[Hunki Chunki]

  Hello, I have ordered a Jotunheim with the DAC card. I am now looking for a usb cable (under 1m) to connect to my Windows computer. My budget is around US$50/£40 (I am from the UK). Do you guys have any suggestions?
 
I am looking at the Wireworld Ultraviolet 7 and AudioQuest Cinnamon which both have a similar price. I am also looking at the Furutech ADL Formula 2 and AudioQuest Forest which are a bit cheaper. Which one should I go for?
 
Thanks everyone in advance

 

I got the 1m Pyst USB cable that Schitt sells for 20 bucks, works good enough for me =)
 
http://schiit.com/products/pyst-cables

 

[MWSVette]

  I got the 1m Pyst USB cable that Schitt sells for 20 bucks, works good enough for me =)
 
http://schiit.com/products/pyst-cables

I use the same ones and recommend them highly.
 
Great cable at a very good price...

 

[bavinck]

This is the most ridiculous write up I ever read. Without any disrespect, but USB is digital. It is zeros and ones. It either works or it fails. It is not analog. There will be absolutely no difference between the most expensive USB cable and the cheapest USB cable. No difference at all. Signal is passed through in a digital bit stream. A very basic Internet search can explain how it works...

Welcome to headfi lol

 

[CarlosUnchained]

Welcome to headfi lol

I'm pretty new here but I thought people with even more experience would know something as basic as the digital cable scam. 
 
Spend money in analog cables, they are very subtle to interferences, the shorter the better.
 
If I'm not wrong (please correct me) the jitter is created in the usb receiver due to a difference in the clock and the signal rate, the wire has nothing to do here, only the source.
 
100$ in an usb cable? more melodic? more clarity? what? WHAT?

 

[Dephezz]

This is the most ridiculous write up I ever read. Without any disrespect, but USB is digital. It is zeros and ones. It either works or it fails. It is not analog. There will be absolutely no difference between the most expensive USB cable and the cheapest USB cable. No difference at all. Signal is passed through in a digital bit stream. A very basic Internet search can explain how it works...

What if i tell you that i dont have to discuss this subject with person who havent ever compared cheap and expensive usb cables with non-galvanic isolated usb and has opinion with no practice? Its like not to believe that frequent consuming processed red meat speeds-up cancer cells synthesis. Its opinion of World Health Organization. But lots of people doesnt know it and dont want to know it, and they all will say that its not true and argue till the end of their days!
I know about 1s and 0s but they transfers by analog way, right? Audio data goes by asynchronous protocol that means that usb controller cant recheck transferred data for errors. Plus poor usb controller is powered by non-fanless noisy power supply. The point is that i was sceptical about this stuff before i grabbed 5 different cables in total cost of 400$ and compared them. Whole my family (not audiophiles at all) noticed audible differences in sound and pointed out the same cable with best results. I asked them to come in and check out one by one.
There are tons of people which have much more expensive cables and know they have impact.
But you have your legitimate right to stick to your opinion. All the best, mate and welcome to head-fi

 

[Vigrith]

For those of us with limited knowledge (I'm speaking of myself what other source would you recommend? Currently I'm running an Asus Mini Vivo w/SSD & Jriver... Mac not an option.

 
Not meaning to get into the whole source/cable/etc discussion but I can absolutely say the microRendu is serious business - I bought it exclusively to test and see if it would wield any improvements over my (very expensive) desktop computer with no expectations whatsoever. It did, maybe not $700 worth because my computer is about as optimized as can be but if you're currently using a laptop or a less high end pc I'd say it should be worth the investment.
 
Plus folks much more knowledgeable than I that have tested similar devices priced in the several thousands of dollars have said the mRendu actually smokes the competition regardless of tag so if it turns out it doesn't do anything for your chain and/or ears then you can just not bother with streamers/servers any more and spend your money elsewhere.

