Recommend me a USB cable....100-700$ range

[essrand]

TBH I would *strongly* prefer something in the 100-350$ range. For $700, the cable will have to wake Coltrane up from the dead and bring him crooning between my speakers.

It will be interesting to see the price willing to be paid by a customer if Mr Joshua's cable wins in a shootout..with stakes as high as USD 700 per cable

)

 

[oldmonk]

cable will have to wake Coltrane up

That's asking too much of a poor cable don't you think ?

Anyways...my point was something else..

Any further discussion will likely dilute the purpose of the thread.

So I collect my jacket...

 

[essrand]

So I collect my jacket...

Appreciate this

 

[essrand]

I am using Tellurium Q Silver Diamond between my streamer and dac. Just sounds right in my setup.

If you are looking to warm up the tone of your setup then Lush and sabalon are good options.

Pricey! How did you decide to settle on these USB cables? They seem well reviewed, any Indian dealers?

 

[essrand]

Okay, I have started my USB cable journey by first ordering an AmazonBasics cable for 300INR

 

[ajaipuriyar]

Pricey! How did you decide to settle on these USB cables? They seem well reviewed, any Indian dealers?

I have been using the TQ Silver Diamond XLR interconnects. So I was aware of the characteristics of the series. The usb cable was a blind purchase inline with the concept of all interconnects being from the same loom etc etc. Plus darko's review and comparison between curious cable and TQ gave me the push to buy these.

I was using curious usb cable before.

TQ is not represented in India. I purchased mine from Lugano, Switzerland.

 

[essrand]

Does the same loom theory hold for digital cables as well?

My cabling is all Audiomica Consequence, and I have been debating whether to just buy an AM-C USB cable and be done with it and get the same loom synergy.
But given how there seem to be companies that particularly specialise in USB/digital cables, I thought perhaps the same loom theory doesn't hold in the digital side of things (no one's heard of Curious ICs, or Totaldac ICs, or even FTA Callisto ICs but their USB cables are famous)

Would love to get some opinions about this.

 

[Rajeshh]

@essrand Check out the Mad Scientist cable too, seems to have all round great reviews.
Do post your impressions, once you decide on a cable & use it in your rig.

 

[johnmicheal]

Ridge Street Poiema pure silver USB cable,value for money ,very good detailing,warm and lush sound

 

[bornfi]

One thing I always wanted to experiment with and will do someday is USB extender over fiber. Based on my success with Ethernet over fiber, I think this too is worth giving a try.

 

[jai1611]

One thing I always wanted to experiment with and will do someday is USB extender over fiber. Based on my success with Ethernet over fiber, I think this too is worth giving a try.

The USB equivalent would be high speed galvanic isolators (unless you need very long cable runs)

 

[essrand]

My USB cable shoot out has begun.

I have with me three contenders:
1. AmazonBasics USB cable ---- Price 399INR
2. Joshua's USB cable (very kindly lent to me by an awesome FM) -- Price unknown
3. Siltech Explorer 45 --- Price 38000INR (500$)

The baseline is the the Amazon Basics, any cable SHOULD outperform it.
The Gold standard is my streamer. If the USB output with the right cable can come close or even beat the sound of my streamer then ----> Mission accomplished!!

Just putting this out there in case this experiment helps other in their search.

 

[essrand]

Right out of the bat. One observation.

Unlike other cables (speaker, ICs). It seems that even a non-audiophile USB cable does quite well.
The delta between an Amazon USB and Streamer, and Amazon USB and an audiophile cable is not very large as compared to other kinds of cables.

So USB cables do make a difference but PCs > ICs > SCs > USB

 

[bornfi]

Quick googling and reading reviews I have come up with these candidates:

FTA Callisto - 800$
Phasure Lush 2 - 300$
FM Joshua cables - Not Available for now
inakustic reference - 300$

Anyone have any other recommendations, I prefer to buy local from a dealer or an FM, kind of burnt out from dealing with customs and import.
If anyone is selling a nice USB cable, do kindly PM me.

Budget is flexible but would like to keep it under $500 if possible.

I would like you to see https://www.hifivision.com/threads/usb-cable-solved.82999/

 

[rsjaurr]

The major cable I upgraded over a stock cable a couple of years ago was this USB cable. I was interested in Curious cable but someone was coming from the states and I so I bought one there to hand carry for me.

This was an eye opener for me honestly. My son and I both were able to tell the difference blindfolded. The sound became much more refined. It was as if someone was using glycerin eye drops with fine particles of sand and not sand particles have been removed,

Since then I have lost interest to buy either Audioquest diamond or Curious cable. This has also led me to upgrade other wires.

