Excellent article by John Darko on why (better) USB cables matter

[Puma Cat]

In keeping with my recent revelations about the significant and amazing Shunyata Alpha USB cable, and given that I'm a scientist by nature, training and profession, I dug around for some research to find out why USB cables really matter when it comes to quality music reproduction with audio equipment.

In so doing, I found a very informative and useful article by the excellent audio reviewer, John Darko, on his web site that was part of a USB cable review. I found the article to be so good with respect to providing clear and definitive background information as to actually why better USB cables make such a difference in digital music reproduction, I thought I would share it for the AA community-at-large. (Note: there's some really good information from Gordon Rankin in this article as well.) Enjoy.

https://darko.audio/2018/02/cue-fanf...ond-usb-cable/

Side note: If you haven't checked out John Darko's YouTube channel with video reviews of audio gear and audio reproduction-related matters, I highly recommend checking him out. A very pragmatic, practically-minded reviewer who places value in listening to music over gear.

Check John Darko out on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQI...sa-7CD0NtqnrrA

[nicoff]

But have you actually listened to different USB cables and can tell a difference?

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by nicoff

But have you actually listened to different USB cables and can tell a difference?

Ohhhh, yes.....

My first USB cable was the Belkin ones with the purple ends, I think they were called Belkin Gold? It was okay, but sounded somewhat dark and muddy, though I had absolutely no reference other than my TT. My next one was a Kimber USB Silver cable, it has a blue jacket. It sounded better, more transparent than the Belkin, but was kinda bright-sounding. The next one, that I stuck with for a while, was an Audioquest Carbon. It was better than the others, more neutral, natural and pleasant to listen to.

None of these cables, on the whole, were what I would call significantly better than one another, though. I was thinking the old "bits is bits" thang as it applied to audio was true...man, was I wrong.

Then I heard an AudioQuest Diamond USB cable at friends house. IIRC, at the time a, 0.75M cable AQ Diamond sold for $500. And, actually, I see a 0.75m AQ Diamond is now $600; looks like AQ raiased the price from 4 or 5 years ago.

The AQ Diamond was significantly better than anything I had heard up to that time. In fact, it was so much better, that I had a rather hard time accepting it. And, at $500 for a single short cable, I didn't want to. It was the first digital cable I heard that convinced that when it came to digital audio, the hackneyed "bits are bits" refrain one hears simply did not apply. Another friend of mine was also present for the audition and when he heard the Diamond, he was really pissed, as the improvement was really clear to him as well, and he was quite upset as he could not afford an AQ Diamond USB cable. We discussed it coming back in the car after leaving my friend's house and were going, "Goddam It! That's not the result we were hoping for!"

Problem was, you couldn't find a used AQ Diamond on the used market, at all. As soon as they came up on the usual sites, they were gone literally in hours.

I finally found a used AudioQuest Coffee USB, one model lower than Diamond, for $180. I snagged it immiediately, and it was quite a bit better than my Carbon. I used that until I finally found a used AQ Diamond used for $350, which was somewhat better than the Coffee, but not a lot. If the Diamond was "100" with respect to sound quality, the Coffee was a solid "80". If I had to pick one, I'd say the Coffee offers more performance per dollar than the Diamond.

I used the Diamond between my Sonore microRendu and Schiit Gumby until just a few weeks ago, when I decided to try the very short USB A/B "hard coupler", which is just a molded USB male A to USB male B adapter. It sounded better than the AQ Diamond, so I stayed with that until last night, when I installed a Shunyata Alpha USB cable...and was gobsmacked/blown-away/floored by the degree of improvement. The improvement it brings is on the level of a significantly better and quieter DAC or preamp. Just astonishing, and very, very beautiful-sounding. See my post from last night in the Shunyata forum.

[bart]

In which price range is the Shunyata Alpha USB cable Stephen?

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by bart

In which price range is the Shunyata Alpha USB cable Stephen?

Hi Bart, The Shunyata Alpha USB is second to the top of the line Sigma USB. It sells for USD $1000 for a 1.5 meter cable.

[bart]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Hi Bart, The Shunyata Alpha USB is second to the top of the line Sigma USB. It sells for USD $1000 for a 1.5 meter cable.

Thanks!

[Charles]

"If the Diamond was "100" with respect to sound quality, the Coffee was a solid "80". If I had to pick one, I'd say the Coffee offers more performance per dollar than the Diamond."

I use a Coffee. It is about the only leftover from my cable upgrade. Although it would be relatively inexpensive to upgrade to a Diamond, I can't bring myself to do it because I can't hear a flaw. I'd be stuck with a 1 year old USB cable in perfect condition with a new battery pack that has the hard plastic (not that mushy mess that came with the cable) that looks and sounds great just setting on my floor with my much older cables. What do you think?

[bart]

Originally Posted by Charles

"If the Diamond was "100" with respect to sound quality, the Coffee was a solid "80". If I had to pick one, I'd say the Coffee offers more performance per dollar than the Diamond."

I use a Coffee. It is about the only leftover from my cable upgrade. Although it would be relatively inexpensive to upgrade to a Diamond, I can't bring myself to do it because I can't hear a flaw. I'd be stuck with a 1 year old USB cable in perfect condition with a new battery pack that has the hard plastic (not that mushy mess that came with the cable) that looks and sounds great just setting on my floor with my much older cables. What do you think?

Poor Charles!
I think you shouldn't have read this thread.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by bart

Poor Charles!
I think you shouldn't have read this thread.

Yep. Audioquest Diamond on the way. Ordered 5 min ago.

[Charles]

Audioquest Diamond USB installed on Friday. I can report a significant difference between this solid silver USB cable and the 10% silver Coffee. The whole presentation is richer, fuller, and more relaxed. Absolutely no question. Everywhere I have gone with Audioquest silver has made a tremendous difference. Silver is simply a better wire by far than copper if properly engineered. It has been a long expensive journey to replace all the copper in my main system with topline AQ silver but it has been worth every penny.