Alpha USB Thoughts

[John Jordan]

My Alpha first arrived in May and went through some break-in changes. At 200 plus hours during during most comparisons were somewhat clearer vocals and somewhat more separation between instruments. Other times it was almost identical to my other cables, a DH Labs AES and Shunyata Venom. The Alpha also exhibited a pushed back soundstage.

Calling Shunyata and expressing my disappointment it was decided to return the cable. Upon testing a termination problem was found and corrected. The corrected cable was tested and I was given the option to try again or get a refund. I have to say the folks at Shunyata and Ivan were completely supportive of whatever decision I made. Ivan even issued an early refund. I opted to try again.

The soundstage on the corrected cable is now more forward but again other differences are minor. Very difficult in my mind to justify the price gap. So before I return this cable I'd like to shout out to the general forum.

All of this is system dependent and there are a lot of tubes in my system that may be rolling off some resolution. Maybe at this level of "audiophilism" differences are just more minor by nature or perhaps I need to hit that 200 hour mark (now approx 170). Possibly something else system wide is holding the Alpha back. In any case, this is testimony to how good the Venom is!

I'd be particularly interested in those with the Bryston DAC as the Bryston folks say USB cable differences are less pronounced than they may be with other DACs.

All comments are welcome. Again, customer support at Shunyata and Legend has been outstanding.

[kennyb123]

Originally Posted by John Jordan

Possibly something else system wide is holding the Alpha back. In any case, this is testimony to how good the Venom is!

I'd be particularly interested in those with the Bryston DAC as the Bryston folks say USB cable differences are less pronounced than they may be with other DACs.

Many manufacturers make that same claim - or they claim that USB cables shouldn’t matter at all. Don’t I wish!

Can you share details about the rest of your cabling - both signal cables and power cords?

[audiolover]

I’m running a Shunyata Alpha USB Cable with my Bryston BDA-3. I distinctly hear an improvement over my previous WW Platinum USB cable.

I also 2nd your comment on superb customer service from Ivan, and outstanding products from Shunyata.

[Puma Cat]

Interesting post. I agree the Shunyata Venom USB cable is excellent; it outperforms what was my reference USB cable for the last 5 years or so. In my system, the Alpha provided a clear step up in performance over the Venom, as excellent as it is. The same applies to the new line of Ethernet cables.

One key thing for consideration to remember that is that cables and components represent a set of "interfaces" and the interactions between those interfaces must be considered and evaluated to find synergy and just what works best in a given system.

Caelin's suggestion & recommendation last week, in another post, to work with your retailers as partners to be able to get cables and other products in for evaluation in your own system and in your own room is the key to success.

Its great to hear that there are superb retailers like Ivan and Legend Audio/Video and product companies like Shunyata Research that will go the extra mile to support the customer in being able to make an informed decision if a specific product will work in one's system to provide both value and also engaging musical experiences.

[John Jordan]

Thanks for the replies gentlemen!

Audiolover, it is great to know the tremendous improvements you have experienced with similar equipment.

Stephen (Puma Cat), your weighing in appreciated. I learn so much from you posts and enjoy following through your working methods despite often needing several reads to grasp what you are doing. In particular the streaming journey had me want to jump in for the sake of a cool project.

Now, to answer the cabling question.

I have treaded very carefully with cables. All are self made except the digital cables.
The power amps have DH Labs Red Wave cable with Wattgate gold plated connectors, the power cords on the sources are DH Labs Power Plus with Wattgate standard connectors.
The interconnects are DH Labs Pro Studio cable with their balanced connectors.
These cables did improve the sound quality but not to a new component level, more like icing on the cake so to speak. Interesting to note, when running the one Mc 275 the power cable upgrade was more noticeable than doing the same upgrade to the Mc 75's. Oh, the DAC has a spiral design PC I came across using Mil-spec wire and Furutech copper connectors. It is ever so slightly cleaner than the Power Plus cable.

Power is a dedicated 20 amp line from the first panel in the house and all wall sockets are PS Audio. Speaker cables run under the LR through the basement. One ruins approx 28 feet and the other approx 22 feet. There are two Blue Jeans/Belden 10 gauge runs for each speaker, bi-amped.

Using headphones (Audeze LCD 3) mirror the same differences as listening with speakers.

Speaking of projects, today's is to wash the window and slider screens. About 50. Time to get with that.

Again, Additional Comments Welcome.

[Parabellum]

Originally Posted by John Jordan

I'd be particularly interested in those with the Bryston DAC as the Bryston folks say USB cable differences are less pronounced than they may be with other DACs.

I have a Curious USB 0.8M between my Bryston BDP-2 and BDA-3 DAC and there is a clear audible improvement compared to my previous USB cable (BIS Audio USB). I don't know about other DAC so I cannot comment on this as the BDA-3 is my first and only DAC. I really like what the Curious USB is doing in my digital front end, plus it is moderately priced at 350$US shipped from Australia.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by John Jordan

Thanks for the replies gentlemen!

Audiolover, it is great to know the tremendous improvements you have experienced with similar equipment.

Stephen (Puma Cat), your weighing in appreciated. I learn so much from you posts and enjoy following through your working methods despite often needing several reads to grasp what you are doing. In particular the streaming journey had me want to jump in for the sake of a cool project.

Now, to answer the cabling question.

I have treaded very carefully with cables. All are self made except the digital cables.
The power amps have DH Labs Red Wave cable with Wattgate gold plated connectors, the power cords on the sources are DH Labs Power Plus with Wattgate standard connectors.
The interconnects are DH Labs Pro Studio cable with their balanced connectors.
These cables did improve the sound quality but not to a new component level, more like icing on the cake so to speak. Interesting to note, when running the one Mc 275 the power cable upgrade was more noticeable than doing the same upgrade to the Mc 75's. Oh, the DAC has a spiral design PC I came across using Mil-spec wire and Furutech copper connectors. It is ever so slightly cleaner than the Power Plus cable.

Power is a dedicated 20 amp line from the first panel in the house and all wall sockets are PS Audio. Speaker cables run under the LR through the basement. One ruins approx 28 feet and the other approx 22 feet. There are two Blue Jeans/Belden 10 gauge runs for each speaker, bi-amped.

Using headphones (Audeze LCD 3) mirror the same differences as listening with speakers.

Speaking of projects, today's is to wash the window and slider screens. About 50. Time to get with that.

Again, Additional Comments Welcome.

Hi John,

Many thanks for your comments and also for providing some more detail regarding your system configuration. Regarding the impact of the power cables on with respect to the two different power amps, its possible you noted more of a difference with the MC275 because it has higher instaneous current delivery requirements than the the MC 75s, but this is just conjecture on my part.

FWIW, I've yet to encounter any interconnects that provide a component-level degree of improvement. The Shunyata Triton and Alpha USB, in my system, yes, but ICs? Nope, at least not yet!

Something you may want to consider at some point is getting a good power distributor or a couple of the new Venom NR-series of power cords. The ability of the power distributor or power cord to deliver current exceptionally quickly and cleanly and concomitantly reduce the overall noise floor of your system really allows your other components and cables to perform at their maximal level, as well as imparting "quietness" and "listening ease" that makes the listening experience much more engaging.