Use of USB boosters between PC and DAC

[Andrew Maynard]

I'm in the process of setting up a system with an Arcam rDac, and would ideally like to have the computer some distance from the DAC - but this means using a long (>20') USB run. Know the conventional wisdom is shorter is better, but anyone had any experience with USB boosters/extended?

 

[esldude]

Have used the monoprice extenders. Certainly cannot beat the price. I didn't hear anything from using them at the 16 foot length. There is a thread here in which Charles Hansen tried an ethernet based extender and the monoprice extenders. He said the monoprice extenders worked even at 192 khz at the maximum length which I think is something like 82 feet. They are available in several lengths.

 

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030312&p_id=7644&seq=1&format=2

 

Though they worked he thought they slightly diminished sound quality. I quote him from this thread below:

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/USB-Extender-Solves-Cable-Length-Limitation

 

 

"Even though our Monoprice extender was significantly longer than the one that Jim Smith tested, we had a similar reaction. There was a slight, but noticeable loss of sound quality.

 

Both the Monoprice and Icron sounded similar to each other, so clearly the Monoprice is a much better deal. And if you have to go beyond 3 meters, then it's not a horrible solution.

 

Our reaction was that the change in sound is similar to what you get with a brand-new, unbroken-in cable. So we are going to connect both of them together and run a signal through them for a week or two and see if the sound improves at all.

 

One difference between the units is that the Monoprice is a single assembly with the ends permanently connected. In contrast the Icron is two separate pieces (with a wall-wart for the receiver) and you have to supply your own CAT 5/6 cable. Currently we just have some cheap bulk CAT 5 cable that we terminate ourselves. We have not yet tested the idea of using different CAT 5 cables to see how that affects the sound... Charles Hansen"

 

[Geoff]

I got round the problem by using a Musical Fidelity V-Link (there are a number of alternatives that do the same thing).

This is a USB to toslink/coaxial converter that also benefits from converting the USB connection to Asynchronous.

I use a 0.5m quality USB to the V-Link and I then run a 20' coaxial link to my DAC.

 

[esldude]

Haven't tried it, but I would think you might be better off using longer USB, and shorter coax. Have you tried the reverse connection Geoff, and found it better with long coax rather than long USB?