Wireworld Starlight 8 USB 3.1 Audio Cable Review
Alright guys, since I got very intrigued by
@LifeAspect ´s and
@coldbru ´s mentioning of the Wireworld Starlight 8 USB 3.1 cable, I reached out to the German distributor and asked for an example of the 1 meter cable in exchange for an honest review (using the cable with my Bathys). I was a musician and producer about 15 years ago but changed my career and got a writer … as well as an audiophile listener.
Back then when I had the Focal Stellia in my possession, I already reviewed some cables for other boutique manufacturers, although these (e.g. silver/palladium) cables were priced around 2k $, and so about 10 times as expensive as the Wireworld cable. It was a completely different take as they were cables for analogue signals and I used them with my LGPT Ti DAP. So it was a VERY expensive „portable“ rig I had about two years ago. But back to the Bathys:
When I got these headphones, I mainly used them with the original USB-C cable from Focal (and my Samsung Galaxy s10e).
But first things first:
the EQ
I only use them with this EQ
-2.5db/62Hz
-2db/250Hz
+1.5db/1kHz
+2db/4kHz
+1.5db/16kHz
Which is a slight alteration of what
@Nomax suggests (thanks again for your findings with your "golden ears")
BUT as some albums are mastered rather quietly (such as: Stevie Wonder - Talking Book, Steely Dan - Two Against Nature, Bab Marley and the Wailers albums etc. etc.) I just boosted all frequencies across the whole spectrum for exactly 4 dB, which afterwards looks like this:
+1.5db/62Hz
+2db/250Hz
+5.5db/1kHz
+6db/4kHz
+5.5db/16kHz
I tested it: It sounds the same as above, doesn’t distort etc. It just makes everything louder and gives you more headroom to play with on the mobile phone or laptop. BUT please take care of your ears! Of course you have to make the music quieter when listening to „normal compressed“ modern music. In fact the Focal engineers knew that they had to implement the EQ in a way so that boosting all frequencies doesn’t distort the sound by any way and just makes it … well, louder.
Anyways, this EQ, in my opinion, is what an album should sound like. How would I know that? Well, I spent uncountable hours of my life in studios with recording-, mixing- and mastering-engineers. So at least I know how the albums I produced myself should sound like. This EQ comes closest to that feeling I had back then in the mixing- and mastering studios (and probably also approaches the Harman curve).
So, now that we’ve got that covered, I’d like to get back to the USB cables. With the original Focal USB-C cable, I didn’t find anything to complain about sound wise. But at the same time I sensed that the Bathys could squeeze out more (better sounding) music with the right cable. I came to that conclusion because at the beginning I was listening with an iPhone. I bought an ordinary chi-fi cable (Meenova) from AliExpress with a lightning adapter on one end. It sounded okay-ish. Then I bought the Apple Camera Kit adapter and connected the Focal USB-C to the Apple dongle. Well, what can I say: It sounded better. Then I ditched my iPhone and bought an android phone. And again: It sounded better to directly connect the Bathys with the USB-C to the mobile phone. Then again, when connecting the Focal USB-C with my MacBook Pro it sounded - surprise surprise - even better than with my Samsung mobile. As you see, I heard differences between different devices with different cables AND between different devices with the same cable. So that’s why I thought that an upgrade cable might result in an even better sound. This was the time where I remembered some head-fiers talking about a Wireworld cable. And the rest is … well, not „history“ but this review:
The Starlight 8 USB-C cable just sounds damn
„right“. It takes the Bathys to a new level. Not to a „whole“ new level, but a new level nonetheless. And it doesn’t come with its downsides. But the great things first:
The bass frequencies are right there where I want them. And NO, I wouldn’t have achieved that by just raising the bass in the Focal app. I tried, believe me, I tried many many many different EQ profiles over the last few months. You will never get THAT bass. Because I felt that the cable somehow managed to raise the sub-bass beneath 62Hz. And in addition it feels like the mid bass got more punch. It is more THERE.
Felt. Not only heard. Again: This wouldn’t have been able by adding more mid-bass to the EQ, which would have resulted in bloated lower mids (also looking at you, dear Stellia).
Continuing to the mids, I have only one mighty word:
transparent. And I don’t want nothing else from the mids. They should be present and clean and transparent. Not bloated (lower mids), not piercing (upper mids). But clean. And I get that with the Wireworld cable.
And the highs? They are nicely extended, don’t pierce, don’t sound artificial. I repeat myself, I didn’t get the same results by rising the highs even more in the EQ. It just got artificially sounding. Too much bass isn’t good, in the same way too much highs are not good either (for your ears, for long term listening, for enjoying the music as the „artist intended“ it when recording their songs). All the details are there, but not thrown in your face. A
mature tuning.
But the frequencies don’t cover up the whole cake, do they? What about sound as a whole?
What I experienced right away when listening to the Wireworld cable with my test-tracks was the stereo panorama. Man, this cables transforms the Bathys into a 3D sounding headphone. It literally feels like being in the midst of a band. With the singer prominently right in the middle and the left and right sounds going easily beyond the cups. But also the depth increases by quite a margin! I don’t only hear the music in front of me, it rather envelopes me. Separation is great. Macro dynamics as with all Focal headphones superb, but also micro details - with songs that I know by heart - are all there and then some.
