ARES S X CADMUS
Christmas edition 2023
Those crazy Christmas Elves have been working up their magic to come up with something unique for the Holiday season. While the signature series have been popular for Effect Audio. It wasn’t till now we see, for a very limited time, a unique marriage of their Ares S and Cadmus cores in the ARESSxCADMUS Christmas 2023 edition. Though it deserves its own name cuz who wants to refer to these as what they are, a combination of the ARESS and CADMUS. ARCAD? ARECADMUS?
ARCADxMUS? Ok so there is no real way of combining the names of the two for a better name. How about ARCAMUS-X. In any case the end result of the two established cables yields something new for cable land. If you read the individual reports on both the Ares S and the Cadmus obviously you're getting the full results of both cables in a thick substantial new 8 cored cable. This marriage of cables into one just makes a whole lot of sense to me and I will go into detail exactly what this wholy marriage of material does for your end sound.
The thickness is very close to either of the Ares S 8wire or the Cadmus 8w variants. 26 gauge 8 wire cable, yes it's thick and substantial but nothing that is too unwieldy. It's a meticulously handcrafted cable that yields the transparency of the Cadmus with the foundational musicality of the Ares S. Both of these cables are using Effect Audios outstanding Ultra Pure OCC at their cores. It is not exactly the 8w cadmus or the 8w version of the AresS however what you end up getting is a finely tuned cable that will be extremely versatile. Well balanced and highly musical with the blackest of backgrounds for your music. Basically if you don't know which version of the signature series would match up well with your IEMs. How about both at once?
First of all let's talk about the foundation that is the ARES S
Pure copper cables are a necessity and a must have for folks that own BA based IEMs or if you value a natural warm tonal quality and dynamics applied to your base IEM sound profile. The ARES S provides one of the best pure copper materials around which provides that catalist for all things dynamic and emotive in your sound profile. Enhanced bass, enhanced body to the mids, natural treble presentation. Increase of black space for your music which in turn enhances imaging. The ARES S is the foundation for this new hybrid cable and then you add half the cores from the Cadmus
Cadmus adds a bit of a plus on top of the base UPOCC cores. Pure silver plating. The silver addition on the Cadmus yields better transparency and technical enhancing ability on top of the foundational UPOCC cores. Cadmus sacrifices a slight bit of that natural warmth of the pure Ares S with a more transparent detail ability. I was lucky enough to actually try out all 3 signature cables and to me the middle ground of the EROS S and ARES S was indeed the Cadmus. When the 8 wire version became available I had to own it for my ever growing stable of IEMs. As it stands, my 8w Cadmus is the litmus test for other cables around the price range. Absolutely one of the top tier silver plated copper cables in the industry.
Cadmus brings a wider and deeper stage with a higher level of detail retrieval from your IEM sound. Bringing the best of both UPOCC and silver but when you marry 4 of these cores with 4 cores of the ARES S?..
You get something a bit more musical, adding a bit of warmth to that extra body of note, still has that great transparency of details with an amazing black background for your IEMs sound to shine. It enhances note weight with an increase of stage and depth. A clean black background makes it possible to hear better sound separation for better imaging. The more musical Cadmus is here or the more transparent ARES S. Either way you look at it but the more I use the new ARES S x Cadmus the more I am understanding the brilliant marriage of the two materials together.
As versatile as the other two cables that make up this cable, I can argue this particular cable is Effect Audio's most versatile cable of them all simply due to the fact that it covers all the important aspects of why we look into an upgraded IEM cable in the first place.
You all should know by now how both cables do but the combination of both now yields literally the best of both aspects for a new cable that is truly one of the best of the best in the signature line up. The body of note is substantial. The new AresS x Cadmus now with the sheer amount of cable cores adds a grander stage element with a fuller body of note for your IEMs. Within that larger sound presentation. You get a more involved textured mid range. A cleaner background enhancing imaging for your IEMs. You get the full impact of bass notes with the best texture possible for bass. Treble is nicely represented with excellent added treble transparency and clarity for trebles.
This cable is the do-it-all cable that makes a whole lot of sense. It’s one of those cables that sounds fantastic on every type of IEM you own. Tested on a highly detailed Simgot EA1000 and it brings that IEM to a level that I never thought was possible with a cable change. Tested on the new Penon Quattro. Once again all the elements that could be enhanced, is in fact enhanced. It sounds more impactful in the bass, its mids sounding more substantial, its treble even more articulate and cleaner.
The cable leans a bit more toward higher end copper properties vs leaning more toward silver properties due to the sheer make up of both types of cores but this is not a bad thing. The cable is substantially musical and extremely well balanced in what it does. It has to be one of the absolute best hybrid type IEM cables I have ever used on anything. Sometimes when you purchase a nice higher end cable you want to be able to buy with confidence and connect it to an IEM and just get the best sonics you can without too much thought brought into the equation. And that is exactly what this cable does. It will match well with anything you put them with. Thus far the plus and minuses of this cable.
Plus
-Stunner looking and feeling cable.
-Premium in workmanship, hand crafted
-Substantially thick weighty cable, but not too noodly
-Nice looking new all metal chrome colorway for hardware
-Enhances stage width depth height of an IEM.
-Enhances the dimensional character for multi BA IEMs.
-Enhances texture for both instruments and vocals.
-Enhances with a natural slightly warmer tonal character.
-Enhances for a bigger sound with a fuller body of note.
-Enhances imaging due to a clean black background.
-Enhances bass texture, impact and extension.
-Enhances treble clarity, its transient qualities and shimmer.
-Enhances musicality with a solid technical ability
-Extremely versatile for all types of IEMs
Minus
-Very limited for the Holidays 2023
-Limited means they will not be sold afterwards
-Thicker cables some don’t like. Not a con for me.