 

[watchnerd]

 
I know about 1s and 0s but they transfers by analog way, right? Audio data goes by asynchronous protocol that means that usb controller cant recheck transferred data for errors. Plus poor usb controller is powered by non-fanless noisy power supply. The point is that i was sceptical about this stuff before i grabbed 5 different cables in total cost of 400$ and compared them. Whole my family (not audiophiles at all) noticed audible differences in sound and pointed out the same cable with best results. I asked them to come in and check out one by one.
There are tons of people which have much more expensive cables and know they have impact.
But you have your legitimate right to stick to your opinion. All the best, mate and welcome to head-fi

 
Timing errors are jitter.  You can measure it.
 
If it's abnormally high, get an anti-jitter device, not a cable.

 

[CarlosUnchained]

   
I know about 1s and 0s but they transfers by analog way, right?  

 
What is for you a digital transmission then?

 

[ld100]

  What if i tell you that i dont have to discuss this subject with person who havent ever compared cheap and expensive usb cables with non-galvanic isolated usb and has opinion with no practice? Its like not to believe that frequent consuming processed red meat speeds-up cancer cells synthesis. Its opinion of World Health Organization. But lots of people doesnt know it and dont want to know it, and they all will say that its not true and argue till the end of their days!
I know about 1s and 0s but they transfers by analog way, right? Audio data goes by asynchronous protocol that means that usb controller cant recheck transferred data for errors. Plus poor usb controller is powered by non-fanless noisy power supply. The point is that i was sceptical about this stuff before i grabbed 5 different cables in total cost of 400$ and compared them. Whole my family (not audiophiles at all) noticed audible differences in sound and pointed out the same cable with best results. I asked them to come in and check out one by one.
There are tons of people which have much more expensive cables and know they have impact.
But you have your legitimate right to stick to your opinion. All the best, mate and welcome to head-fi

 
 
As a person who has a degree in computer science and extensive work history in the industry I will tell you that you have absolutely no clue what you talking about.
 
"compared cheap and expensive usb cables with non-galvanic isolated usb and has opinion with no practice?" this has absolutely no meaning and totally ridiculous. The most expensive usb cable will at the end perform exactly the same as a cheap 3 dollar cable. Read carefully my friend. EXACTLY THE SAME! It is a digital cable with ones and zeroes. No matter how you slice and dice it there is absolutely no difference. It it comes in on one end as a one it exits on the other as one. Comes in as zero it exits as zero. It you rub it with snake oil all over and galvanize the hell out of it it will not make any difference. 
 
Anyone who notices difference between two properly functioning USB cables on audio equipment simply doesn't have any understanding of digital technology. This is my last reply to this my friend...

 

[Dephezz]

   
What is for you a digital transmission then?

I dont have any purpose to remember such things. I just rely on my hearing. I have another things to spend money on, but i know that i've spent my 50$ on AQ carbon for audible effect. The most revealing was QED Reference, but highs became too sharp for me as i listen to EDM mostly.
BTW I tested them all on internal Jodies DAC and DX80
 
Fundamentals of USB Audio
The USB cable myth​

Gordon Rankin on why USB audio quality varies

 

[watchnerd]

  I dont have any purpose to remember such things. I just rely on my hearing. I have another things to spend money on, but i know that i've spent my 50$ on AQ carbon for audible effect. The most revealing was QED Reference, but highs became too sharp for me as i listen to EDM mostly.
BTW I tested them all on internal Jodies DAC and DX80
 

 
Did you conduct a double-blind ABX test?
 
If not, you don't know how much placebo effect is determining what you hear.

 

[drews]

This is the most ridiculous write up I ever read. Without any disrespect, but USB is digital. It is zeros and ones. It either works or it fails. It is not analog. There will be absolutely no difference between the most expensive USB cable and the cheapest USB cable. No difference at all. Signal is passed through in a digital bit stream. A very basic Internet search can explain how it works...

