What's a good USB A to USB B cable?

ken brydson

BlueFox wrote: »

You sure are desperate trying to rationalize how you think the universe should work. We have only scratched the surface of those sciences. To even think we are close to understanding electronics, for example, is the height of nonsense.

I was just gonna say eff off but your response was much more polite...

ZLTFUL

Here's a guy who clearly knows nothing about physics if he thinks it is all about absolutes.

polkfarmboy

If this is still a usb thread then go for a wireworld starlight as it sounds very analog. If you want more then the pangea top of the line is the way to go as it is a giant killer.

BlueFox

Another choice is the Shunyata. Reasonably priced, and with a good review.

http://www.audiostream.com/content/shunyata-research-venom-usb-cable

Nightfall

Zero, you don't actually expect he's going to answer questions like that do you? The extent of his argument is what he's read on the internet (AVS forum, Audioholics, etc) and what sales friends have told him.

comfortablycurt

Well I can definitely say that there is a staggeringly huge improvement between connecting my laptop to the P5 via the 1.5mm to RCA cable and the USB cable. I'm really liking the DAC in the P5.

PSOVLSK

comfortablycurt wrote: »

That was a genuine question. Do you have actual experience with using different digital cables, or are you forming your opinions from a purely theoretical standpoint of how a digital signal should behave?

xcapri79 wrote: »

Just take the time to really understand how USB and digital communications work. After that all I can say is, it's your wallet and your decision! Budget as you see fit.
I know what my decision would be.

Translation: "No, I don't have any actual experience."

machone

I was talking to a friend that works at a high end audio video shop. Says he auditioned some headphones that were good but not great until a usb line conditioner was inserted between the computer and the DAC. He said the difference was amazing. I asked who made it and he said Audioquest but he could not remember its name. I searched on the internet and found out it is the Jitterbug for $49 coming soon. He latter confirmed that it was the Jitterbug. I know this guy and he does not blow smoke. Much will be revealed as we dive deeper into digital.

msg

EndersShadow wrote: »

Additionally eBay is a good place to find those cables...
I paid 40, 80 & 60 for my 3 3m Cinnamon HDMI cables and STOLE a 5m in wall Cinnamon for 46....

are you concerned at all for counterfeiting? know anything about it? I don't, I just see warnings from cable manufacturers about it.

EndersShadow

msg wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

Additionally eBay is a good place to find those cables...
I paid 40, 80 & 60 for my 3 3m Cinnamon HDMI cables and STOLE a 5m in wall Cinnamon for 46....

are you concerned at all for counterfeiting? know anything about it? I don't, I just see warnings from cable manufacturers about it.

I was but I find Audioquest cables HDMI wise are harder to counterfeit and get the packaging right and the correct cable with it.

I also bought from individuals (minus the last cable) in the U.S. and would ask where they bought it from. They could of course lie to me.

And after getting it I double checked the packing and whatnot to make sure it all matches as they have gone through 3 different iterations of cinnamon cables. So far they appear legit.

If I really wanted to I could send them to Audioquest to verify they are legit. If they find they are not however they would destroy them.

I'm confident enough they are to have not done that.... Yet lol

bryantspaint

http://www.achtungaudio.com/?product=ag82-pure-silver-usb-interconnect-power-data-input-independently

msg

EndersShadow wrote: »

If I really wanted to I could send them to Audioquest to verify they are legit. If they find they are not however they would destroy them.
I'm confident enough they are to have not done that.... Yet lol

hehe, sounds like you're at least "conscious" of the possibilty lol
re: sending into AQ - I laughed when I read that.

bryantspaint wrote: »

http://www.achtungaudio.com/?product=ag82-pure-silver-usb-interconnect-power-data-input-independently

woh, one lead for power and one for data?? how do you like this? impressions?

bryantspaint

I like It, I use a battery powered usb card. No noise. I use to use a Yamaha CD-S3000 cd/sacd But sold it, No one could tell the difference between s3000 and Foobar/teac player (dsd)or24/192 to SOtM tX-USBexp Audiophile PCIe to USB Audio Card:/SOtM mBPS-d2s Intelligent Battery Power Suppy through achtungaudio usb to teac ud 301 I think it sound way better. Bigger soundstage mids to die for, allround the sound opened up. a vail has been lifted.

machone

I changed the USB cable that came with my external Korg DAC to a Starlight 7 and love it. I then changed the USB cable that came with my external hard drive to a Starlight 7 and it sounded awful. I changed back to the cheap cable and the sound came back. Then I got smart and removed my laptop from the docking station and moved the cables from the docking station to the laptop. The sound improved. Then I changed the drive cable back to the Srarlight 7 and wow! Now it sounds fantastic. I am hearing details that I did not know existed.

Cables do make a difference and once again the least complicated circuit yields the best SQ and this is true with analog or digital.

I guess it must be more difficult to transmit 1s and 0s than one might think.

BlueFox

machone wrote: »

I changed the USB cable that came with my external Korg DAC to a Starlight 7 and love it. I then changed the USB cable that came with my external hard drive to a Starlight 7 and it sounded awful. I changed back to the cheap cable and the sound came back. Then I got smart and removed my laptop from the docking station and moved the cables from the docking station to the laptop. The sound improved. Then I changed the drive cable back to the Srarlight 7 and wow! Now it sounds fantastic. I am hearing details that I did not know existed.