Tested on 4 IEMS:
EA1000 by Simgot single dynamic
Penon Impacts 10BA+4EST
Penon Quattro 4DD
Night Oblivian Butastur 10BA
Simgot EA1000
Superb addition to the highly resolving IEM that is the EA1000. This single dynamic IEM at the price point is one of, if not the most resolving single dynamic IEM with excellent above average technicalities in its price class. As technical as this IEM is, its included cable does a fair job at showing what the EA1000 is about but by no means does the cable maximize the sound of the EA1000.
With Ares S x Cadmus. Sound becomes much more musical with a fuller bigger body of note for both vocals, instruments and its bass comes out to play. Some of my fellow reviewers mention the quality of the bass being excellent on the EA1000 but would have loved a bit more in the way of impact Aka mid bass. Well bass is just one aspect this cable enhances. Music has a greater presence is the best way to describe the effect of this cable on the EA1000. Everything is grander: its stage, its bass, its treble articulation. Which results in a much more musical and enjoyable EA1000. The cable helps present with some of the cleanest separated vocal notes for any IEM just bringing a lot of joy for vocal music. I know this special edition cable cost more than the IEM itself but my goodness do they synergize. It is the best pairing for this particular IEM I have tried on them. Going back to the stock cable is a big sad face, let me put it that way.
Penon Impacts
The included cable is a higher end white Penon Obsidian cable, mostly 4 cores of crystal copper and a few cores of gold-plated crystal copper. This is a fantastic cable for BA based IEMs as it brings focus for the mids and bass end of IEMs with the added richness from the gold plating. However, the one aspect the cable does not do like the Ares S x Cadmus does is enhance the stage on its stock presentation using the Obsidian cable.
With Ares S X Cadmus. What a pairing this is, the Impacts has some of the best mids for any IEM I own and so there is not a fall off from its full bodied mids presentation, if anything the addition of the Special edition cable here makes it sound more grand in scale in every way. While the slightly richer tonal enhancing ability of the stock cable is better the rest of the sound characteristics gets a nice uptick which ultimately is a better trade off. All of it from stage, depth, imaging, body of note, bass texture and reach, treble articulation. Adding a nice bigger, wider more spacious stage and sound to the mix.
It is the Cadmus Founders Edition that is the absolute best pairing for the Impacts but the Ares S x Cadmus is not far off and is in no way a clear drop off. It would actually take the FE a cable that is valued at almost 3x the Ares S x cadmus to reach the absolute peak of what the Impacts are about but this cable gets remarkably close and that is saying something about how good the Ares S x Cadmus is.
Penon Quattro
These are the newest IEMs from Penon audio and uses a super rare combination of 4 dynamic drivers per side for the sound output. The Quattro has not been released yet but will be Penons next IEM and they are frantically making as many as they can as I am typing. These IEMs are one of two IEMs I know in existence that are using 4 dynamic drivers, the other one being the Oriolus Monachaa.
Its included cable is a nicely matching SPC type cable with some graphene. Adding the Ares S x Cadmus. Yields an immediate grander bolder sound. Punchier bass, a more textured visualized vocal performance, cleaner treble extension and air. Its well balanced sound presentation is by no means lacking in dynamic character but using the Ares S x Cadmus brings the sonics to a different level here. Music gets added weight and texture, presentation wider, deeper and thicker. Going back to the stock cable while actually not lacking, actually sounds for lack of a better word, a bit lacking. It is one of those things where you can’t unhear the results of this combination. In an ideal planet all IEMs would be packaged with premium Effect Audio made cables to maximize the sound performance of the given IEM but as you all know, that is about as realistic as hooking up with a supermodel.
Last but not least the
Night Oblivion Butastur.
Why this particular IEM? Well that's because the Butastur, if you don’t know, has a reference balanced tuning that easily picks off any addition or subtraction to what they are connected to. It is the one IEM that clearly tells me what the cables, tips and sources are doing. This being said it has easily become one of my go to tester IEMs for such parameters.
With the AresS x Cadmus
Its stock cable is a 4 core crystal copper cable. Nicely resolving pure copper cable that does its job perfectly. However there is a clear difference when connecting to the Ares S X Cadmus. Once again where stage and note weight matters, the Ares S x Cadmus is very consistent in bringing a grander more musical sound experience. It's like the base sound gets an uplift and is more magnified in its sound performance from the stock cables sound. Bass gets better impact as it takes on a dynamic like impact quality, musical notes get a greater note weight and presence, details become more easily apparent with a better perceivable layering of the mid bands. Ultimately presenting a more dimensional holographic sound. Treble gets cleaner, more crystalline with enhanced shimmer. Sure I am comparing a decent included cable that probably is not worth more than lets say $50 vs a $350 custom made Effect Audio cable. But it is as you would expect. No comparison to the former on what the cables here do for the Butastur.
In the end
During the holidays when you get something and it leaves that not so fresh feeling like the lovely gift of getting socks for Christmas. This is not that, there is no question you're getting the value represented in what this new cable offers. Ares S x Cadmus is the happy marriage of two outstanding cables into one that when connected to your favorite IEMs. There will be no question if the cables are affecting what you hear. Going back and forth to do this cable pairing report was a lot of fun. It clearly showed me just how much of a difference a well engineered cable makes and if you're on the fence and can’t figure out which signature series of cables to get, Ares S or the Cadmus. I highly advise you to get both in the new Christmas edition. While they are available in the AresS x Cadmus. From what I was told these are limited for this season and that as they say, will be that. Merry Holidays to all my fellow headfiers and the fine folks from Effect Audio. Keep on keeping on and who knows what 2024 has to offer the enthusiasts but I am personally looking forward to it.
