ddHiFi Air NYX (BC130A) Review
ddHiFi Air NYX (BC130A) Upgrade Cable Review
Introduction:
ddHiFi (DD Electronics Technology Co.Ltd.) is a relative young company located in China that is specialized in the producing of Portable Audio Accessories like Protective/Storage Case’s for DAP’s, DAC/AMP Adaptors, Cables and more.
- ddHiFi Offical Webiste: https://www.ddhifi.com/
The ddHiFi Air NYX (aka BC130A) that I will now review for you is the brand new flagship upgrade cable of the Air Series, which is available in 3 (three) different versions; standard, short and SE short. The standard version is the TOTL (Top of the Line) version with the highest price tag, same like my review unit.
NYX – The Goddess of Night:
NYX is the synonymous with “dark night”, describing how her dark light is reflected from the starry sky. She is one of the most powerful goddesses in the Greek mythology. In ancient art, NYX was depicted as a winged goddess, sometimes wearing a halo formed by dark fog.
Disclaimer:
I would like to thank ddHiFi & Lily for providing me Air NYX (BC130A) Standard Version Upgrade Cable for review purposes. I am not affiliated with ddHiFi beyond this review and these words reflect my true, unaltered opinions about the product.
Price & Availability:
The ddHiFi Air NYX (BC130A) is available in three (3) different version that do come with different price tags. The Standard Version is 120cm long and comes with a 4 core braided design that features a 4.4mm Balanced Plug. It is the Flagship of the NYX lineup priced at US$399.99. The Air NYX Short Version (55cm) is the same cable but is 55cm long that is available for US$249.99, while the NYX SE Version features only 2 cores instead of 4 cores, it is 55cm long and comes with a 3.5mm Single Ended Headphone plug, which has a price of US$79.99.
More information’s can be found under the link below;
Package and Accessories:
The ddHiFi Air NYX Standard Version comes inside a rectangular box made of recycled paper material and has some brandings in green color on the top.
Inside of the box are the following Items/Accessories:
- 1x ddHiFi Air NYX Standard Version (BC130A) Upgrade Cable
- 1x ddHiFi Earphone Storage Case
- 1 x Manual/Warranty Card
The Air NYX (BC130A) comes with ddHiFi’s protective storage case that sports a fancy looking denim surface, which is a very nice addition.
The symmetrical flip cover is located on the side, which can be opened easily. The double-sided magnet design enables them to attract to each other regardless it’s placed above or bellow.
Design & Build Quality:
The ddHiFi Air NYX (BC130A) is a Premium looking Upgrade Cable with a “Hand-Crafted” 4 Core multi stranded core design that features a Litz structure. This structure is a combination of Litz Type II High-Purity Pure Silver (core), Litz High-Purity OFC “Oxygen-Free Copper” (black) and Litz Silver Plated over long Crystal Copper (silver) materials.
The cable has a total length of 120cm, while the diameter of the “Cable Core” is 27.2AWG, and the one of the “Spiral Shielding” is 24.9AWG.
The shielding layer is wholly connected to both the 4.4mm Balanced Plug and to the 0.78mm diameter contact pin shells, which is a special design to improve the signal transmission and to create an anti-interference effect.
The inner insulation is made of HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) martial of the Japanese Company Japan NCU Chemical, while the outer insulation is made from High Transparency “SoftFlex” PVC material (Made in USA).
The outer transparent PVC insulations shows a very low amount of microphonic effect, while the look and feel is decent.
The Air NYX (BC130A) is only available with 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin connectors. The reason for this choice is the use of ddHiFi’s “patent pending” special 2-Pin shielding. The contact pin of each connector has been designed with a two-layered shell, while the connector pins are made of 24k gold plated copper-silver alloy material.
The housing of each 2-Pin connector has a fancy looking metal housing in silver color.
The inner surface of this housing features L (Left) and R (Right) markings, while the outer surface sports the ddHiFi brand logo. My only complaint about the connectors is the Left and Right markings are not very visible. The cable sports on both sides flexible ear guides that do offers extra comfort for longer listening periods on the go.
The Air NYX Standard Version (BC130A) comes with a very stylish y-splitter and chin slider design. The y-splitter has a silver polishes finish, while the chin slider seems made from messing material, which is in cold color.
The Air NYX Standard Version (BC130A) utilizes a 4.4mm Pentaconn Balanced (TRRRS) headphone plug with a very fancy looking L-Profiled housing.
The production process of straight profiled headphone plugs is relative simple, while L-Shaped Plugs have to be finished by hand since machines can’t be used to braid the wires.
At the rear side of the headphone plug is the ddHiFi brand logo that is printed (or laser engraved) to the faceplate in gold color, which gives the overall appearance a premium look and feel.
The total weight of the Air NYX upgrade Cable is about 37 grams.
The overall build quality of the ddHiFi Air NYX Standard Version (BC130A) is “Gorgeous!”
