USB cables

[sidvee]

As for me, yes, despite my Callia is DSD capable and had Benchmark DAC2 and have listened to DSD on them briefly but I have a weak mind/heart ..don't want to be a format-driven listener rather would stick to be a content-driven listener.

Speaking for myself, I have never been a format driven listener. However even before advent of DSD files we had SACD players and I had a collection of maybe 30-40 selected Jazz SACD's. Loved the sound of these - especially the dynamic range - and even now I prefer certain Jazz DSD titles, and to enjoy them in their hi-rez glory, I have to use USB, AES or coaxial is not an option - for me at-least.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[karthikswaminath]

Yes - I wasn’t clear. First we ordered a local DIY implementation and honestly were impressed with it. Then took the leap of spending additional bucks for the Lush.

Missed to mention it was from Ghentaudio

ghentaudio --- Silver-plated Star Quad USB(JSSG360) Cable

 

[bornfi]

Not sure if I reported here already but though cumbersome, I ended up using this.

 

[panditji]

Not sure if I reported here already but though cumbersome, I ended up using this.

View attachment 34301

And this is?

If your power line already has added parasitic feeds (called parasitic current or voltage) , then a power cable cannot remove them however expensive it might be.
In the water filter analogy as mentioned by @keith_correa the water filter had a filtration circuit to remove the impurities, but I am not aware of any cable that has such circuitry built in it except an added in ferrite ring in some cables. Nor am I aware of any cable company including any kind of filtration circuit in the cable.
The only feature mentioned by these high cable offerings are usually about thickness, extrusion methodology, cryogenic treatment etc. plus some added insulation features to reject external interference.

MY suggestion with power line is to use a combination of a spike buster and a conditioner (the spike before the conditioner) to clean out the power line. If budget does nit afford a conditioner, then use an isolation transformer. This will clean out the DC.

Regarding USB cable, I have observed that some cheaper cables are not able to establish the handshake between the source and the DAC. though they might work as a printer USB cable
With USB one factor I have noticed is that keeping the cable length short helps a lot.
Since my upper most budget on USB cable was 1000 bucks, I purchased one well reviewed 6 inch cable from Aliexpress and it is working quite well with my DAC.

Thanks for explaining sir.. My impressions were formed only on the basis of the marketing speak and I assumed the good power cables were able to filter out the noise already in the current.. Did not know that they only rejected additional noise and not the one already in the line...

Can you post the Aliexpress link to the USB cable you use? Also does the USB cable from the external hardrive to the laptop also contribute to the noise if any?

 

[bornfi]

And this is?

Replaced USB cable with this. As indicated in some other post that mine is a Dante based setup wherein my computer is connected to a USB to Dante converter box that was connected earlier with a USB cable that I later one replaced with this small item that is nothing but replacement of USB cable.

In my case it works just fine but connecting DAC to computer using this would look odd but not impossible.

 

[drkrack]

In my setup I have Used
Printer Cable >AliExpress Nordost Copy USB cable (yes Nordost) > Schiit Pyst USB cable > Pangea 1 USB >Pangea SE USB Cable in Ascending order of sound quality... The SQ improvement difference between printer Cable and the Schiit Pyst USB cable was pretty much easily evident, rest of the differences could have been plagued by a subjective bias.


I'm looking to upgrade to dual headed USB cable like Pangea Premier XL currently. Thereotically, a separation between power and data ports should reduce the noise floor associated with USB conduction, but I'm not sure about real world differences. Anyone using the same could provide the inputs.

Adding a USB purifier like ipurifier 2 and ISO Regen has given a significant improvement in SQ over premium USB cables per se. Curious & Lush cables are on my list as well, will try and decide on further upgrade.

 

[panditji]

Well, I am also Curious to try the Lush cable in my system.. Anyone in Delhi/NCR willing to lend one for a day or two?

 

[jls001]

Well, I am also Curious to try the Lush cable in my system.. Anyone in Delhi/NCR willing to lend one for a day or two?

Borrowed a Lush² from fellow forum member Fiftyfifty and planning to butt heads with my home brewed USB cable. I will also send him my cable so that he can compare it with his Curious.

 

[panditji]

Look forward to hearing your feedback.... I have a simple Audioquest Forest USB cable and wanted to check how much of a difference they actually make...Do post your views..

 

[Kannan]

Can you post the Aliexpress link to the USB cable you use? Also does the USB cable from the external hardrive to the laptop also contribute to the noise if any?

Aliexpress Link to the cable

I use a USBridge now as transport instead of a PC, and the hard disk is powered externally and connected to it. I also use the Audioquest jitterbug in the USB cable connecting the hard disk to the USBridge.
I would however recommend using an internal HDD if you have that option.

