On the 12^th day of Xmas…

PROS: finetunes the sound of IEMs with a focus on improved mids clarity, resolution, and layering, relatively lightweight and flexible for 8 wire cable, ConX modular connector, limited edition cable hardware, excellent workmanship and durable build, Premium Portable Carrying case included, the price.

CONS: the sound improvement varies depending on pair up.

The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion.

Manufacturer website:  Effect Audio.

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Preamble.

I’m aware that some people don’t believe in cables and have very strong opinion about it.  It’s not my intent to start an argument here.  Instead, I would like to share what I hear during my testing.  Perhaps, I can’t fully explain why there is a change in sound, but I do hear it and don’t believe it’s a placebo effect.  What makes sense to me, a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, and purity, all of which put together act as a filter between your source and earphones.  Variations of these physical properties can affect the conductivity of analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level.  Also, the sound change introduced by a specific cable is not universal because it will depend on the design of earphones and their pair up synergy with a source.

Intro.

I was pleased to see a well-known cable manufacturer like Effect Audio introduce a new updated budget series of cables which to everyone’s surprise didn’t look like “budget” at all.  Released last year, it gained a lot of momentum, and based on customer’s requests, span off 8-wire versions of Ares S and Cadmus, and even the Anniversary Edition of Eros S.  So, it was only natural for EA to surprise everybody with a hybrid version, combining the original Ares S and Cadmus.  To make this release special, they decided to wait until December 12^th and introduce it as Xmas edition, featuring updated hardware design finish, available only for 2 weeks.

Since I already reviewed 8-wire versions of their Signature Series cables early this year, I was very curious how a combined hybrid version of the original 4-wire Ares S and Cadmus would sound.  After spending a few weeks with Effect Audio Christmas Limited Edition Signature Series cable, here is what I found.  Btw, throughout the review I will refer to this cable as “Xmas” cable.

Unboxing and Accessories.

The unboxing experience of Xmas cable is a little difference since EA wanted to make this limited-edition release special, calling it Secret Santa Gift Box.  While the dimensions of the packaging box are the same, the cover art was updated, featuring both the Greek God of War (Ares S) and the Greek Slayer of Monsters (Cadmus), both printed in gold, including the mentioning of it being “Christmas Limited Edition 2023”.  And to continue with Xmas spirit, you will also find printed snowflakes.  While in many cases the packaging usually gets tossed away, I personally enjoy Signature Series boxes and can see them on a shelf as a collectable item.

Then, in addition to a cable organizer leather strap and a traditional Signature Series semi-open small round case, as an unexpected surprise EA included a bonus Portable Carrying Case inside of a premium drawstring bag with EA logo.  We are talking about a Portable Carrying case which EA sells by itself for $79, a smaller version of their Camber Carrying case, featuring 3 resizable organizer compartments.  With an overall size of 320mm x 120mm x 60mm, the case is made out of basket weave oxford cloth, sandwich cloth, and microfiber leather, and works great for carrying multiple IEMs with cables, or usb dac dongles, or can easily fit a big DAP (like DX320Max Ti) along with IEMs.  Definitely a very generous bonus.

Design.

The combined wire design remains the same where Ares S side uses premium UP-OCC Copper Litz 24awg wires with proprietary dual geometric design and Cadmus side uses premium UP-OCC Silver Plated Copper Litz 24awg wires with septuplet multi-sized core bundle design.  The cable has a tight square braiding, still features EA Ultra Flexi Insulation, shear clear in Ares S and Cadmus so you can see details of wires material, and ConX interchangeable Connector with 2pin tip included stock while the rest could be purchased separately.  The cable I received had Rhodium plated brass straight type 4.4mm balanced headphone plug.

To make this design standout with Xmas theme, the original selenite grey finish of the cable hardware was replaced with mirror chrome finish.  You still have Y-split with CF insert, though it features more chrome flakes to make it more Christmasy, but the actual metal finish of the Y-split, chin slider, and headphone plug has mirror chrome finish.  Even ConX connector housing has a chrome finish as well.  The weight of the cable is the same as 8-wire versions of Ares S and Cadmus, around 52g.

Page 2 – Pair up, Comparison, Conclusion w/Sound Analysis.