ddHiFi Air Nyx OCC 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.

The Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC is ddHiFi’s highly customizable hand made/braided upgrade cable in the flagship category. The cable is made from 49 strands of OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) copper material and 112 stands of OFC (Oxygen Free Copper) copper material. The OCC strands are the core of the cable, while the OFC strands are the shielding part of the Air Nyx.

About Nyx:

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 for providing me the Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC 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 OCC (BC130B) upgrade cable is actually available for 389.99 US$. Since it is a highly customizable cable, you have the choice of different type of bundles for the connectors (2-Pin, 2-Pin Wrapped or MMCX) and headphone plug terminations (4.4mm L or Straight shaped).

More information’s can be found under the link below;

• ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC Upgrade Cable

Package & Accessories:

The ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC upgrade cable came inside a rectangular box made of recycled paper material.

Inside of the box are the following Items/Accessories:

• 1x ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC Upgrade Cable
• 1x ddHiFi Earphone Storage Case
• 1 x Manual/Warranty Card

Inside the box of the ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC13B) OCC upgrade comes is the company’s pretty looking C80A protective storage case that is also sold separately.

This storage case has a real microfiber lining that will protect both your cable and your earphones/IEM’s from scratches.

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 (BC130B) OCC is the companies latest highly customizable upgrade cable, which is a product with a decent overall build quality. Each cable is hand made & hand braided that comes with a “4 Core + 4 Spiral Shielding design” with a Litz structure.

The cable has a total length of 120cm and a weight of approx 37grams that is made from 4 cores of OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) copper material, which is a combination of 49 stands (7×16 strand) and each strand do have a diameter of Ø0.06mm. The spiral shielding is made from 112 strands (7×16 strand) of OFC (Oxygen Free Copper) copper material with a diameter of Ø0.05mm. 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 Air Nyx (BC130A) OCC upgrade cable is available in three different connector options, which are the 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin version, the 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin version with Wrapped Connector (compatible with UM & UE branded monitors) and the MMCX variant same like my review unit.

The connectors of my review unit do have a premium looking metal housing with parts that do have a silver and gold finish. The inner surfaces of the connectors do come with L (Left) and R (Right) markings. The MMCX connectors of the cable are compatible with a wide range of IEM’s that do have sometimes a slightly different MMCX connector interfaces; such like does of brands like Sennheiser, Sony or FiiO. The housing of each connector does have a slightly angled profile on the top in order to shorter the heat shrink ear hook/guide and make it more comfortable.

The Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC upgrade cable has 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 cable comes with a gold plated 4.4mm balanced plug that you can order with a Straight profiled or with a L angled metal housing same like my review unit.

At the rear side of the L shaped headphone plug version 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 overall build quality of the upgrade cable is “excellent” same like all the other cables I have tested before.

Technical Specifications: 

Equipment’s used for this review:

• IEM’s                 : ddHiFi JANUS 2, Campfire Audio ARA, Meze Audio ADVAR
• DAP/DAC/AMP: ddHiFi TC44A, FiiO M11 Plus, iFi Audio Gryphon

Albums & tracks used for this review:

• Adele – My Little Love (Spotify)
• Randy Crawford – On Day I Will Fly Away (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• 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)
• Sonya Yoncheva – (Giuseppe Verdi) II Trovatore, ActI (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• George Michael – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• David Bowie – Heroes (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Elton John – Rocket Man ((Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Barry White – Just The Way You Are (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Sting – Englishman in New York – (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• B.B. King – Riding With The King (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Dave Gahan – Kingdom (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Bro Safari, UFO! – Drama (Deezer HiFi)
• Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Daft Punk – Doin’ it Right (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Jo Blankenburg – Meraki (Spotify)
• Lorde – Royals (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Toutant – Rebirth (Deezer HiFi)
• Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Gogo Penguin – Murmuration (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Portishead – It Could Be Sweet (Spotify)
• Max Richter – On the Nature of Daylight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Charly Antolini – Duwadjuwandadu (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Ferit Odman – Look, Stop & Listen (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)
• 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)
• Metallica – Master of Puppets (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)
• Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
• Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (Spotify)

The Sound:

The Air Nyx (BC13B) OCC Upgrade Cable is ddHiFi’s latest flagship product, boasting premium build quality and beautiful looking design elements that will immediately catch your attention. But the main attraction is the positive contribution to the sound that shows audible improvements especially in the lows and highs.

