Higher End USB Cables

Hey Mb9061,
I too am running the Havana dac and love it. I thought I'd mention that Ridge Street has a 40% discount promotion on their poiema usb cable, just in case you weren't aware of it. Check out their audiogon listing.

Robert

If you are just doing standard redbook, then I wouldn't spend more than $100 - any of the ones mentioned here will do you just fine. I use Kimber into a Cullen mod PS Audio DL3.

If, however, you are pushing higher resolutions, the quality of the cable becomes more important.

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Things have gone in various directions in this thread (which is fine), but I would like to refocus back to USB cabling.

All cables including USB cables are system dependent and user dependent and some combination of the two.

My best receommendation is that if you are looking for inexpensive USB cabling (in other words, if cost is the most important criterion) then an abundance of cables are available that are under $100. In that category you will find some much better than others, and many a whole lot worse than others.

But in order to find that out, you can't listen to people like me make referrals for you to make your decisions: you will have to break each of them in (sometimes 100s of hours running the computer into the DAC), listening to what you hear, and makign comparisons based upon adequately broken-in USB cables... that's the due diligence of cabling comparisons.

If you choose the inexpensive route, I suggest the cryoparts line of options:

http://www.cryo-parts.com/usb_cable.html

Many careful users of USB cables have been highly impressed by their performance to price ratio. (These same users have been highly impressed by the Ridge Street Audio Poeima USB line.

:) listening,

Ed

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I just took delivery of a 10' Cryoparts USB cable. I've had a 10' Belkin Pro Gold USB cable for a year now though 4 dacs, 2 sets of speakers and 5 amplifiers (the only USB cable I've kept in my system).

I'm really floored at the improvement the cable rendered right away (cold and no break-in ahead of time). I was skeptical at best beforehand. It's easily on par with going from cheap ICs to upper end cables. Let's see how it does after break in, but I was prepared for it to be harsh and sound like sh#t initially.

Not that I thought this was a farce as far as USB cables making that big a difference, but they appear to be on the order of ICs and power cables, if not moreso. And this was just a $100 "treated" cable. I guess in hindsight it stands to some reason as it's further up the signal chain, but basic intuition tells you digital is digital (1's and 0's).

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Mb9061

Good to hear that you're trying this cable out.

My experience with it is that it gets much better the longer hours are put on it. I have several hundred hours on it, and it is much better now than when I first received it.

This cable works very well for me on a low-res integrated tube amp (updated McIntosh MA230) with a MacMini and iRoc DAC. But on my other better systems it still sounds a bit bright to my bright-sensitive ears.

A typical way to get lots of hours on the cable is to play Rhapsody or your music library into your DAC. No need to have the preamp on, but the DAC does need to be on. Give the cable a break (off-time, a rest) for an hour every twelve hours or so.

Let me know how things go for you.

:) listening,

Ed

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