USB cable comparisons

[Lee Scoggins]

My favorites are the AQ Diamond, Synergistic Research Galileo (my current best) and the Shunyata Venom (Mk2).  I have several LH cables including the Lightspeed but I am not impressed with any of them.  Ditto for the iFi cables but I have not heard the most current one.

 

The Galileo seems very special to my ears but it is pretty expensive.

[Lee Scoggins]

On 11/6/2016 at 4:48 PM, Dev said:

I have compared Curious, JCAT dual-head reference, AQ Diamond and WW Platinum in the past and find that its very much dependent on the transport and DAC combination. What USB cable performs the best in one combination doesn't necessarily works if the combination is changed. When I had a dual-pc Jplay setup, the JCAT usb cable (I have it for sale, pm if interested) performed best when used with PPA or JCAT usb card. With microRendu/DS combo, the Curious performs the best. I am very much eager to try the Audience.

 

This makes sense to me.  Associated gear is always a factor in my experience as well.

[Lee Scoggins]

On 11/28/2017 at 5:45 PM, johndoe21ro said:

If anyone has the possibility to do so... try your AQ Diamond USB cable with a 216V DBS (use adapters/extra batteries or whatever is necessary)...

 

How does that work?  What gains do you get?

[Lee Scoggins]

On 2/28/2013 at 8:32 AM, Juan Paulino said:

Has anyone tried synergistic research usb cable?

 

I have the Galileo SR usb cable.  It works very well.  I like it better than the also good Audioquest Diamond.  On the more affordable side, I like Curious, Shunyata, and Black Cat.

[Lee Scoggins]

I should also add that we once did a needledrop and used a top of the line Transparent SPDIF cable which was really excellent.  I suspect their USB cable is very good and will probably try it soon.

[Lee Scoggins]

I just got the new Stereophile via Zinio.  Kimber and others are starting to make USB-C connectors on the USB cables.  Nordost does it and I just got an Audioquest "DragonTail" that is a 4" or so adaptor that converts USB-A to USB-C with 5% silver.  I have it connected to a Galileo from Synergistic and it noticeable improved my sound over a standard Apple dongle (no surprise there!).

[Lee Scoggins]

5 hours ago, matthias said:

 

I think the best is to have a "wireless" adaptor like this one from AQ:

 

https://www.audioquest.com/accessories/splitters-connectors-adaptors/adaptors/usb-a-to-c-adaptor

 

I hope that manufacturers like Oyaide will launch USB-C cables too.

 

Matt

 

I think the manufacturers will.  And yes, I will try the wireless version of the AQ soon.  The best wire is no wire?  Sometimes you want the extra flexibility of the wire version though.

[Lee Scoggins]

On 1/21/2019 at 2:10 PM, Cornan said:

 

What can be more flexibility than wireless? Hard for me to see! 👀 

 

Sometimes the bulk of the adapter can get in the way if you are short on space or have a stiff usb cable.  The good news is that I am seeing more and more mfrs offer the usb-c option.