Guys, I know, some of you will laugh at me, but yes, this combination beats the Focal Stellia! It does. And not only the Stellia alone (with its stock cables) but also with the combination of the palladium/silver cables I had back then. I don’t have that „rig“ in possession any more, also not the LGPT Ti. But the Bathys with the Wireworld sounds better. I can say that because so many of my favourite albums sound the way they have to. No niggling needed anymore (at least what concerns the sound). And I niggled a lot when listening through my old „rig“ worth about 10k $! And that’s crazy, when considering how „affordable“ the Bathys are in comparison to the Stellia, right? The Stellia always had too much mid-bass that would bleed into the lower mids. It was difficult to tame the upper-mid bump that caused ear-fatigue. And the highs had a metallic sheen that wouldn´t go away. It was a shame for that price (at least when compared to the price of the Bathys). All that is gone with the possibility to EQ the Bathys. And of course the DSP in the right earcup also does the trick. In combination with the Wireworld cable the Bathys soundwise outshines so many headphones it puts a smile on my face. It´s really hard to believe but I trust my ears for over two decades now. This is a killer set!
But I don’t want that review to sound like a miracle (although the cable has its „magic“), and as I am an audio enthusiast as you guys are, of course I will also tell you the downsides of that cable … so you can decide for yourself if it´s worth a shot.
Five things.
1. It costs about 200 $/€ (for the 1 meter version). For most of us this is a lot. I know. But when you think about the terrific deals right now you get for a new pair of Bathys, then you might take the plunge for that cable in order to hear it how it sounds at its best.
2. You might or might not like its looks. I like that „technically-engineer“ vibe very much. As said, in the analogue world there are so many cable manufacturers who offer bling bling cables for many thousands of dollars. And I can see how one might like that (because I liked that, too, haha), but this red cable, IMO, gives that „grey“ looking headphones a nice spicy touch.
3. It has some cable noise, not much more than the original Focal cable. When listening to music I don’t hear anything from the cable when going around so it doesn´t bother me at all. But most of us won´t run around with that cable anyways.
4. That point might be a real bummer for most of us, it is stiff. Yes. Stiff it is. Why? Because it wasn’t made for the Bathys. We wouldn’t even need the USB 3.1. I guess USB 2.0 would be suffice for high res music. But this is the only Wireworld cable with USB-C on both ends of the cable. Anyhow, this cable isn’t made for jogging. Of course you might use it at your desk, on your couch, or when on commute with the train/plane etc., and you might even use it when moving around the house or for „small“ homework where you don’t have to move a lot.
That being said, I also use them when walking around the city, like going from A to B. Does it look weird? I don’t think so. I know, some of you don’t even leave the house with the Bathys. Me personally, I don’t care.
5. The cable is only available in two lengths: 0.6 meters and 1 meter. I have got the 1 meter version and of course I thought that 1 meter is too short (against the standard length of 1.2 meters). But, to my surprise, it wasn’t. In fact I think 1.2 meters would be too long for this cable. Why? Because - and this correlates to point 4 - this cable doesn’t bend like a „normal“ cable. It has, as you can see from the pics down below, a somewhat flat design. That’s also because the power cord has its own space and therefore doesn’t interfere with the other cords that deliver the signals (which, I reckon, is one of the main plus points that results in that great sound). What I want to say is, that this cable, when „worn“ with the Bathys and my mobile phone in my left back pocket, kind of folds around my body like a spiral. As said above, it isn’t the most flexible cable out there (to put it mildly), as it wasn’t designed for walking around. But it works for me (I am no jogger). So point 5 (the length of the cable) isn’t really a „bad“ thing. I fact I wouldn’t even urge Wireworld to produce 1.2 meter cables (at least not with that cable layout). But if they would achieve to create a USB-C cable that would be more pliable than the Starlight 8, and also won’t compromise on the sound quality, that of course would be great.
Oh, and here is the link to the Wireworld Website if you want to read more about the cables´ design, conductor material, insulation etc.:
https://wireworldcable.com/products/starlight-8-usb-3-1-audio-cables
I know there are many of you who think a digital signal is a digital signal and why would it sound different on different cables? It´s just 1´s and 0´s that pass that cable, right? Nope, that’s not the case. As I read from another audiophile: USB cables don’t pass 1’s and 0’s, they pass voltage signals which are interpreted as 1’s and 0’s. Voltage below a certain level is interpreted as a 0 and voltage above a certain level is interpreted as a 1. Anything that interferes with the voltage signal can cause the data to be misinterpreted by the DAC …
But I am no engineer or technician.
Last time I checked I was just a guy with two ears 
So, that’s it. I will continue rediscovering all my beloved albums with the Starlight 8 … and I hope you will, too, with or without that cable (… but at least, please, try my EQ I mentioned above with the USB-C connected to the Bathys, preferably connected to your laptop/computer!! Some of you maybe will „miss“ the bloated bass, haha, but as soon as your ears/brains settle in, I am sure you will appreciate that balanced tuning for long listening sessions.)
And now, finally, let’s move on to
some pics:
