Could any Hercules owner tell me if after you turn off the amps and the power lights go out, do they come back on but illuminate red about 5 minutes later, stay red for about 4 minutes and then turn off? Is this normal or is something wrong? I sent an email to Pilium but heard nothing back from them. Thank you in advance.
Pilium Audio in action-
- Thread starter Rhapsody
- Start date
My young audiophile friend’s just left here after driving for 4+ hours from London to bring me his nordost odin 2 xlr cables. He’s got 2 pairs 1.0m each and now needs a longer pair of 2.0m so letting one pair go.
He’s not used his system for around 6 months due to this length issue, but the cables have been well burned in as he bought them in 2018 from the states during his business trip, so they’re working quite nicely over here straight out from the box.
I can spot the immediate differences between the odin 2 and crystal dream cables that I’ve been using during the last 10 years. I used to have the valhalla here so I’m familiar with the explosive and transparent nature of the nordost cables, but somehow odin 2 is in a complete different class.
I’ll see how things go and might get another 2.0m interconnect xlr cables here if I like the sound of odin 2 that much.
On another note, Paul from Z:Axis is very kind when sending me 3 xlr digital cables to try with my vivaldi boxes, and hopefully he’ll come here later with 2 more xlr digital cables plus his top power cables then see how they sound.
Actually I’ve been using the furutech flux power cables here in my system for over 10 years and never bothered to try anything else.
I’m not a cable person actually, but my current system is so revealing and sensitive that triggers the curiosity of trying different things here, particularly to see if they can bring positive changes to my system.
I’m quite there and will just enjoy the music
, keep buying CDs, especially SACD ones, every week to let beautiful melodies flow.
Happy Sunday everyone!
He’s not used his system for around 6 months due to this length issue, but the cables have been well burned in as he bought them in 2018 from the states during his business trip, so they’re working quite nicely over here straight out from the box.
I can spot the immediate differences between the odin 2 and crystal dream cables that I’ve been using during the last 10 years. I used to have the valhalla here so I’m familiar with the explosive and transparent nature of the nordost cables, but somehow odin 2 is in a complete different class.
I’ll see how things go and might get another 2.0m interconnect xlr cables here if I like the sound of odin 2 that much.
On another note, Paul from Z:Axis is very kind when sending me 3 xlr digital cables to try with my vivaldi boxes, and hopefully he’ll come here later with 2 more xlr digital cables plus his top power cables then see how they sound.
Actually I’ve been using the furutech flux power cables here in my system for over 10 years and never bothered to try anything else.
I’m not a cable person actually, but my current system is so revealing and sensitive that triggers the curiosity of trying different things here, particularly to see if they can bring positive changes to my system.
I’m quite there and will just enjoy the music
, keep buying CDs, especially SACD ones, every week to let beautiful melodies flow.Happy Sunday everyone!
Let us know how it goes...have heard great things about Odin and Odin 2. Also really like Paul at Z:Axis and he made a custom for us on our Zanden -- an i2s cable via RJ45 that runs between Transport and DAC...remarkably better than the original i2s by Zanden. And that is saying something given that I have tried 2-3 and they never came close.My young audiophile friend’s just left here after driving for 4+ hours from London to bring me his nordost odin 2 xlr cables. He’s got 2 pairs 1.0m each and now needs a longer pair of 2.0m so letting one pair go.
He’s not used his system for around 6 months due to this length issue, but the cables have been well burned in as he bought them in 2018 from the states during his business trip, so they’re working quite nicely over here straight out from the box.
I can spot the immediate differences between the odin 2 and crystal dream cables that I’ve been using during the last 10 years. I used to have the valhalla here so I’m familiar with the explosive and transparent nature of the nordost cables, but somehow odin 2 is in a complete different class.
I’ll see how things go and might get another 2.0m interconnect xlr cables here if I like the sound of odin 2 that much.
On another note, Paul from Z:Axis is very kind when sending me 3 xlr digital cables to try with my vivaldi boxes, and hopefully he’ll come here later with 2 more xlr digital cables plus his top power cables then see how they sound.
Actually I’ve been using the furutech flux power cables here in my system for over 10 years and never bothered to try anything else.
I’m not a cable person actually, but my current system is so revealing and sensitive that triggers the curiosity of trying different things here, particularly to see if they can bring positive changes to my system.
I’m quite there and will just enjoy the music
Happy Sunday everyone!
When typing these words, I have my system on playing even at this time of the day. As mentioned before, I tend not listening to the music after midnight due to work-life commitments.
But today we had a late dinner so I indulge myself a little bit more with my system, especially at this wonderful time of the day to listen to the music when all the unwanted noises are no longer affecting the sound in my room.
