The only way to avoid characteristic-impedance mismatch-effects between a cable and its attached source and load circuits is to prevent the cable from having a characteristic-impedance. ZERO-Tech succeeds by eliminating the electrostatic field between the cable’s high and low signal conductors, enabling linear (consistent octave to octave) Radio-Frequency (RF) Noise-Dissipation, and uncompressed transients. In order to preserve ZERO-Tech’s complete isolation between signal conductors, a Dual-72v DBS pack is included for XLR cables.
Solid conductors prevent electrical and magnetic strand-interaction. PSS Solid-Silver minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries and maximizes linear RF Noise-Dissipation.
Positive conductors benefit from almost no contact between metal and its FEP insulation, which is notable for its superior dielectric constant and minimal signal interference. Negative conductors benefit from intentionally “lossy insulation” — no air and no FEP helps maximize the negative connection’s different job.
Insulation is also a dielectric that can act like a shunt-filter. Biasing minimizes dielectric-noise and linearizes the filter, significantly improving wide-bandwidth dissipation of induced RF noise.
Radio-Frequency Noise from cellular, WiFi, and satellites is everywhere. AQ’s Level 6 Linear Noise-Dissipation includes a carbon & graphene resistive mesh-network, direction-controlled conductors, 72v DBS, and Silver-Plated drain wires, significantly minimizing RF Noise masking effects.
AudioQuest’s finest plugs feature superior Hanging-Silver (not tumbled) directly over extreme-purity Red Copper.
Grounded Silver-Plated Barrels maximize Noise-Dissipation by preventing a metal barrel from capacitively coupling RF to the conductors.
ThunderBird, FireBird, and Dragon are AudioQuest’s best-sounding, most sonically invisible interconnects yet — category-defining products that establish new benchmarks of transparency and musical pleasure, bringing us significantly closer than ever to our sonic ideal of completely invisible cable.
AudioQuest’s 42-year history of designing and refining analog interconnects has been a long, steady climb up a mountain, the summit of which can never be reached…
But with each step, we have arrived at cleaner, clearer, more naturally detailed and beautiful sound. For the most part, improvements in performance have been incremental — small steps, always in the right direction — but, just a few times along our 42-year path, new materials and/or technologies have brought so much improvement that it’s as though we took a chairlift to at least the next base station.
The Mythical Creature interconnects are that important.
Most of the credit for passing so much more information than AudioQuest’s previous generation of state-of-the-art cables — and even more importantly, so much less misinformation (energy in the wrong place and time) — goes to ZERO-Tech (No Characteristic-Impedance) dramatically improving RF Noise-Dissipation and significantly further reducing dielectric-involvement (electrical interaction with insulation).
This enables more of the nuance that makes music so engaging, moving, and human: more fully realized tonal expression with more newly un-masked low-level detail revealed than ever before, more relaxing and stimulating at the same time, more palpable and engaging than previously possible.
For over 40 years, AudioQuest’s interconnects have been Double-Balanced (RCA) or Triple-Balanced (XLR) to prevent the shield from being used as an inferior ground-reference conductor.
The Mythical Creature Interconnects make the multiple discrete signal and ground-reference paths externally visible for the first time — but that is not new technology. It is because the more complicated and optimized implementation of ZERO-Tech would have made the cables stiff and unfriendly if all hidden in a single round jacket.
The extra effort of creating multiple constructions results in some of the most flexible interconnects AudioQuest has ever made.
Mythical Creatures’ unprecedented RF Noise-Dissipation enables more fully realized tonal expression with more newly un-masked low-level detail revealed than ever before, more relaxing and stimulating at the same time, more palpable and engaging than previously possible.
In order to optimally apply AQ’s Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) to a balanced ZERO-Tech cable, it is necessary to maintain complete isolation between the inverting and non-inverting positive signal constructions. Each of the positive signal paths requires its own autonomous DBS system.
We could have strapped on two of our single DBS packs, but we think you will agree that the new single DBS double-pack is a lot more elegant.
Performance-damaging Radio-Frequency (RF) Noise is more pervasive today than ever before. Therefore, the Mythical Creature Interconnects apply more sophisticated Noise-Dissipation technologies than ever before.
In addition to AQ’s universally applied fundamental of controlling conductor direction to direct induced RF to where it will do the least harm, and ZERO-Tech, Mythical Creature Interconnects also employ a carbon & graphene resistive mesh-network, 72v DBS, and thickly Silver-Plated shield-drains (Dragon’s drains are 100% PSS-Silver), greatly minimizing RF Noise getting into active circuits and causing masking effects.
The sheer beauty of Mythicals’ bespoke RCA plugs is the happy result of a technical performance imperative. In order to maximize the plug barrel’s ability to drain RF Noise, minimizing any possible coupling of RF Noise into the cable, the barrels are plated for maximum RF conductivity.
For ThunderBird, this entails optimized copper plating underneath an automotive-type clear coat. For FireBird and Dragon, silver does an even better job thanks to silver’s significantly lower impedance at RF frequencies (as compared to at audio frequencies where the impedance difference is trivial).
All Mythical plug contacts use superior Hanging-Silver (not tumbled) directly over extreme-purity Red Copper. Cold-welded connections prevent distortion that would be introduced by solder or even resistance-welding.
We are justifiably very proud of all the new and very significant ingredients applied in the Mythical Creature Interconnects. However, as with an amazing new skyscraper, the building is only as strong and effective as its foundation.
By 1981, AudioQuest was already making Double-Balanced cables using Teflon+Air dielectrics — even employing ZERO-Tech, though we didn’t understand at the time how to maximize the technology. Way back in the last century, direction-controlled conductors using then state-of-the-art metals, patented Air-HyperLitz conductors, and other materials and technologies paved the way to today’s Mythical interconnects.
In reference to the opening comment about climbing a mountain: we might never reach the mountain’s summit — perfect cable might never be possible — but we are very proud to be significantly closer than ever before.
As always, we invite you to listen for yourself, and we thank you for joining us on the journey.
Mythical Creatures use AudioQuest’s finest conductor metals: Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+ and Perfect-Surface Silver.
AudioQuest’s ZERO-Tech ensures wide-bandwidth linearity, reduces dielectric-involvement, and improves Noise-Dissipation to unprecedented effect.
FEP Air Tubes, with almost nothing but air around the solid conductors, improve focus and dynamics.
Features include superior RF drains, Graphene/Carbon Mesh-Network, RF-draining plug barrels, and 72v Dielectric-Bias System.
ork
AudioQuest FireBird RCA