[rb2013]

  Hi rb2013,
regarding USB cables, you should try the Corning 3.Optical => http://www.amazon.com/Corning-Self-Powered-Peripherals-Receptacle-AOC-ACS2CVA010M20/dp/B00JOJRF6K
optical, thus no shield issue vs EMI/RFI.
I'm happy with it. Clearer sound.
And length is not a issue anymore with this cable : thus you can have a distance computer/DAC up to 30m, that's as good as if computer & interface/DAC was at 1m.
Rgds

Hi,
 
Much has been written on CA (this was all the rage earlier this year there) about this Corning3 Optical cable - with some reporting good sound and others reporting major problems with the cable.  I get the theoretical 'optical isolation' deal - but that is just part of the equation.  Most DAC's, DDC, etc.. have cheap electro-optical converters that run jitter level 10X to 100X spdif coax.  Therein lies the problem - the communications indusrty (and defense) have very good electo-optical converters that are incredibly expensive.
 
From Alex at Uptone:
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/corning-optical-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-cable-experiences-23437/

 

Superdad

Music lover; Owner, UpTone Audio

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Join Date​

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Location​

Mariposa, California

Posts​

3,523
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Remember gents:
Not only does the Corning USB NOT provide galvanic isolation (the 5VBUS is still sent), but there is either a USB hub chip, clock, and voltage regulator in each end, or a PHY, clock, and voltage reg. In fact I think you will find the cable shows up in the system as a logical HUB. The chip itself is likely a Corning design to integrate the PHY function with the optical transceiver.
So as with using any generic USB hub, you will hear a sonic difference. The question is whether it is a positive one or not. Of course there is such a thing as an optimized for audio USB hub coming, but I will restrain myself from shamelessly plugging such.

The Corning Thunderbolt cable is a little more interesting to me, but for storage use, not DAC connection.

Edward, did you get your fiber-channel device yet? Can you post a link on the exact product? Was it an Adnaco piece?

Cheers,
--Alex C.

​

The secret sauce according to the Uptone folks was not the Corning fiber - but the use of a isolating reclocking hub - which the Regen was designed to the Uber USB Hub reclocker.  Allowing the use of any USB cable including split power/data versions.  So with the Regen/LPS in place the Corning 'advantage' is sorta mute, with the electo-optical converter in the chain as a disadvantage.  But happy it's working in your system - it is better then the less expensive solutions like the Belkin Gold.

 

sig8

Sophomore Member

Join Date​

Feb 2013

Posts​

207
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I tried to use Cornig cable with PS Audio DirectStream DAC, but could not get it to work. Anyone has any experience with it?

​

 
Speaking of split USB cables this one looks interesting for $200:
The Light Harmonic Light Speed 2G
http://marketplace.lhlabs.com/collections/cables/products/lightspeed-2g-usb-cable

 

[rb2013]

Just a reminder to those new here - some of the DDCs like the Gustard U12 need a USB cable power leg active for a handshake.  The U12 handshake can be disabled, as has been posted here many times - but it's not an easy fix.
 
Some like the Melodious MX-U8 and Breeze Audio DU-U8 do not need any USB power.  So if you have a DAC (like the Geek) that requires a USB power handshake - the use of a DDC like the DU-U8 is a neat solution. 
 
The Hydra Z did not require any handshake.
 
So a split cable (one with two separate USB A leads - one for data and one for power) are optimal - the power leg can remain 'unpowered' - in other words not plugged into the computer.  Since the power lead is never used there is no power corruption or interference - at the USB PC connection.  Just the data line -  this eliminates any and all theoretical and actual PC power corruption (other then what slips into the USB data feed on the MB).
 

 

[rb2013]

I pulled the trigger on the LH Labs LightSpeed 2G after rereading the 6Moons review of the original LightSpeed (a much more expensive cable and better as well).  The current version of the original LS is called the 10G.
 
From what i have read the 2G compares favoribly to the 10G (the single 1G not so much).
 
Some worthwhile stuff in the 6moons review on USB audio in general:
 

Included with each Lightspeed cable is a test report showing a variety of measurements including the aforementioned eye pattern. It would appear that based on its physical design and test measurements the Lightspeed has miniscule deterministic jitter as well as excellent rejection of common-mode and EM noise. I asked Larry Ho to provide greater insight on the Lightspeed’s measurements including the eye pattern measurement.