Although the odin 2 cables have been here for just around 9 hours, it seems they’re settling in very nicely. It’s shocking that they’re revealing something that I didn’t notice before.
I’m a fan of Philippe Chretien so I usually use his albums to test the components. This time, I couldn’t believe my ears that in the first track of album Love Stories, I unconsciously and automatically detected that a small crowd talking through the bass and drums in the very beginning of the track.
I believe I did hear this many times before but it had never caught my attention, similarly to another track with deep bass notes running I heard when using the Absolute Points footers as described earlier in this thread.
Having used the crystal dream cables for 10+ years, I truly love their neutrality, musicality and balance. However, I see the odin 2 cables are more delicate, refined and providing a darker background here, probably 1-2 notches above.
When I played the album Sax & Guitar, even at a lower volume, everything is just spot on, particularly with the honey liquid midrange. All the nuances of the song and skills of the artists are laid bare in front of me clearly and transparently.
Like I said, the dream cables lack nothing of that but the odin 2 are simply doing a much better job. You can definitely close your eyes and imagine how Phillipe is playing with his sax, the way he breaths and controls every single note.
When playing the Overture from water music, suite 2 in F major by Handel, performed by I Solisti Italiani group, the piece has become sweeter and less harsh comparing to the crystal dream, and by no means the dream cables are harsh or bright sounding at all. Simply the odin 2 are just better when handling the trebles here.
Bass wise, odin 2 like other nordost cables are great with bass imo. They have a tad more bass than the dream cables but not loose in the bottom end while being very punchy and tight.
It seems the noise floor is lower with the odin 2 as things come out from the recordings are even more natural and obvious from my observation.
Price wise, it’s ridiculous. If not because of a good price that my friend gave me so he can quickly get the cash to buy his new 2.0m, then I would not consider them, the price:quality ratio is utterly nonsensical to me. Sorry, I am not a millionaire so I could burn money on whatever I want without thinking about this.
But if you can spot secondhand or exdemoed odin 2 cables at your budget then go for them, I can’t recommend them enough. They remind me of the incredible Hemingway beta cables and hopefully one day I’ll be able to try the top line omega here.
But today we had a late dinner so I indulge myself a little bit more with my system, especially at this wonderful time of the day to listen to the music when all the unwanted noises are no longer affecting the sound in my room.
Although the odin 2 cables have been here for just around 9 hours, it seems they’re settling in very nicely. It’s shocking that they’re revealing something that I didn’t notice before.
I’m a fan of Philippe Chretien so I usually use his albums to test the components. This time, I couldn’t believe my ears that in the first track of album Love Stories, I unconsciously and automatically detected that a small crowd talking through the bass and drums in the very beginning of the track.
I believe I did hear this many times before but it had never caught my attention, similarly to another track with deep bass notes running I heard when using the Absolute Points footers as described earlier in this thread.
Having used the crystal dream cables for 10+ years, I truly love their neutrality, musicality and balance. However, I see the odin 2 cables are more delicate, refined and providing a darker background here, probably 1-2 notches above.
When I played the album Sax & Guitar, even at a lower volume, everything is just spot on, particularly with the honey liquid midrange. All the nuances of the song and skills of the artists are laid bare in front of me clearly and transparently.
Like I said, the dream cables lack nothing of that but the odin 2 are simply doing a much better job. You can definitely close your eyes and imagine how Phillipe is playing with his sax, the way he breaths and controls every single note.
When playing the Overture from water music, suite 2 in F major by Handel, performed by I Solisti Italiani group, the piece has become sweeter and less harsh comparing to the crystal dream, and by no means the dream cables are harsh or bright sounding at all. Simply the odin 2 are just better when handling the trebles here.
Bass wise, odin 2 like other nordost cables are great with bass imo. They have a tad more bass than the dream cables but not loose in the bottom end while being very punchy and tight.
It seems the noise floor is lower with the odin 2 as things come out from the recordings are even more natural and obvious from my observation.
Price wise, it’s ridiculous. If not because of a good price that my friend gave me so he can quickly get the cash to buy his new 2.0m, then I would not consider them, the price:quality ratio is utterly nonsensical to me. Sorry, I am not a millionaire so I could burn money on whatever I want without thinking about this.
But if you can spot secondhand or exdemoed odin 2 cables at your budget then go for them, I can’t recommend them enough. They remind me of the incredible Hemingway beta cables and hopefully one day I’ll be able to try the top line omega here.
For many people, cables merely make any differences in their system, particularly the digital ones.
But I and some others do spot differences when swapping cables.
