Suggestions for Y Split USB Cables (perhaps newest IFI Gemni 3.0 ?)

[agladstone]

Hi, I am looking for any possible suggestions/ user reviews, etc for a Y Split USB Cable (one USB B going to two USB A). Anyone have any experience yet with the brand new IFI Gemni USB 3.0 Y split USB Cable? 

I am thinking about buying one to use with my IFI Micro iUSB 3.0, bit was hoping to see some reviews or opinions from CA Members first if possible? 

I have tried the Pangea Preimer Y Split USB cable, and for the price ($99-$150), it really wasn’t too bad, however I am looking for “more”. 

I also had Ghent (cable maker in Hong King) make me a custom Y split USB Cable, made from Silver plated copper, Teflon insulated, good copper braiding and a JSSG sheild (John Swenson technique attaching an external wire from one end of the copper braiding to the other, but not connected to the connectors). - The Custom Ghent cable had a bit of Harshness in my system and did not sound as good as the Pangea Y Split USB cable. Neither of these cables sounded as good as my Reference USB cables (to date), which are the Cardas Highspeed 2.0 USB Cables. (These are a split design (separated shielded cable for power and data), yet the USB A and USB B connectors both join at each end.

Since I have the IFI Micro iUSB 3.0 reclocker, I want to use a Y split USB cable with separate USB A connectors (1 for power / 1 for data). 

Ifi has just released a brand new version of their Gemni cable (Gemni USB 3.0), so I am tempted to buy it. However, overall, I’ve notived not much mention of the original Gemni USB cable within Audiophile Reveiws, Blogs, Magazines, etc, so I’m a little unsure about how they “stack up” vs some more commonly praised USB Cables. The availability of USB Cables that come in a Y split design is pretty slim. 

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!! 

[Spacehound]

I've got five DACS, purchased over a five year period including a 'mobile' one  and from 'budget' to fairly expensive and none of them have needed USB power.  And I did not check for this before buying them.

 

So in general a Y leaded USB cable  is pointless.

[bogi]

 

You can buy a split adaptor cable like on the picture and plug some USB cable of your choice into it.

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/various-adapters/usb-b-adapter-cable-for-external-usb-a-power-supply-p-8389.html

[agladstone]

3 hours ago, bogi said:

 

You can buy a split adaptor cable like on the picture and plug some USB cable of your choice into it.

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/various-adapters/usb-b-adapter-cable-for-external-usb-a-power-supply-p-8389.html

This looks cool! Does anyone make terminated Audiophile usb cables like the one pictured with this adapter ? I will follow link, perhaps that is what this link is for!) 

[agladstone]

12 hours ago, Spacehound said:

I've got five DACS, purchased over a five year period including a 'mobile' one  and from 'budget' to fairly expensive and none of them have needed USB power.  And I did not check for this before buying them.

 

So in general a Y leaded USB cable  is pointless.

Unfortunately, my DAC (Mytek Brooklyn), requires the 5V and Ground to make the handshake  

[bogi]

10 hours ago, agladstone said:

Unfortunately, my DAC (Mytek Brooklyn), requires the 5V and Ground to make the handshake  

 

My DAC too. The adaptor cable on the picture has two ends. One end is the USB type B adaptor and the 2nd end contains usual USB type A connector. Use the type A connector to inject +5V for example via iFi iPower. This branch will be used for power only. Then insert a standard USB cable of your choice (you can use some "audiophile" cable if you want) into the type B adaptor. That cable will be used for data only. Handshake with DAC will function, because ground is common for both power and data branches. This way you can substiture +5V VBUS from computer with cleaner +5V from a dedicated power supply.

 

Advantage of this solution is that you can use any USB cable with this adaptor. You can experiment with different USB cables and different power supplies if you want.

[agladstone]

This looks like a great product! I may look into having one shipped to me in the USA (this store is in France), unless I could find someone selling this in the States ? 

I could probably also have one custom made for me in Hong Kong by Ghent Audio. 

