Gin is by far one of the very best silver cables that not only preserve the bass quantity but actually deepen the depth and color. Silver cables often gain that “silvery tone” to the sound, yet Gin stays surprisingly organic and natural despite the upper ends opening up with smooth airiness. The upper mids and treble gain crispiness and density in terms of hardness, tightening the sound while keeping the lows and lower mids with a relatively gentler amount of relaxation and softness.

Sound impression – Paired with Oriolus Mellianus

Luckily, Mellianus already comes with a high-quality stock cable made with oil-immersed single crystal silver wires. This stock cable alone retails for about $500, so you do not really need to get an upgrade cable – unless you want to take the steps even further. The stock cable delivers beautifully analyzed yet incredibly smooth upper frequencies. Yet the bass could sure use more rigidity and power. That is the point where Gin should kick in. 

 Finding a good cable for Mellianus is somewhat tricky and easy at the same time. This is because Mellianus tends to blend in well with different cables, yet it is challenging to bring improvements while maintaining the identical characteristics the original setup had. Silver cables would do a fine job presenting the airy atmosphere Mellianus has, yet I have discovered that numbers of them would make the texture particles drier/harsher, making the overall sound quite grainy. Copper would likely not have such a problem, but then again, the upper frequencies would lose its airiness. 

It is very interesting to find that Gin opens up the sound without actually getting it “bright”. Well, it does get bright, but the approach Gin takes is closer to simply clearing up the stuffy coatings from the upper frequencies, not aggressively forcing the upper frequencies to power up. This allows the overall sound to become to feel purer and analytical yet staying very much intact with the original characteristics the IEM has. Thanks to that, Mellianus gains a further upgrade in clarity and transparency without the upper frequencies getting wacky or untamed. It also highlights a bit more density and rigidity to the sound, allowing the vocals to have more of a crispy bite. These changes are all meaningful enough, but the biggest difference comes from the low end. The bass visibly gains more body and depth to it. The bass would form in a bigger shape and darker in color while diving down. It also gains more elasticity and vitality, making a better reveal for itself.   

Sound impression – Paired with Kinera Nanna

You may think the sound change is not as big as imagined, though the more you dig into it, the more you realize the difference – the change was not obvious as other cases because the improvements have been brought so seamlessly. The bass is meatier and very elastic, like a large, heavy rubber ball that is slightly soft as well. It brings a stronger ringing to the bass yet not overdone or causing muddy reverbs. The tonality on mids are near identical as original, but now with undoubtedly stronger appeal and power. The body is fuller and thicker in density, thoroughly filling the lower ends full of particles while keeping the upper range mildly opened.

 The bass quality Gin provides are well proven while matching with Nanna, as Nanna was not particularly emphasized in bass quantity. Very appreciable tuning for those who dig a clean and evenly spread sound, though some may want a bit more bass reproduction while enjoying all other elements just as it is. Matching a bassy copper cable would be the first option that comes up to the mind, yet those often take away the fizz from Nanna’s tonality, causing the tone to be rather “flat”. Well, despite its pure-silver nature, Gin is an excellent choice for preserving Nanna’s original tone and analyticity, just except the lows and mids swapped with lot stronger engines. Along with a larger sound stage and imaging, the sound stays just as harmonic and well-fitted to each other.  

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