doomigee2 Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Hi all So my new streamer (aries le) has usb out and I'm keen to try it with my Chord 2qute dac. I hear the 2qute is good with USB (some say it's the dacs best input) so I'm looking for a cable. I use analysis plus solo crystal interconnect and analysis plus oval 9 Speaker cables. Current using analysis plus digital crystal coax - looking for something that will provide good synergy The analysis plus is the obvious solution buy it's not well Regarded at all. I'm looking to spend up to 300 ish. Only need 1m, even half metre would do. So let's hear it, what are my options? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Spyne~ Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Curious USB cable - a little over budget Darkside USB cable - as far as I know, only available to buy from SNA member @Listener, still a little above your budget Elijah Audio - Konvertible Lite and Quad Braid MK4. Either should be within budget, depending on length required Chord Silverplus USB - well within budget Pangea Audio 24ga Silver USB cable - well within budget Vertere D-Fi D USB cable - within budget Or just buy any old USB cable and save $290 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruffnutz Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 9 minutes ago, ~Spyne~ said: Or just buy any old USB cable and save $290 This. The quality of the USB implementation in the streamer and DAC will make far more difference than the type of cable at that length. Try it with AnyOldCable TM and see if it's good before flushing your hard earned down the psycho-acoustic toilet. P.S. The concept of 'synergy' with a data cable is beyond bizarre. No offence; just can't apply. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eggcup The Daft Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Ah, USB. Of course, USB cables like any other digital cable, either work or they don't. No magic, just a few problems like DACs that don't appear to perform to USB2 spec. Some cheap cables aren't, either (it matters less with printers and so on, they just "retry"). Because of that, USB cables are a digital type that can bring improvement. However, they are OK or not - there's still no magic, just an unknown performance requirement and cable spec. sometimes. One thing I'd like to see on DACs is a "debug" setting to show errors, because that would really clear up the issue. The Belkin Gold cables have been recommended by "believers" as beating a few audiophile cables and are pretty cheap. Blue Jeans cables are cheap and will at least be to spec. Start with one of those and you won't go wrong. I would expect Chord to have a good USB input. I use a Dick Smith cable for my sins, but only have a toe in the water here and prefer Ethernet to my Oppo 105. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doomigee2 Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 @~Spyne~ thanks for the suggestions. Have done some reading tonight and sounds like the curious cable is the best option for me. Reviews are unanimously very good. Think I'll sell off my coax to help fund it. any curious cable owners care to chime in and share experiences? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Spyne~ Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 @doomigee2 check this out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 20 hours ago, Eggcup The Daft said: Ah, USB. Of course, USB cables like any other digital cable, either work or they don't. No magic, just a few problems like DACs that don't appear to perform to USB2 spec. Some cheap cables aren't, either (it matters less with printers and so on, they just "retry"). Because of that, USB cables are a digital type that can bring improvement. However, they are OK or not - there's still no magic, just an unknown performance requirement and cable spec. sometimes. One thing I'd like to see on DACs is a "debug" setting to show errors, because that would really clear up the issue. The Belkin Gold cables have been recommended by "believers" as beating a few audiophile cables and are pretty cheap. Blue Jeans cables are cheap and will at least be to spec. Start with one of those and you won't go wrong. I would expect Chord to have a good USB input. I use a Dick Smith cable for my sins, but only have a toe in the water here and prefer Ethernet to my Oppo 105. I used a Belkin Gold after some research and my belief that digital cables were all the same. Then I tried the Elijah Konvertible and the difference was not subtle, actually far more than I have ever noticed with any other type of interconnect or speaker cable. I didn't want to believe it either..... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eggcup The Daft Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 22 hours ago, Grizzly said: I used a Belkin Gold after some research and my belief that digital cables were all the same. Then I tried the Elijah Konvertible and the difference was not subtle, actually far more than I have ever noticed with any other type of interconnect or speaker cable. I didn't want to believe it either..... This of course is the problem. I'd expect a Chord DAC to be better behaved than many, and so not to require a special cable. I'm prepared to be wrong on that. I've always believed there SHOULD be no difference, but it seems we expect "magic" with audio these days and not engineering. Imagine how these audio companies would react if their printers were as sensitive: "I'm sorry the printed invoice you sent out was for $00.50 and not $10,000 but your USB cable to the printer isn't good enough for our printer, even if it does meet the standard". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankn Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 22 hours ago, Grizzly said: I used a Belkin Gold after some research and my belief that digital cables were all the same. Then I tried the Elijah Konvertible and the difference was not subtle, actually far more than I have ever noticed with any other type of interconnect or speaker cable. I didn't want to believe it either..... Ahhhh....... but was it a double blind test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 6 minutes ago, frankn said: Ahhhh....... but was it a double blind test? There is evidence to suggest that, if a USB cable does not meet the USB specs and/or if the connections are not as good as they could be, that data integrity could be compromised. In the case of an audio signal, that could mean some sonic degradation. Technical testing should be able to demonstrate this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rmpfyf Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 31 minutes ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: There is evidence to suggest that, if a USB cable does not meet the USB specs and/or if the connections are not as good as they could be, that data integrity could be compromised. In the case of an audio signal, that could mean some sonic degradation. Technical testing should be able to demonstrate this. Sort of. The USB cable spec(s) are loose as to factors contributing to jitter, which audio types care about. After some prompting by a forum member here and some extensive testing I've found it very hard to lose any data on an async USB connection even with the cable (waaaaaay) out of spec. Despite async audio not having a resend capability for lost data (there's enough to know if the packet arrived OK though). But there's jitter, which doesn't matter of course in a bulk data transfer/controlling mouse and keyboard/etc, and does matter when carrying stream data. Which audio over USB sort of is. Sort of because the stream's wrapped in packets, which are regular, but can contain irregular amounts of data depending what the PC's doing. Hence audible variations in operating system latencies, computer power supplies, interference in data transfer and yes... cable quality. I fought against what I thought was common sense to buy an 'audiophile' USB cable after many passionate arguments that it shouldn't matter. Ended up with a shorter Lindy (better, cheap) and finally ended up with The Essential USB Cable by dB Audio Labs after a recommendation and after one came up here s/h for sale. And I ended up losing a bet to someone that it'd make any audible difference. The cable remains.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAVI Systems Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 I too did not believe that USB should make a difference - but make no mistake - it absolutely does (in a resolving system). I believe the curious cable is very good, there is also Nordost Blue Heaven ($380 for 0.6m) which did very well in a USB cable comparison done by Hi-Fi News (including Eye Pattern tech tests of USB cables measuring differences) : http://www.nordost.com/images/review-images/review-pdf/HFN_USB Cable GT July.pdf cheers, Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Using this, in fact all of the interconnects are Audioquest https://www.noisymotel.com/product.asp?ProductID=653 Neo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jventer Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 The problem with our hobby is that it is system dependant, ear dependant, personal preferences dependant, music styles dependant and room dependant. What I can tell you is that in my systems Curios was better than standard, Kimber and LH Labs. The question now is how much better? The answer is like everything in hifi - there is a law of diminishing returns. If you can afford it - buy it, it is that good. In my system I can really describe it, it is like with the standard cable the music is nice - with the Curios I get goosebumps. Kimber i more listenable than standard and LH labs is cable that satisfied a specific need. I can live with it. Sorry, no definitive answer. I think you can use any of the Australian cables: Curious, Darkside and Elijah cables. If you can get them used - go for it, you can always sell them again. If you buy them new , you can sell them again at not a big loss. Same applies to the well known international brands. @scumbag is selling a Achtung cable - from what I have read these cables available on ebay is reasonably priced and good value for money. Enjoy the journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 14 minutes ago, Neo said: Using this, in fact all of the interconnects are Audioquest https://www.noisymotel.com/product.asp?ProductID=653 Neo Using similar setup chord hd dac and full Auralic Aries, hope that helps with the synergy question Neo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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