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

[Charles]

I have been listening to the AQ Diamond USB cable now for about a week. It is fully broken in. In the past I clung to the belief that cables as long as they were well engineered didn't matter. However, I am amazed at how much better my computer audio sounds through this all silver topline AQ USB cable. I'm not going to write a review but I just want to say that if you are using USB to not spend the relatively small amount of money to upgrade to a solid silver USB is a significant mistake. You will hear the difference immediately and it will get better and better as the cable fully breaks in.

[tdelahanty]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

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.

Bits is Bits just isn't true. The data stream transmitted over these cables is very high in the mega-hertz band which means it is a RF signal. Impedance, standing waves and reflections are critical at these frequencies.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Charles

I have been listening to the AQ Diamond USB cable now for about a week. It is fully broken in. In the past I clung to the belief that cables as long as they were well engineered didn't matter. However, I am amazed at how much better my computer audio sounds through this all silver topline AQ USB cable. I'm not going to write a review but I just want to say that if you are using USB to not spend the relatively small amount of money to upgrade to a solid silver USB is a significant mistake. You will hear the difference immediately and it will get better and better as the cable fully breaks in.

Completely agree about the sonic qualities of the AQ Diamond; its truly an excellent USB cable, and has been a reference-standard USB cable for many listeners, including me, for a number of years. I used to, and did not want, to believe that different USB cables made a difference until some friends and I conducted a listening test between an AQ Carbon and Diamond. The Diamond was so much better that there really was no comparison. The difference and improvement was not at all subtle, it was significant. I bought an AQ Coffee and used that until I could find a used AQ Diamond, which were, and still are, very hard to find used. I used my Diamond for five years or longer.

I've recently auditioned (and in one case, bought) two Shunyata USB cables that, IIRC, utilize silver-plated copper conductors, and in my system, these cables, including the entry-level Venom USB cable, outperformed the AQ Diamond. So, I don't think that a 100% solid silver conductor is absolutely required, I think what's much more important is cable design, materials, construction and ability to reject noise, RFI and EM radiation. I wlll agree that the solid silver AQ digital cables sound better than a partial-silver AQ digital cable.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by tdelahanty

Bits is Bits just isn't true. The data stream transmitted over these cables is very high in the mega-hertz band which means it is a RF signal. Impedance, standing waves and reflections are critical at these frequencies.

100% agree. Also, the "bit are bits" argument is functionally specious. Digital cables don't pass 0s and 1s; they pass analog square waves.

And passing a perfect square wave is very difficult and susceptible to all the noise factors you have mentioned.

[For The Love of Music]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Completely agree about the sonic qualities of the AQ Diamond; its truly an excellent USB cable, and has been a reference-standard USB cable for many listeners, including me, for a number of years. I used to, and did not want, to believe that different USB cables made a difference until some friends and I conducted a listening test between an AQ Carbon and Diamond. The Diamond was so much better that there really was no comparison. The difference and improvement was not at all subtle, it was significant. I bought an AQ Coffee and used that until I could find a used AQ Diamond, which were, and still are, very hard to find used. I used my Diamond for five years or longer.

I've recently auditioned (and in one case, bought) two Shunyata USB cables that, IIRC, utilize silver-plated copper conductors, and in my system, these cables, including the entry-level Venom USB cable, outperformed the AQ Diamond. So, I don't think that a 100% solid silver conductor is absolutely required, I think what's much more important is cable design, materials, construction and ability to reject noise, RFI and EM radiation. I wlll agree that the solid silver AQ digital cables sound better than a partial-silver AQ digital cable.

Puma, are the Diamonds solid silver, or wrapped with silver?

AQ refers to perfect surface or something similar, making it not clear to me

[Cohibaman]

Originally Posted by For The Love of Music

Puma, are the Diamonds solid silver, or wrapped with silver?

AQ refers to perfect surface or something similar, making it not clear to me

“Solid 100% PSS Silver”

[Weirdcuba]

I remember posting about this several years ago and was shot down by someone saying “bits are bits”. Not interested in a useless online discussion of same, i didn’t engage.

I’m glad some others have had the same experience I did.

[Charles]

"I've recently auditioned (and in one case, bought) two Shunyata USB cables that, IIRC, utilize silver-plated copper conductors, and in my system, these cables, including the entry-level Venom USB cable, outperformed the AQ Diamond. So, I don't think that a 100% solid silver conductor is absolutely required, I think what's much more important is cable design, materials, construction and ability to reject noise, RFI and EM radiation. I wlll agree that the solid silver AQ digital cables sound better than a partial-silver AQ digital cable."

Puma, several points. I believe the AQ Diamond from a manufacturing standpoint is at least the equal of any Shunyata USB cable and also equal to them as far any specs. The Diamond uniformly receives superb reviews whenever reviewed and this compared to other topline USB's, not entry level. Audioquest is almost as large as Monster Cable having thousands of outlets. This means they have the research and materials development money to spend that smaller manufacturers simply don't have. I don't agree with you that the entry level Shunyata Venom will best sonically the Diamond. All things being equal, silver sounds better than copper. Now if your ears tell you that a topline Shunyata or even a second tier sounds marginally better than a Diamond, preferences are what makes the world go round.

