I Learned To Respect USB Cables Made For Audio and No Longer Such a Skeptic!

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Hey there MOD-ers...This video took a couple of months to make.
I'm not going to put a link to GIK Acoustics here...Just Google them.

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[timpit]

I myself am guilty of seeing this title for awhile ignoring it. I am so glad I watched it ! Informative and well done! Thank you for taking the time to suggest watching it. I liked it.

[marcusm]

If we had a problem getting transmitting the data we would introduce a check sum. High speed communication is a things we know how it works. High speed signal wires are tested sweeping over all frequenceis it's intended to be used for. For jitter (timing error) just resample it, usually called asynchronous usb dacs. For noise from interference add a insulation transformer to get galvanic isolation. Bad cheap cables are bad but there is no magic hifi cable just decent cables and bad cables.

[ScottGrammer]

45-year veteran of audio engineering and service here. I like your videos and your channel, and I believe you when you say you hear differences. But they were not caused by USB cables. It's not possible. It really is just ones and zeroes, and so long as they get there in time, the audio will sound the same. What happens if they don't get there in time? The sound stops.

All DAC's use RAM (memory) internally, which stores the data coming from the source (i.e., the USB cable, optical cable, coaxial cable, etc.) and then the DAC's internal clock times the movement of data from memory to the converter proper. This means that as long as ones and zeroes come along swiftly enough to keep the memory from running dry, all will be well. That's why digital cables have no "sound." I'm sure you heard differences, but I'm also sure they did not come from the USB cables.

EDIT: I want to add that for stereo listening, even the speed rating of the USB cable is unimportant. CD-quality audio only needs a bandwidth of a tad over 1.4 megabits per second. USB 2 can handle that easily, with its bandwidth of 480 megabits per second. Even USB 1.1 (from 1998) can handle it easily, as it has a bandwidth of 12 Mb/s. I have a four-channel audio interface that is far beyond CD quality, running at 24 bits/192 kHz. It can play or record all four channels at that bit rate simultaneously over USB 2 (about 18Mb/s), with tons of room to spare. I use a USB cable that was connected to my printer for years. USB 3, which in some incarnations can do 20Gb/s, is totally overkill for audio, which is why it usually is not used on DAC's or multichannel audio interfaces.

"I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it." --Morpheus.

[llucrescu]

Please, make one more test: ask Nicky to help you by switching USB cables and see if you can recognize witch is witch.

[BoomerUKEngland]

Higher quality USB cables use higher quality copper cable, are better shielded and have better plugs. Although the devices are communicating in binary, interference can sometimes cause data to be received incorrectly. The second thing that occurs is all cables are aerials, and a poorly shielded USB cable can pick up interference that is eventually carried into analogue electronics, such as the analogue side of a DAC.

[Dovndyr]

Great video. Normally using a 10$ usb and the other day got a WireWorld Chroma 8 cable for free (retail price approx 30$). I was blown away how big the differences are in that price range

[dungysphincter]

As a professional computer technician for over 30yrs, and being a senior technician for Plextor till 2010. The issue generally is not the usb cable. The issue most likely is with noise coming off the usb port itself, or noise at the receiving port itself due to poor manufacturing. Schiit audio uses an in house created unison usb port for this very reason. It is good to use a shielded usb cable made with good materials, sufficient enough. Not all usb cables are manufactured with quality materials. Would be nice for future manufactures to license the unison usb technology from Schiit audio, or use a similar technology strictly made for audio....that would be nice!

[ChrisMag]

Today I compared an affordable (sub $100) branded cable against a short generic USB cable (non descript except for gold plated connectors) in between a Roon Nucleus and Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC.

There did seem to be a difference, albeit a small one.

I own a DH Labs SPDIF (coax) cable. For the money, it’s very good. I have compared it to several others. It wasn’t the best but was by far the best value.

[zzezzobike]

omg😮 you have one of my favourite speakers I loved in 1988-90

[stevethetoolman]

I recently got back into hifi after a 5 year hiatus. Remodeling the house. So…. I found some space and bought a new kit. Just discovered that my bluesound n130 node had USB. I pulled out an old Belkin computer A-B worth 10 bucks and plugged it in. Totally loved the sound. Just ordered a Origional Curious USB. Should sound good. Love this hobby. Fun. Thanks for the great video!

