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Hi Warren- you have an excellent memory!

 

I did have a Blue Heaven, which I enjoyed, along with a bunch of other usb cables that I have since bought and sold. At the end of the day I preferred the Mapleshade even though it was one of the cheapest I tried by a large margin.

 

I still have the Mapleshade...... but it is sitting in the closet as the TotalDac cable/filter beat it. I am still a big fan of the Mapleshade Clearlink and I will never sell it, as it has an airy/open/transparent quality that is yet to be bettered by any other usb cable.

Speaker Room: Lumin U1X | Lampizator Pacific 2 | Viva Linea | Constellation Inspiration Stereo 1.0 | FinkTeam Kim | Revel subs  

Office Headphone System: Lumin U1X | Lampizator Golden Gate 3 | Viva Egoista | Abyss AB1266 Phi TC 

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Welcome to CA.

 

Sorry...I have no experience with the cable you mentioned, but have tried a few audiophile USB cables and sadly have not been able to notice a difference in sound quality. My advice would be to use any USB cable that exhibits quality construction, using the savings to purchase music or upgrades elsewhere in your system.

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How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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Welcome to CA.

 

Sorry...I have no experience with the cable you mentioned, but have tried a few audiophile USB cables and sadly have not been able to notice a difference in sound quality. My advice would be to use any USB cable that exhibits quality construction, using the savings to purchase music or upgrades elsewhere in your system.

 

You never give up!

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Hi Warren- you have an excellent memory!

 

I did have a Blue Heaven, which I enjoyed, along with a bunch of other usb cables that I have since bought and sold. At the end of the day I preferred the Mapleshade even though it was one of the cheapest I tried by a large margin.

 

I still have the Mapleshade...... but it is sitting in the closet as the TotalDac cable/filter beat it. I am still a big fan of the Mapleshade Clearlink and I will never sell it, as it has an airy/open/transparent quality that is yet to be bettered by any other usb cable.

 

Intrigued...Jud has recommended these as well...it is likely a flight of fancy but could there be similarities between this and the "very pricey" Light Harmonics cable so strongly recommended by Priaptor....but only in the physical architecture...room between the cable runs, especially the power leg.

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Intrigued...Jud has recommended these as well...it is likely a flight of fancy but could there be similarities between this and the "very pricey" Light Harmonics cable so strongly recommended by Priaptor....but only in the physical architecture...room between the cable runs, especially the power leg.

 

 

Mapleshade does have a 30-day money back guaranty. With respect to the Light Harmonic cable, I actually have one that will arrive in May. I ordered it as part of my LH Labs Geek Pulse purchase. The model I ordered is a new, cheaper version of the existing LH usb cable. I was curious so I figured I would give it a shot.

Speaker Room: Lumin U1X | Lampizator Pacific 2 | Viva Linea | Constellation Inspiration Stereo 1.0 | FinkTeam Kim | Revel subs  

Office Headphone System: Lumin U1X | Lampizator Golden Gate 3 | Viva Egoista | Abyss AB1266 Phi TC 

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You never give up!

 

Not a matter of giving up. He reported his listening experiences describing what he heard. Is there some problem there?

And always keep in mind: Cognitive biases, like seeing optical illusions are a sign of a normally functioning brain. We all have them, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, but it is something that affects our objective evaluation of reality. 

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Not a matter of giving up. He reported his listening experiences describing what he heard. Is there some problem there?

 

Mayhem13 concisely described his experiences and offered his advice. So, no problem.

 

With that said, I also use the Mapleshade Clearlink Plus and like it. Therefore I can see no reason not to give it a trial for the allowed 30 day test period on your system and see what you think/hear.

 

It does need to be treated with a bit of care mechanically, but if you do not have cat and can trust your ayi as she cleans around it, it should be fine. It does look like the perfect cat toy.

 

I also have the Light Harmonic on order as part of the Geek Pulse campaign. Not the highest end one, but the one that also has a seperate power leg. Looking forward to hearing that one sometime this spring.

You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star

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I tend to think differences in systems could be a possible reason for reported differences in experience with respect to whether USB cables sound different. Both PeterSt and John Swenson have alluded to ways in which DACs can be made relatively immune to differences in USB (Peter) or power (John) cables.

 

That said, as others have mentioned, I use and like the Mapleshade. It's nice that if you try it and don't hear a difference worth the money, you can return it. (If you have a significant other or willing friend, you can try a blind test on them or vice versa to check whether or not any difference you hear is real.)

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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Looking for a USB cable in the $150 range.

 

The Audioquest Carbon looks promising, as does the Black Cat Silverstar.

 

Any experience with either - or - and recommendations on other brands?

 

Hi StrawberryNatto,

 

Welcome!

 

Maybe a strange suggestion, but perhaps you can tell us about the intended use of the cable, and why you want to upgrade from the cable you have right now for this purpose.

 

As an extreme example you should not take seriously: for all we know now you might use a defective cable at the moment, and you use it for your printer.

 

In other words: if you give us more information, we can give more specific advice.

 

Kinf regards,

Peter

“We are the Audiodrones. Lower your skepticism and surrender your wallets. We will add your cash and savings to our own. Your mindset will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.” - (Quote from Star Trek: The Audiophile Generation)

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Hi StrawberryNatto,

 

Welcome!

 

Maybe a strange suggestion, but perhaps you can tell us about the intended use of the cable, and why you want to upgrade from the cable you have right now for this purpose.

 

As an extreme example you should not take seriously: for all we know now you might use a defective cable at the moment, and you use it for your printer.