Respectfully,

Charles

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Charles

Puma, several points. I believe the AQ Diamond from a manufacturing standpoint is at least the equal of any Shunyata USB cable and also equal to them as far any specs. The Diamond uniformly receives superb reviews whenever reviewed and this compared to other topline USB's, not entry level. Audioquest is almost as large as Monster Cable having thousands of outlets. This means they have the research and materials development money to spend that smaller manufacturers simply don't have. I don't agree with you that the entry level Shunyata Venom will best sonically the Diamond. All things being equal, silver sounds better than copper. Now if your ears tell you that a topline Shunyata or even a second tier sounds marginally better than a Diamond, preferences are what makes the world go round.

Respectfully,

Charles

Hi Charles,
I can't say which cable might sound best for you, either with respect to your listening preferences, room, and associated components and their configuration. We all have different sensibilities, a different auditory system and we don't all hear the same.

I can say that I used an Audioquest Diamond USB cable in my system for the better part of five years and was very happy with it, but in my room, with system, configuration and speakers, the Shunyata Venom sounds better the Audioquest Diamond in number of ways. Both are excellent, but I prefer the Venom: its quieter, with more air, spaciousness, extension, bigger soundstange and more precise imaging, and better and more accurate tonal range and timbral colors than the Diamond,in my system. That result may change in another system with another set of components in another room.

As for manufacturing a USB cable, in my experience, here's what matters: All devices, whether they be a MC cartridge, DAC, preamp, cable, whatever, perform a set of functional transformations. They take an input, and tranform that input into a functional response based on a transfer function, y=f(x). The things that impact the central tendency (mean or median) and variance of the functional response are the input factors, the control factors and the noise factors. Virtually all functional systems work this way.

How effective an engineer can accomplish this is dependent on how effectively they can characterize, optimize and make robust the type, number and levels of the input and control factors to mediate the desired functional response, either by putting it on-target, or maximizing or minimizing the functional response, while minimizing the impact of noise, and in so doing, create a design embodiment (product) that accomplishes this.

None of this has anything to do with how big a company is, how many stores it has, or how long it has been in business.

Its all simply down to how effectively the engineer or designer can implement the transfer function into a physical design embodiment.

Respectfully,
Stephen aka Puma Cat

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Hi Charles,
I can't say which cable might sound best for you, either with respect to your listening preferences, room, and associated components and their configuration. We all have different sensibilities, a different auditory system and we don't all hear the same.

I can say that I used an Audioquest Diamond USB cable in my system for the better part of five years and was very happy with it, but in my room, with system, configuration and speakers, the Shunyata Venom sounds better the Audioquest Diamond in number of ways. Both are excellent, but I prefer the Venom: its quieter, with more air, spaciousness, extension, bigger soundstange and more precise imaging, and better and more accurate tonal range and timbral colors than the Diamond,in my system. That result may change in another system with another set of components in another room.

As for manufacturing a USB cable, in my experience, here's what matters: All devices, whether they be a MC cartridge, DAC, preamp, cable, whatever, perform a set of functional transformations. They take an input, and tranform that input into a functional response based on a transfer function, y=f(x). The things that impact the central tendency (mean or median) and variance of the functional response are the input factors, the control factors and the noise factors. Virtually all functional systems work this way.

How effective an engineer can accomplish this is dependent on how effectively they can characterize, optimize and make robust the type, number and levels of the input and control factors to mediate the desired functional response, either by putting it on-target, or maximizing or minimizing the functional response, while minimizing the impact of noise, and in so doing, create a design embodiment (product) that accomplishes this.

None of this has anything to do with how big a company is, how many stores it has, or how long it has been in business.

Its all simply down to how effectively the engineer or designer can implement the transfer function into a physical design embodiment.

Respectfully,
Stephen aka Puma Cat

Stephen, then I believe what you are saying is that Shunyata engineering is significantly better than AQ in respect to USB cable design and manufacturing. I don't believe this to be the case. If you are not maintaining this then precisely what are you saying? Is Shunyata using some special formula or manufacturing process that elevates the bottom tier Venom above the Diamond? Or is the Diamond defective? I doubt this seriously. In addition, implementation of a design is as important as the design. A large company with a large budget that is as dedicated to cable design as is AQ has significant cost and engineering advantages over a smaller company like Shunyata that is trying to manufacture a similar product. Understand I could I am sure live and be very satisfied with a Sigma USB but you are, in a very sophisticated way, panning AQ. On the one hand you praise the Diamond. On the other it is inferior in your system and to your ears to a bottom tier Venom. Perhaps I am incorrect or have misunderstood.

I think the key here is the phrase "in my system" but I doubt that your preference of the Venom over the Diamond would be the case generally in most folks systems. Certainly I don't believe it would be in mine.

Respectfully,

Charles