Silver Starlight USB vs. Platinum Starlight USB

[bakerman]

Originally Posted by sacdfan

after reading this thread I'm very tempted to try a pair of platinum silver for my new k-03. hmmmmmn

You owe it to your K-03 to go straight to the Platinum Starlight. I was using the Starlight, skipped over the Silver Starlight, and am the owner of a Platinum Starlight. The biggest difference for me is the realness of the music. It has more of an enveloping effect. The music is out in the room now instead of being back, up on the stage.

It really is a fantastic cable.

[audiot servant]

+1 ... Your K03 will repay with much kindness... Also loves a diet of beautiful power... put my power conditioner and cables on a friends K03 and it was quite a moment... that Dac has much more in it if you give it the right quality support...

G

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

[Masterlu]

[Touchy]

Originally Posted by t0tor0

USB cables transmit both power and data to the DAC.

Can I say that if a DAC has its own power supply, the differences between quality cables will be less than using a DAC which draws power from the USB cable?

Please enlighten!

Can anyone shed some light on the above - it seems a very pertinent question. What happens to the power transmission if your DAC has its own power supply?

Also are all you users who are hearing great gains with the platinum using asynchronous USB DACs or not? Is jitter not greatly reduced in asynchronous mode regardless of cable?

Thanks
Sam

[tweet]

Sam... Welcome to AA!

I upgraded from a red Wireworld Starlight USB cable to the Platinum Starlight and the difference was immediately obvious. The Wireworld Platinum Starlight USB cable is a fantastic cable and definitely worthy of your consideration. Be prepared to buy it if you ever audition one.

[Masterlu]

Touchy... Welcome!

[Touchy]

Thank you for the welcome Terry & Ivan

I have little doubt that the platinum is a great sounding cable but still struggle a bit with the questions posed.

i am using a Squeezebox Touch with the EDO software mod which allows the USB (in) to be used as a USB out from the Touch. My original DAC (Naim) couldn't handle USB but I was very happy with the COAX connection - until I auditioned a much less expensive Micromega MyDac which does accept asynch USB. When I first tried it with a bog standard USB cable I couldn't get it to work. So I took a gamble on a WW Ultraviolet and voila - all works fine and sounds amazing. I am pretty sure this is down to the USB asynch transmission now doing a great job of eliminating jitter.

I am pretty sure the Squeezebox isn't transmitting any power via its USB - but I could be wrong. What I do know is the MyDac has its own power supply so any power coming down the USB is superfluous to requirements. Would it make sense to have some USB cables that don't carry power - as it appears lots of expense goes into isolating the power part of the cable from the signal part. We could get more bang for our buck if the power bit were left out - if this is at all possible??

Does that make any sense? Sorry to have rabbited on, on my 2nd only post !!

Thanks
Sam

[Glisse]

Originally Posted by Touchy

Can anyone shed some light on the above - it seems a very pertinent question. What happens to the power transmission if your DAC has its own power supply?

Also are all you users who are hearing great gains with the platinum using asynchronous USB DACs or not? Is jitter not greatly reduced in asynchronous mode regardless of cable?

Thanks
Sam

Welcome Sam,

The first question should not assume that the only source of interference is the purity of the 5v supply. The galvanic connection between the computer and the DAC seems to play a part. So even if your DAC is not using the 5v supply (which is limited to 500mA on USB2.0, not enough for some DACs), the galvanic connection remains which provides a conduit for electrical noise.

How sensitive a DAC is to this electrical noise will depend on the design of the DAC. But it is more complex than that, as the DAC is in turn galvanically connected to the amplifier. Some amplifiers will be more sensitive to others to the electrical hash that computers generate.

There are some attempts to correct this. Some cable manufacturers provide a USB cable without the pin 1 power supply connected. However, I do not know whether the pin 4 ground connection is still there or not.

Some DAC manufacturers galvanically isolate the USB receiver from the rest of the DAC. This would seem the purest approach.

Regarding your second question, I would think most people (and certainly myself) would only be using a WW Platinum Starlight USB with an asynchronous USB DAC (or converter). Adaptive USB is too flawed an interface to warrant using an expensive cable.

One of the pioneers of Async USB, Gordon Rankin of Wavelength, had speculated when he was in the early stages, that cable differences would become irrelevant. However, he was quick to acknowledge that USB cables do continue to sound different, even when using Async USB. He doesn't know why.

Async USB does dramatically reduce jitter resulting from source to DAC timing errors. But jitter is a generic term, and many parts of the chain can cause timing errors. The cable itself can cause timing errors.

A digital cable doesn't contain a zero and a one. It contains an electrical signal that converts to a binary interpretation. It does this through various voltage differential states. Not just to indicate a 1 or 0, but also a resting state between packets. In an electrical cable, the cable and the connection at each end will form a specific impedance. For a USB cable, this impedance should be 90 ohms. If the impedance is not exact, the signal can bounce backwards and forwards, and may trigger an invalid state change.

It is possible that the 5v supply could affect the data lines in the USB cable. If it receives a large spike, not unusual, this could perhaps result in a voltage impact on the adjacent data line. Normal USB cables are twisted pair geometry. Wireworld physically separate the 5v supply from the data lines. This seems to benefit those DACs, or systems, that are sensitive to USB cables.

But I hear this benefit with the basic Starlight USB cable (I have not heard Ultraviolet). Sure, Platinum offers more in a sufficiently resolving system. I use one on my $33k DAC. But on my $2k DAC, a Starlight is fine - yes, I can hear the difference in this modest system doing an A/B. But if I walked into the room with the system playing, I would not be able to pick which version I was using at the time.

[Touchy]

Glisse - Thank you for the welcome and very considered response to the questions.
Lots of food for thought. I may take this one step at a time and have a go at the Starlight - if there is an improvement, or positive difference shall we say, then it may warrant experimenting further up the price ladder.

All the best
Sam

[bakerman]

Originally Posted by Touchy

Glisse - Thank you for the welcome and very considered response to the questions.
Lots of food for thought. I may take this one step at a time and have a go at the Starlight - if there is an improvement, or positive difference shall we say, then it may warrant experimenting further up the price ladder.

All the best
Sam

Sam, I have an unused .5m Starlight USB cable sitting in a box of cables. If the length works for you I'll send it to you to try out and see if you can hear a difference. This isn't a "for sale" push, only a friendly gesture. (as long as you're in the US)