Specifications:
| Model | : NYX Air Standard Version (A130B) |
| Strands | : 4 Strands |
| Conductor Diameter | : 27.2AWG (core) + 24.9AWG (spiral shielding). |
| Conductor Materials | : Litz Type Il High-Purity Pure Silver (core) |
| : Litz High-Purity OFC “Oxygen-Free Copper” (black) | |
| : Litz Silver Plated over long Crystal Copper (silver) | |
| Cable Structure | : Ø0.05mm x 7×7 strands x 4 strands (core) |
| Ø0.05mm x 7×14 strands x 4 strands (shielding) | |
| Inner Insulation | : Japan NUC chemical foam HDPE (Made in Japan) |
| Outer Insulation | : High transparency SoftFlex PVC (Made in USA). |
| Plug | : L-shaped 4.4 mm balanced, 24K Gold-Plated Copper material |
| Connector Type | : 2-pin 0.78mm, 24K gold-plated copper-silver alloy* material |
| *93.91% copper and 5.62% silver | |
| Length | : 120cm |
| Weight | : 37 grams |
Equipment’s used for this review:
- Cable : ddHiFi Air NYX (BC130A)
- IEM : ddHiFi Janus 2 (E2020B), Oriveti O800
- DAP/DAC/AMP : ddHiFi TC35 Pro, HiBy RS6, Lotoo PW S1
Albums & tracks used for this review:
- Hayley Westenra – Odyssey Album (Dezzer HiFi)
- Dionne Warwick – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Sarah McLachlan – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Sertap Erener – Aşk (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Edith Piaf – Non Je Ne Regrette Rien (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
- Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Payer (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- David Bowie – Heroes (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Barry White – Just The Way You Are (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Elton John – Rocket Man ((Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Sting – Englishman in New York – (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Really Slow Motion – Deadwood (Deezer HiFi)
- Jo Blankenburg – Meraki (Spotify)
- Lorde – Royal (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Toutant – Rebirth (Deezer HiFi)
- Portishead – It Could Be Sweet (Spotify)
- Charly Antolini – Duwadjuwandadu (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Chopin – Nocturn No. 20 In C-Sharp Minor (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Fazıl Say – Nazım Oratoryosu (Live) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Deezer HiFi)
- Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Lunatic Soul – The Passage (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Deftones – My Own Summer (Shove it) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Opeth – Windowpane (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- Rush’s – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Slayer – Angel of Death (Spotify)s
- Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
- Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (Spotify)
The Sound:
I will analyze now the benefits and improvements of the ddHiFi Air NYX upgrade cable, compared to the stock cable of two IEM’s, the ddHiFi Janus 2 (aka E2020B) and the Oriveti O800.
ddHiFi Janus 2 (E2020B):
Let’s start with the ddHiFi Janus 2 (E2020B), which is the latest IEM of the company. The first noticeable improvement that was clearly audible was the increase of the subbass depth and that was slightly missing with the stock BC110A cable, which is a Silver Plated OFC cable. The midbass regions gains slightly more depth and intensity, while the control remains pretty similar in this area.
The midrange shows an increase of transparency and airiness that was already good with the stock cable. The lower midrange has a tad more body and depth compared to the BC110A combination that was especially audible while listen to instruments such like an acoustic guitar or piano. The upper midrange shows a slightly by pretty audible improvement in terms of resolution, clarity and resolution.
The treble range sounds a bit more controlled and airy, while the upper treble area is produced with a slightly better sense of extension.
The depth of the soundstage doesn’t changed that much, while the improvement of the wideness and the separation of instruments is pretty audible.
Oriveti O800:
The Oriveti O800 is the flagship of the company that comes with a Silver Plated Copper (SPC) wire cable. The lower frequency region of the O800 in combination with the ddHiFi Air NYX shows a better sense of authority and clarity over the stock SPC cable. Moreover, there is a slightly but noteworthy improvement in terms of layering and subbass decay.
The midrange shows the most audible improvement, which has now with the ddHiFi Air NYX a better level of clarity and resolution. The lower midrange shows tad better level of clearness, while the depth and body still unchanged, which is in my opinion a good thing for the O800.
Both male and female vocals are reproduced with a better grade of transparency without to loss the smooth and emotional character of the O800.
The treble range gains a bit more brightness without to tend to sibilance or over-sharpness. There is an audible improvement in terms of clarity in the lower treble region, while the upper treble area is reproduced with a better sense of airiness and sparkle. Instruments such like violins, pianos and cymbals are now shown with a better level of extension.
The ddHiFi Air NYX offers a better level of soundstage wideness, while the depth of the stage sounds a bit better compared to the stock SPC cable.
Conclusion:
The Air NYX (aka BC130A) is another decent product from ddHiFi that immediately impressed me with its attention to the smallest optical detail, such as the beautiful braided wire design and the very esthetic looking metal parts from the headphone plug, to the y-splitter from the chin slider up to the 2-pin sockets. However, the most impressive part of the show are the improvements that you get in terms of sound performance, such as improved level & sense of Clarity, Resolution, Dynamism and Airiness.
Pros and Cons:
- + Increase of Authority and Depth in the Lower Frequency Area
- + Improvements in terms Overall Resolution
- + Very Esthetic Look with attention to the smallest Design Elements
- + Build Quality
- + Protective Storage Case is a Nice Addition
- – Pricey (2x the Price of the Janus 2)
- – Left & Right indicators are not very visible
- – Sad that it is only available with 2-Pin connectors
Thank you for the Read!
