Astral Acoustics Voyager and Mercury Sound Impression/Review

General Info/Build

Astral Acoustics is an audio company specialising in cables based in Hong Kong. They produce premium audio cable mainly based on copper and silver, according to their website’s about us section, “Exotic materials like Gold and Palladium give users a unique experience, but those are for a niche group of audiophiles.” I have the Voyager (a pure copper cable) and Mercury (a SPC cable) with me today courtesy of Mr Henry from Astral Acoustics for giving me the opportunity to test out both of the cables.

Build Quality

Voyager

• It is very soft overall, it may look stiff but actually it is very soft and doesn’t get tangled up easily

• Bare minimal microphonics

• 2 pin connector and the 4.4mm jack is solid, however the 2 pin seems to be a little bit shorter compared to my other 2 pin cables, the connection between the 2 pin into the IEMs are generally fine except for one of my IEM which is IKKO’s OH5, it seems to be loose and will come off anytime (possibly due to the shorter pin)

• Chin slider works well and no complaints about it

Mercury

• The cable is slightly thicker and it is stiff in nature

• Doesn’t get tangled up easily

• Same 2 pin connector and 4.4mm jack as the Voyager, 2 pin is also short as with Voyager

• The chin slider used in the Mercury is something like a silicone O-Ring, it is very different and easy to use, just slide it up and down and it stays there, but i do question the durability in the long run as with most rubber product do go through wear and tear after sometime

• Minimal microphonics from the Mercury as well

Cable’s Specifications

Voyager

Material: 4x 26 AWG Compound Litz Structure with LCOFC Copper

Length: 120cm approx

Mercury

Material: 22.5awg 6n SPC Type 4 Litz

Length: 120cm

Gears used for this impression

• Earmen Angel Dac Amp 4.4 output

• IKKO Asgard OH5 - Single dynamic driver

• SeeAudio Yume II - Hybrid

• 7HZ Timeless x AE - Planar

Foreword

My impression is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impressions

The sound impressions are based on comparison between the IEM’s stock cables and Astral Acoustics’s cables, also the reason why to go with Earmen Angel as a source is because it is fairly neutral and uncolored, hence i will be able to pick up the differences easily

Voyager

• Overall sound profile is fairly balanced with the mids standing out a little bit more than the lows and highs

• Noticeably better bass texture and slight boost on the bass quantity while retaining the quality (control, tightness)

• The mids are the star of the show for this cable in my opinion, vocal lovers will be pleased, it pushes the vocal slightly forward and both male and female vocals has good texture to it

• On IEMs with energetic treble, Voyager tend to smother it a little making it more pleasant for those who are treble sensitive, but that doesn’t mean the details are lost, Voyager just kinda add a little warmth to it to my ears

Mercury

• To my ears, IEMs paired with Mercury has better extension on both lows and highs, however, the mids does recess a little with this but not in a bad way

• What is impressive is that, IEMs paired with Mercury, they sounded open and the soundstage is definitely wider and bigger, on an IEM itself that has crazy soundstaging capability such as the iKKO’s Asgard OH5, it is even more impressive and addictive to listen to

• IEM that’s warm in nature will benefit from Mercury’s treble extension, it does so without making the treble becomes sibilant or offensive

IEM Pairings

Voyager with iKKO OH5

• OH5 itself is a warm set of IEM, paired with Voyager, the soundstage somehow becomes very expansive

• Bass has a little bit more body to it and also sounds very full

• Mid range is the star of the show here, it sounded very lush and in fact i would say it is quite analog sounding

• Na Ying’s vocal, sounded very full and sweet, it is very very pleasant and addictive to listen to, particularly in this track, Just Like a Dream (梦一场, the guitar picking, has got very good note weight to it and the vocal’s positioning is rather forward in a way as if the artist is performing right in front of you

• Elton John’s Tears in Heaven Live, the vocal has got a very good weight to it, thick and full sounding, all the instruments within the mid range comes alive and it’s just amazing

• In terms of detail retrieval, the performance is more or less similar with the stock cable of OH5

Mercury with iKKO OH5

• Switching over to Mercury from Voyager, the listening experience is totally different

• Mid range is slightly being pushed back but it is still very lush and pleasant to listen to, not to the point where it is overly recessed making it sound nasally, nothing like that, don’t worry, you still get a lot of details and lushness from the mids, it is just not as forward as the Voyager

• I noticed the extension on both treble and the lows is somehow better compared to Voyager, guitar picking lingers a little bit longer and sounds very full with good note weight, cymbals  and high hats doesn’t sound splashy and also have good note weight to it

• Soundstage and detail retrieval is also noticeably better compared to Voyager, soundstage sounds a little bit more 3D compared to Voyager, detail retrieval is also better in terms of the nuances can be picked up easily

Voyager with 7Hz Timeless x AE

• Note weights are noticeably thicker on all three frequencies (Low, Mids, Highs)

• Sound stage does expand a little bit in terms of width, height and depth compared to stock cable, Timeless does not have big soundstage to begin with, so the improvement is very noticeable when paired with the Voyager

• Timbre has a little bit more warmth to it, lesser planar timbre, again, a very noticeable improvement

• Nonetheless, the mid range is still the star of the show here, listening to Teresa Teng’s Ni Zhen Me Shuo (你怎么说), the vocal performance is excellent and very sweet sounding with full sounding note, forward yet not shouty

• Voyager manage to slightly tame the treble on the Timeless AE, Timeless AE is a retuned version with a 3db boost of sub-bass, but due to the see saw effect of the tuning, the treble is also being smoothen due to the tuning, however, using it with Voyager kinda smoothen it a little bit more and even more pleasant to listen to, makes the overall listening experience sounds “fuller” if that makes sense 

Mercury with 7Hz Timeless x AE

• Switching over to the Mercury, the mids is not as forward as the Voyager, still pleasant and lush

• The bass has better extension and the difference is noticeable to my ears, bass decay is a little bit slower but it is still retaining the speed without sounding muddy on complex tracks, evident on tracks like Metallica’s Lux Aeterna which has plenty of kick drum and double kick drum action going on, not once it sounded muddy, in fact it has got good body to it

• In terms of soundstage and imaging, the soundstage on Mercury paired with Timeless AE doesn’t sound too far off from the Voyager, it could be that the Timeless AE doesn’t have big soundstage to begin with, nonetheless, the improvement on the imaging and separation is certainly a welcoming feat 

Voyager with SeeAudio Yume II

• Yume II by nature doesn’t have a good note weight across all three frequencies, pairing it with Voyager does help in boosting the overall note weight, in return, a more musical sounding IEM rather than sounding clinical, it also helps to slightly bring down the BA timbre

• Yume II on stock cable does lack a little bass quantity and Voyager helps to bring it up a little giving it a bit more punch and rumble, a cable can only do so much, after all it depends on the tuning as well as the driver’s capability

• Yume II’s mid range performance is already excellent on stock cable, pairing it with the Voyager takes it to a step higher, the details in the mid range comes alive

• Treble also doesn’t sound that cool and has a bit of warmth to it now that it is paired with the Voyager

• Detail retrieval is still very good

• Does expand the soundstage a little but still lacking height to my ears

Mercury with SeeAudio Yume II

• Switching over to Mercury, the improvements that i noticed on both OH5 and Timeless AE are not that significant on the Yume II

• I guess Mercury doesn’t synergise well with the Yume II

• Having said that, it doesn’t there isn’t any noticeable improvements, note weights are slightly thicker and a little bit more air on the top end, other than that, the soundstage and imaging is more or less very similar to the Voyager

Final Thoughts

Having the opportunity to try out both the Voyager and Mercury, i am more certain that cables does changes the sound and it is very noticeable (to my ears), i believe the material used, the braiding (tight/loose), the structure of the cables also play an important role for the sound characteristics. Let’s not stray too far and come back to both Voyager and Mercury, Voyager synergises very well with a wide range of IEMs in my collection, Mercury however is a little picky but when it is paired with the right IEM, it will really take your listening experience to another level, the same can be said for Voyager as well. In terms of pricing for both cables, they are considered as an entry level cable by Astral Acoustics, both cables are very well built and the connectors and jack on both cables are also very solid. I am not sure if it’s an issue with my IEMs or the 2 pin is slightly shorter, they are not as secure or snug fit when it is connected to my OH5.

Sure, despite being an entry level cable, the price is not exactly accessible by many, however, if you have the budget, go for it. They will not disappoint and you won’t go wrong with either one. Highly recommended!

*A big thanks to Henry from Astral Acoustics for the opportunity to test out the cables. All thoughts are of my own and I am not in any way influenced to produce this article.

Product Link

Voyager - Non Affiliated

Mercury - Non Affiliated