[pungvarlarsson]

For anyone who wants to dig deeper into why USB cables can sound and perform differently I recommend the Hans Beekhuyzen channel, he has a very interesting video about digital signal transmission and why it can go wrong.

Digital signals are NOT "ones and zeros", it is actually an analog signal in your USB cable.

[billd]

I don’t get it. USB cables don’t carry audio signals - they carry bits and bytes. A decent quality, well shielded cable should be more than fine. All I can say is that we are all human and subject to fault.

I can say that I’m in the wrong business. I should cobble cables together in my kitchen and charge $400 for them.

[davidbee]

No B.S. here and I enjoyed your video! :-) - Funny thing: I got the DH Labs cable shipped along "free" with my Burson Conductor headphone amp/DAC (made in Australia) and actually preferred the Bellkin cable over the DH Labs . . . does YOUR Belkin have the gold plated connectors ? That was the cable that had a favourable review in an Audio mag for great value. In all fairness I did not give the DH Labs the same run in time as the Belkin . . . then I just recently acquired the Audioquest Cinnamon USB cable and with a bit of run in time, it bettered the above cables but not by any significant margin . . . I'm looking at much more expensive fare but as with all audio, we MIGHT be getting into diminishing return territory : One is the Curious USB cable from Australia and the other is the British Computer Audio Design USB - the Curious is in the 3 to 5 hundred U.S. dollar range and the British CAD USB is in the $1400.00 range YIKES! Both those cables DO share very sensible technology in that they put a priority on keeping the signal wires separate from the power/groun wire for ultimate noise rejection. 6 Moons did a review of the Curious entry cable a couple of years ago - happy listening !! And thanks for your entertaining video.

[laika]

On previous comment... Yes I could use adapter/s, but you'll agree with me on reducing steps between source and final output.

[jagkahlon]

With all due respect if you did not do a blind test with someone else switching the cables without you noting it is always possible that your mind is playing tricks on you.

[grahampearce]

Note, USB is not carrying an audio signal, it is carrying a digital signal.

You of course realise that there is an error correction protocol, it fixes any errors.

A copy a Gb of data down a cable, check that what you get at the other end is a perfect copy. If you do, then your cable is perfect. It really is as simple as that.

Analog cables are different, they are susceptible to interference, and they do not have any method of correction, hence good cables matter.

[joewhip]

My experience has been that USB cables make a difference. However, not often a positive difference. The best I have used is the DH Labs C to B. I find that too many audiophile cables are too bright. I was given a C to C cable by a big audiophile brand but it sounded worse than the cable that came with my external hard drive when hooked right to my computer.

[swinde]

I have a hard time understanding why the USB cables could make a difference. The only things that I can think of are that some poorly made one would require more error correction and if excessive could muddy the sound, or of course the length and conductor size my provide inadequate power to the peripheral device. (This is why USB portable hard drives have such short cables). Also maybe the digital signals are possibly distorted by poor conductance in some cables. I would like some engineers to quantify what is happening because, it seems that there must be something occurring here.

[alexseaford]

Hi Dave, thanks for the video, it got me thinking and for the first time I've splashed out on a quality QED cable between my music streamer and my makes a difference 😀 👍cheers Big Ears! Keep 'em coming.

[MrKeech]

Cables absolutely matter, whether it be USB, interconnects, or speaker/headphone leads. However they will not improve "the sound", rather they will improve "your sound". The biggest culprits that degrades the quality of the signal is EMI/RFI that bombards our equipment from multiple sources, most not being your own. It's inescapable, but it can be tamed. Good quality cables will reject virtually all outside interference and greatly improve your sound. The other culprit would be the quality of your device, and the only fix for that is buying something better as no cable can fix problems stemming from the source.

It matters not if it's analogue or digital, quality in cables matters! Just take for example HDMI or CAT cables. The only difference between HDMI 2.0 vs 2.1, or CAT 5 vs CAT 6 is quality of construction and materials; Using the wrong cable may give the illusion of "working properly", however your experience will be greatly diminished i.e. frame drops, stuttering, and colour banding. Modern (quality) devices have error correction so using drop-outs as a baseline is not suggested while judging cables.

There is always somebody who pushes up their nerd glasses and starts the post with " Well actually... " or " I'm an electrical engineer..." in all of these types of videos, no matter the creator. Use your eyes and ears and reject judgements based on numbers on a page! If someone has no real-world practical experience in the matter, don't listen to them! As I always say, when it comes to grain, you never hear it until you don't! 🤘😎