USB cables

Shaffer

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Nov 2, 2012
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Looking for a reasonably priced starter suggestion. I have no real point of reference for this sort of thing. TIA
 

Johnny Vinyl

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Depends on how much you want to spend!
 

Shaffer

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I want to spend as little as possible, within reason. The problem is, I need a relatively long cord -~15'. Pangea offers one for ~$60, as does AQ IIRC. Again, I know virtually nothing about this. What would you guys suggest?
 

RSB

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Jan 29, 2013
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15' is a relatively long run, you probably will lose some sound quality. I am using a Wire world Starlight with a 1 meter length in my system and I like it. Also, the cable you might prefer will depend on synergy with your DAC and other components. So trying a cable in your system is important.

Randy
 

joaovieira

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Feb 16, 2013
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I tried furutech, audioquest diamond, purist and Wireworld Platinum. I am burning in Synergistic Research top. But Wireworld is still the special one. Let's see SR in some days.
 

Julf

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Nov 27, 2011
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15' is a relatively long run, you probably will lose some sound quality.

And in what way would the cable length affect sound quality? Would it affect the frequency response, or cause more distortion?
 

JackD201

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Johnny Vinyl

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It's all relative to how much you can afford I suppose, but $600 for a 15' (5 metres @$120/metre) doesn't seem excessive for the crowd here. For me OTOH.....it's bit out of my league.
 

CKKeung

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Jun 17, 2011
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The best one I've tried so far is the Light Harmonic

Hi Bruce,

Please tell us a bit more about this Light Harmonics LightSpeed USB cable.
I heard that it's very special (and so is the price)! haha
Thanks!

Peter
 

slowGEEZR

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I tried four different cables in my system that ranged in price from $6 to $500 dollars and chose the Pangea silver. Good luck in your search.
 

Shaffer

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It's all relative to how much you can afford I suppose, but $600 for a 15' (5 metres @$120/metre) doesn't seem excessive for the crowd here. For me OTOH.....it's bit out of my league.

$600 for a 15' USB cable makes me question my sanity. ;)

As I posted a few days ago, I picked up a $100 Schiit DAC for my desktop. Not the most crucial of applications. Inspired by being able to audition new music in my main system before purchase, I also bought a HRT DAC that I plan on using in the main rig for just such a purpose (ie. Spotify). That's where theUSB cable question comes in. I kinda don't mind spending $60 on a Pangea, but I'd like to know if there are better, equally cost-effective options.
 

Bruce B

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Apr 25, 2010
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Hi Bruce,

Please tell us a bit more about this Light Harmonics LightSpeed USB cable.
I heard that it's very special (and so is the price)! haha
Thanks!

Peter

I've always been under the impression when it comes to digital cables, they either work or they don't work, period! At least this was my thinking for AES/EBU cables. I've never messed around with USB cables or even USB DAC's until a year or so ago because USB was never meant for audio streaming.
My first foray into USB was the Playback Designs USB-X for my MPS-5. I needed to go this route because on a second Native Pyramix machine that I was using for all my DSD editing for Chesky, I didn't have a viable way of playing the files unless I did a realtime sample rate conversion to 176.4
Enter the realm of USB... Since that time, USB has become more mainstream, I've learned the idiosyncrasies of using different USB cables with my PB and Mytek DAC's. It's a whole new ballgame and some can be pretty finicky.
I've had about 5-6 USB cables in here that have been sent by manufacturers for me to try and the Light Harmonic is the only one that I've actually wanted to buy and keep in my system.
The Light Harmonic USB cable comes in 2 forms, single and split. I have the split USB cable and don't ask me what is "split" since I haven't a clue. I thought it was some marketing propaganda.
Let me tell you this cable made me change my mind about digital signal cables. There was no change in instrument timbres or anything in the frequency domain. What did change for me was 2 things. First thing I noticed was the noise level. USB connections in computers, especially laptops are notoriously bad with lots of noise and traffic on the same bus. This is the only cable that was dead silent. No picking up of cell phones, other software programs, wireless keyboard/mouse movements or anything! The brochure says this is a differential USB 2.0 (10Gbit) cable, whatever that means. All I know is it works.
Second thing I noticed was differences in the time domain, the way the spatial information was conveyed. The imaging was better and the soundstage took on another 10'. It's not magnitudes of change, but if I had to put a % on it, it would be about a .5 - 1% change. As most know, getting that last 5% is what separates the men from the boys.
The cables are not cheap.
0.8m = $999
1.6m = $1399
3.8m = $1999

The configurations I've been using are:

Toshiba Tecra laptop running WinXP, Pyramix DSD Native
MacBook running Audirvana+
Desktop running Win7 Pro 64-bit with HQPlayer

Here are a couple of photos.


photo.JPG photo-1.JPG photo-2.JPG
 
Last edited:

CKKeung

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Jun 17, 2011
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Hi Bruce,

Thanks for your detailed report! My saliva is drooling!

Is the test report in the box specifically for that LightSpeed?
I guess so because it should be done this way for the high price. It's one of the most expensive USB cables in the market at this moment.

I am waiting for another USB cable which is much lower in price, from Chris Sommovigo, the designer of Kimber Illuminati/Orchid and the present Black Cat Cables & Stereolab cables.
It will be available in Aug and belongs to his Back Cat entry series but I am confident that it will be a giant-killer.

Peter
 

Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
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I am waiting for another USB cable which is much lower in price, from Chris Sommovigo, the designer of Kimber Illuminati/Orchid and the present Black Cat Cables & Stereolab cables.Peter

I used to have an Illuminati D-60 back about 10yr ago when I had the Wadia 27ix.
 

microstrip

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I used to have an Illuminati D-60 back about 10yr ago when I had the Wadia 27ix.

It is a great digital cable. I also owned one as it was an excellent alternative to the Forsell copper gas pipe that was used to connect the Air Transport CD player to the DAC.
 

gavn8r

New Member
Jul 27, 2013
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Is the test report in the box specifically for that LightSpeed?

Hi Everyone. I hope you don't mind me crashing your party. I'm Gavin Fish. I work for Light Harmonic.

Just to answer this question, each LightSpeed cable goes through a very thorough final test and measurement. We include each cable's unique test report in the box.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Hi Gavin,

Kim told me my cables are ready for pick-up. I should have them in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to it!

As a moderator here I must ask you to please put your industry affiliation in your signature.

All the Best,

Jack
 

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