Lately I've been doing the same in my (primarily: DIY) cable experiments (and have also just recently acquired a pair of 580s :0) As a twist in the same vein, you might try as well a pair of Grados (RS60, 80 and upwards) which may even be more useful for this testing purpose. Nominally Sennheisers are more "polite" than Grados with their signature PRAT. Because the Grados are more forward-sounding, (arguably) better resolving in the highs (and other things), they may reveal some IC differences more obviously which might be more veiled under the Senns.
Going a step further: if differences are very subtle (or powers of concentration are diminishing from excess listening/ear bleed etc.), let someone else do the work. Just grab the nearest wife (or other [un]willing victim) at hand - she listens, you do cable rotation duty. Per (some of) John Dunlavy's comments regarding cables, I think it's a good idea not to make suggestive remarks which may influence the listener and to approximate a DBT as closely as possible. It's fun to compare notes with an objective listener, or in any case with someone for whom the question which cable in your system sounds best/most musical/etc. is of only marginal interest.
One wouldn't think that double blind testing should be a controversial topic; however, it is one of the few things that is explicitly ruled out in, say, Cable Asylum (it appears many get excited over cables). In any case, DBT seems to me to be the thing one might want if it is (general) validity in the (specific) system for a certain IC (mutatis mutandis) that is desired.
Going a step further: if differences are very subtle (or powers of concentration are diminishing from excess listening/ear bleed etc.), let someone else do the work. Just grab the nearest wife (or other [un]willing victim) at hand - she listens, you do cable rotation duty. Per (some of) John Dunlavy's comments regarding cables, I think it's a good idea not to make suggestive remarks which may influence the listener and to approximate a DBT as closely as possible. It's fun to compare notes with an objective listener, or in any case with someone for whom the question which cable in your system sounds best/most musical/etc. is of only marginal interest.
One wouldn't think that double blind testing should be a controversial topic; however, it is one of the few things that is explicitly ruled out in, say, Cable Asylum (it appears many get excited over cables). In any case, DBT seems to me to be the thing one might want if it is (general) validity in the (specific) system for a certain IC (mutatis mutandis) that is desired.