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usb cable diy. help needed

post #1 of 12
12/3/05 at 10:24pm
Thread Starter 
I am thinking about building a short usb cable to use with a USB DAC.

I would have about 5/6 inches long. Does anyone have any experience building USB cables?

Suggestions and hints are welcommed!!!

Thanks in advance!

Manuel
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post #2 of 12
12/3/05 at 10:25pm
Mind if i ask why you would rather make one over buy one?

I cant see how it would be worth the fuss.

Rob.
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post #3 of 12
12/3/05 at 10:38pm
Thread Starter 
I hadn't found any short cables until a few moments ago. I found a few on the internet but they look really thin ( not enough shielding) .

If you know of any short cable with good quality, please4 let me know^!
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post #4 of 12
12/3/05 at 10:57pm
So its a length issue? Fair enough.

The shielding on a USB cable shouldnt really make that much difference - it either works or it doesnt. (Feel free to correct me on that).

Rob.
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post #5 of 12
12/3/05 at 11:00pm
Thread Starter 
I've found some belkin pro series 6 inches usb cable!!! just what I was lookin g for, but they are only available in the USA!!!! I must find a place to get them or I must build one myself!
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post #6 of 12
12/3/05 at 11:02pm
I believe Rob is right, USB cable doesn't have to be 6N silver coated by Teflon, insulated by XXX, shielded by XXX, with gold connectors. It will either work or not. I have a USB external drive on which I store a few hundred gig of data. I never worry any byte on the drive will be false because I used cheap USB2.0 cable.
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post #7 of 12
1/21/10 at 9:07pm
Quote:
never worry any byte on the drive will be false because I used cheap USB2.0 cable.
I must agree with you on that. I mean isn't a USB cable supposed to transfer data from one device to another without any losses? So what's the difference between a 2 $ USB cable you can get from your local electronics store and a cryogenized USB cable that costs 450 $ excluding shipping? I haven't listened to the last one but i would assume that they would sound the same because a USB cable transferred data. I might be wrong though. I am limited in terms of my knowledge regarding electronic circuits.
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post #8 of 12
1/21/10 at 9:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by drummerdimitri View Post
I must agree with you on that. I mean isn't a USB cable supposed to transfer data from one device to another without any losses? So what's the difference between a 2 $ USB cable you can get from your local electronics store and a cryogenized USB cable that costs 450 $ excluding shipping? I haven't listened to the last one but i would assume that they would sound the same because a USB cable transferred data. I might be wrong though. I am limited in terms of my knowledge regarding electronic circuits.
I think there is a more recent thread about the cables (this one is 5 years old). As long as it is fully compliant with the USB 2.0 spec, you should get nice clean sound. While a smaller group than those who believe analog interconnects make a difference, there is a pretty hardcore group that believes better USB cables can make a difference in reducing latency, getting a quieter background with super duper damping, etc. Check out Locus-designs if you really want your eyes to pop out.

I have been happy with Monoprice $2 cables as they are built to spec with good shielding. I am making one just because I want to, and to do something over the top. I have put together the cables, now I need to solder the connectors. I used 22awg Mogami Neglex for my power and 26awg Mogami Neglex for the data lines. Each pair is individually wrapped in a foil shield, then covered in a tinned copper braided shield, then sleeved in monofilament to quiet the shields. The two individual cables are then twisted together inside some Techflex. I will be rereading the USB 2.0 spec to make sure I solder properly (probably not til this weekend).

So some really nice copper wire with some extra isolation and shielding in a very impressive looking cable. As long as it works, I will be happy. If hear an improvement, then bonus!
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post #9 of 12
1/21/10 at 10:45pm
Great idea, can't wait to see the final result! I might consider making a cryo'ed usb if i ever decide to get some high end DAC or else forget it. I'd rather keep the 20 feet for interconnects rather than a fancy usb cable.
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post #10 of 12
1/21/10 at 10:53pm
Well, you can argue that "USB 2.0 is designed to transfer data without loss", but that's not really true. USB 2.0 is a protocol for sustained speeds of transfer. Loss and correction are implementation aspects that apply to the drivers used for communicating between the host and slave devices. As it applies to, what I would imagine you're talking about, "USB DACs" (damn, I hate that term), now you really are talking about what drivers are used that can work with the USB receiver in your DAC.

So far, I have not seem any that actually implement correction or are able to prevent source or transmission jitter. That essentially means - what goes across the cable, and how poorly it gets there, is what's received and directly sent for processing.
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post #11 of 12
1/22/10 at 5:48pm
I think the belkin 0'6" is a perfect cable, ...personally i would like to use half-decent cables if im using high-end gear and i wouldn't want to use a 2$ cable. But any USB 2.0 spec should do the job if your feeding a dac.
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post #12 of 12
1/22/10 at 5:51pm
1) 5 years old. My question is how?
2) If you're getting interference on your USB cables...
3) Yes, Monoprice. I was tempted to buy a whole bunch of cables from them, even if it costed me $15 in shipping.
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