Those who own Audioquest cable...what do you think?

[Paul R]

That a handful of people claim they can hear the difference between USB cable does not amount to a fact. The belief is theory, and apparently faith based. ...."though explaining why is still not something anyone I know can do with authority."

 

Nope. A whole lot of people can hear differences, and that they hear differences is a fact. Why they hear the differences is not clear- there are just too many variables to pin down, and without the variables, the differences vanish. So your thinking here is the equivalent of cherry picking the data. Your statement is absolutely true under some conditions, and not at all true under others. Ergo, your theory or statement of fact does not the the scope to be generally applicable.

 

 

Anyway sorry I mentioned USB in previous comments, it's sideshow.

 

Do you mean it is just a way to bait honest people into getting angry and snarling at you, sometimes angry enough to make silly statements? Yep.

 

This thread concerns a video which tried to demonstrate the varying audio sound qualities of AQ HDMI cables. Varying audio qualities don't exist in HDMI – this according to the industry.

 

Oh yeah, they certainly do. Look at the tech specs for audio over HDMI - you will find that it is strongly influenced by the video. And since it is a well established fact that the length of the cable and/or the quality of the cable can affect the performance. It is still quite common for some HDMI cables to work in a particular setup, and for others to not work, or produce a grainy noise spattered image on the screen. All of which suggests that yes, audio differences can certainly exist based upon the HDMI cable. Proving that false is difficult given the evidence otherwise.

 

That inconsistency peaked someone's interest so they analyzed the audio track, which showed the audible difference was in the mix. Now here is a forum post regarding that video (they're everywhere). Not surprisingly people quickly take to kicking AQ. Almost just as quickly and without a hint of the obvious irony, a few members then "review" the sound quality of AQ cables as they heard them on the video. For example...

 

"Am I the only one who thinks the sound from the Audioquest cables in the ad is terrible? It sounds to me like some sort of high pitched ringing has been added to "sharpen" the sound."

"Oh I definitely agree. In fact none of the samples sounds very good at all even for the compressed format in use via youtube. Maybe Blue Coast has a stake in this dishonest demo using their music."

 

Accurately reporting what they heard does not mean that their reasons for hearing it accurate as well.

 

Now make no doubt about it, that’s cable review via streaming an on-line video

…of a recoding

…of an actual sound demonstration performed some time in the past somewhere else.

 

That’s not remotely close to theory.

 

What theory? Someone sure had a theory about the effect it would have. (grin) But in this case, I tend to totally agree with you, though perhaps not on your theory behind it.

 

-Paul

[Teresa]

FYI I use specialty brand cable for both HDMI and USB connecting my server to my TV & 2 channel integrated simply cuz they look so much better than generic.

 

I don't care about the look of my cables, I try to hide them the best I can. However, I do very much care about how my equipment looks.

 

I use a 2 meter AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable to connect my Blu-ray/SACD player to my HDTV. I use it only for video, I use the analog outs for audio. I paid $5.99 for it and my Blu-ray movies look fantastic.

 

To connect my computer to my Teac DAC I use an inexpensive Dynex USB cable.

 

I like cables to be well built and prefer gold-plated connectors. I do find entry level audiophile interconnects to sound better than the ones that come with equipment. I also find the bass gets fuller and has more impact with thicker gauge speaker cable.

 

I keep an open mind about differences in HDMI and USB cables. I have read that it's not 1's or 0's that are sent through a digital cable since they are electrical but two frequencies representing those two states along with noise, when the DAC receives those two frequencies, it recognizes them as 1's and 0's, it may be what happens to the noise that accounts for sound quality differences. I have no clue.

[Rock Bottom]

I fear my standing in this battle, nay my standing in the community, is lessened following such a public lashing.

[PopPop]

Don't over think it. With only 26 posts you haven't accrued any reputation, good or bad. Neither have I

[Rock Bottom]

And no I wasn't baiting Paul, but it started feel like I was so yeah the apology was sincere.

[Paul R]

I fear my standing in this battle, nay my standing in the community, is lessened following such a public lashing.