In one occasion, I don’t remember exactly what happened, but it seems my vivaldi dac didn’t automatically change inputs between my transport and upsampler.
So instead of using the stock cables with input 3+4 when playing a redbook CD, for whatever reasons, it let the transport bypass the upsampler and using the WhiteGold cables with input 1+2.
I was stunned by how the quality of the sound could change that dramatically. It was louder, less edginess, much smoother and more dynamic. The WhiteGold digital cables are doing a stellar job between my transport and dac indeed.
When I received the Z:Axis top digital cables from Paul, although I don’t have the full 5 but replacing the 3 stock cables between my transport - upsampler - dac has brought very positive changes to my ears when playing non SACD discs and streaming music online.
In a few words, I see these Z:Axis cables are natural, musical and truly balanced despite solid silver core conductors are being used throughout. They’re having similar characteristics like their BNC siblings made by Paul that I reported awhile ago.
Who have used Paul’s cables all wholeheartedly recommended them, and I’m not an exception in this case. Please give him a shout and I’m sure he’ll do his best to get you some cables for home demo and you’ll experience the great sounds from them.
I can actually either live with them or the WhiteGold digital cables as they’re both fantastic and giving me what I need. But soon, I will get another 2.0m pair of odin 2 xlr cables here to connect between my Pilium pre-pow, gonna be very interesting I guess.
But I and some others do spot differences when swapping cables.
In one occasion, I don’t remember exactly what happened, but it seems my vivaldi dac didn’t automatically change inputs between my transport and upsampler.
So instead of using the stock cables with input 3+4 when playing a redbook CD, for whatever reasons, it let the transport bypass the upsampler and using the WhiteGold cables with input 1+2.
I was stunned by how the quality of the sound could change that dramatically. It was louder, less edginess, much smoother and more dynamic. The WhiteGold digital cables are doing a stellar job between my transport and dac indeed.
When I received the Z:Axis top digital cables from Paul, although I don’t have the full 5 but replacing the 3 stock cables between my transport - upsampler - dac has brought very positive changes to my ears when playing non SACD discs and streaming music online.
In a few words, I see these Z:Axis cables are natural, musical and truly balanced despite solid silver core conductors are being used throughout. They’re having similar characteristics like their BNC siblings made by Paul that I reported awhile ago.
Who have used Paul’s cables all wholeheartedly recommended them, and I’m not an exception in this case. Please give him a shout and I’m sure he’ll do his best to get you some cables for home demo and you’ll experience the great sounds from them
.I can actually either live with them or the WhiteGold digital cables as they’re both fantastic and giving me what I need. But soon, I will get another 2.0m pair of odin 2 xlr cables here to connect between my Pilium pre-pow, gonna be very interesting I guess.
Great news...big fan of the Z:Axis custom i2s digital cable Paul designed with me for the Zanden and it is the first of 3 i2s cables i have tried to best the Zanden-designed cable. The other 2 did not come close to the Zanden design. But Z:Axis' i2s was superior by a significant margin. Much quieter, more detail, more filigreed, and also a sense of a lot more 'signal' coming through.For many people, cables merely make any differences in their system, particularly the digital ones.
But I and some others do spot differences when swapping cables.
In one occasion, I don’t remember exactly what happened, but it seems my vivaldi dac didn’t automatically change inputs between my transport and upsampler.
So instead of using the stock cables with input 3+4 when playing a redbook CD, for whatever reasons, it let the transport bypass the upsampler and using the WhiteGold cables with input 1+2.
I was stunned by how the quality of the sound could change that dramatically. It was louder, less edginess, much smoother and more dynamic. The WhiteGold digital cables are doing a stellar job between my transport and dac indeed.
When I received the Z:Axis top digital cables from Paul, although I don’t have the full 5 but replacing the 3 stock cables between my transport - upsampler - dac has brought very positive changes to my ears when playing non SACD discs and streaming music online.
In a few words, I see these Z:Axis cables are natural, musical and truly balanced despite solid silver core conductors are being used throughout. They’re having similar characteristics like their BNC siblings made by Paul that I reported awhile ago.
Who have used Paul’s cables all wholeheartedly recommended them, and I’m not an exception in this case. Please give him a shout and I’m sure he’ll do his best to get you some cables for home demo and you’ll experience the great sounds from them
I can actually either live with them or the WhiteGold digital cables as they’re both fantastic and giving me what I need. But soon, I will get another 2.0m pair of odin 2 xlr cables here to connect between my Pilium pre-pow, gonna be very interesting I guess.
NO change in tonality or any sense of the sound character itself...so you still have Zanden signature sound. Wonderful work, Paul.
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