[seeteeyou]

This one was reviewed a few years ago

 

https://darko.audio/2012/07/elijah-audio-isolaate-bl-usb-cable-and-bpm-battery-module/

 

 

They're located in Australia and here are some reviews

 

http://www.elijahaudio.com/reviews.html

 

A similar one could also be found below

 

http://www.elijahaudio.com/products.html

 

 

Some impressions are available as follows

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/elijah-audio-konvertible-lite-usb-cable.807827/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/elijah-audio-konvertible-lite-impression-thread.798168/

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/100659-elijah-audio-konvertible-lite-usb-cable/

http://forums.naimaudio.com/topic/elijah-audio-konvertible-lite-usb-for-chord-hugo

 

Here's something else from France if you're still looking for better ones

 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1194321693977155&id=390169444392388

 

They don't seem to have any retailers in US and you might have send them an e-mail to find out how to get one

 

http://www.viardaudiodesign.com/en/contact.html

 

So far there are only a few reviews in Chinese

 

http://www.hiendy.com/hififorum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=101482

http://www.hiendy.com/hififorum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=101600

http://designwsound.com/dwsblog/2017/08/viard-platinum-hd-usb-audioart/

 

BTW, you could also get in touch with Teradak and see if they're able to ship this cable to US

 

http://www.teradak.com/about/3.html

 

 

They do sell that on their Chinese site so most likely it's still available

 

http://www.hifiss.com/ShowProducts.asp?id=164

 

Besides, here's another USB 3.0 version

 

http://www.hifiss.com/ShowProducts.asp?id=222

 

 

Of course JSSG ones from Ghent should work even better, hopefully they're willing to modify the cable for you

 

https://www.ghentaudio.com/part/u01(jssg).html

[NOMBEDES]

I use the IFI Gemni 1,  and I have had no complaints.  I would guess the 3 is a good product. I did have to have the iFI DSD DAC repaired after 3 years of use.  YMMV.

[gmgraves]

On 2/1/2018 at 6:29 PM, agladstone said:

Hi, I am looking for any possible suggestions/ user reviews, etc for a Y Split USB Cable (one USB B going to two USB A). Anyone have any experience yet with the brand new IFI Gemni USB 3.0 Y split USB Cable? 

I am thinking about buying one to use with my IFI Micro iUSB 3.0, bit was hoping to see some reviews or opinions from CA Members first if possible? 

I have tried the Pangea Preimer Y Split USB cable, and for the price ($99-$150), it really wasn’t too bad, however I am looking for “more”. 

I also had Ghent (cable maker in Hong King) make me a custom Y split USB Cable, made from Silver plated copper, Teflon insulated, good copper braiding and a JSSG sheild (John Swenson technique attaching an external wire from one end of the copper braiding to the other, but not connected to the connectors). - The Custom Ghent cable had a bit of Harshness in my system and did not sound as good as the Pangea Y Split USB cable. Neither of these cables sounded as good as my Reference USB cables (to date), which are the Cardas Highspeed 2.0 USB Cables. (These are a split design (separated shielded cable for power and data), yet the USB A and USB B connectors both join at each end.

Since I have the IFI Micro iUSB 3.0 reclocker, I want to use a Y split USB cable with separate USB A connectors (1 for power / 1 for data). 

Ifi has just released a brand new version of their Gemni cable (Gemni USB 3.0), so I am tempted to buy it. However, overall, I’ve notived not much mention of the original Gemni USB cable within Audiophile Reveiws, Blogs, Magazines, etc, so I’m a little unsure about how they “stack up” vs some more commonly praised USB Cables. The availability of USB Cables that come in a Y split design is pretty slim. 

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!! 

I had a pair of the iFi "Gemini" split cables. I could never get them to work with the iFI iUSB and the iFI iLink. I finally just ran a single cable. USB output of computer > iUSB > iLink > SPDIF > DAC. No trouble with that arrangement but splitting the USB power out from the USB signal and feeding the iLink with separate USB power and signal, I could never get to work. 

