[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

We included an adapter free of charge with HDP if you have Toslink cable. See http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconhdp/index.php

Not only that, but it's a nice quality adapter with a metal tip!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Sure, but isn't it better to have a properly terminated cable with the correct connectors at each end?

If you need that, you can buy an Airport Express connection kit from Apple - the optical has a mini on one end and toslink on the other, made by Monster but packaged by Apple.  Or order a custom cable from www.sysconcept.ca which are very nice cables for a good price.  

 

[mrarroyo]

I liked the USB cable so much I sent Jason a PM asking for instructions to buy it. He said to keep, thanks Jason.
 
So in closing, I liked the USB cable so much I wanted to buy it. It is going to be feeding the Isabellina DAC in my to arrive Isabella from Red Wine Audio.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

I liked the USB cable so much I sent Jason a PM asking for instructions to buy it. He said to keep, thanks Jason.
 
So in closing, I liked the USB cable so much I wanted to buy it. It is going to be feeding the Isabellina DAC in my to arrive Isabella from Red Wine Audio.

Very cool.  It's a great cable for the price, even if it's extra shielding and construction didn't improve transparency in the music.

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

USB is digital, and as with all digital it's either a 1 or a 0.  There is no loss of quality, unless the sound completely drops out.  I can see analog cables mattering, but USB - sounds like snake oil to me.  Same as Optical cables.
 
I love the HDP.  I'm just saying.

I could swear that I heard a difference when I upgraded my Bel Canto to a glass fiber (still less than $30) cable from a good quality "polymer" fiber cable.
But it could be placebo, who knows

 

[peli_kan]

I'm sorry, but I agree with BScott and JamesL on this.  High quality analog cables?  Legit.  USB/optical with suspect marketing claims?  Please stop. 
 
NuForce, don't break my heart!
 
Quote:

[size=small]Those seem to be very reasonably priced, but I'm sorry to say that the release of audiophile usb cables and employment of ridiculous audiofool marketing claims have made me lose trust&confidence in your products..[/size]
[size=small]which is a shame as I was really interested in some of your desktop products[/size]
​

 

[Sid-Fi]

I just ordered the Nuforce Icon HDP and the USB cable from Amazon last night. I'm really impressed with the HDP reviews and with the value it represents. I mostly picked up the USB cable since the dirt cheap one I have looks horribly constructed and I'd rather not rely on a 99 cent cable after just having dropped almost a grand for my HDP and HD 650 setup.
 
From what I have read about digital cables, It seems to make sense that a lack of shielding and minute timing differences in the arrival of data to the DAC for real-time processing can result in jitter. I used the usb input on my D10 for a year and thought it sounded good, and then was shocked how much better it sounded after using a usb to spdif converter (I know there is a lot more at play in this example). Anyway, my 2 cents...
 
-Dave

 

[mrarroyo]

My Isabella has arrived and it is being fed via the Nuforce USB cable, very happy with the sound. Thanks Jason.

 

[.Sup]

still waiting for the short USB cable to be available 

 

[scootermafia]

People that think a digital signal is a digital signal make me sad.  It's not simply zeroes and ones going through the cable, it's a square wave and it can get corrupted.  Ones can become zeroes.  USB audio is not block-mode data transfer that is bit perfect as if you're transferring a file between hard drives, it is streaming mode - so cables matter.  I like a good USB cable.

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

People that think a digital signal is a digital signal make me sad.  It's not simply zeroes and ones going through the cable, it's a square wave and it can get corrupted.  Ones can become zeroes.  USB audio is not block-mode data transfer that is bit perfect as if you're transferring a file between hard drives, it is streaming mode - so cables matter.  I like a good USB cable.

Nicely said scooter 

 

[bscott]

Quote:

People that think a digital signal is a digital signal make me sad.  It's not simply zeroes and ones going through the cable, it's a square wave and it can get corrupted.  Ones can become zeroes.  USB audio is not block-mode data transfer that is bit perfect as if you're transferring a file between hard drives, it is streaming mode - so cables matter.  I like a good USB cable.

No, unless you are hearing cut-outs, all the data is there.  If you are having issues then that's when you'd want to maybe try a new cable.  It's like HDTV - if you aren't seeing macroblocking, you are getting all of the signal.  There is no "degradation", the sound/picture is either there or it isn't - wave or not.

 

[Dev Avidon]

It actually depends to a large degree on the nature of the USB receiver chip and the DAC itself.  There was a FOTM dac a while back by Pop Pulse that used the 1796 chip for its Toslink and Coaxial inputs, but a much poorer (forgetting now) receiver for the USB.  I would never have even thought to upgrade my USB cable at that point, but when I first plugged it in and ran 16/44.1 files out of my computer into it, there was awful jitter, channel imbalance, distortion and noise like you wouldn't believe.  When I replaced the stock cable with a WireWorld Ultraviolet, it resolved many of the issues.
 
Speaking of which, my brother uses a Carat Emerald to run his iTunes library out into the speaker setup I built for him.  I recently got one of the NuForce Impulse cables along with a u-dac2, as I needed something ultraportable for taking with me on the road that would function well with my ultra-high sensitivity Livewires TRIPS.  My initial experience with the Ultraviolet cable had really turned me on to Wireworld cable, and so I decided I'd run the NuForce head to head against a Wireworld Starlight USB that he's using (granted, a much more expensive cable).  The NuForce cable was eminently respectable, but there was not a subtle difference when switching back to the Starlight.  Richer, wider soundstage, much better low frequency extension, better detail retrieval.  There may well be well implemented USB dac solutions (be they asynchronous or adaptive) that render the benefits of a higher quality cable largely irrelevant, but in this particular case I can assure you it was a huge difference.

 

[bulmanxxi]

How is your nuForce IMPULSE USB different from the USB cable that you ship with your uDac-2?  Is the included USB cable "not good"?  Thank you.

 

[Trisk3lion]

Why can't any retailer take these cables to Sweden, I think they look really nice!