"The eye diagram or eye pattern is the graphical representation shown on a high speed oscilloscope's display of a digital data signal from a receiver which is repetitively sampled and applied to the vertical input. It is a common testing tool for high speed digital signal but not commonly used in the audio world. If the eye opening is wide enough, the signal is able to transmit under the given speed. In our test report it is 10Gbps. The eye diagram proved that our LightSpeed cable could be operated successfully with little distortion even running at 10G speed which is 20 x more than the USB 2.0 spec. The blurry part of the eye diagram is the 'evil' jitter of digital signal's rising or falling edges (the gray area inside the eye is the boundary and if the signal pattern touches that, it means signal failure).

"A 2nd important factor I want to mention is the tightness of our impedance matching. Although the specs of USB 2.0 allow a +/- 10% variation in impedance, we only allow 1% to 1.8% of variance. The better matched the impedance, the less reflections of the transmission signal. This mean a more accurate bit-perfect signal with more accurate timing!

The 2G has to quote the LH Labs website "A two meter ultra-wide bandwidth USB-A to USB-B cable (over four times the USB 2.0 Spec)."  So not 20X but 4x the USB 2.0 Audio requirement. 
 

"The 3rd factor is that the better USB cable, the less work the USB receiver IC does. The less work it must do, the more accurate the timing of each bit is which gets sent out. What does the USB receiver IC (PHY) do? Quite a lot. To avoid getting too technical, basically it needs to encode and decode the package by USB protocol in 480Mbps and translate that to the UTMI+ or ULPI interface. It consists of clock recovery and PLL as well as the control logic and it is much harder than people think. This complexity brings up a very important thing - the interface jitter for ULPI gets inherited by the actual music samples."

 "The 4th factor to consider is that Ii the USB 2.0 Audio Class standard, asynchronous transmission means real-time transmission. There is some basic error correction but there is no guarantee that the signal will be received bit-perfect as there is no error-then-resend mechanism. Transferring music samples is not like sending a file to your USB hard drive or USB printer. There is no retry. If a music sample is distorted, there will be errors reading the transitions from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0.

 
The bottomline:

 "The upshot is that maintaining data integrity is more important for a USB cable that's used for music than for a hard drive, keyboard, mouse or printer. USB really is one vast umbrella that covers almost every peripheral. This sadly confuses people to think that each USB cable is the same. Sorry but in truth it's not. That'd be just like thinking one could use an analog RCA cable to connect digital SPDIF signal. It might work but definitely won't provide optimal performance!"

 

[bimmer100]

I pulled the trigger on the LH Labs LightSpeed 2G after rereading the 6Moons review of the original LightSpeed (a much more expensive cable and better as well).  The current version of the original LS is called the 10G.

From what i have read the 2G compares favoribly to the 10G (the single 1G not so much).

Some worthwhile stuff in the 6moons review on USB audio in general:

The 10g is the cable we abx tested vs the supra cable and not one person could distinctly tell either cable apart except for the basic cheap 1dollar cable with no shielding and basic cheap wire. That was spotted about 75-80% of the time or more. The 10g and supra were equal 50/50 chance, they both sounded the same. Kinda interesting that a 50 dollar cable performs as well as a 1000usd cable. I looked at the 2G dual head cable, at least that one is priced a little better.

Are you going to the local audio meet on Sunday? It will be the biggest one this year?! Tons of people. Hopefully you can make it out there. I believe it's in bothell at Anderson school. There is a headfi thread about it. Would like for you to come out with some gear or just some cans.

 

[rb2013]

The 10g is the cable we abx tested vs the supra cable and not one person could distinctly tell either cable apart except for the basic cheap 1dollar cable with no shielding and basic cheap wire. That was spotted about 75-80% of the time or more. The 10g and supra were equal 50/50 chance, they both sounded the same. Kinda interested that a 50 dollar cable performs as well as a 1000usd cable.

That is interesting - there are countless rave reviews on the LS over on the CA USB cable forum.
 
