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Made My Own USB cable

Made my own usb cable.

Since one of my recent usb cables became defective, and had to send it off for repair, I decided to try my hand at a DIY usb version. I have made in the past interconnects, speaker cables and power cords, and I have always tried to use the best materials available.

Well, I just completed the usb cable. And to my surprise it is a lot better than any usb cable I have tried. Way better than some other highly acclaimed $$$ cables that I have on hand or others that I have tried. Hard to believe, but I’m not kidding it is that good.

Construction:

The wire that was used is a 24-gauge .9999 soft annealed pure silver wire. I kept the wires separated and placed them on clear (about 4”) wide packing tape with the sticky side up. I then placed another tape over the wires thus sealing the wires. I used usb connectors that were easy to use and that also helps to keep the wires separated. I also ran a separate pure silver ground wire of the same material. Link to the usb connectors below.

zdyCGTime USB 2.0 A Screw Terminal Block Connector USB 2.0 A Male Plug to 5 Pin/Way Female Bolt Screw Shield terminals Pluggable Type Adapter Connector Converter 300V 8A(2Pack) (Male)

From first play I knew I had made something special. Playing some Hi Rez CCR song, “Green River” where the guitar starts from the right now comes from way over to the right. I didn’t think it could go so far over to the right! It wasn’t a difference that was hard to tell. No, what I heard was a quite natural sound that seemed so comfortable and relaxed but was also very dynamic that possessed a wide, wide open soundstage. The bass has that boogie quality and the mids and treble were again the best I have heard with my equipment. There is a presence in the sound quality that is hard to believe, singers, and images reach out to touch. I made two versions; one was about ½ meter long the other about 1 meter. I’m still undecided as to which length sounds the best.

But I am confused, it won’t pass a DSD signal? Very strange… but, 16-24/96 or 192hz is no problem.

So, cable wire quality and the barest construction method used appears to be very important, even with usb digital cables.

ozzy


128x128ozzy
ozzy's avatar
ozzy OP
7,460 posts
 
Yes, I have compared my DIY to the Audioquest Diamond, a cable that I currently own. 
First of, I think the Curious Cable, Cerious Matrix  are better than the Diamond, and my DIY cable is even better.

I changed the design somewhat by using only 2 wires per 4" strip thus separating the wires even further and then the ground is on its own strip.

Think about it, a usb cable consists of 5 wires and the connectors. Improving the metallurgy and the space between the wires is the key to the improved sonic improvement. 

Sometime soon I will be changing the usb connectors to a higher quality, If I do I will probably use some Total Contact paste on the connections.

ozzy
gdnrbob
4,444 posts
 
@OP
Can you post some pictures of the cable? 
Links to hardware?
I'd be interested in giving it a shot.
Bob
ozzy's avatar
ozzy OP
7,460 posts
 
Yes, I will post some pictures on my system page. Give me another day after the Super Bowl though.

I bought the wire off of eBay a while back. Try to get .9999 24-26 ga pure soft annealed silver wire, but that may be overkill.

For a 1/2M length you will need about 8-10 feet of wire. The connectors used are listed in my main post and are very easy to install. Better connectors is probably better but I wanted to test it using something quick. And as I said they do help to keep the wires separated. If you do use these connectors they don’t come in a usb B form so you will also need a usb A to usb B adapter.
The clear packing tape is what we all use for shipping packages, nothing special. Its just a little tricky to keep the wires in place until you place the second tape over them.

ozzy
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,134 posts
 
I.have listened in my system  to every well know usb cable under $1500
the best one I have heard being the most harmonically natural and balanced frequency response is by a Final touch audio  for $850 retail is a great cable .
Lampizator US sells their brand and gave a 10 day Audition .

jaytor's avatar
jaytor
765 posts
 
The construction technique you are describing will result in a cable with very low capacitance but high inductance. This will create higher impedance as the frequency goes up. This might help to reduce noise transmission, but it will also limit the maximum bandwidth of the cable. This could be why you are not able to get it to work for high frequency DSD signals. 
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