This is a bad example. Aux cables use analog signals therefore signal integrity actually matters for sound quality. If this was a cable used for digital signals like SPDIF of HDMI or USB then it wouldn't effect quality; that being said using gold or another coating (someone mentioned chrome nickel) will help with reliability and corrosion over time.

[–] hansvonwurst 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's actually a good example. Putting aside corrosion, there is no difference in sound (that's what the meme is about). Coming to corrosion: oxidation will increase the contact resistance which is not frequency dependent. So, at max, it will make the signal slightly smaller but not "worse".

Actually, mixing gold-plated plugs and tinned receptacle contacts is even worse considering the mismatch in contact resistance

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Gold plated is good, because gold is rather chemically inert. Oxydation of steel/aluminium will cause small contact points of high resistance, that cause heat and accelerate oxydation. Rarely a problem though, and very easy to hear. One problem you might get with cables is if a long signal cable is too thick and long it can act as a capacitor and filter out a bit off the high frequencies. All in all "audiofile" grade cables are bullshit at best.

There was a website sound-westhost or something where they wrote good about a lot of audio topics. I can dig it up if you are interested and can't find it yourself.