I compared four USB dongles and two USB cable. They were a Danacable, Audio Sensibility statement occ silver, Triode and Curious dongles, a Mapleshade (1M ) and a generic cable that came with my CD burner. After extensive listening I can hear no difference between them. It could be just me not hearing any difference, but I've heard changes on every other up grades I've made to my system to this point, including going from Jriver to HQPlayer, from HQ to Daphile. Also I upgraded the cables to my subs. While I was at it I also compared a Wired 4 Sound RUR, Uptone Regen and a IFi USB 3.0. I used two Curious cables with these devices to keep things constant . The RUR and Regen had a slight effect, they both narrowed the sound stage a little and a slight lowering of my bass impact . The IFi had no effect at all. I think these comparisons told me more about my system than about the cables and devices.
To quote one of the dongles makers I spoke to about my results “ When gear is properly designed all of the "fixes" have very little effect on SQ”
If your looking for a front end that is hassle free to operate and sounds great I recommend you look into the Mivera line.
Mike