I liked this guy 'reverendo' he compared (using the Cable Company loan cable loan service) the highly rated WireWorld Platinum, the AQ Diamond, The SR USB SE, the LH LightSpeed, Mapleshade Clearlink Plus, Purist Ultimate USB, and a bunch of other USB cables.
All done over several months time.
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-cable-comparisons-14397/
 
Here was his comments later in the process comparing the SR SE vs the AQ Diamond vs WW Plat

Today I was able to compare the cables that I have been wanting to listen to side-by-side for quite a while: the Synergistic Research Active SE​

USB

link, the WireWorld Platinum and AudioQuest Diamond.​

​

First I had to find out which of​

Enigma Tuning Bullets​

(gotta laugh at these names​

) would work best in my system. I started with the gray, then changed to silver, because of the limited treble extension with the gray, and finally opted for the black one, which, without a doubt, had better bass, treble and overall sound than the other two.​

​

I then started comparing the three cables, always listening to the SR as second (eg track 1: WW-SR-AQ, track 2: AQ-WW-SR, etc.).​

​

Since I knew the traits of the WW and the AQ this method made understanding the differences between them easier. Right from the start I'd like to state that all three have different strengths, but are excellent and I could happily live with any of them. Due to the change in method I'll put my notes per track.​

​

​

1 - Michael Jackson / Jam​

(artificial depth, resolution of information overload and bass)​

1. SR more depth than the others
2. AQ more musical bass
3. AQ faster bass than SR, but slower than WW
4. SR more texture than AQ and WW

​

Preference: AQ = SR> WW​

​

​

2 - Michael Jackson / Invincible​

(soundstage and artificial spaciality, bass extension and speed)​

1. SR more detailed than AQ and WW
2. SR equivalent bass to WW, but richer. AQ has the best bass
3. AQ better with voices
4. SR more 3D and holographic than WW and AQ

​

​

Preference: AQ = SR> WW​

​

​

3 - Prince / Life o 'the Party​

(deep bass, HF decay and pop mids)​

1. HF decay AQ = SR
2. SR voices a little better than AQ. WW voices inferior
3. WW fastest
4. WW more HF information

​

Preference: SR> AQ> WW​

​

​

4 - Esperanza Spalding / Ponta de Areia​

(LF speed Muringa, drums, texture, BGV, piano)​

1. SR VERY 3D
2. Voices: AQ> SR> WW
3. plasticity: SR> AQ> WW
4. soundstage height: WW=AQ> SR
5. AQ best bass

​

​

Preference: AQ> SR> WW​

​

​

5 - Esperanza Spalding / I Adore You​

(micro-dynamics and upper mids)​

1. AQ better textures, timbres and clearer
2. SR more detailed and cleaner mids
3. SR more plasticity
4. Speed: WW=AQ> SR
5. WW more HF information than AQ and SR

​

​

Preference: AQ> SR> WW​

​

​

6 - Kurt Elling / Moonlight Serenade​

(mids, voice, ambience, refinement)​

1. SR more plasticity
2. Voices: AQ> SR> WW
3. SR cleaner mids
4. SR very 3D
5. HF information: WW>AQ>SR

​

​

Preference: SR = AQ> WW​

​

​

7 - Kurt Elling / Detour Ahead​

(imaging on natural soundstage)​

1. SR excellent spatiality (3D)
2. soundstage imaging: SR = AQ (though different)> WW
3. WW more HF informatio

​

​

Preference: SR> AQ> WW​

​

​

8 - Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Abbado / Mahler 5th​

(orchestral soundstage, acoustic LFs, timbres and textures, macro and micro dynamics, spatiality)​

1. soundstage: SR> AQ> WW
2. bass: AQ = WW> SR
3. SR cleaner mids
4. SR more detailed than WW, except for LFs
5. Timbres: AQ> SR> WW
6. Definition: WW> AQ> SR

​

​

Preference: AQ> SR = WW​

​

​

9 - Peter Gabriel / San Jacinto (New Blood - 24/48)​

(definition, resolution, refinement, timbre, articulation, attack, treble decay, flow, voices)​

1. SR 3D
2. Mid-bass: AQ> WW = SR
3. voices better with AQ
4. WW mids slightly veiled (something that I observed in most tracks)
5. WW fastest bass, AQ bass more musical

​

​

Preference: AQ> SR> WW​

​

​

10 - Leonardo Gonçalves / Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (24/88.2)​

