My experience with USB cables has been thus (if anyone cares):
AudioQuest USB from Mac to Bifrost - randomly stops seeing Bifrost.
Generic USB from the printer I bought - no issues. Oh and I experienced new aural vistas and all the veils were crushed. And some other stuff too.
The only cables that have failed in my systems over the past many, many years have been Audioquest Cinnamon RCA interconnects. The cables were not adequately secured to the male jack and after a dozen or so reconfigurations the right channel said goodbye. Snake Oil RCA interconnects have been great as well as Blue Jean Cables for digital coax and optical.
My girlfriend asked me
Which one I like better
Six pack!
I hope the answer won't upset her
Six pack!
I was born with a bottle in my mouth
Six pack!
Now I've got six so I'll never run out
Six pack!
Educate me, please… Why are there electronics in a cable? Might they be there to determine that it’s a genuine “something” cable? I may well be straying into either science fiction or conspiracy theory here (or both), but I guess I think a cable ought to stop after connectors, solder and, well, cable. I guess adding a sleeve material (electric purple is obviously more conducive to better sound) is ok too…
Educate me, please… Why are there electronics in a cable? Might they be there to determine that it’s a genuine “something” cable? I may well be straying into either science fiction or conspiracy theory here (or both), but I guess I think a cable ought to stop after connectors, solder and, well, cable. I guess adding a sleeve material (electric purple is obviously more conducive to better sound) is ok too…
I think that some cables have electronics to support certain Apple interconnect protocols. I may be wrong, but USB-2 (the one supported by Schiit products) do not have electronics.
Educate me, please… Why are there electronics in a cable? Might they be there to determine that it’s a genuine “something” cable? I may well be straying into either science fiction or conspiracy theory here (or both), but I guess I think a cable ought to stop after connectors, solder and, well, cable. I guess adding a sleeve material (electric purple is obviously more conducive to better sound) is ok too…
I think that some cables have electronics to support certain Apple interconnect protocols. I may be wrong, but USB-2 (the one supported by Schiit products) do not have electronics.
High speed cables require their own signal boost circuitry, especially at lengths above half a meter or a meter.
There might also be proprietary high speed charging stuff going on, like bundling of strands for power instead of data to enable higher charging ratings for cables that would otherwise be too thin.
Educate me, please… Why are there electronics in a cable? Might they be there to determine that it’s a genuine “something” cable? I may well be straying into either science fiction or conspiracy theory here (or both), but I guess I think a cable ought to stop after connectors, solder and, well, cable. I guess adding a sleeve material (electric purple is obviously more conducive to better sound) is ok too…
Thunderbolt cables require active electronics to maintain high data-transfer speeds over more than short lengths. See, e.g., here. It's not an Apple-specific thing.
My experience with USB cables has been thus (if anyone cares):
AudioQuest USB from Mac to Bifrost - randomly stops seeing Bifrost.
Generic USB from the printer I bought - no issues. Oh and I experienced new aural vistas and all the veils were crushed. And some other stuff too.
I decided I wanted a 1.5 meter length cable, and one of better build quality. So, based on a mention of a cable builder (https://ghentaudio.com/products/u360?VariantsId=12969,12971,12978) on another forum, I ordered one. It came today, looks terrific, very robust build by all appearances. The problem? It doesn't pass a signal from my MBP to my BF 2/64; I knew right away when it didn't make clicking noises when connecting the cable.
BF 2/64 does not show up in macOS as a connected audio device. It's not like it was expensive (~$44USD, I think, shipped), but still annoying. I sent the maker an email inquiry, but my guess is the response will be along the lines of "sorry, but this cable is not meant for such use yada yada yada" (sorry for the cynicism; I've had a bad run of luck as a consumer (other than the two Schiit products I've bought in the last 7 months).
So, the moral of the (well, *my*) story? Sometimes the cheap schiit is the best schiit.
EDIT: I just tried connecting my MBP to a printer using the new USB-C to USB-B cable, and no luck. Of course, an old, cheap USB printer cable works just fine. Looks like I received a bum cable.
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It's not like it was expensive (~$44USD, I think, shipped), but still annoying. I sent the maker an email inquiry, but my guess is the response will be along the lines of "sorry, but this cable is not meant for such use yada yada yada" (sorry for the cynicism; I've had a bad run of luck as a consumer (other than the two Schiit products I've bought in the last 7 months).