 

Nope- not at all. it may be that you came on a little bit strong, and thus, engineered strong comments. It happens, doesn't mean crap though. The founder of this site tends to say things like "we are not killing puppies here..." meaning of course, not to take it all that serious. (Unless we bring up the ever feared, klingon puppies... )

 

One thing about CA a lot of people do not expect is the depth and breadth of the experience and expertise here. And the general tolerance for people to have their own opinions. It's a nice place to be.

 

Glad to hear you were not intentionally (or otherwise) baiting folks. You have my apologies.

 

We have had a few people slip over from from less friendly systems from time to time with an agenda. Coming over to civilize the savages, that kind of thing. Abominable behavior. (*sigh*) Every bit as bad as the snake oil salesmen with their "quantum tunneling cables - only $36K/meter!" pitches.

 

-Paul

[Ajax]

Hi All,

 

I have been following this thread for a while and finally got the urge to type something, which is:

 

When I bought my Benchmark HDR DAC about 5 years ago (still sounds great) I sent Benchmark a series of questions to ensure I was optimising its use as it was expensive ($US2K in Australia), one of which was:

 

Do you recommend a particular type of USB cable to connect the DAC to my computer. Their reply was we something along the lines "we don't believe there is any benefit changing the cable we have included with the device." That is not an exact quote but that was the inference.

 

These guys are leaders in their field, they are highly qualified electrical engineers with many years experience supplying pro audio recording and playback gear. I am comfortable relying on their expertise, particularly when they are in a neutral corner. Hence I have not got on the cable band wagon, although I'm a great believer in "if it makes you happy.... "

 

The upside of this thread is that while we are going around and around talking about what cables are best we aren't going around and around talking about what format is best, etc, etc

 

Beautiful hot day here in Sydney ... I'm going down to Bondi Beach for a swim and coffee ... anyone want to come?

 

Ajax

[Jud]

 

Beautiful hot day here in Sydney ... I'm going down to Bondi Beach for a swim and coffee ... anyone want to come?

 

Ajax

 

You swim in the *ocean*? Poofters!

 

[Rock Bottom]

Don't over think it. With only 26 posts you haven't accrued any reputation, good or bad. Neither have I

Regarding my standing, now that I was being sarcastic about

[Rock Bottom]

"These guys are leaders in their field, they are highly qualified electrical engineers with many years experience supplying pro audio recording and playback gear. I am comfortable relying on their expertise, particularly when they are in a neutral corner. Hence I have not got on the cable band wagon, although I'm a great believer in "if it makes you happy.... ""

 

Agreed.

 

- David

[Rock Bottom]

"Accurately reporting what they heard does not mean that their reasons for hearing it accurate as well."

Accurate reporting? They were critiquing the sound of cable they heard streamed over the internet FFS.

 

- David

[Paul R]

"Accurately reporting what they heard does not mean that their reasons for hearing it accurate as well."

Accurate reporting? They were critiquing the sound of cable they heard streamed over the internet FFS.

 

- David

 

(Grin) Are you sure the video wasn't rigged? I am not.

[Teresa]

...When I bought my Benchmark HDR DAC about 5 years ago (still sounds great) I sent Benchmark a series of questions to ensure I was optimizing its use as it was expensive ($US2K in Australia), one of which was:

 

Do you recommend a particular type of USB cable to connect the DAC to my computer. Their reply was we something along the lines "we don't believe there is any benefit changing the cable we have included with the device." That is not an exact quote but that was the inference...

 

Just curious, who makes the USB cable Benchmark includes with their DAC?

 

I'm a great believer in "if it makes you happy.... "

 

Ajax

 

1+

Me too!

[Ajax]

Hi Teresa,

 

I don't know the USB cable supplied but here is a link to their website where they offer various cables for sale, which I note are very modestly priced.

 

All the best, Ajax

[Teresa]

Hi Teresa,

 

I don't know the USB cable supplied but here is a link to their website where they offer various cables for sale, which I note are very modestly priced.

 

All the best, Ajax

 

Thanks Ajax.