Cables do make a difference and once again the least complicated circuit yields the best SQ and this is true with analog or digital.

I guess it must be more difficult to transmit 1s and 0s than one might think.

Quick. Run and hide. The arm chair psychiatrists on this forum will soon start telling you that you are imagining these changes.

tonyb

xcapri79 wrote: »

No doubt that machone appears to be confused. I would surmise that the sound improved coincident with the volume control setting.

.....and you came to that conclusion how....exactly ?

tonyb

xcapri79 wrote: »

No doubt that machone appears to be confused. I would surmise that the sound improved coincident with the volume control setting.

No, this doesn't make sense to me. The man was simply documenting his experience and you called him "confused" because it didn't align with your beliefs. While I can agree some do use the volume trickery to promote increases in SQ, not all do and that's a pretty broad brush to paint with.

machone

I forgot to mention that the SQ is better at any volume.

Also while using the docking station the cheap USB cable was superior to the Starlight. This was a quite a letdown because I was hoping for an improvement. I was forced to go back to the cheap cable and wonder what was going on. It was the next day that I decided to remove the docking station and try it again.

Why the sonic difference?

machone

No defective cables here. Done with this post.

tonyb

xcapri79 wrote: »

With digital sound, it one cable "sounds" worse than another, I would say that cable is defective.

If that were true, a lot of defective cables are being sold and should warrant a class action law suit.

tonyb

Best advice right there...^^^^

DarqueKnight

comfortablycurt wrote: »

What is the consensus on digital cables today? Is it worth spending more on a nicer USB?

As with all things audio, it depends on your ears, music, and equipment. In my experience, better USB (and coaxial) cables made a difference in some cases. I went into more detail, with listening evaluations and measurements, in this thread:

digital-interconnect-cables-whats-your-experience

It wasn't until I moved up to RAL's digital cables, and aggressively reduced jitter by installing a digital master clock, that I began hearing differences in digital cables in my two channel system. Prior to that, the AudioQuest and Pangea USB cables sounded no different from each other and no different from generic computer grade USB cables.

DarqueKnight

Really.

There was probably something synergy-wise, and jitter-wise, between digital sources, DAC, and digital interconnect, that was masking the ability to hear the differences. I'll take time to nail it down...in the future...when I'm more dedicated to audio than I am now.

tonyb

xcapri79 wrote: »

DarqueKnight wrote: »

Prior to that, the AudioQuest and Pangea USB cables sounded no different from each other and no different from generic computer grade USB cables.

DSkip wrote: »

Really? My system is not up to your level but I've heard differences between generic, aq forest, and aq cinnamon USB cables.

DarqueKnight wrote: »

Really.

There was probably something synergy-wise, and jitter-wise, between digital sources, DAC, and digital interconnect, that was masking the ability to hear the differences. I'll take time to nail it down...in the future...when I'm more dedicated to audio than I am now.

There you go, with a little patience, the audio myths are self-exposed here. That is why I need not make any immediate response to the questions, whether they like it or not, the questioners themselves here make it for me.

The Darqueknight did privately acknowledge that there are audio myths and snake-oil involved with analog and digital cables yet publicly denounced them in this forum "What are they?!", because it doesn't fit the general "group-think" of several members of this forum.

Anyways, don't argue with little old me, argue with CBS News as they recently published, "When are expensive cables worth it?". Pertaining to usb cables, here is what they had to say to the general public.

http://www.cbsnews.com/media/when-are-expensive-cables-worth-it/3/

Believe it or not, there is common sense about cables in this forum too.
I found it.
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/105722/inside-the-hdmi-cable-scam/

You just don't know when to quit do you ? I think we all can admit to some degree that snake oil is involved in most any consumer product but you seem to want to define a whole industry by it.....constantly.

Your mission to debunk these so called audio myths fall back on internet articles here and there but you always fail to post the articles in favor of. Which are a lot more for than against imho. You can find information that would back up any belief you have on the internet, Ghosts....yeah, lots of believers and internet articles. Aliens....you betcha, but the naysayers in most anything lack 2 things. Experience and a willingness to explore. Without those 2 things opinions are pretty much worthless.

ken brydson

If it's on the news its got to be true....

BlueFox

LOL. A link to a CNET opinion piece is a technical treatise on cable technology. What an (imaginary) engineer.

machone

Here we go again.

ZLTFUL

Guys...he read it on the internet so it must be true.

No need to debunk anything he says as he regularly debunks the **** out of himself. I just wish he would do it in private.

drselect

xcapri79 wrote: »

You people can't bring yourself to admit it that the report was published by none other than CBS News!
Didn't mean to ruin your day, but there it is - a major national broadcaster publishing to a national audience the real truth that you just can't admit.

Wasn't CBS News the media organization who had to fire there main anchor man for making stuff up...

Nope never mind that was NBC News.

So your right if its from CBS News it must be spot on.

ZLTFUL

The funny part about the news media...it is now and always has been biased.

I am fairly certain that you are one of those people who believe that since public broadcasting is funded by the government that they are unbiased too, right?

It's funny how you guys decry bias when it comes personal experiences but swallow the whole "media isn't biased" bullsh*t hook line and sinker.

American media is the laughing stock of the world when it comes to actual honest journalism because they all know that American news outlets can be bought just like politicians.