 

[renjith lal]

Thanks for explaining sir.. My impressions were formed only on the basis of the marketing speak and I assumed the good power cables were able to filter out the noise already in the current.. Did not know that they only rejected additional noise and not the one already in the line...

Can you post the Aliexpress link to the USB cable you use? Also does the USB cable from the external hardrive to the laptop also contribute to the noise if any?

Rahul, I heard good about this usb cable from many users in US. It is a USB cable from Shiit and cost 20$.

Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California

www.schiit.com

Thanks

 

[panditji]

Renjith, is it a good first cable or a good upgrade over a printer USB cable or a good upgrade over a decent Audioquest USB cable?

 

[renjith lal]

Renjith, is it a good first cable or a good upgrade over a printer USB cable or a good upgrade over a decent Audioquest USB cable?

Rahul, I am not sure. I dont use USB cable in my sytstem. I use ethernet cable to Devialet hence didn't compared different USB models.
But dont underestimate the cable just based on price.

 

[sidvee]

There is bigger issue than just which USB cable sounds good. I noticed that as I have gone through 6-7 usb dac's in the past 2-3 years, some usb cables just don't work with some DAC's and sources. Sometimes the source just does not recognize the DAC or sometimes there are dropouts etc. I made sure that the 5v is available with all the cables and even then there would be no handshake between source and DAC. So the first challenge is to find a cable that will actually work with your setup and the next step is figuring out which ones sound good. Hence just plonking down $300 - $2000 on an usb cable imo is not a good idea without first somehow listening to it with your components to make sure they can talk to each other.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[jls001]

Sometimes the source just does not recognize the DAC or sometimes there are dropouts etc. I made sure that the 5v is available with all the cables and even then there would be no handshake between source and DAC.

This is very strange indeed if the cable is made standard (meaning it's not one of those specialized ones where the V+ has been specifically removed).

One possible reason might be the low quality of connectors. One batch of type A connectors I bought had this problem. Some pin refused to make contact when inserted into the host computer, so the connected devices wouldn't sync. But when tested for continuity the four leads will be fine. One or more of the pins are recessed and not protruding enough to make proper electrical contact.

 

[sidvee]

This is very strange indeed if the cable is made standard (meaning it's not one of those specialized ones where the V+ has been specifically removed).

One possible reason might be the low quality of connectors. One batch of type A connectors I bought had this problem. Some pin refused to make contact when inserted into the host computer, so the connected devices wouldn't sync. But when tested for continuity the four leads will be fine. One or more of the pins are recessed and not protruding enough to make proper electrical contact.

Maybe, but I have seen this with cables costing around $100. I even read this on other forums where users faced the same issue. Some of our FM's also faced the issue.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[Kannan]

I have experienced cables that fail to handshake the DAC but works with printers.

 

[rikhav]

Surprisingly for me each and every USB cable for me has worked
Most generic as well
Unless doing any experiment with the UB cable or the connectors are not proper

 

[arunthegr8]

So if it is just 0 and 1 in the cable for long runs I have come across issues where there are drops. So what happened to just 0 and 1 here. They mutated or disappeared? It is not just that simple. Again you have to have a resolving system to see the difference. You put a 1000$ USB cable on a system which costs at least 30000 USD not on a system that costs 3000USD and expect to see a difference. And BTW wireworld makes better USB cables than Shunyata. I have the Wireworld. Platinum Starlight and can vouch for it.

 

[sidvee]

So if it is just 0 and 1 in the cable for long runs I have come across issues where there are drops. So what happened to just 0 and 1 here. They mutated or disappeared? It is not just that simple. Again you have to have a resolving system to see the difference. You put a 1000$ USB cable on a system which costs at least 30000 USD not on a system that costs 3000USD and expect to see a difference. And BTW wireworld makes better USB cables than Shunyata. I have the Wireworld. Platinum Starlight and can vouch for it.

Yes I agree, I don't think my system is resolving enough, perhaps even less resolving than a 3000 usd system as you have alluded to, hence I am not hearing any benefits of these so called high end usb cables (not that I tried any more expensive than say $200). I apologize if my original post offended FM's with high resolution systems like yourself. The wireworld platinum is a super cable ($700 almost 50k INR), I don't think I can afford it, and even if I did I don't think there will be any difference to notice in my inferior setup or my novice listening skills. I haven't heard it or any shunyata, so I will take your word for it that it is a better usb cable than any shunyata any day. I am going to stick to $100-$200 cables. As you mentioned one should budget cables based on a percentage of the total system cost, not on what they hear. This is certainly not the right way to do it, trying to hear if a cable makes any difference without considering the cost of the system it was placed into - typical newbie mistake. Forgive me.
Cheers,
Sid