(piano, ambience, string texture, resolution, refinement, timbres, "air")​

1. clean piano with WW, SR has better timbre and texture of piano
2. SR more accurate ambience, more 3D
3. WW best bass
4. AQ best timbres and textures

​

​

Preference: AQ = SR = WW​

​

​

A few last comments:​

​

The differences are small and probably very system-dependent. If I could have the plasticity and three-dimensionality of the SR with the texture, the HF decay and bass of the AQ I would be perfectly happy. Since I haven't found all that in one cable my preference is towards the AQ Diamond. This does not mean that the Platinum isn't a great cable, but in my system it did hi-fi better than the others, but did not have the natural and balanced sound of the Diamond nor the spatiality of SR. I really believe that the outcome would be different in another system. Usually I listen more analytically, but the Diamond allowed me to continue hearing everything, albeit more naturally.​

​

At the end of the hearing inserted the Aubisque between the Diamond and the Cantata. This increased the density of the lower mids and the upper bass in a good way, but, once again, I lost a good deal of HF decay.​

​

Anyway, my next quest it to find a reasonably-priced Diamond. If I find a great deal on on a SR SE​

USB

Active or a Platinum I'll probably go with one of them, since cost/benefit is still very important to me.​

​

Best regards​

​

André​

 

 
Then even later as the Purist Ultimate unseated the AQ Diamond he comapared the LH LS vs the Ultimate :

 

Purist Ultimate USB x Light Harmonic Lightspeed​

I'll cut to the chase:

Light Harmonic Lightspeed

1. HFs seriously better than Ultimate, therefore ambience information is there and in all it's glory
2. more 3D. sometimes makes Ultimate sound 2D in comparison. I said "sometimes"!
3. has considerably more depth than Ultimate
4. has beautiful, beautiful HF decay
5. soundstage placement is almost spooky
6. is more detailed than Ultimate
7. has less body and weight than Ultimate

Purist Ultimate

1. has more body and weight
2. is darker
3. soundstage placement is inferior to Lightspeed
4. takes a serious beating in HF decay

Of course everything is a matter of taste, but in this case the situation is almost a no-brainer, unless your system suffers of severe lack of body and weight. The Ultimate is a great USB cable, but the Lightspeed actually provided me with everything that I kind of felt that was lacking, especially in the HF and ambience department. What surprised me, apart from the fantastic ambience retrieval, was that it bettered the already fantastic levels of detail that the Ultimate brought to the table. Like always, YMMV, but probably not by much.

The only question now is if I can bring myself to invest this kind of money in a USBcable. The results are there, but cost/benefit starts to kick in big time. Let's see if I can find a Lightspeed for a decent price.

I think in the end he kept the LH LightSpeed.  This review was in 2013 - you can now find LS and 10G's used in the $500 range (one listed in the Headfi classifieds currently).  Still to rich for my blood.  But for $200 I'm willing to try the 2G.
 
One note is looks like all these cables need 200-300 hrs burin to sound best - I think the MapleShade even longer - and at $135 for 1 meter a bargain.

 

[rb2013]

It would be nice if the Supra was available in a split (data and power) configuration like the Forza Twinn Copper and the LightSpeed 2G.  For the major benefits I posted above when using with the USB bridges that don't require a USB power handshake like the Melodius and Breeze.
 
Was the 10G you tested vs the Supra the single wire version?
 
PS On the meet  - no way - wifey would go ballistic!  I'll be at the mall lugging shopping bags - why I need audio therapy (and some Jack Single Barrel) - 30yrs of marriage and I've surrendered.

 

[robertsong]

There is also the Anticables USB cable.
 
http://anticables.com/interconnects/digital-rca-interconnects#!/Level-3-1-Reference-Series-USB-Digital-Interconnect/p/39552504/category=3682629
 
I'm super happy with my Ref 4.2 spdif cable from Anticables with the ETI "Pure" plugs. I'm very tempted to try there USB cable too. You can order it with or without the +5V line. Apparently there are some claims it can hold it's own against the LH cables. It's priced cheaper than Curious cables.

