How is it posible for a usb cable to improve the sound ? but it does

[rocky raccoon]

So i have tried 5 different USB cables from my streamer to my DAC.
This is simply carrying data so why does it make a difference, i was sceptical paying out
on an audio USB cable .
I started with a box standard usb printer cable usb a to usb b, worked fine but wanted a proper audio cable.
tried the free usb cable a chord electronics one not a chord company, worked better bit more detail but sounded harsh and was fatiguing to listen to.
Tried a Tellurium Q blue sound was a lot better more bass detail and more relaxed.
Tried a chord company signature again an improvement in every area but was not that much better than the tellurium so sold it of to expensive to keep for the minimal difference.
Got a Van Den Hul one on offer for £130 from £300 brand new so thought id try it, i prefer it to the Tellurium
again just gives a more realistic presentation of everything and the bass and drums were much tighter.
I was a sceptic i understand how cables can make a difference on analogue gear but how is this possible
on a data cable i can't get my head around the difference but have to say it is not a clear case of more expensive is better i prefer the van den hul to the chord signature one and is a quater of the price.

Not wanting to open up a cable debate but how does this work and why, if you think there is no difference then do a blind test with some different cables on a system you know well, it may open your eyes and shock your ears.

I am dumbfounded as to how all sounded different.

Have you heard of Tomita? You will soon!

 

[Gizza]

The sonic differences are almost certainly due to various noise sources and the way the cable and the Dac handles them in my opinion. One potential noise source is the the 0V connection
in the cable. A usb cable has 4 wires , a + signal, a - signal, 5V power and 0V. Even if the +5V power is not used the 0V still has to be connected. As this is also connected to the source and this can be a noisy PC or something like that it a possible path for noise to enter the downstream device. Cables can implement this path differently and can even connect the cable screen (if its used) differently

Designers know this and try to design isolation schemes to try to separate the USB handing side from the data side but there as still subtle ways that noise can enter the data conversion process in spite of designers efforts. Ask me how I know

How do you know?

 

[Lawrence001]

I've heard the difference and I'd like to understand definitively why they are different. However I'm not willing to use the worse sounding cheap printer cable until someone can explain the difference to me in the dogged belief that they are all the same until proven otherwise, as I don't want to compromise the sound of my painstakingly constructed system.

 

[DomT]

No it couldn't.
Otherwise every server bank, retail bank and EPOS system in every shop would use them and they don't.
There is no difference. I have never done a blind test which achieved any repeatable consistant results. And I have done lots of blind tests
Audio is not special, when it comes to data, all data is data.

Please let us know more about banking and audio. It’s sounds fascinating.

 

[DomT]

So you tested these cables blind?

You know that you need at least twenty people for a proper DBT?

 

[Lurch]

I have to agree with the OP.
When I bought my ZenITH last October, I bought a Supra Excalibur (Futureshop, sale or return) and the dealer lent me 4 usb cables to try, AQ Coffee & Carbon, Chord Shawline & Epic. I'll admit I wanted to like the Shawline as this would have been a match for the rest of my IC loom, but no it wasn't to be, in my system to my ears the SQ from a £200 & £450 premium over a freebie that came with my Black Ice DSD was minimal. The AQs were better but again not worth the ££s for what they offered, for me the star performer by a country mile was the Supra Excalibur, it just sounded right. To me it gave better detail, texture, bass depth and impact, with a nice openness and sparkle at the top. At £99 it was to me a bargain for what it gave me in terms of SQ so it has stayed and I've no desire to investigate things further.
I'm guessing the construction of the Excalibur is what differentiated it, as Supra have gone to some length to separate and shield the 5v/0v and data lines from each other.

 

[Drummerman]

I use this. Not because it sounds better (I wouldn't know) but it's very well made and looks good. Note; No 'gold plated' connector'. Cheap too.

Shallow, I know

 

[zeta4]

How do you know?

By designing and building usb Dacs.

 

[bigrod]

compromise the sound of my painstakingly constructed system.

If it’s causing you pain Lawrence I should try another hobby ..lol

Music and HiFi should be fun

 

[Gizza]

By designing and building usb Dacs.

Cool, and there was me thinking that USB data connection was probably not fussy about cables. I guess there is ALWAYS room for improvement when it comes to everything audio.

 

[Psilonaught]

My experience is that digital cables do make a difference, and that delta is relatively easy to hear.

My experience is that analogue cables all sound the same once you get up to "good basic" like a mogami etc.

I always through the opposite would be true but that's my experience.

PS. Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[Sir_Franc]

I love to play and experiment. Recently I decided to see if double screening my Chord Signature USB cable would make any difference, the thought being it may help protect it from RFI via the other cables which it runs close to. I simply wrapped tinfoil around the cable, slipped nylon sleeving over it and repeated with a second layer of tinfoil. This time I added an earth wire by taping it to the foil and pushing it through the final nylon sleeving before grounding the earth wire on my Isotek mains cleaner.

Now I know I'm laying myself open to ridicule etc, but it did actually seem to make a difference. The sound came across as more lively and instruments projected further in front of the speakers. To me it reaffirms the importance of protecting low signal cables from RFI. I tried the same with the cables going from my dac to my monoblocks but I couldn't detect any difference so removed it.

I wasn't planning on telling anyone about my experiment, but this thread aligns with my current tinkering. I've recently bought a couple of iFi USB cables to connect my iFi Micro USB3 that sits between the streamer and dac.

At the end of the day it's all fun and games and keeps me amused so that's all the matters to me.