 

[essrand]

My USB cable shoot out has begun.

I have with me three contenders:
1. AmazonBasics USB cable ---- Price 399INR
2. Joshua's USB cable (very kindly lent to me by an awesome FM) -- Price unknown
3. Siltech Explorer 45 --- Price 38000INR (500$)

The baseline is the the Amazon Basics, any cable SHOULD outperform it.
The Gold standard is my streamer. If the USB output with the right cable can come close or even beat the sound of my streamer then ----> Mission accomplished!!

Just putting this out there in case this experiment helps other in their search.

A very late update on this:

I had a interesting comparison between Josh's USB cable and Siltech explorer USB cable.
Josh's cable was a bit more forward which made acoustic music very exciting, but some vocals (Joni Mitchell) quite harsh.
Siltech seemed to have more details, better soundstage but was dark in comparison and bit too laidback, so wasn't quite as engaging in acoustics but was a better all-round performer.
To be fair, the the Siltech USB was brand new in the box, so needed some burn-in, I might have put max 50 hours on it (even that is doubtful) so if this cable needs more burn-in time, then perhaps I did not hear it at its best.

In middle of all this, my amp conked off. So the cables went back to their original owners, before they could compete against the newest contender that just arrived in my mailbox last week:

I was looking for some other USB cables that wouldn't break the bank, and came across this review: https://soundrebels.com/fidata-hfu2-hflc-english-ver/
These guys liked the same cables that I own (Audiomica), so on a whim I purchased these cables online from Audiounion Japan.
But sadly, I cannot try them yet, since I have no amp.

 

[essrand]

A very late update on this:

I had a interesting comparison between Josh's USB cable and Siltech explorer USB cable.
Josh's cable was a bit more forward which made acoustic music very exciting, but some vocals (Joni Mitchell) quite harsh.
Siltech seemed to have more details, better soundstage but was dark in comparison and bit too laidback, so wasn't quite as engaging in acoustics but was a better all-round performer.
To be fair, the the Siltech USB was brand new in the box, so needed some burn-in, I might have put max 50 hours on it (even that is doubtful) so if this cable needs more burn-in time, then perhaps I did not hear it at its best.

In middle of all this, my amp conked off. So the cables went back to their original owners, before they could compete against the newest contender that just arrived in my mailbox last week:

I was looking for some other USB cables that wouldn't break the bank, and came across this review: https://soundrebels.com/fidata-hfu2-hflc-english-ver/
These guys liked the same cables that I own (Audiomica), so on a whim I purchased these cables online from Audiounion Japan.
But sadly, I cannot try them yet, since I have no amp.

Amongst the two (Siltech and Joshua's cable) in my system I preferred the Siltech, but they were equal contenders and it was more of a personal preference.
In the end I would like a cable that combines the quality of these two cables so the search is still on

 

[essrand]

I am quite excited to report/rave about this cable I found.

Quite a bargain as well, its by a Japanese company called Fidata, it's the Fidata HFU USB cable, that retails for 20,000 yen (say 13k INR, or 180$).

It sounds better than both Joshua's cable that is a tad cheaper by a 1-2k I think, and also the Siltech Explorer USB cable (at $500 MSRP). It has the best of their attributes that I referred to in my previous post.

Now here's the surprise.

I got access to a Audiomica Consequence USB cable, which I was very excited to try out especially because the rest of the cables I use are also Audiomica Consequence. But this cable is a whopping $1200 MSRP for 2m.
I was totally expecting the AM USB cable to beat out the Fidata, especially because of the synergy of a full loom of AM. But I liked the fidata better, no contest. The AM USB was coloured in comparison.
The image that came to mind when comparing the two was that the Fidata USB was like crystal clear spring water. The AM USB cable gave a weightier sound, but sounded artificial and less clear in comparison and less relaxed.

I am very happy with this USB cable and think my search has concluded.

I might now look into Fidata music servers as a replacement for my mac mini, given how their USB rocked.
Anyone looking for a Music server perhaps should put this little known Japanese company in their shortlist.

Here's the review that made me take a gander on this cable:

 

[essrand]

fidata HFU2 & HFLC

Usłyszeć wszystko

soundrebels.com

(use google translate)

 

[Rajeshh]

@essrand great update!

i am making some changes in my setup and your post helps me.
I did a home trial of the Curious cable, which did not work that well for me.
Never heard of the Fidata cable, but it seems promising from what you have posted and will look it up.