[music_man]

I have a discrete usb power supply. i am using. not the ifi gemini in this system. it is an industrial scientific power suply.  it has a run of the mill mini usb cable that is six inches long going from the pc to the power supply. it also carries the data in this instance. then into the power supply is plugged a aq drragontail and into that a jiterbug. then into the jitterbug is plugged a aq diamond cable going out to the dac
 
my question is if the first 6 inches cable going out of the pc to the power supply is actually defeating the purpose of having any good cable since it is probably just a plain cable. although the power supply is cleaning up the power and the jitterbug is cleaning the data. so i am not sure if the cable is even really "seen" by the system. it is not like i am just plugging a low quality cable into a very high end cable. also one has to realize their motherboard does not have the best connection to begin with anyways. so i am not entirely sure this matters. what is behind it versus what is ahead of it.
 
i know my posts recently have been very specific and obscure so no one has answered them. i am just wondering if i am now wasting a $1,200 cable here or if since it is being cleaned by the power supply and the data by the jitterbug the lower quality cable going into the chain does not matter.
 
please tell me your thoughts on this. thank you

 

[A_Man_Eating_Duck]

ok i'll bite.

does PC > USB PSU > Jitterbug > Dac sound any different to the following

PC > DAC
PC > USB PSU > DAC
PC > Jittlerbug > DAC

as for buying the AQ cable, yes you have wasted your money.

 

[theveterans]

That's why Uptone Regen and iFi iUSB 3.0 are invented to reclock the digital data (minimize jitter) as well as providing linear power supply so that the signal is better than the original signal coming out of the USB port in the motherboard. The fancy cables are there to provide better output impedance matching (e.g. the quality of the solder and in the connector that can change the impedance of the cable; better shielding to eliminate noise) so that the signal is as good as it can get. However, I do not guarantee that the those qualities that the fancy cables offer will improve sound quality. It's subjective thing. IMO, having those fancy cables give a positive confirmation bias for me and they make my audio gear look fancier to boot.

 

[music_man]

no it does not sound any different. in fact better. yes, i know how many people feel about a $1,200 usb cable. it did in my mind make a difference. i said in my "mind".. that is about the jist of it i imagine. as a scientise well, audio engineer i cannot subscribe to that obviously but hey i like it. it is in fact not a mini usb but a proprietary connection which is why i remembered i cannot just go but a $300 six inch cable for it lol. i do feel clean power can make a difference but no good dac uses +5V anyways.
 
pretty much i have no choice unless i put an ifi there but honestly this is a much better psu than an ifi. often professional gear is beter than audiophile gear especially if it is not higher end audiophile gear. i like a psu even though i just said the dacs do not use the power and a laboratory grade psu is just going to be the bets one imo. so i cannot change it. as you said only option is to forget it. however a bit of a problem there. my aq diamond cable would not even reach the pc then lol. i fully agree i wasted my money though. perhapos a $100 cable is okay if you want to blow your money but the aq diamond is even in my opinion kind of a waste of money. i am just not sure i defeated whatever purpose there was in it. as i also said though the connections in your pc are not better than  a$3 cable anyways. so six inches outside of it especially since the power is being regenerated, well i am just not sure it make a difference.
 
i think i can hear the cable but as you pointed out in fact i feel it is better with the power supply in place. so thats that. i am a believe and that is scary..      

 

[music_man]

the vet, i agree. however as i said i am torn because this is a better psu than ifi. it has a proprietary cable. cannot change it likje gemini on ifi. not sure if i take the better psu or the ifi with the gemini. i have the ifi iusb and gemini here so i can in fact a/b them. guess i will go do that. as i also said though the motherboard connections are bad so six inches out of it into a power regenerater might not make much difference there.

 

[A_Man_Eating_Duck]

Have you done a blind test with those different configurations i suggested?

 

[music_man]

not a blind test. just listened to them. i know what you are getting at trust me. on another note i am not sure how bad that cable even is. as i said it is proprietary. that turns out to be because it separates the data from the power. even though it provides it's own power which is what it is for.  

 

[music_man]

you know what? i am using a vaunix brick. i feel it is better than ifi go figure. the thing is the older models came with their own split usb cable. it must be a good cable i am figuring going into that. that was $399 for a four port hub. i see the new one takes a b plug and is only $199. perhaps in fact it was the cable that caused the higher price. i don't know. anyways i do not hear a difference. of course not blind. what fun is that? we do not do blind tests for a reason. even if it is in my mind it still makes a difference. regardless, it is still a difference. i personally do not care where the difference originates from. this is only with my home audio hobby. as an engineer i do things much differently with pro audio. yes, we use double blind there but i simply do not care to with my home audio. it is not foolish. it matters to me.

 

[music_man]

i took care of that. i got the new vaunix usb brick with the usb b plug on the input. just put $600 cable going in and $1,300 cable going out. hey, i like it.

 

[music_man]

I was wondering if anyone could respond to my post about patching the cables through the vaunix brick. turns out my dac does not use +5v vaunix and ifi clean up +5v and simply pass data through. I am not sure how data is handled  inside these things. I may now have wasted 2 grand of cables and must buy a 2 grand cable that is long enough. there is a coupler but I doubt it is the quality of these cables. I know many disregard these cables but they matter to me. I am just not sure if by running data through the vaunix if I have compromised the quality of the cables. The ifi 3.0 would be my answer but alas I am stuck with 2.0.  you can answer here or the other post. thank you

 

[cel4145]

I think you might want to be in the Cables, Power, Tweaks, Speakers, Accessories (DBT-Free Forum) forum area where people buy into these concerns regarding cables.