 

[Triplefun]

Probably in a different league, but has anyone tried these cables from China ..
I find they are an excellent compromise between entry level USB cables and the more high end expensive cables ..
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Qed-signature-edition-decoder-dac-usb-data-cable-line-a-b/32416012114.html

 

[rb2013]

  There is also the Anticables USB cable.
 
http://anticables.com/interconnects/digital-rca-interconnects#!/Level-3-1-Reference-Series-USB-Digital-Interconnect/p/39552504/category=3682629
 
I'm super happy with my Ref 4.2 spdif cable from Anticables with the ETI "Pure" plugs. I'm very tempted to try there USB cable too. You can order it with or without the +5V line. Apparently there are some claims it can hold it's own against the LH cables. It's priced cheaper than Curious cables.

Well have not much said about those - I think they do a brisk business on Audiogon and have for some time - mostly by favorable word of mouth.  At $190 for the 1M USB not exceedingly cheap in comparison to the $135 Mapleshade Clearlink Plus.
 
Being able to get it without the 5V line is a plus.

 

[rb2013]

 
Probably in a different league, but has anyone tried these cables from China ..
I find they are an excellent compromise between entry level USB cables and the more high end expensive cables ..
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Qed-signature-edition-decoder-dac-usb-data-cable-line-a-b/32416012114.html

At the low end the Belkin Gold Hi Speed - hard to beat for $29
 
http://www.belkin.com/us/F3U133-GLD/p/P-F3U133-GLD/
 
TAS 2013 Award Winner
 
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/2013-tas-editors-choice-awards-digital-interconnects/

 

[GCTD]

Has anyone recommended the Pangea Audio USB cable yet?

 

[bimmer100]

It would be nice if the Supra was available in a split (data and power) configuration like the Forza Twinn Copper and the LightSpeed 2G.  For the major benefits I posted above when using with the USB bridges that don't require a USB power handshake like the Melodius and Breeze.

Was the 10G you tested vs the Supra the single wire version?

PS On the meet  - no way - wifey would go ballistic!  I'll be at the mall lugging shopping bags - why I need audio therapy (and some Jack Single Barrel) - 30yrs of marriage and I've surrendered.

The 10G was the split cable.
We used a pulse xfi infinity Dac with lps4.
Tested the 10G split cable, supra 1.5meter single cable, and a basic 1dollar super xrappy USB generic.
Extensive testing revealed the 10G was an overpriced cable. I'm not surprised they are selling for 500 everywhere. Hard to recover from something like that, and not feel guilty reselling it too.

 

[ccschua]

 
I have yet to hear the PUC2 Lite - but the reviews are excellent.  I would also rank at the top the Hydra Z and the Breeze Audio DU-U8.
 
http://www.stereotimes.com/post/yellowtec-puc2-lite-usb-converter/
 
The Gustard U12 (I had three) even with Nichicon HW or Fine Gold PS caps ranked near the bottom (ahead of the iDAC2 as USB bridge).  It is not bad and beat the list I posted at the beginning of the thread - like the M2Tech EVO fed by a LPS.  But in comparison to the others I tried it sounds veiled and lacking in dynamics.  YMMV.
 
I have had about a dozen USB bridges so far in my systems. With and w/o the Regen and Jitterbug.
 
This one will be next - DIYinHK DXIO Pro3A
 
http://www.diyinhk.com/shop/audio-kits/97-xmos-192khz-high-quality-usb-to-spdif-with-ultralow-noise-1uv-regulator-wmanual-power-switch.html

have you tried and compared the DXIO Pro3A to a Tamly or Berkeley ?

 

[rb2013]

Has anyone recommended the Pangea Audio USB cable yet?

There were some folks asking about this cable over on that CA thread - not much in the way of positive feedback.  But I love those catalogs that AA sends!

 

[rb2013]

The 10G was the split cable.
We used a pulse xfi infinity Dac with lps4.
Tested the 10G split cable, supra 1.5meter single cable, and a basic 1dollar super xrappy USB generic.
Extensive testing revealed the 10G was an overpriced cable. I'm not surprised they are selling for 500 everywhere. Hard to recover from something like that, and not feel guilty reselling it too.

Well I would love to try one of the split cables - I think LH labs ran a 'special' sale on them awhile back - they were selling fro like $600 for the .8 meter.  I'll give the 2g a go and see how it compares in my systems. And how it pairs with the DU-U8.