lower midrange. I hear ODAC leans more on the brighter side and I guess BJ LC-1 will blend well with ODAC.

I am using the BJ cable with my ODAC to the Marantz 6004 amplifier and its sounding good and clean. I also have the DIY Mogami 2549 which I was using it earlier and found the BJ slightly better but not sure whether my observations are correct as sometimes I don't feel the difference between them. But I am not sure whether its LC-1 or not as i got it from one of the FMs sale on our forum. You can hear it for yourself at my place before deciding on the same.

Edit: Yes it is the same cable that i am using LC-1.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

... I hear ODAC leans more on the brighter side and I guess BJ LC-1 will blend well with ODAC.

I would say clean. The design intention was transparency on a par with benchmark (in fact Benchmark was used for comparison ) DACs. Whether it succeeds or not, I do not have the experience to say for sure. My guess is that it does. You won't get extra bass, warmth or softness thrown in for free with an ODAC. Clean? Some might say unforgiving --- but that goes with the transparent territory.

Of course, one can always choose one's amplification. I have grown to like the Xbass control on my ifi iCAN (despite its boom-box reminiscent name. Somebody shoot the marketing men!) and I have also felt the warm sensuous feeling of feeding my ODAC into a valve headphone amp. And, with a PC source, one doesn't even have to buy another box to get graphic or parametric EQ.

I don't think I have bought a cable for 15 years. There's a pile that usually has what I need in it. Nothing special: my Van Der Hul ic fell apart, some unimportant things are connected with cheap'n'nasty comes-in-the-box, just to get sound out of them when needed --- but it is a Cambridge Audio ic currently connecting my ODAC to the iCAN, and the same currently connecting my CDP to my hifi amp. Would have been Richer Sounds' lower-mid-range when purchased.

(Offtopic: how I miss Richer Sounds! And how, even when I was in London, I missed their orignal store, crammed full with the most amazing ex-bankrupt-stock, out-dated-model, etc etc, hifi gems at low prices, instead of just bulk-buy stuff.)

 

[BLASTO]

Thanks for sharing your experience with BJ IC cables. If I have understood correctly, BJ seems to lean on the warmer side. The current setup already has excellent dynamics, good bass and sounds lush in the midrange and lower midrange. I hear ODAC leans more on the brighter side and I guess BJ LC-1 will blend well with ODAC.

ODAC does not lean to the brighter side. BJC will not fit your setup if you are using ODAC.
Try VDH if you like the signature I mentioned.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

If one believes Blue Jeans, they make cables, not tone controls: they are transparent and will fit any setup!

Repeating the If . :lol:

Within a year or so, I'll try them.

 

[manniraj]

Yes I agree with Thad that the ODAC is very clean and transparent and with the BJ LC-1 I feel that the clean and transparency signature is still maintained without any alterations. All are my observations and some may have a different view.

 

[shanmune]

After a long wait, I got my ODAC last week. During the weekend, I did some experiments to have some first hand experience on the sound signature impact created by various components like DAC, interconnects, etc.

First I borrowed Murthy's cables from one of my friends. There were 2 different models. One model (say interconnect-1) had a bigger diameter than the second one (say interconnect-2). I also had one cheap RCA cable (say interconnect-3) which I got along with the my STB connection).

My first curiosity was how well interconnect-1/interconnect-2 sounded against interconnect-3. Then, I wanted to select a right track for doing this experimentation. Unfortunately, I do not have even a single lossless song track from my favorite composer. So I ended up using Pink floyd's "Dark side of the moon" tracks for audition and all those tracks are high resolution tracks.

First I connected interconnect-3 with the ODAC and the amp. I found no issue with the sound and found it good. At the same time, I noticed a slight hum from the speakers when the songs were not played. The hum wasn't there before. Then I connected interconnect-1 and I immediately found the sound to be more musical, clean and smooth. It is only after hearing with interconnect-1, I found interconnect-3 sound to be sterile with lesser clarity.
The sound from interconnect-1 was very sweet, smooth and pleasant to hear.
Also, the hum disappeared.

The next step I tried was comparing interconnect-1 with interconnect-2. After switching over to interconnect-2, I couldn't hear any significant difference initially. After trying for multiple iterations between interconnect-1 and interconnect-2, I found the latter to be slightly more detailed in the upper midrange, but was also little shy on the bass. Though interconnect-2 had slightly more details, I felt interconnect-1 to be more pleasant to my ears.

All the while, I was more interested in seeing how the interconnects were playing out, but didn't focus on the ODAC. Then I thought of comparing ODAC with some other DAC. Since I couldn't find any other DAC for comparison, I decided to compare the ODAC with the in-built DAC of my NAD receiver. Did I see any difference ? Yes. I found the in-built DAC to have slightly more energy in the lower midrange when compared to ODAC. Fortunately, I liked this behavior of ODAC very much. Having slightly lesser energy at the lower freq range seems to reveal more details. I felt the bass was more clean, detailed and tight on ODAC. Of course the in-built DAC was punchy and probably it may be liked by the guys who listen to rock songs. For me, the ODAC lower frequency performance was very sweet and pleasant to my ears. Of course, these are only my initial impressions and I still didn't have time to explore ODAC.

Having said that, now I got some hands on experience on what these different interconnects do to the sound. Now, I need to decide between Murthy's cables (interconnect-1) and BJ LC-1. I wanted to give a try for BJ LC-1 as well. I should be placing the order some time this week. I will share my updates once I get it.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I nearly gave my ODAC "new" cables a couple of days ago.

I have a pair of Van Der Hul cables, that used to connect my CDP to my amp, until their RCA plugs broke off at the most stressed ends. I thought I would cut to length and fix a new pair of plugs, as I have two spare pairs. I cut the cables, and then found that the new-plug covers won't fit over the diameter of the VDH cables. So now I have some butchered cable pieces --- and your story is much more productive than mine!

Never mind, I got in some soldering practice making up a pair of TRS-->RCA cables to attach my Audiofire2 to the new pre-amp.

I guess I should just buy from BJ! One day... Until then, I have only used one cable with my ODAC.

Glad you like the ODAC. I'm preferring mine through my new McCormack TLC-1 pre-amp. It seems to have gained depth; perhaps a little warmth. If it was transparent to begin with, is this good? Perhaps, perhaps not, but I am enjoying the sound

 

[kneo]

Would BJC ship to India? I wonder how customs would treat the cables. Do they attract duty too?

 

[hydra]

^^ I've bought ICs thrice (proaudiola, amazon), and a digital cable (amazon) once, and I was not charged duty on any of the instances.

 

[gobble]

I purchased mine from BJ direct and shipped to Bangalore

~G0bble

 

[kneo]

From what I have heard on this forum for bluray imports, apparently the Mumbai customs is quite hawkish in their quest to apply duty to anything that passes their desk. Bangalore and Chennai users are definitely better off.