$500 USB cable

People assign analog attributes to digital cables. Warmer, colder, brighter etc. I just wonder which bits are added, changed, or entirely missed when the sound turns warmer or brighter etc.? If bits are missed or added it will likely cause nasty noises (if not corrected by the error correction mechanism of the receiving end). Try to transfer a high-resolution camera picture via a reasonable quality ($15) USB cable and observe the resulting picture. Do you see any distortion? Hardly ever. Or transfer a large software package to your computer via a USB drive. Do you get errors? Hardly ever. So why do you think you need such a special USB cable for music? I agree that if SPDIF interface is used, the receiving DAC can introduce distortion if the jitter is high, so there the cable has to be of high quality (as well as the source equipment) to minimize that. However when it comes to asynchronous USB, there is no jitter induced from the interface (no PLL is needed) and hence the quality of the cable is not critical as long as it's well shielded to prevent noise. I've tried many USB cables in my system, expensive and cheap, and could never detect differences. (I had golden eared audiophiles agreed). So if you think you detect differences in your system, it is likely a psychological effect IMO. Needless to say, the cable industry will not agree.

that 'someone' realizes there is a fool born every minute and he or she is hoping you the next victim ! for only a real fool would spend 500 bucks on a 2' USB cable !

I will chime to say that a fool and his money are soon parted and there are tons of audio snake oil salesmen out there.  By all means, try different USB cables to see if you perceive a difference, but make sure you get a 30-day money-back return deal when you buy them.  I have recently been on a foray to upgrade my IC's and PC with significant benefit to my system with gear from Silnote and Shunyata, but I have in the past auditioned both IC's and PC's with no benefit to my system so I sent them back.  USB connections are a different kettle of fish.  Almarg, who we can count on for solid advice, gives you the straight scoop above.  Cheers. 

I am with CZARIVEY on this ...if the ones and zeros can make it from one end of the cable to the other, there can be no difference in sound.

Who guarantees the 0 and 1 sent are correctly?
not the DAC receiving it.  I just had a scenario with a wireless signal to my laptop Tidal App (MQA) > coax > DAC was garbled.  The 0 and 1s where being sent otherwise no sound.  But the DAC  just took and played what it was sent.  

The dac is known to be very good with identifying the quality of the signal and sending to one of two filters for processing. But it just processed the bad signal. 

The USB cable didn't have anything to do with this problem, but that did make me realize the DAC doesn't know good from bad.

ill audition multiple $100,$200,$300 cables and make my mind up it it sounds better than the $24 one. There are many forums where people have positive results from  regens.w4sound, LPs to ignore.