[agladstone]

On 2/5/2018 at 5:29 AM, seeteeyou said:

This one was reviewed a few years ago

 

https://darko.audio/2012/07/elijah-audio-isolaate-bl-usb-cable-and-bpm-battery-module/

 

 

They're located in Australia and here are some reviews

 

http://www.elijahaudio.com/reviews.html

 

A similar one could also be found below

 

http://www.elijahaudio.com/products.html

 

 

Some impressions are available as follows

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/elijah-audio-konvertible-lite-usb-cable.807827/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/elijah-audio-konvertible-lite-impression-thread.798168/

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/100659-elijah-audio-konvertible-lite-usb-cable/

http://forums.naimaudio.com/topic/elijah-audio-konvertible-lite-usb-for-chord-hugo

 

Here's something else from France if you're still looking for better ones

 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1194321693977155&id=390169444392388

 

They don't seem to have any retailers in US and you might have send them an e-mail to find out how to get one

 

http://www.viardaudiodesign.com/en/contact.html

 

So far there are only a few reviews in Chinese

 

http://www.hiendy.com/hififorum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=101482

http://www.hiendy.com/hififorum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=101600

http://designwsound.com/dwsblog/2017/08/viard-platinum-hd-usb-audioart/

 

BTW, you could also get in touch with Teradak and see if they're able to ship this cable to US

 

http://www.teradak.com/about/3.html

 

 

They do sell that on their Chinese site so most likely it's still available

 

http://www.hifiss.com/ShowProducts.asp?id=164

 

Besides, here's another USB 3.0 version

 

http://www.hifiss.com/ShowProducts.asp?id=222

 

 

Of course JSSG ones from Ghent should work even better, hopefully they're willing to modify the cable for you

 

https://www.ghentaudio.com/part/u01(jssg).html

Thanks!! All very helpful! I did order the new IFI Gemni 3.0, it should be arriving today, so I will give it some listening tests! I have a 60 day return period (music direct), so that will be helpful! I did have a JSSG one from Ghent, I actually sold it to a friend of mine, it was okay but not ideal synergy in my system. I may give the Teradak or Elijah a try too ! 

[agladstone]

On 2/5/2018 at 8:56 PM, gmgraves said:

I had a pair of the iFi "Gemini" split cables. I could never get them to work with the iFI iUSB and the iFI iLink. I finally just ran a single cable. USB output of computer > iUSB > iLink > SPDIF > DAC. No trouble with that arrangement but splitting the USB power out from the USB signal and feeding the iLink with separate USB power and signal, I could never get to work. 

I wonder why you could not get it to work? I have the IFI Micro iUSB 3.0 and I have had 3/4 of these Y Split USB cables already and all have worked fine with my DAC ? 

[gmgraves]

21 hours ago, agladstone said:

I wonder why you could not get it to work? I have the IFI Micro iUSB 3.0 and I have had 3/4 of these Y Split USB cables already and all have worked fine with my DAC ? 

 

I don't know. I rang-out the cable and it tested fine. When I used it, neither my Mac nor My Win-blows laptop would see the iLink. Replace the Gemini cable with a regular combined power/signal USB cable, and it instantly appeared on both the Mac and the Win-blows machines audio preference panels. 

[Blake]

I am a fan of iFi, but I thought the original Gemini was literally the worst usb cable I've ever owned and that was even after extensive break in. I preferred throw away usb cables to the original Gemini.  Very hard sounding and grating. It gave me a headache.  Perhaps they have improved it though.

 

As much as I hate to promote their products, for split cables I really like my Lightspeed 10G and 2G.  The King Rex uArt split cable was also good.  Too bad TotalDac or Curious don't make a split version. They are my favorites to date.  I'd like to try Sablon Audio usb as well.  Sorry, getting off topic now.....

[agladstone]

On 2/8/2018 at 5:47 PM, Blake said:

I am a fan of iFi, but I thought the original Gemini was literally the worst usb cable I've ever owned and that was even after extensive break in. I preferred throw away usb cables to the original Gemini.  Very hard sounding and grating. It gave me a headache.  Perhaps they have improved it though.

 

As much as I hate to promote their products, for split cables I really like my Lightspeed 10G and 2G.  The King Rex uArt split cable was also good.  Too bad TotalDac or Curious don't make a split version. They are my favorites to date.  I'd like to try Sablon Audio usb as well.  Sorry, getting off topic now.....

So after 1 week of almost continuous burn in on the new Genmi 3.0 Y Split USB cable,,, I’ve decided to return it!! It does not sound very good in my system! It seems to roll off the treble a bit and bloat the low end and take away some of the air, separation and details I had when using two Cardas Highspeed 2.0 USB cables (one in to IFI Micro iUSB 3.0 from Aurender music server and a second out from

Micro iUSB 3.0). 

I ended up deciding to have Cardas build

me a custom made Y split Highspeed 2.0 USB cable. I should have it in about 10 days