Well, Alex sent me the latest revision of his USB cable, in the WyWires Silver lineup. I originally had the first "beta" USB cable he made and I recently acquired the Schiit Bifrost and it wasn't properly connecting and I could only play 16/44 material. He said his latest cable has several advancements over the beta cable and should work flawlessly and sound even better since he has been developing his USB cables. He sent me the new revised cable, free of charge. His customer service shines through again!
I got the cable and had it burn in playing for a few days. Probably almost 4 days until I had time to sit down and listen to my system over the holidays. I compared it directly to the WyWires beta USB and my left over dB Audio Labs Essential USB cable. I already liked the WyWires beta USB over the dB Audio Labs cable, but compared them all to make sure how they all sound - and also because the dB Audio Labs cable worked perfectly with the Schiit Bifrost (played all sampling rates) over the WyWires beta. dB Audio Labs cable was pretty neutral, but lacked ultimate top-end extension and sounded more digital than textural. The WyWires beta was more balanced and had better extension than the dB Audio Labs cable, and shaved off the digital sound for more texture and organic tones in the higher frequencies. Beautiful vocals. I then swapped between the WyWires beta cable and the latest version of the WyWires cable. The latest version really surprised me, as it evolves on the already great foundation of the beta, but adds slightly more weight to the music, but never sounds bloated, and has further definition in the high frequency region. High notes sound less digital and you can make out more micro-details and the overall sound is less forward and more cohesive. The new cable worked perfectly with both my DACs and played all supported sample rates.
Some good examples were, when listening to Nirvana's - Lake Of Fire (from "MTV Unplugged In New York") - there was a greater sense of weight to the guitar and you could really hear all the textural differences in the strings. I would call it more organic overall and more weight. Highs still were crisp but not digital and there was a solid "meat" to the midrange. The cable itself is thicker than the beta cable, but very soft and flexible. Much like the WyWires speaker cables, for example - but more flexible and light. Very nice build quality and solid fit on the connectors.
Also got that awesome thunder from Tool's - Jambi. Very nice weight and instantly gets your head and feet moving. Overall a more musically satisfying experience and I can't wait to continue to enjoy my system. Less "computer" in computer audio, and just kick-ass music.
Alex knows his stuff.
