Cash for Cables......

xj4094dg
xj4094dg Posts: 1,158
edited May 2010 in 2 Channel Audio
This looks interesting....

http://www.transparentcable.com/support/cc_program_1.php
"The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it." Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Post edited by xj4094dg on
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • punk-roc
    punk-roc Posts: 1,150
    edited May 2010
    hmm, i might have to look into that.. i've wanted to try one of their usb cables.

    Jason
    2-Channel - So far...
    Pre: Dodd ELP
    DAC: W4S-Dac2
    Source(s): Computer and Denon 2910
    Amp: Parasound HCA-1200II
    Speakers: LSi9s - Vr3 Fortress Mod
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited May 2010
    punk-roc wrote: »
    hmm, i might have to look into that.. i've wanted to try one of their usb cables.

    Jason

    USB cables? I find it hard to believe that there could really be any difference between USB cables...as long as you've got something of half decent quality, it should be just fine.

    It's along the same grain as any digital cable. I've never experienced any differences in them.
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • punk-roc
    punk-roc Posts: 1,150
    edited May 2010
    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    USB cables? I find it hard to believe that there could really be any difference between USB cables...as long as you've got something of half decent quality, it should be just fine.

    It's along the same grain as any digital cable. I've never experienced any differences in them.

    ok..
    2-Channel - So far...
    Pre: Dodd ELP
    DAC: W4S-Dac2
    Source(s): Computer and Denon 2910
    Amp: Parasound HCA-1200II
    Speakers: LSi9s - Vr3 Fortress Mod
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited May 2010
    punk-roc wrote: »
    ok..

    Yep.

    Just chipping in my own experience. I can't say that I've ever experimented with different USB cables though.

    You've experienced differences in USB cables then, I take it?
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TECHNOKID
    TECHNOKID Posts: 4,298
    edited May 2010
    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    USB cables? I find it hard to believe that there could really be any difference between USB cables...as long as you've got something of half decent quality, it should be just fine.

    It's along the same grain as any digital cable. I've never experienced any differences in them.
    Come on Cc, haven't you heard that the 1s have that much more clarity and the 0s are much warmer... ;)
    DARE TO SOAR:
    “Your attitude, almost always determine your altitude in life” ;)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited May 2010
    TECHNOKID wrote: »
    Come on Cc, haven't you heard that the 1s have that much more clarity and the 0s are much warmer... ;)


    Not for me...I get the opposite. Warmer 1's and clearer 0's.;)
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • On3s&Z3r0s
    On3s&Z3r0s Posts: 1,013
    edited May 2010
    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    USB cables? I find it hard to believe that there could really be any difference between USB cables...as long as you've got something of half decent quality, it should be just fine.

    It's along the same grain as any digital cable. I've never experienced any differences in them.

    I used to be of exactly the same opinion, but I did actually have a problem with an HDMI cable not long ago. It wasn't one of the cheap $10 cables and wasn't the $30 per foot kind either. It was supposed to be 1.3a certified. I was getting audio dropouts on 5.1 SACD's. It was like the signal from the BDP/SACD player would saturate the bandwidth to the AVR or something. Anyway, I replaced that HDMI with a different (and actually cheaper) HDMI cable and no problems since.

    Anyway, the lesson I took was that not all digital cable is created equal, and more expensive doesn't necessarily equal better. And also, always keep spare cable on hand.

    If I was going to be running high resolution digital music to a USB DAC I would maybe consider some better-than-average USB cable. But good USB DACs can be pretty expensive, so I'm stuck with Toslink.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TECHNOKID
    TECHNOKID Posts: 4,298
    edited May 2010
    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    Not for me...I get the opposite. Warmer 1's and clearer 0's.;)
    Your cable(s) definitely has built in inverter :D
    On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »
    I used to be of exactly the same opinion, but I did actually have a problem with an HDMI cable not long ago. It wasn't one of the cheap $10 cables and wasn't the $30 per foot kind either. It was supposed to be 1.3a certified. I was getting audio dropouts on 5.1 SACD's. It was like the signal from the BDP/SACD player would saturate the bandwidth to the AVR or something. Anyway, I replaced that HDMI with a different (and actually cheaper) HDMI cable and no problems since.

    Anyway, the lesson I took was that not all digital cable is created equal, and more expensive doesn't necessarily equal better. And also, always keep spare cable on hand.

    If I was going to be running high resolution digital music to a USB DAC I would maybe consider some better-than-average USB cable. But good USB DACs can be pretty expensive, so I'm stuck with Toslink.
    Could simply be a bad defective cable, not necessary a brand problem.
    DARE TO SOAR:
    “Your attitude, almost always determine your altitude in life” ;)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • On3s&Z3r0s
    On3s&Z3r0s Posts: 1,013
    edited May 2010
    TECHNOKID wrote: »
    Could simply be a bad defective cable, not necessary a brand problem.

