What is it that you didn't like about it? Is it that it wasn't much of a difference (sound wise) between the two?
Oh, it's a great cable. But after tax and insurance, it was nearly $40. The Mediabridge cable cost me like $8, same length, same resistance, and is easier to manage. That, and there isn't much 'bling' factor with the Pipeline as it's black anyways. I probably should look into that other cable you posted, though it's short. My computer desk should be here any day now, and so I won't need a really long cable.
Oh, I just saw, the Xonar U3 has a terribly high 23ohm output impedance, so you'd definitely do yourself a favor by attaching an amp or a dac to it to bypass driving the headphones directly with it. It made the X1 sound pretty bright, when compared to the Mixamp. (did A/B comparison, and the U3's headphone out was NOT good for the X1).
This sucks, as I plan on using it with the KSC35 at work... but now, I'm not so sure I wanna do that, at least unless I get a portable amp or something. I might just contact JR and return it and stick to my Recon 3Di. It's become a hassle at this point. PC external devices are so problematic... I rather not deal with a mess of stuff hooked up to my laptop just to get good sound.
it would be:
Laptop -> U3 -> Fiio D03K -> Compass 2 (3 external devices tethered)
Or at work:
Laptop: U3 -> Fiio E17 (the cheapest spdif dac/amp I know of) (2 devices tethered, and expensive).
I rather just deal with THX Tru Studio and the 10ohm output impedance of my laptop's jack at work, and attaching my Compass 2 at home.