picked up a Audioquest Carbon USB cable - Page 2

Its been about 4 months since I've bought a Audioquest Carbon, it's been very difficult testing it becuase I later found out that the USB cable that came with my Creative X-Fi HD is already of very good quality and has about 2 years of burn in over the Audioquest, so they sound seemingly identical. What little characteristics I hear between them is hard to distinguish between placebo and reality. I also have a Kimber Kable that I used for a shorter while.

The only thing I can say is that if you are comparing high quality usb cables with high quality cables then its very hard to spot a difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJ Max 


Cable burn in is not new concept , Ive heard of it for years. Even the skeptics who don't believe in improved USB Audio believe in Cable burn in.

Here is a response from "AudioQuest" when I asked them if it were myth or fact that thier cables require burn in.

No, there is no evidence to suggest that Cable burn is anything but bunk (and especially with a digital cable), and frankly, so is AudioQuest's response. 

But whatever - if you are enjoying your music, and believe you enjoy it more with what you are using now, more power to you. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJ Max 

Its been about 4 months since I've bought a Audioquest Carbon, it's been very difficult testing it becuase I later found out that the USB cable that came with my Creative X-Fi HD is already of very good quality and has about 2 years of burn in over the Audioquest, so they sound seemingly identical. What little characteristics I hear between them is hard to distinguish between placebo and reality. I also have a Kimber Kable that I used for a shorter while.

The only thing I can say is that if you are comparing high quality usb cables with high quality cables then its very hard to spot a difference.

Thats quite interesting. What headphones are you using?

Quote:

Originally Posted by liamstrain 

 

No, there is no evidence to suggest that Cable burn is anything but bunk (and especially with a digital cable), and frankly, so is AudioQuest's response. 

 

But whatever - if you are enjoying your music, and believe you enjoy it more with what you are using now, more power to you. :)

I think its still inconclusive since many people who went in skeptical have noticed some difference, though it can not be fully explained why or how. 

I'm not a scientist so I can't speak in scientific terms but think that science is great, though I don't put my whole-souled faith in it since I know no one knows everything about it. New things are being discovered all the time. In the past we would have called many modern discoveries miracles.

There are many things that have been discovered that defy known science.

Why do scorpions glow under ultraviolet light?

How do bumble bees fly, when their wings are too small for thier big heavy bodies, defying the laws  of known aviation.

Why does the human body naturally age and die, when it's cells are designed to continuously regenerate.

Just because no one can explain how different USB cables can make a difference, doesn't mean it's not scientifically possible. For now those who do buy them can have peace of mind that they are doing everything they can do to assure the best experience possible. "Peace of Mind" has value and maybe worth a $120 USB cable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrSeven 

Thats quite interesting. What headphones are you using?

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD558, however primarily I listen to music on BIC America FH-65B Speakers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJ Max 

Quote:

Originally Posted by liamstrain 

 

No, there is no evidence to suggest that Cable burn is anything but bunk (and especially with a digital cable), and frankly, so is AudioQuest's response. 

 

But whatever - if you are enjoying your music, and believe you enjoy it more with what you are using now, more power to you. :)

 

 

 

 

 

I think its still inconclusive since many people who went in skeptical have noticed some difference, though it can not be fully explained why or how. 

I'm not a scientist so I can't speak in scientific terms but think that science is great, though I don't put my whole-souled faith in it since I know no one knows everything about it. New things are being discovered all the time. In the past we would have called many modern discoveries miracles.

There are many things that have been discovered that defy known science.

Why do scorpions glow under ultraviolet light?

How do bumble bees fly, when their wings are too small for thier big heavy bodies, defying the laws  of known aviation.

Why does the human body naturally age and die, when it's cells are designed to continuously regenerate.

Just because no one can explain how different USB cables can make a difference, doesn't mean it's not scientifically possible. For now those who do buy them can have peace of mind that they are doing everything they can do to assure the best experience possible. "Peace of Mind" has value and maybe worth a $120 USB cable.

