USB Cable from PC to DAC

[rikhav]

I have been using a well built USB cable from my music pc to dac since the time I am using USB to connect a PC to dac
Its a cable I got with my HP printer
Its relatively thick and I always felt with USb any cable changes would have very least effect and hence never even bothered to try any other USB cables made for audio purpose

Also the fact that with respect to using to PC as source and USB as preferred connection between PC and DAC I was pretty sorted out with SQ specially after having a dedicated laptop as source which has Daphile as the OS, music stored in another server and an UPTONE usb regenerator

With all these changes vs using a normal windows pc (windows not optimized) and no USB relocker the noise floor had gone down quiet a lot and overall sound was clean with good balance through out the frequency range

One fine day JLS001 tells me he is going to make a USB cable to be used between a PC and a DAC and since he does not have a USB dac would like to try it in my setup

I did not think much about it and one fine day he calls me and lets me know cable is made and he can come to try it in my setup
Immediately , I asked him a question that what changes one can expect by different USB cables
Neither him or me had an answer as we had never tried swapping USB cables

We decided to listen to my existing cable for about 45 mins and then switch to the new cable he has made
The cable he has made has got 2 runs of raw cable (one for the current and other for data). Its made by Gotham cables, not sure of the model number. Will tell JLS001 to post about the details of the raw cable

Initial impressions were that its little bit on the harsher sides and making the highs nosier then before. We decided to listen to 5 to 6 tracks before coming to any conclusion. To my surprise with every track being played we could make out the cable opening up and the harshness going
This was the first time I witnessed with any kind of cable (analogue or digital)
So the cable burn theory does have some truth, atleast this session proved so

After 6 to 7 tracks being played sound settled and it was a very free flowing sound , mids changing the most. Now the vocals had that presence where one would say that one can feel vocalists singing in front of us, better separation as well
Same for plucking of guitar and tone of the piano. All felt much more real. So tonality was what improved the most and the texture of bass. There is an improvement in soundstage width and depth but I would say a very minor difference
It indeed made the sound very much more musical then before and I was more then happy with that change

Data is in form 0s and 1s so I am not sure what did this cable do differently then the earlier cable , but for me the change is big enough to rubbish it as I was just hearing things

So all members who do have a USB dac please do experiment with different USB cables, not necessary to be an expensive one

@JLS001, if you don't mind can you please post further details about the build and the cable used

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Hi,

I am convinced all digital input cables, whether Coaxial, Optical or USB, make a lot of difference. I switched a while ago from an Audioquest to a Shunyata USB cable from my Mac mini to DAC and it makes a world of difference. Yes, I recall that it did sound bright when new but settled down after burn in. Wonder if the less efficient cables miss out on reading some of the 0s and 1s!

 

[rikhav]

Wonder if the less efficient cables miss out on reading some of the 0s and 1s!

That's a mystery for me as well
The earlier usb cable which I used worked as it should with a printer and scanner but when it came to using it with an audio setup it still did work as intended but the other cable sounded much better

 

[jls001]

Cable used is a mini AES cable. It is a shielded, twisted, multi stranded, tinned copper pair. One can make it in one of two ways: connect the shield to the metallic USB A and B connectors at the ends of the cable, or don't bother with connecting the shield to the USB connectors. Both works, but technically shielding is better as it will reduce interferences. Some folks are of the opinion that unshielded sounds better.

For one meter USB cable, use two runs of the mini AES cable. One cable carries the V+ and power ground. The other cable carries D+ and D-. I didn't twist the two cables - just ran them parallel and encased in nylon braid for support.

Besides the separation of the power from data, I think the tinned copper multi stranded wires contribute to the good sound. I haven't tried pure copper multi stranded, so this is just a hunch, reinforced somewhat by my personal liking of the sound of tinned copper over pure copper.

 

[rikhav]

Why USB Cables Can Make a Difference - Positive Feedback


This link gives some insight on how a USB cable would contribute to the final sound

 

[Vivek Rao]

@ Jls001 - it would help if you could post some pictures here of your wire - hopefully if you have one before you braided them... thanks.

 

[jls001]

Some pics:

The mini AES cable:

The two cables inserted into the plastic housing of the USB-A end:

(the hole on the plastic housing needs to be enlarged with the tip of hot soldering iron)


A end soldered:

Finished A end:

Finished B end:

Finished cable encased in techsleeve type nylon casing:

 

[Vivek Rao]

Thank you. From the pictures it appears that you did not connect the shielding to the metal housing... any particular reason?

 

[jls001]

Simple - I didn't know it should be

The second prototype I made is shielded.

 

[cha_indian]

Pics are not loading .... can you please check the links?

 

[rikhav]

Pics are not loading .... can you please check the links?

Loading perfectly from windows pc and android phone for me

 

[jls001]

Yes, I can also see from Android phone.

 

[rpanand25]

I was using HP printer cable for PC USB to DAC. I was disappointed. I got a new HP printer cable from my friend's office. same story, subdued sound. hardly any separation and lack of clarity. I changed to Amazon Basics male A to male B USB cable from Amazon India. It did make lot of difference in clarity and separation over HP printer cable and sound opened out even in MP3 files.

 

[Vivek Rao]

Please advice were can we source the Gotham mini AES cable from ?

 

[jls001]

Please advice were can we source the Gotham mini AES cable from ?

Not sure where one can get this particular cable in retail lengths. May be Promedia in Mumbai stocks them. They certainly stock the Helusound AES DMX cable which is similar, but of larger diameter than the Gotham mini AES cable. I think the Helusound will also sound similar because the two cores are tinned copper multi stranded (just like the Gotham mini AES).

Gotham distributor for India is R&S in Mumbai, but they'll sell you only full rolls.

Try any tinned copper multi stranded cables, whether analog mic cable or AES.

 

[rikhav]

Will be trying out the shielded version in my setup

 

[bhagwan]

I did try this cable @ my house.
A - It worked.
B - It sounded good.

I recommend an audition.

I have also made a few suggestions to J.S. - Hope he incorporates it.
This USB Cable has a good potential.

 

[rikhav]

My DAC has a switchable Dac section. It's as easy as attaching a card to a desktop pc

So last week i thought of trying the ESS9018 Dac card instead of the PCM1793 based Dac card which i have on my Dac almost since the time I bought it

I always disliked the extra detailed sound of the ESS9018. The details itself were not a problem but way it was presented and how it affected the oevrall sound never made me like it.
Sound was always very much emphasized in the highs and I found it always to be ear piercing

I always wondered why would burson audio price this Dac module double of what the pcm1793 costed and maintained its an upgrade to the pcm1793 wrt components used , specially the clocks

All these observations were with the generic USB cable I used from pc to Dac

With the cable Joshua made sound is now as it should be
It's having way better PRAT then the PCM1793 card with excellent detail retrieval without sounding harsh

The stage depth is lesser then what the PCM1793 could achieve but I think I need to reposition the speakers and then come to the conclusion on this aspect

So again it was eye / ear opener for me as to how a usb cable would make small but enough chnages to make or break the component sound

Some more people have tried this USB cable in their setups and am waiting to hear from them how was the sound for them

 

[hydra]

I had the opportunity to try out Joshua's USB Cable for quite some time (more time than was reasonable, heh heh). I tried the cable out only in my Music PC source (and not in my Raspberry Pi source).

The Music PC is normally set up to send a signal to the DAC like this:

Music PC --> Generic looking came-in-the-box iFi USB Cable --> iFi iLink USB to SPDIF converter --> Chord Codac Silver Plus Coaxial Cable --> Coaxial digital input of Rega DAC.

The Rega DAC also has a USB input that I don't use in the normal course.

I tried Joshua's USB Cable in two ways:

SCENARIO 1
========
Here, all I did was to try Joshua's USB cable between the Music PC and the iFi iLink, instead of the generic/ordinary unbranded USB cable that came in the iFi iLink's box. I could not make out any difference (good or bad) between the stock iFi cable and Joshua's USB Cable in this scenario.

SCENARIO 2
========

Music PC --> Generic Printer USB Cable --> USB input of Rega DAC

vs.

Music PC --> Joshua's USB Cable --> USB input of Rega DAC.

I could not use the generic/unbranded cable in Scenario 1 for this test because it is really short, and the Music PC and the DAC are in the lowest and topmost shelves of my racks. So I used a good quality printer cable I have on hand (for situations such as this) to use with the USB input of the DAC.

Well, in this case, there was a difference. The difference is not exactly earth-shattering, but it is a significant enough improvement to be obvious. Joshua's Cable was significantly smoother in the highs than the Printer Cable. The music via Joshua's cable was definitely less harsher and more pleasant overall (basically because of the smoothness & flow, and lack of harshness in the high frequencies). This difference was reproducible in all of the music I listened to. It was most obvious in the Alison Krauss tracks I tried (all of her music, perhaps because of her voice, tends to have a little more sparkle than normal). I was pleasantly surprised to see (uh, hear) this.

Other than the sound itself, the cable was very well made and pleasing to look at, with a nice sleeve and well set heat-shrink and all. Joshua's certainly got a good thing going with this one.

More power to the DIY community who go forth with their soldering irons where no armchair audiophile has gone before!

 

[eastofthesun]

Oh yes , there is no two ways about it. Even my first cable for a regular printer cable cos. I thought how much difference will a USB cable make ... until JK of absolute sound lent me a transparent audio premium USB just to try out for a lark and guess what I didn't let him take it back. The sound is just phenomenal. I completely second rikhav, Jls and Bhagwan on their opinion. One shld definitely give a good quality USB cable a hearing for sure.
Cheers !
Anand

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