USB cable comparisons

[coxhaus]

 

Robert Harley and I have different tastes in equipment (sound I mean) - usually stuff he thinks is exceptional I recognize as exceptional, but find I don't really like as much as other gear. I am very sure that is personal preference though!

 

-Paul

 

 

QUOTE]

 

Not a preference thing I was bringing attention too. It was the brightness issue with silver cables and with the Audioquest Diamond specifically I was commenting on. In Bob's review (and according to everyone else that has listened to this cable here at my place), the Diamond is one of the least bright sounding USB cables we have heard and if anything find them to be extended but slightly smooth. I have found the opposite with the Carbon and so have a number of guys that have traded it in. I find the carbon brighter by a small margin than the Diamond so go figure. In fact the one comment heard most often about the Diamond is "lovely strings!".

 

Guess it's just system dependent.

 

I own both the Audioquest Carbon and Diamond USB cables. I bought the Carbon first. I decided it had the tonal qualities I liked but was not extended on the top and was veiled a little in the midrange. The Diamond USB cable is a lot better in all areas compared to the Carbon cable. There is no way I would consider either of these cables bright at all. I have tried my Diamond USB cable in many of my friends system always improving the sound except for one system which was cabled to hot. The Diamond cable in that system sounded a little brittle which I did not like. The Carbon was a better match though veiled in the mid range.

[coxhaus]

If we are talking power cords instead of USB cables, I like Elrod power cables. If you cannot afford the new ones look for used older models. They will make great bass smooth everything else out. One heck of a power cord.

[coxhaus]

Is it proper to assume that if you use a USB/SPDIF converter the USB cable is either less important or not important at all? My initial guess is that you still want a decent one because it is still in the "path". (BTW I am using the JK Cuinas and I use a cheap Belden cable)

 

I think the USB cable plays a big part in the sound with a USB/SPDIF converter. When I owned the Berkley USB Alpha converter the USB made a big difference in sound. I ran an Audioquest Diamond and Purist Dominus digital cable. I thought it was a good combo. I worked my way up the food chain to the Diamond and with each change I heard an improvement.

[coxhaus]

Anybody heard the new Pranawire Photon USB cable? Is it as good as the Lightspeed and Ultimate? One other USB cable that might rate with these USB cables is the Entreq. I have a friend that thinks the Entreq is better than the Diamond. I have not heard either of these cables but I would like to.

[coxhaus]

Yea I have not heard anything Pangea that I like and that include interconnects, speaker wires, power cables, and USB cables. A friend of mine has it all and if defiantly has a sound which I don’t care for but to be fair I listen to cables which cost a lot more.

 

I have the Audioquest Diamond and like the sound especially the treble, very smooth top. I could use a little more bass details although. I have not tried the Wireworld Platinum but after reading on this site, I don’t think it is my cup of tea so to speak. I think the Diamond and the Wireworld are on opposite ends of the spectrum and I prefer the other end. It is all preference at this level. They are all excellent cables.

[coxhaus]

Thanks reverendo I really liked your reviews. I am considering the Lightspeed and Utimate after your reviews. I was just wondering if the Pranawire Photon was in the same class. The Entreq is pretty expensive, I heard around $2500 which seems like a lot for a USB cable.

I am going to test the iUSB with 2 Diamond wires and see if I like it better than one. I know I hate to do it, but I just feel like I must. This will tell me whether I will be running 2 USB cables in the future or 1. Then I will look at these other cables.

[coxhaus]

BTW all of these usb cables WAY better plugged into a Paul Pang USB Card instead of the crappy USB port on your computer, but most of you already knew that. JPlay is coming out with their version of a USB card that I'll be trying as soon as it comes out-hopefully next month.

 

Do you think the iUSB device makes the USB card obsolete?

[coxhaus]

Why use 2 USB cables?

 

Just use your best cable into the ifi, and a hard Female A -> Male B adapter between the ifi and your DAC? This has to be better than any cable, and significantly cheaper...

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9321[/ATTACH]

 

I think your idea is a good one and I will probably try it. It would defiantly be cheaper than buying two USB cables. Have you compared yours to using 2 USB cables?

[coxhaus]

I wish! My ifi was ordered over a week ago from Music Direct and still hasn't shipped. :.(

 

This adapter is marked as shipped today and says it should be here by Th. I'll let you know when this stuff is here is a week or two (hopefully).

 

Yeah, let's you focus on your main USB cable.

 

Another thing to try (it's cheap enough hah) is the 6" Belkin from Amazon. So short that I can't imagine much in the way of losses, etc. This was my original intention before I found that adapter. These are only about $7-8 shipped.

 

Amazon.com: Belkin Components 6in USB Ab Device Daisy Chain for USB Hub: Electronics

 

 

 

 

 

What is the deal with the supply of the ifi? Did you have to wait very long for your ifi when you ordered it?

 

Mine already shipped. I ordered on Thursday and I should have it on Tuesday. I ordered from MCV-consulting.com. I have dealt with Simon on several occasions and he is a good guy. I like him but no 30 day trial period. I will just resale it here if I decide not to use it.

[coxhaus]

I have the Purist Ultimate in house breaking in. It has run for 4 or 5 days and I have to agree with reverendo here on CA the Ultimate is a better USB cable than the Diamond cable. It has much more body and is overall more refined, maybe not quite as much HF extension. I like the Ultimate better and have sold my Diamond USB cable. From the first moment I could tell my system had moved up at least one level in quality. The resolution is so much better especially in the bass end. It is such an improvement in my system it has me excited again about my system.

[coxhaus]

BTW all of these usb cables WAY better plugged into a Paul Pang USB Card instead of the crappy USB port on your computer, but most of you already knew that. JPlay is coming out with their version of a USB card that I'll be trying as soon as it comes out-hopefully next month.