I was actually talking about glowing animals with my brother just last week. I forget what the thing that causes it is called, but you know that we've genetically engineered cats that glow under black light? So I think we've got that one down.

At any rate, it's an entirely different thing when talking about cables. They're a human creation that follows a specific protocol. If we didn't know how they work, they wouldn't work. We wouldn't have been able to make them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJ Max 

Quote:

Originally Posted by liamstrain 

 

No, there is no evidence to suggest that Cable burn is anything but bunk (and especially with a digital cable), and frankly, so is AudioQuest's response. 

 

But whatever - if you are enjoying your music, and believe you enjoy it more with what you are using now, more power to you. :)

 

 

 

 

 

I think its still inconclusive since many people who went in skeptical have noticed some difference, though it can not be fully explained why or how. 

I'm not a scientist so I can't speak in scientific terms but think that science is great, though I don't put my whole-souled faith in it since I know no one knows everything about it. New things are being discovered all the time. In the past we would have called many modern discoveries miracles.

There are many things that have been discovered that defy known science.

Why do scorpions glow under ultraviolet light?

How do bumble bees fly, when their wings are too small for thier big heavy bodies, deying the laws  of known aviation.

Why does the human body naturally age and die, when it's cells are designed to continuously regenerate.

Just because no one can explain how different USB cables can make a difference, doesn't mean it's not scientifically possible. For now those who do buy them can have peace of mind that they are doing everything they can do to assure the best experience possible. "Peace of Mind" has value and maybe worth a $120 USB cable.

Yeah I think always wondering if you could improve your sound by such an investment sucks.. its just a factor that makes me wonder "what if"... so im just gonna buy it so I can than listen "in peace" again 

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy4 

I was actually talking about glowing animals with my brother just last week. I forget what the thing that causes it is called, but you know that we've genetically engineered cats that glow under black light? So I think we've got that one down.

 

At any rate, it's an entirely different thing when talking about cables. They're a human creation that follows a specific protocol. If we didn't know how they work, they wouldn't work. We wouldn't have been able to make them.

I think that its also a matter of the human mind.. if you think it must sounds better it will sound better for you. Doesn't matter if it does by measurements but your mind will make it work. You can fool the brain just way to easy.

Can it be possible that the signals travel differently though cables depending on their own standards and conditions. and the audible differences are the result of the DACs interpretation of the signals conditions?

That's not really the way digital audio works. The cable condition cannot change how the data is transmitted except to make it either right (plays as intended), or wrong (skips/pops/cuts out entierly). There is no room for interpretation in digital audio. You cannot know which bits control the bass extension, or airiness, or anything like that in a long string of ones and zeros - and certainly no way for a cable to make such a distinction.  

*shrug*

Nope, the drift velocity of electrons is not dependent on the material of a cable (it's actually the same in any conductive material per unit of cross sectional area).  Digital data is sent as a square wave through the data conductors in a USB cable, even with distortion the data travels intact and the chip in the device that reads the USB data can decode it even if it's somewhat distorted, if the signal is too distorted it will read the output as nothing and you will get complete loss of signal through the chip. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJ Max 

Can it be possible that the signals travel differently though cables depending on their own standards and conditions. and the audible differences are the result of the DACs interpretation of the signals conditions?

You mean if they went against USB standards?

Definitely, that would cause a bunch of problems.

Interesting. 

I think I'm the only person I've seen in discussions like this, that have actually tried some high quality USB cables and cannot remark on any certain differences.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJ Max 

Interesting. 

I think I'm the only person I've seen in discussions like this, that have actually tried some high quality USB cables and cannot remark on any certain differences.

There are some in the sound science subforum, where we should probably shift, if we're going to continue this, I'm certainly not trying to dump on the experiences of others - I was just objecting to a mischaracterization.

Once you get into controlled listening situations (blind or double blind testing, or any objective measurements), perceived differences vanish quickly. 

i have a carbon usb cable as well. paid 119 dollars for .75m. while i don't think it made any major difference in SQ, it is a nice cable, and ensures i don't have any weak links in my system.