Over the years, decades even, I’ve tested and owned dozens of cables, most of them chosen by their emotional effect when listening to music, and their capability to satisfy the current listening needs. I’ve still got several Telluriums, Wireworlds (LAN), Nordosts (Walhalla) and more than ten Transparent cables, and I still keep using them as the system requires.
Just recently I added Rose 130 Streamer to my system, connected it to Valoo Optical network, Silent Angel transformer and Wireworld LAN-cabling. It all worked very well, and I thought that it was it, that I had reached the final stage in improving my digital system. Luckily I was wrong. Why? Because cables still matter, that’s why. That turned out to be the case when I added to my digital system New Zealander Mad Scientist’s Black Magic Ultra Network cable (2 m, 400 $) for the LAN connection, and their second best RCA interconnects called White Magic Ultra (2 m pair, 900 $).
But before describing their effect on the sound more closely, let the Director and number one of the company, Bob Prangnell, explain why White Magic Interconnects are different? What is the ”mad science” behind them?
White Magic cables use two main technologies:
1) Bad antenna theory. We developed this originally for the loudspeaker cables back in 2021. The basic idea is that all wires, cables can act as aerials, which not only pick up RF noise, but also transmit noise. We use a number of techniques to turn the cable into a bad antenna, so that this effect is minimized. And they also channel and absorb RF energy and turn it to heat.
The most extreme version of this is used on our Prime cables, named thus because it uses prime number ratios to set the lengths of various elements and offsets. This works because prime numbers do not divide into each other and thus don’t resonate. An example might be to compare listening rooms of size say 2 x 4 x 8 meters compares to 2 x 5 x 7.
And here’s what makes Mad Scientist cables different: No copper, No silver.
2) White Magic is a much newer development, only about a year old. As is well known, most commonly used metals for audio cables are copper and silver, both with well-known characteristics, to simplify a bit: silver has good highs and lows, while copper has better mids. Attempts to combine the metals often give the worst of both worlds. Mad Scientist did try different conductors until last year they came up with a new metal, in the form of a less-than-optimum wire.
Due to its physical nature, White Magic wire has its challenges. One, it cannot be soldered, which is why the company had to develop ways to connect the ends of the wire so that it sounded good. Its mechanical properties also make life difficult. As a result, White Magic wire is only suitable for signal cables, so it won’t work for power cables or speaker cables. And it is also not possible to make network cables for other reasons. So the range is analog cables, USB cables, SPDIF/AES/EBU digital cables and also coming soon, I2S cables.
LISTENING
To start with: they really sound different. When I replaced the in itself competent and expensive Wireworld Red LAN cable, White Magic USB gave a strong warning of its capabilities. The company recommends 100 hours burn in, and I tend to agree: the sound may even deteriorate during the early phases of burn in as the company honestly reports. The same applied to the White Magic Ultra RCAs when connected from BelCanto 3.7 DAC to my trusted Mac 2500. A bit harsh, too many details, a bit disturbing, but in 2-3 weeks this was all gone. When I compared White Magic Ultras on the fly with Transparent and MIT interconnects, both reference level products, White Magic Ultras succeeded with flying colors.
It is really hard to ignore their superiority. If you are happy with mellower sound, stay there. If you want to know the new limits of your system, White Magics won’t disappoint you. You are granted with a new kind of analytical approach to music and the system. But, as said, don’t judge them too hastily, after 50 hours one begins to notice that they are neither colored nor harsh, just doing their job extremely well. Technically I find the White Magic cables be very detailed and resolving, but phenomenologically also very musical and respectful of the dynamics of music.
There is a lot of skepticism around cables, some of it even justified. That’s fine. But there are hobbyists like me who find happiness and satisfaction in perfecting their playback system, and for whom life’s too short for hate and mockery. As regards Mad Scientist’s White Magic cables, they make one wonder how on earth could one settle for inferior options while knowing that there’s something that is exceptionally good!
More info on White Magic cables here:
https://www.madscientist-audio.com/white-magic-cable-technology/
