USB audio cracked... finally!

[Guidof]

By now I've listened with the Lush in the system to a wide variety of music (mainly jazz and classical) for several days. It replaced a Curious USB cable between my ISO REGEN and Benchmark DAC2-D. Here is what I hear:

• More silent silences ('blacker blacks')
• Greater dynamic range
• More accurate timbres
• More natural voices
• More three-dimensional sound stage
• More engaging reproduction of rhythmic passages
• Greater density of musical information

Taken together, these qualities result in effortless refinement and stunningly lifelike sound. This is indeed a breakthrough product. The price is steep (close to 300 USD when exchange rate, Paypal fees, and UPS shipping are factored in), but not outlandish when the sonic gain is considered.

 

My overall impression (uneducated guess?) is not that the Lush imparts any particular sound signature to the overall musical presentation, but rather that it somehow allows the sound of the rest of the system (upstream and downstream of the Lush) to come through unimpeded.

 

There IS a downside: While the sonic virtues of a good recording are thus revealed, so are the pitfalls of a poor one. This has been true for me with any improvement in the USB chain.

 

[Guidof]

44 minutes ago, PeterSt said:

Here we are, August 10 (still 2017). And I am confident to say :

Things change. It should be at day 30 or so (deduct 5 days for personal reasons like the system being off all together) and the change is hard to describe,

 

I've only had the LUSH in the system for about two weeks, but things do indeed seem to change (for the better). For me, though, the sound does not become more "lush" but rather more "right," in the sense that timbres become even more accurate and lifelike. In fact, in my system, the LUSH cable, as mentioned in an earlier post, never changed the basic sound signature of the system, but rather it seemed to remove any remaining USB gremlins that might "cover up" the character of that signature. Personally, I'd rather not have any part of the system color the sound by adding "lushness," since the sound I hear in the concert hall or the jazz club is seldom, if ever, lush.

 

Thank you, @PeterSt for sharing your own impressions, even if they apparently caused scorn and consternation in some quarters.

[Guidof]

3 hours ago, barrows said:

In regards to LUSH, my question would be: is LUSH accurate, and as such is it increasing resolution and reducing artifacts, such that the listener hears more music and makes a greater connection, or, is it reducing resolution in some sense, performing a "cover up" of musical artifacts?

 

 My impression is that the LUSH removes USB gremlins, thus allowing the characteristics of the recording and the basic sound signature of the system to come through. Far from "covering up" musical artifacts, in my system at least, it reveals what other cables may obscure. Indeed, for me the LUSH does not sound "lush" at all (in the euphonic sense of the term), but rather more accurate and resolving than the Curious cable it replaced (between ISO REGEN and DAC -- with a USPCB between microRendu and ISO REGEN).

 

As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a downside to this, as the pitfalls of a recording become even more obvious. But on balance I prefer this clarity, assuming of course that the performance is good, for the quality of the performance is also more clearly and effortlessly revealed.

[Guidof]

20 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

 

Importantly, when I stop focusing on the sound, and just let the music flow in the background (while, say typing at my desk), I frequently get drawn back in by the "groove" and "rightness"/"realness" of what is playing.  My system is quite good, so improvements in the "sucks you in/vividness" area are hard to come by.

The Lush is a winner for me on that front. 

 

Same here. With the Lush, the music presentation is just more "right" and more involving. Yes, a winner in my book, too.

[Guidof]

15 hours ago, kennyb123 said:

A couple friends dropped by today for some listening and to hear how the Lush compared to the USPCB.  For the comparison, we played the first track from "Art Pepper meets the Rhythm Section".

 

Thank you for sharing this great comparison. Also for your impressions while DJeing for your friends. The latter I find quite interesting, as in my experience, any differences (and hopefully improvements) resulting from a change in system components are more easily perceived when listening to a wide variety of music -- good and mediocre performances, good or bad recordings, different genres, and so on. As mentioned in my reply to @Superdad's post above, when a component passes this test, i.e., when I feel I hate to remove it from the chain, then for me it's a keeper.

[Guidof]

On 12/15/2018 at 6:51 AM, Doak said:

Damn, that does it.

Here we go again! 

+1!

[Guidof]

11 hours ago, PeterSt said:

 

Hmm ... in this case it is different. The email address is the same all right, but the sender-name is not. So true, I search for the name and in this case it did not match.

 

Strange . . . Neither my name nor my email addresses have changed. But thanks for the discount.

 

Happy holidays.

 

Guido F.