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USB printer cable VS USB audiophile grade cable?

I have converted to PC audio about 2 years ago and enjoying the hobby. I recently upgraded my DAC from a Benchmark DAC1 HDR to a DAC2 HGC mainly to download DSD files. I am now using a 'regular' 12 ft. Belden USB printer cable purchased at Office Depot which sounds great. The Benchmark uses asynchronous clocking system to re-clock incoming bytes from the PC.

I just purchased an audiophile grade USB cable (Furutech GT2 Pro-USB). To my great surprise, this Furutech cable just trounced the printer cable. Noise level is down, music micro-details are popping up and bass goes down much lower. I've listened to some of my older CD's which I am pretty familiar with and hearing details I never heard previously. So it has nothing to do with jitter, since the Benchmark is handling it. The 'bits are bits' theory, which I subscribed to has some cracks to it...

Before I purchased this cable, I was of the opinion that the only sonical gain I would get would be better immunity to EMI/RFI since the Furutech has greater isolation. However, this purchase turned out to be of much greater sonical value for about $300.

I am perplexed and very happy at the same time :-)

What is going on?
128x128dasign
vhiner
544 posts
 
Al,

Excellent post!

There certainly is *not* a direct correlation between price and performance
and I also concur that USB cables may not produce the same results from
system to system. That said, there are a few well-designed USB cables out
there that mange to intelligently address some of the challenges you cite
and, as a rule, these cables perform better than stock USB cables and
more consistently so when it comes to delivering music files.

Nonetheless, the wide variety of computer systems and the noise they
create does pose a significant challenge to designers of the USB interface.
extravaganza
373 posts
 
for me furutech did not work out,it just sounded exaggerated,enhanced bass, recessed midrange,fatiguing highs.Printer cable really had variuos noise issues.I made usb cable from flat red copper "tasker" cable.And it works fine
dasign's avatar
dasign OP
201 posts
 
Extravaganza,

Excuse my question, since English is not my first language, but what is a red flat tasker cable? Where can you purchase such cable? What is the dielectric used in your cable and which USB connector brand did you use to build your cable? Just curious...
extravaganza
373 posts
 
tasker
Cable company from Italy.I bought from diy shop this cable and connectors
skoczylas's avatar
skoczylas
240 posts
 
Very interesting conversation. Not completely on topic but related, i have been confused as to why i have found better results using usb vs optical cables to connect my macbook to my rega dac. I would think that bits would arrive cleaner by having a sort of wall between the noisy multi purpose computer and the dac. Optical i would have thought would provide this vs a usb which relies on an electric signal from the computer. These improved results were noticable with none of steves suggestions and a cheap printer cable.
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