 
USB audio does not have error correction I believe since the timing of the sample data sent to a USB DAC is too important (unlike the data sent to USB devices like printers which can afford wait for errors to be detected, corrected, and re-sent).  Since different USB cables have different shielding/length/connecter properties it makes sense that different cables can contribute to greater or fewer errors generated and therefore how the analog conversion in the DAC sounds...  Personally I just use optical cables when I can since they've fixed the clicking/popping issues I've had over the years...

 

[ld100]

   
USB audio does not have error correction I believe since the timing of the sample data sent to a USB DAC is too important (unlike the data sent to USB devices like printers which can afford wait for errors to be detected, corrected, and re-sent).  Since different USB cables have different shielding/length/connecter properties it makes sense that different cables can contribute to greater or fewer errors generated and therefore how the analog conversion in the DAC sounds...  Personally I just use optical cables when I can since they've fixed the clicking/popping issues I've had over the years...

 
 
Even if some bits are dropped and error correction is not applied that would not result in sound quality degradation that would be noticeable by a human ear.
 
Consider your cable box and TV which in most cases are connected by a very cheap USB cable supplied by cable company these days. There will be absolutely no difference in your picture quality no matter how many USB cables you try. As long as you have properly functioning cable. If some want to live in some bizarre world where USB cables make difference in sound quality it is their choice. Sure in some strange situation bits can get messed up. But it is not something that is cheap USB cable vs. expensive USB cable. It is not analog cable technology. It is something not functioning properly. 
 
Even with analog claims that cables make audible difference are highly questionable... But there is science that does support that there is difference. I can see that very trained ear can hear it. In reality in a blind test 99% of people will not recognize a difference between a $1000 cables and cheap wire hangers from local fry cleaning. To most it will sound exactly the same. But as far as USB that is just lunacy... 

 

[watchnerd]

   
USB audio does not have error correction I believe since the timing of the sample data sent to a USB DAC is too important (unlike the data sent to USB devices like printers which can afford wait for errors to be detected, corrected, and re-sent).  Since different USB cables have different shielding/length/connecter properties it makes sense that different cables can contribute to greater or fewer errors generated and therefore how the analog conversion in the DAC sounds...  Personally I just use optical cables when I can since they've fixed the clicking/popping issues I've had over the years...

 
If there are a lot of data loss errors in transmission, you get digital distortion, which can manifest as drop-outs or hacksaw buzzing noise.
 
What you don't get from data loss (jitter is a different story) are subtle things like increases in soundstage.  Thus the subtle changes in timbre, soundstaging, etc, claimed by some USB cables are lacking a solid hypothesis to explain the claimed phenomena.

 

[drews]

   
 
Even if some bits are dropped and error correction is not applied that would not result in sound quality degradation that would be noticeable by a human ear.
 
Consider your cable box and TV which in most cases are connected by a very cheap USB cable supplied by cable company these days. There will be absolutely no difference in your picture quality no matter how many USB cables you try. As long as you have properly functioning cable. If some want to live in some bizarre world where USB cables make difference in sound quality it is their choice. Sure in some strange situation bits can get messed up. But it is not something that is cheap USB cable vs. expensive USB cable. It is not analog cable technology. It is something not functioning properly. 
 
Even with analog claims that cables make audible difference are highly questionable... But there is science that does support that there is difference. I can see that very trained ear can hear it. In reality in a blind test 99% of people will not recognize a difference between a $1000 cables and cheap wire hangers from local fry cleaning. To most it will sound exactly the same. But as far as USB that is just lunacy... 

 
I suspect you're right that in most cases cable differences are not detectable (you meant HDMI cables I assume?), I just wanted to point out that USB=digital=bitperfect is not quite accurate specifically when in comes to USB audio.  When you say there is absolutely no difference between cables I think that's not technically correct (I wish I had a 50-foot unshielded USB cable to try out).  Since there is no error correction in place, and you say that cheap USB cables cannot influence the number of errors, do you have a source for your assertion that errors don't actually happen in the real world?
 
P.S. I don't actually own any audiophile cables, USB or otherwise...