 

However the link was not provided in your post. Being a poor audiophile I like to see well-made very modestly priced cables. I use an inexpensive Dynex USB cable with my Teac DAC.

[Ajax]

Thanks Ajax.

 

However the link was not provided in your post. Being a poor audiophile I like to see well-made very modestly priced cables. I use an inexpensive Dynex USB cable with my Teac DAC.

 

Apologies

 

Cables - Benchmark Media Systems, Inc.

[Ajax]

You swim in the *ocean*? Poofters!

 

 

Hey Jud,

 

I haven't heard that term for years. In politically correct Australia we are not allowed to say things like that as the word "poofter" is seen to be disparaging to gays. However, when we were kids we always called each other poofters if we chickened out on something - we used it in the same way as you intended i.e. "you weak bastard".

 

For the record swimming in the sea is not as much fun as it use to be and has become quite dangerous due to an unusual spate of shark attacks recently .... some very nasty mailings on the East Coast by bull sharks and great whites resulting in several deaths.

 

I'm a keen surfer and with all the attacks going on I have become more and more nervous. I was out at my local beach by myself last month, about 4 hours south of Sydney, when the water broke about 5' from my board. I shat myself until I realised it was the flipper of a seal. That night I went for a late evening swim and when I came back to the house I noticed a large pile of white dung on the balcony. I went over to clean it up and a bloody big python (about 10' long) reared up at me from only a few feet away. For the second time that day I shat myself.

 

So you are most probably right - I am a big poofter!

 

Disclaimer - I have a lot of gay mates so please don't misinterpret this thread for anymore than what it is - bit of fun.

 

All the best, Ajax

[esldude]

For the record swimming in the sea is not as much fun as it use to be and has become quite dangerous due to an unusual spate of shark attacks recently .... some very nasty mailings on the East Coast by bull sharks and great whites resulting in several deaths.

 

 

All the best, Ajax

 

It is the nasty mailings that have made me nervous about swimming in the ocean. You go, you swim, and you think you have made it. Then unexpectedly at the mailbox you get these horrible mailings from the sharks. Chilling, very chilling. What a difference one letter can make.

 

 

 

Sorry, Ajax, a little fun at your expense.

 

FWIW, I would have reacted similarly to the python and fin sightings. The ocean is wonderful even so.

[gmgraves]

Hi All,

 

I have been following this thread for a while and finally got the urge to type something, which is:

 

When I bought my Benchmark HDR DAC about 5 years ago (still sounds great) I sent Benchmark a series of questions to ensure I was optimising its use as it was expensive ($US2K in Australia), one of which was:

 

Do you recommend a particular type of USB cable to connect the DAC to my computer. Their reply was we something along the lines "we don't believe there is any benefit changing the cable we have included with the device." That is not an exact quote but that was the inference.

 

These guys are leaders in their field, they are highly qualified electrical engineers with many years experience supplying pro audio recording and playback gear. I am comfortable relying on their expertise, particularly when they are in a neutral corner. Hence I have not got on the cable band wagon, although I'm a great believer in "if it makes you happy.... "

 

The upside of this thread is that while we are going around and around talking about what cables are best we aren't going around and around talking about what format is best, etc, etc

 

Beautiful hot day here in Sydney ... I'm going down to Bondi Beach for a swim and coffee ... anyone want to come?

 

Ajax

 

This is a slippery-slope. Most electronics engineers will scoff loudly and long at the notion that one USB cable is any different from another as long as it meets all the USB specs as put forth by the IEEE. I am of this opinion also. However, I must, in all honesty, say that while I can't see what could possibly affect a USB signal enough to change the sound, as long as the cable met specifications, I also cannot simply discount the empirical evidence of people here, who I trust are not either lying or imagining things when they say that they consistently hear a difference between one USB cable and another. I do however, reject the attempts I've read so far to explain what might be the reasons for the differences heard. They simply do not hold any water as far as I can see.