 

Where can I buy a Paul Pang USB card? Do they have PCI as I don't have a PCIe slot. Does the Paul Pang USB card work with Server 2012?

[coxhaus]

SHOPPING AREA: AUDIO GRADE USB 3.0 PCIE CARD

 

So it looks like I need a power supply. Should I start with an ATX power connector or buy a linear power supply. Am I going to get any benefit running Server 2012 using this USB card without a linear power supply? What linear power supply?

[coxhaus]

It also looks like the express slot card is the only one made now. I need PCI not express.

[coxhaus]

I've not heard either the Purist or the Lightspeed, the later which was on my list to try prior to getting the Photon. I've seen some comments reporting the Lightspeed to be thin sounding which is what always bothered me about the Oyaide and Nordost. Still, I'd love to hear it sometime to judge for myself.

 

Do you live anywhere near central Texas? I would like to listen to the Photon.

[coxhaus]

My friend owns a Pangea USB cable. I don’t think the Pangea is in the same league as the Audioquest Diamond. The Diamond is all I owned when I was comparing.

[coxhaus]

I wished you lived closer so we could compare USB cables. I wonder which has more body the Transparent Premium or Purist Ultimate USB cable? The AQ Diamond could not keep up with the Purist Ultimate in body and low end. The AQ Diamond was maybe a little better on the top end but you cannot live by top end only. To me mid range is the most important.

[coxhaus]

Isn't saying that you found no weakness in a USB cable equivalent to saying that digital playback is absolutely perfect in your system?

 

I didn't think I heard weaknesses in the Wireworld Platinum Startlight (WWPS), but there were things about digital playback that were really bothering me. These I blamed on my DAC. It wasn't until I heard that Heimdall that I realized the problem was actually the WWPS.

 

I could find no flaw in the Heimdall either. My jaw hit the floor when I heard the LS pass information that the Heimdall couldn't pass.

 

 

 

 

So if it only comes down primarily to fullness, the LS may very well not be the cable for you.

 

My highest priority is that instruments sound like the real thing. The Heimdall was fuller sounding than the LS, but with the LS did a far better job of making instruments come to life. Timbres were much more natural sounding through the LS. Also the way instruments occupied space and energized the air was far more convincing with the LS. The LS is amazing in the time domain - transients rise quickly and decay naturally. Percussive instruments are more percussive and sound more real as a result. Contact made with guitar or bass strings sounds more realistic too. And then there's the clarity of the LS, which is simply stunning. Performers sound much more like they are in the same room with you.

 

A great example: Kansas' Leftoverture album is one of my favorite albums. I have listened to this a million times both on vinyl and on CD. A vibraphone is featured in the middle of the song "Opus Insert". I had never noticed this until I got the LS. The sound of metal bars being struck came through crystal clear with the LS in place. I think my eyes must have bulged out of my eyes when I heard this because the vibraphone sounded like it was in my listening room. I literally looked over to where the sound was coming from half expecting to see a vibraphone. LOL

 

I would gladly accept a slight loss in fullness for the opportunity to have instruments come to life like that before me. But that's me.

 

 

 

I will not be satisfied with resolution until I am regularly fooled into thinking that I'm in the same room as the musicians and their instruments. The pursuit of this is what makes listening so enjoyable to me.

 

 

 

I think you may have just saved yourself some money. If meaty is what you are looking for, you should look to something other than the LS.

 

But then again, if natural is really what you are after, then you should seriously give the LS a listen.

 

 

 

That's the best way to go.

 

I don’t think fullness is synonymous for midrange. I think there is more to midrange than fullness. Even though I started the term body, I did not mean only fullness.

 

I have heard the Light Speed USB cable is a little thin sounding with good extensions. I have never tried this cable and probably never will. What you are describing for the LS I have already, what I want in a USB cable is better midrange.

 

The AQ Diamond has the best top end I have heard but lacks in resolution in midrange and bass compared to the Purist Ultimate USB. The Purist just sucks me in on the midrange. I sold my AQ Diamond.

[coxhaus]

My two cents: forget the LS for now and instead look to getting a really good power cord. This will have much greater ability to deliver the fullness that's important to you. A cord like the Nordost Brahma for example, could significantly improve tonal density and weight depending on what you are using currently.

 

Also get some Stillpoints under your DAC. I would place both of these moves ahead of a better USB cable given that you are so happy with the Premium now.

 

If you look at my signature you will see my power cables. I also have a lot of still points but could use a few more. The latest power cable I added to my Joule preamp is an Elrod Statement Gold which I think is a tad better than the Nordost Brahma power cord.

I did Nordost about 8 years ago. I have heard them all except Odin. I don’t think I will be going to Nordost again.

[coxhaus]

What does you mean exactly by better midrange? More accurate? Or full and pleasing no matter what the recording?

 

I'm hearing a string tone from cellos now at this very moment the LS that gets as close as I've yet heard from digital to the tone I hear at the symphony hall. The ultimate test for me is how the sound stacks up next to my recollection of the real thing.

 

I don’t have an answer but I tell you Purist is a lot closer than Nordost. Vcaps give more air around strings than most caps which I have in my amps and preamp. I plan to get Dueland caps installed in my AMR 777 when it is upgraded. Air around strings is not the answer to my want as I get very good air around strings.

 

The Bourbon is good right now. Elmer T Lee Bourbon.

[coxhaus]

If you want to know about Stillpoints you might try contacting a dealer. I used Simon at MCV consulting. Contact Us :: MCV Consulting - MCV Consulting: Audio Equipment, Engineering & System Matching

Simon knew how much weight each of models would handle. He is a nice guy and like him. I have bought many products from him and everything he has said has been true.