This review has been written after a burn-in period of about 50 – 55 hours. I have paired the cable mainly with IEM’s like the ddHiFi Janus 2, Campfire Audio ARA and Meze Audio ADVAR that do pair extremely well.

Campfire Audio ARA + ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC Cable:

The Campfire Audio ARA is a High End In-Ear Monitor that comes with the companies SMOKEY Litz Cable, which is a 4 core braided silver plated cooper wire cable that features pretty soft, flexible and durable insulation in grey color. The ARA has a slightly warmer than neutral tonality and shows pretty fast and controlled bass response, detailed and natural midrange character, along with treble range that shows a high level of clarity, airiness and extension.

However, it is missing some body and depth that the SMOKEY Litz Cable was not able to provide. The Air Nyx (BC130B) shows an excellent synergy with the ARA, which adds more body and fullness, without to affect the clarity and resolution. The midrange, especially the lower midrange area gains slightly more weight that audible while listen to instruments such like violas, pianos or trumpets and to both male and female voices. Vocals do sound more musical and emotional, whiteout to lose the sense of transparency. When it comes to the treble range I can say that the Air Nyx (BC13B) OCC combinations shows a tad smoother and controlled response compared to the stock SMOKEY Litz cable that sounded also a bit dry in this area. The effect to the soundstage was surprisingly low.

ddHiFi Janus 2 + ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC Cable:

The ddHiFi Janus 2 is the successor of the original Janus that comes with a more mature, balanced and versatile tuning. My Janus 2 came with a pretty good stock cable made from Silver Plate OFC wire material.

The Air Nyx OCC shows immediately an improvement in the lower frequency area. The bass gains weight, fullness and authority that were missing while listen to certain genres. Instruments like drums and bass guitars do sound now fuller and more musical. The midrange is another area of the Janus 2 that sounds now more natural and voluminous with the Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC compared to its stock cable. Male vocals like Barry White and Dave Gahan or female vocals like Adel and Sarah McLachlan are reproduced in a more intimate and emotional manner due to the gain of body and fullness, without to lose the clarity and extensions The upper midrange and treble that sounded a bit bright, lose and dry is shown in a smoother, richer and controlled manner. The stage sounds slightly wider and has a bit more depth when I use the Air Nyx OCC cable.

Meze Audio ADVAR + ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC Cable:

The Meze Audio ADVAR comes with a nicely balanced sound profile that has a tad warmer than neutral tonality. The overall presentation shows an impressive sense of clarity and airiness, along with an excellent level of resolution that was audible from the lows up to the higher frequency area when paired with its stock 4 core Silver Plated Copper (SPC) wire cable.

Let’s start with the lows, where the Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC offers a better sense of subbass depth and midbass impact without to create any unwanted conditions such like a midbass hump or muddiness. One other improvement in this area is the level of layering and extension that comes to a next level. The midrange sounds slightly smoother and gains a nice grade of body and fullness when I listen to instruments such like pianos, cellos or to male and female vocals that did sound already good with the sock cable. The treble is reproduced in a slightly smoother and relaxed manner compared to the stock SPC cable that was a little prone to sibilance, especially at higher volumes. The stage shows a better sense separation and a slightly higher level of wideness.

Conclusion:

The Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC is another highly customizable upgrade cable from ddHiFi with an premium built quality and esthetic look as always that offers some pretty audible improvements to the sound of the IEM’s I have paired during my review, especially to the lows and the overall musicality of the paired source. Please don’t expect a complete transformation of your IEM, the main purpose of this cable is to fine tune and improve some local deficiencies (fullness, smoothness, bass depth, authority, etc.) up to a point that is audible and NYX is quite successful in this regarding.

Pros & Cons: 

• + Excellent Looking Upgrade Cable with Premium Build Quality
• + Audible improvements with all IEM’s paired
• + Compatible with almost any MMCX connectors (Sennheiser, Sony, FiiO, etc.)
• + Comes with the Beautiful ddHiFi C80A Storage Case

• – It’s a pricey cable that scales better with an IEM on an equivalent level

Thank you for the Read!