[Glmoneydawg]

Well, insanely bad design from a super popular brands unfortunately exist. See my measurements of a few USB cables and impact on actual output of a DAC:

Now this doesn't mean an audiophile cable is better (see my tests). It is just that this is not a matter of impossibility. There is a USB bus whaling inside the DAC and must be isolated very well from the rest of DAC.

Troublemaker.

 

[colonelkernel8]

Lol...we are getting to the same place.

I can promise that the results would have been the same with a an "audiophile" USB cable of the same length. My guess is the shielding acting as an antenna, and the Modi not being designed to deal with that. But this is outside my expertise at this point.

 

[bigshot]

100% true....but the graph kinda flies in the face of "they're all the same"....audible?maybe to a bat....still obviously different though.

For the purposes of connecting home audio components they are identical.

This is the sort of thing that confuses people. Folks stumble into sound science and they see a cable thread like this. They look at a chart without understanding the context of it and assume that there's a difference. They go out and spend too much on a cable that makes absolutely no difference whatsoever.

It's more useful to just say what colonelkernal said up front. There is no difference between USB cables. For the purposes we are all using them for, that is an accurate statement. Wasting time discussing differences more than 120dB down, is absurd.

 

[Glmoneydawg]

At these levels, it could be anything affecting the test platform. Really. These are microvolts. You'd need a spectrum analyzer to accurately measure this.

I can promise that the results would have been the same with a an "audiophile" USB cable of the same length. My guess is the shielding acting as an antenna, and the Modi not being designed to deal with that. But this is outside my expertise at this point.

Outside mine too bud....i'm here for a cheap education on digital...have always thought there where differences....but i suspected the differences where in the pre-output electonics not the digital.

 

[Glmoneydawg]

For the purposes of connecting home audio components they are identical.

No argument there...but they are different...amirim has made a real schitzz storm here

 

[bigshot]

Do you know what -120dB means? That is way beneath the noise floor of CDs. It's in a different universe than music. There is no difference between USB cables. If they aren't broken, they are all the same.

 

[Glmoneydawg]

Do you know what -120dB means? That is way beneath the noise floor of CDs. It's in a different universe than music. There is no difference between USB cables. If they aren't broken, they are all the same.

Totally understand the db/audible thing....but apparently the no difference thing doesn't fly...outside of audibility of course...check out the graph with the ziggy lines i hate so much.

 

[colonelkernel8]

Totally understand the db/audible thing....but apparently the no difference thing doesn't fly...outside of audibility of course...check out the graph with the ziggy lines i hate so much.

Ok, you can stop trolling now. All that test did is effectively show the effect of different lengths of USB cable on the Modi DAC. Without testing an "audiophile" cable of the same length, it's a moot point.

 

[Glmoneydawg]

Do you know what -120dB means? That is way beneath the noise floor of CDs. It's in a different universe than music. There is no difference between USB cables. If they aren't broken, they are all the same.

Also feel like your issue is with Amirm....he posted the evidence

 

[Glmoneydawg]

Ok, you can stop trolling now.

Ok....sorry...just trying to get Bigshot goin(sorry bud)

 

[Glmoneydawg]

Ok, you can stop trolling now. All that test did is effectively show the effect of different lengths of USB cable on the Modi DAC. Without testing an "audiophile" cable of the same length, it's a moot point.

Are you suggesting an "audiophile "cable would fair differently?sorry you walked in to that one.

 

[colonelkernel8]

Are you suggesting an "audiophile "cable would fair differently?sorry you walked in to that one.

I'd bet every penny I own you'd see the same "noise" with an "audiophile" USB cable equal in length to the "cheap USB" cable referenced in the study.

 

[Glmoneydawg]

I'd bet every penny I own you'd see the same "noise" with an "audiophile" USB cable equal in length to the "cheap USB" cable referenced in the study.

100%agree with you.....but i think there are things we haven't figured out how to measure yet...its what keeps me going in this hobby bud.....don't Wreck-It for me lol.

 

[amirm]

Methinks there is something else going on here. I would need to see the schematic of the USB input of the Modi 2 since the results were not replicable across different DACs. To be quite frank I wouldn't be surprised to see a somewhat poor design in the Modi 2...this is a $100 "audiophile" DAC. They are going to shave part costs in some areas so they can afford an absolutely insanely over-specced DAC chip that has specs they can market.

It is not a matter of parts or this specific dac. It is a demonstration that there are measurable differences due to USB cables so it is best not to assume it is impossible.

 

[colonelkernel8]

It is not a matter of parts or this specific dac. It is a demonstration that there are measurable differences due to USB cables so it is best not to assume it is impossible.

Don't your results show that this didn't happen with the Behringer?