 

In other words: if you give us more information, we can give more specific advice.

 

Kind regards,

Peter

 

Peter:

 

Don't you think it's pretty safe to assume that he wants it for a DAC? Personally, I don't know anyone who is currently using a $150 USB cable for his/her printer. :) Or did you mean that he should describe the particular equipment that he wants it for?

"Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron

 

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Peter:

 

Personally, I don't know anyone who is currently using a $150 USB cable for his/her printer. :) ?

 

Photographers use high end USB cables on their printers as they subjectively report the pixel edges are more defined with more negative space and inkier blacks with an overall improvement to the final printed product......same principles that drive audiophiles to find improvement with USB cables and DACs would apply in theory.

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Peter:

 

Don't you think it's pretty safe to assume that he wants it for a DAC? Personally, I don't know anyone who is currently using a $150 USB cable for his/her printer. :) Or did you mean that he should describe the particular equipment that he wants it for?

 

Allan - Obviously so; that is why I said "extreme". The DAC is indeed most probable, but perhaps he is thinking about using it for an external HD... If he want to upgrade to fix an issue, maybe we can point to other solution that, perhaps, cost less or even nothing...

 

And specifying used equipment does not hurt as well.

“We are the Audiodrones. Lower your skepticism and surrender your wallets. We will add your cash and savings to our own. Your mindset will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.” - (Quote from Star Trek: The Audiophile Generation)

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Hi StrawberryNatto,

 

Welcome!

 

Maybe a strange suggestion, but perhaps you can tell us about the intended use of the cable, and why you want to upgrade from the cable you have right now for this purpose.

 

As an extreme example you should not take seriously: for all we know now you might use a defective cable at the moment, and you use it for your printer.

 

In other words: if you give us more information, we can give more specific advice.

 

Kinf regards,

Peter

 

 

Sure thing, Peter.

 

The USB cable is for my audio system:

 

Clones Audio 55pm monos

Clones Audio AP1 pre

Clones Audio mPSU with 2012 Mac Mini

Schiit Audio Bifrost DAC

KEF LS50s

Custom Design FS104 Sig stands

 

I don't have a USB cable for my system at the moment. As I'm located in Japan, trying out cables isn't the easiest thing as the return policies are much more restrictive, plus it rules out things like The Cable Co's library.

 

So this is a bit more of a one shot deal, thus reading all the reviews and asking all the questions I can first.

 

AQ is a rather easy brand to get my hands on here. If that route, I'd get a Carbon. Also came across the Black Cat Silverstar. And today was reading on Elijah Audio USBs.

 

Again, I know there are 1000+ choices and with most cables (if not all), dependent on components and yours own ears for sound quality/differences.

 

As I'm not going to be sitting in my audio room with 10 USB cables auditioning each one, as a possible positive, I'm not going to be ripping my hair out over highs/lows, brightness, etc. I just want to find a generally acknowledged, solid, great bang for the buck USB in that $150 max range.

 

Also wondering... How important is it to try and stick to all of one brand cables (USB, speaker, RCA interconnects, power cables)?

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Sure thing, Peter.

 

The USB cable is for my audio system:

 

Clones Audio 55pm monos

Clones Audio AP1 pre

Clones Audio mPSU with 2012 Mac Mini

Schiit Audio Bifrost DAC

KEF LS50s

Custom Design FS104 Sig stands

 

I don't have a USB cable for my system at the moment. As I'm located in Japan, trying out cables isn't the easiest thing as the return policies are much more restrictive, plus it rules out things like The Cable Co's library.

 

So this is a bit more of a one shot deal, thus reading all the reviews and asking all the questions I can first.

 

AQ is a rather easy brand to get my hands on here. If that route, I'd get a Carbon. Also came across the Black Cat Silverstar. And today was reading on Elijah Audio USBs.

 

Again, I know there are 1000+ choices and with most cables (if not all), dependent on components and yours own ears for sound quality/differences.

 

As I'm not going to be sitting in my audio room with 10 USB cables auditioning each one, as a possible positive, I'm not going to be ripping my hair out over highs/lows, brightness, etc. I just want to find a generally acknowledged, solid, great bang for the buck USB in that $150 max range.

 

Also wondering... How important is it to try and stick to all of one brand cables (USB, speaker, RCA interconnects, power cables)?

 

Hi StrawberryNatty,

 

To be honest, I am probably the worst person to ask about (USB) cables because I do not believe they can make much difference, or at least should not.

 

I will refrain from giving advice and leave it up to others who have experience with your DAC. However, you can contact me personally about this using private messaging.

 

Kind regards,

Peter

“We are the Audiodrones. Lower your skepticism and surrender your wallets. We will add your cash and savings to our own. Your mindset will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.” - (Quote from Star Trek: The Audiophile Generation)

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  • 2 weeks later...
I found a Mapleshade Clearlink USB Plus "used", my only fear is that it may not function or functions poorly with the Mac.

Reading the forums it seems to me that the risk exists

 

Works fine with Macs insofar as I have seen. Both Macbook Pro to Concero HD and Mac Mini to Concero HD.

You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star

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I second third fourth the Mapleshade Clearlink Plus. I had Moon Audio's Silver Dragon V3 before trying Clearlink and the difference was night and day. Mapleshade opens up the sound stage has an airiness to it that the Silver Dragon didn't. The bass also sounds accurate not colored or heavy. The Silver Dragon has a way of making things sound like they where recorded in a small room. The bass is very warm and thumpy. I am curious and will probably try out the lightspeed Jr. since its pretty much in the same msrp.

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