 

My point is that if you are relying on the opinions of EEs (even those from Benchmark), keep in mind that all of that textbook training in electrical theory has narrowed, considerably, their capacity for out-of-the-box thinking especially when that thinking flies in the face of all the digital quantization theory and conductor behavioral theory that they were taught in engineering school. My advice to you is that if you are interested in pursuing the matter, try different USB cable solutions for yourself and see if you hear a difference, and - and I can't stress this one too strongly - if you do hear a difference, is it a difference that you care about.

[gmgraves]

Hey Jud,

 

I haven't heard that term for years. In politically correct Australia we are not allowed to say things like that as the word "poofter" is seen to be disparaging to gays. However, when we were kids we always called each other poofters if we chickened out on something - we used it in the same way as you intended i.e. "you weak bastard".

 

For the record swimming in the sea is not as much fun as it use to be and has become quite dangerous due to an unusual spate of shark attacks recently .... some very nasty mailings on the East Coast by bull sharks and great whites resulting in several deaths.

 

I'm a keen surfer and with all the attacks going on I have become more and more nervous. I was out at my local beach by myself last month, about 4 hours south of Sydney, when the water broke about 5' from my board. I shat myself until I realised it was the flipper of a seal. That night I went for a late evening swim and when I came back to the house I noticed a large pile of white dung on the balcony. I went over to clean it up and a bloody big python (about 10' long) reared up at me from only a few feet away. For the second time that day I shat myself.

 

So you are most probably right - I am a big poofter!

 

Disclaimer - I have a lot of gay mates so please don't misinterpret this thread for anymore than what it is - bit of fun.

 

All the best, Ajax

 

Freedom of speech is like being pregnant. One either is pregnant or one isn't. There is no such thing as being "a little pregnant". Likewise, a country either has freedom of speech or it doesn't. People should refrain from making hurtful or disparaging remarks against others because that was the way they were raised, not because it is against the law, or "politically incorrect" (which, in essence, amounts to the same thing). Unfortunately, many a former democracy is going down that road. Some countries, like Canada have actually passed laws abridging free speech (by classifying certain statements as "hate crimes") and therefore, no longer have free speech (please, don't try to use the old yelling-"fire!-in-a-theater ruse to defend the abridgment of freedom of speech, it is irrelevant to the point). Freedom son speech is an absolute.

 

There are many forces at work in the world trying to take our freedoms away. We must be diligent and resist this trend. There is no excuse, no cause so great that it has become any more than merely expedient to use current events and situations as an excuse to bring on 1984. It might be a little late, but if we don't watch it, it can still overtake us all.

 

Don't mean to wander off-topic. This is a subject upon which I am sensitive, and I wanted to get my two cents in. Let's go back to talking about AudioQuest cables, now!

[Allan F]

My point is that if you are relying on the opinions of EEs (even those from Benchmark), keep in mind that all of that textbook training in electrical theory has narrowed, considerably, their capacity for out-of-the-box thinking especially when that thinking flies in the face of all the digital quantization theory and conductor behavioral theory that they were taught in engineering school.

+1

And rather than "even those from Benchmark", some might suggest "especially those from Benchmark", if one considers John Siau's views about DSD.

[mansr]

This is a slippery-slope. Most electronics engineers will scoff loudly and long at the notion that one USB cable is any different from another as long as it meets all the USB specs as put forth by the IEEE. I am of this opinion also. However, I must, in all honesty, say that while I can't see what could possibly affect a USB signal enough to change the sound, as long as the cable met specifications, I also cannot simply discount the empirical evidence of people here, who I trust are not either lying or imagining things when they say that they consistently hear a difference between one USB cable and another.

 

It's the emperor's new clothes.

[Allan F]

It's the emperor's new clothes.

It may be to you because you can't hear a difference. Please accept my sincere sympathies for what is lacking in either your hearing or your equipment.

[kumakuma]

Please accept my sincere sympathies for what is lacking in either your hearing or your equipment.

 

Nice variation of the stereotypical audiophile insult.

[Allan F]

Nice variation of the stereotypical audiophile insult.

An appropriate response, IMO, to a cynical skeptic and his rhetoric of ridicule.