It is traditional XLO character but at its BEST in every way. It improve over the Ref. series by at least 15 to 20% obviously depend on your other equipment as well. It is best to link up with other Sig. series cable such as the 4.1B, 1.1, or 2.1 . If you are interested, I have one extra 4.1B 1M balanced digital cable available. Good luck.