I’m testing the ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC130B) OCC in today’s review. The BC130B is an OCC (Ohno Continuous Casting) earphone upgrade cable with shielding. It’s priced at $389.
Disclaimer: This sample was provided by ddHiFi for an honest review. All observations and opinions here are my own based on my experience with the product.
ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC130B)
What’s in the Box
The BC130B comes in an environmentally-friendly cardboard box. Opening the box reveals the BC130B cable, a C80A PU leather storage case and a manual/warranty card.
Design
The ddHiFi Air Nyx BC130B is the company’s latest HiFi upgrade cable. Each cable is braided by hand Litz structure with ddHiFi’s usual attention to detail (i.e. the build quality is excellent).
4 cores of OCC copper (49 strands) are wrapped in OFC shielding (112 strands). They are customizable and you can choose between straight or angled 4.4mm balanced terminations. You also get to choose either the MMCX, 2-pin or shrouded 2-pin (QDC) connector type.
I went for a straight 4.4mm termination with standard 0.78mm 2-pin connectors. This cable has shielded 2-pin connectors and transparent pre-formed ear hooks Just like my previous ddHiFi BC130A. There’s a subtle brand logo on the outer side and an L or R marking on the inner surface to denote the Left and Right sides respectively.
ddHiFi’s attractive polished Y-splitter sits further down the cable. It has 4 vertical slits carved out to reduce the weight and add some visual appeal. The Y-splitter is joined by a gold-coloured metal chin slider.
The BC130B isn’t quite as supple as the BC130A, despite having the same Japan NUC chemical foam HDPE inner and SoftFlex PVC outer insulation. It’s ropier and feels firmer in the hand. However, it’s pliable and free of kinks. Furthermore, the cable doesn’t get tangled and always behaves well even after it’s been stuffed in my pocket.
Sound
As expected, the ddHiFi Air Nyx BC130B looks and feels great. Keen to hear how it performed, I hooked it up to some choice IEMs, including the Meze Audio ADVAR (with the OEAudio 2pin-MMCX adapters), Earsonics ONYX and Letshuoer S12.
ddHiFi’s Air Nyx BC130B conveys a lavish, insouciant signature with textured lows and natural mids. It adds a hint of warmth and earthiness but it does so without diminishing resolution or clarity.
Kick drums gain body and impact yet are loaded with sweet texture and physicality. Yet definition and clean leading edges remain intact. The Nyx Air OCC works particularly well with brighter IEMs, granting them additional girth, extra depth and less edgy highs. But warmer IEMs also benefit from the added grain, especially in bass guitars and male vocals.
What’s interesting about the BC130B is it tends to affect musical notes but not the air surrounding them. So even if midrange instruments are slightly filled out more, the Air Nyx OCC keeps tight control of decays and trailing harmonics.
Vocals and midrange instruments attain extra fullness without losing their articulation and transparency. Brighter IEMs like the Letshouer S12 sound more even and cohesive, especially at a higher volume. The added warmth eases the treble and upper midrange by bolstering the note body, resulting in a more musical presentation.
But it’s the bass texture that really draws me in. The sub-bass notes in the latter half of Caligula’s Horse’s “Daughter of the Mountain” (starting at 5:51) sound gravelly and visceral. In addition, the kick drums hit with impact and assertiveness.
In Anathema’s “Flying – Live”, the vocals and acoustic guitars are rich yet unclouded by the heavy kick drums. The orchestral strings swell and undulate in the background and the electric guitar has bite yet is free of sharpness. Even during the song’s busy second half, the instrument separation is held intact and the soundstage remains stable and uncluttered.
Verdict
The ddHiFi Air Nyx (BC130B OCC) cable is another high-quality accessory from ddHiFi. It has exceptional build quality, good handling and an even better sonic character. It pairs best with neutral or bright IEMs but it can also bring out extra texture and nuance in warmer gear as well. If you’re after a robust and beautiful copper upgrade cable, look no further.