    As far as I'm concerned, a bad cable is a brand problem. But, that said I've had good luck with other cables from the same place, so I don't intend to hold it against them... just wouldn't buy HDMI from them again.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TECHNOKID
    TECHNOKID Posts: 4,298
    edited May 2010
    On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »
    As far as I'm concerned, a bad cable is a brand problem. But, that said I've had good luck with other cables from the same place, so I don't intend to hold it against them... just wouldn't buy HDMI from them again.
    Manufacturing defect can occur with the best company out there (IE: Polk also has the odd product that fails) and to me this is the best test possible for a company. If they deal with the issue in a proffessional manner and provide you with prompt replacement is sometime bigger asset than the brand name, pricing etc... However, if there is reoccurring problem with defective products from that same company you then have good reasons to move on for a different brand.

    Cheers!
    TK
    DARE TO SOAR:
    “Your attitude, almost always determine your altitude in life” ;)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • On3s&Z3r0s
    On3s&Z3r0s Posts: 1,013
    edited May 2010
    TECHNOKID wrote: »
    Manufacturing defect can occur with the best company out there (IE: Polk also has the odd product that fails) and to me this is the best test possible for a company. If they deal with the issue in a proffessional manner and provide you with prompt replacement is sometime bigger asset than the brand name, pricing etc... However, if there is reoccurring problem with defective products from that same company you then have good reasons to move on for a different brand.

    Cheers!
    TK

    You make a good point, and admittedly I left out a couple of details for the sake of simplicity. It could have been one of two cables. One went from my BDP/SACD player to the AVR and one went from the AVR to the TV. The AVR and TV (monitor actually) are both Pioneer and they have their own secret language that I haven't figured out yet. For example, for some reason, I can put in an SACD, start listening, and when I turn off the monitor (to make sure I don't burn in) the audio drops out for a second.

    No idea why that would have to happen except that all HDMI connected components have their own little network set up and any weak link might cause a problem? Anyway, once I got it working again I didn't bother doing further testing to see exactly which of the two cables was the culprit (they were made by different companies), so I'm not naming any names.

    But... back to the original point of the thread, even though a cable is only carrying 1's and 0's there's always the possiblity of errors even on a cable with no significant defects. Cheaper cable is probably a little more vulnerable to electrical interference for example. There's usually a CRC or some other checksum to detect the errors and some provision for retransmission, but in real time DSP, you could get total dropouts like I got, or weird audio artifacts, etc. Plus, different DAC's work differently and have different degrees of fault tolerance. A non-oversampling DAC would detect and handle errors differently than an oversampling / upsampling DAC.

    So, all I was saying is that the cable quality question for digital cable isn't totally snake oil, and I wouldn't personally use the USB cable that came with my portable hard drive to hook up a DAC. I'd hope the DAC would come with a decent cable. By the same token, I wouldn't pay retail for a Transparent USB cable either, so I can definitely see both sides.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • TECHNOKID
    TECHNOKID Posts: 4,298
    edited May 2010
    I replaced that HDMI with a different (and actually cheaper) HDMI cable and no problems since.
    Cheaper cable is probably a little more vulnerable to electrical interference for example.
    Contradictive statements... You actually proved that cable pricing is not a determining factor of its quality.
    I wouldn't personally use the USB cable that came with my portable hard drive to hook up a DAC. I'd hope the DAC would come with a decent cable.
    I have to admit I normally don't use the cables that originally comes with the gear as they are quite flimsy so maybe I'd also use some better quality cables with my portable even if digital signal (???)
    DARE TO SOAR:
    “Your attitude, almost always determine your altitude in life” ;)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited May 2010
    On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »
    I used to be of exactly the same opinion, but I did actually have a problem with an HDMI cable not long ago. It wasn't one of the cheap $10 cables and wasn't the $30 per foot kind either. It was supposed to be 1.3a certified. I was getting audio dropouts on 5.1 SACD's. It was like the signal from the BDP/SACD player would saturate the bandwidth to the AVR or something. Anyway, I replaced that HDMI with a different (and actually cheaper) HDMI cable and no problems since.

    Anyway, the lesson I took was that not all digital cable is created equal, and more expensive doesn't necessarily equal better. And also, always keep spare cable on hand.

    If I was going to be running high resolution digital music to a USB DAC I would maybe consider some better-than-average USB cable. But good USB DACs can be pretty expensive, so I'm stuck with Toslink.


    There are differences in build quality between HDMI cables...but there won't be any sonic difference whatsoever. That's why I said above, that as long as you have something of at least decent quality, you should be just fine.

    Your issue sounds more like a manufacturer defect/flaw than anything else.
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • On3s&Z3r0s
    On3s&Z3r0s Posts: 1,013
    edited May 2010
    TECHNOKID wrote: »
    Contradictive statements... You actually proved that cable pricing is not a determining factor of its quality.

    You're right... poor choice of words... I should have said crappy cable is probably more vulnerable to electrical interference. Or, in other words, cable that is cheap for the manufacturer regardless of what Monst... um... I mean the manufacturer ultimately charges the customer. :D
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • cstmar01
    cstmar01 Posts: 4,424
    edited May 2010
    kinda cool idea, however I like my MIT's so they won't be getting them from me :)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter