USB Extension

[pipis2010]

Exactly what the title says: what's your opinion on extension cables, cheap or even more audiophile ones(do they even exist?) What about actual extenders over ethernet, etc? Any sound degradation?

 

My main thought is how to isolate my computer from my DAC and audio rack in general and put it in another room...

 

I know that other solutions exist, ie NAA, HQPlayer NAA, etc., but feel free to pitch in any other ideas!

 

 

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[Yucca06]

Optical USB cable -> Corning

 

The shortest is 10m, you can find also up to 50m if needed...

[pipis2010]

Optical USB cable -> Corning

 

The shortest is 10m, you can find also up to 50m if needed...

 

Well, that was fast! There's also Supra USB up to 15m. Do you think there's any degradation?

 

 

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[Yucca06]

Absolutely no degradation with optical. It's even better (when it works, the 1st batches seemed to have some problems).

 

You'll find a very long thread on the forum about this cable. Way better than any USB cable for long distances (over 5m)

[pipis2010]

Absolutely no degradation with optical. It's even better (when it works, the 1st batches seemed to have some problems).

 

You'll find a very long thread on the forum about this cable. Way better than any USB cable for long distances (over 5m)

 

Thanks Yucca, really appreciate it!

 

 

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[One and a half]

I've tried two systems, both of which don't degrade the signal and use CAT5e cable.

 

- Icron Ranger 2212 2 Port USB. 24V DC powers the sender and the receiver, distance 100m max. No drivers required for any OSX and USB 2.0 480Mbs compliant. There are also models for fiber optic cabling to provide isolation. This system is not routable, cannot go through routers/switches point to point only.

 

- AES3 over Cat 5e

Using the same CAT5e cable (but disconnect the USB stuff of course), output of the Mutec MC-3+USB is AES3 straight into the DAC. Requires XLRM and XLRF RJ45 to XLR connectors. Cable limit 100m. CAT5e has ample bandwidth for AES3, but requires a USB/(AES3) S/PDIF converter.

 

Suggestion is to run both multimode fiber and CAT5e at the same time, since the effort to run the two cables at the same time is minimal and depending on the technology, either transmission can be used. From reports on CA, Fiber cable provides a very good isolation and SQ improvement. If using Fiber, factor in the media converters from FO to Ethernet if there's streamers, these are about USD300-600+ for gigabit converters.

 

Alternatively buy a Ravenna DAC and sit the computer anywhere on the local network, however this requires substantial investment in the DAC financially and tech savvy.

 

USB extenders are a mixed bag, there are those that work fine for mice and keyboards, but throw in a USB 2.0 high speed audio transmission, they fall over, have to read the specs carefully. Forget going over 2m with USB copper cables, the longer length plays havoc with the signals and they don't handshake due to signal corruption.

[pipis2010]

I've tried two systems, both of which don't degrade the signal and use CAT5e cable.

 

- Icron Ranger 2212 2 Port USB. 24V DC powers the sender and the receiver, distance 100m max. No drivers required for any OSX and USB 2.0 480Mbs compliant. There are also models for fiber optic cabling to provide isolation. This system is not routable, cannot go through routers/switches point to point only.

 

- AES3 over Cat 5e

Using the same CAT5e cable (but disconnect the USB stuff of course), output of the Mutec MC-3+USB is AES3 straight into the DAC. Requires XLRM and XLRF RJ45 to XLR connectors. Cable limit 100m. CAT5e has ample bandwidth for AES3, but requires a USB/(AES3) S/PDIF converter.

 

Suggestion is to run both multimode fiber and CAT5e at the same time, since the effort to run the two cables at the same time is minimal and depending on the technology, either transmission can be used. From reports on CA, Fiber cable provides a very good isolation and SQ improvement. If using Fiber, factor in the media converters from FO to Ethernet if there's streamers, these are about USD300-600+ for gigabit converters.

 

Alternatively buy a Ravenna DAC and sit the computer anywhere on the local network, however this requires substantial investment in the DAC financially and tech savvy.

 

USB extenders are a mixed bag, there are those that work fine for mice and keyboards, but throw in a USB 2.0 high speed audio transmission, they fall over, have to read the specs carefully. Forget going over 2m with USB copper cables, the longer length plays havoc with the signals and they don't handshake due to signal corruption.

 

Many thanks 1.5!! I'll sure check your solutions out!!

 

 

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