[I.Greyhound Fan]

Well, I have about 15 minutes on my new Silver USB cable from Xangsang, the 9003 cable.  I received it from China in less than 10 days.  I bought it so I can use 2 DAC's.  My current cable is a Wire World Starlight Platinum that I absolutely love.  The Xangsang is supposed to sound like the WW.  It did not disappoint.  It sounds so similar.  It is a little smoother and just a bit laid back in comparison but the sound is close.  For $100 it was well worth the money compared to $600 for the WW.  Hopefully it becomes a little more alive as my system warms up.  My Mark Levinson integrated takes about 45 minutes to sound its best.
As far as cable break in is concerned I am on the fence about that as I haven't heard those changes with cables yet.

I will report back if I hear any changes.

By the way, this cable is heavy and built like a tank.  No cheap parts that I can see.


Ok, after listening a little more, the cable gives me about 90% of the WW Platinum.   It is slightly warmer and more liquid or smoother.  It has a little less detail but tames sibilants a little better.  Like the WW, there is no grain or roughness.

[Jon L]

Ok, after listening a little more, the cable gives me about 90% of the WW Platinum.   It is slightly warmer and more liquid or smoother.  It has a little less detail but tames sibilants a little better.  Like the WW, there is no grain or roughness.

In today's world full of class D amps, Sabre DAC's, and (unrelatedly) my love of horns, I do have use for that sibilance control while preserving as much resolution as possible..

[I.Greyhound Fan]

In today's world full of class D amps, Sabre DAC's, and (unrelatedly) my love of horns, I do have use for that sibilance control while preserving as much resolution as possible..

I am so sensitive to sibilance and brightness.  Even my interconnects were bought to control brightness and sibilants.  I use Belden 8402 interconnects and I recently upgraded to Duelund 16g XLR and RCA's.  They are warmer sounding and help with sibilants.  I also bought a Lokius 6 band tone control and I can use that to control sibilants.  It works well.  My system never sounded better.  I wish higher end gear had useful tone controls.  Many treble controls are useless because they work at 20,000khz.   

My next purchase will be speaker cables made from 12g Duelund wire.  Then I am permanently done.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I have listened to Xangsang silver usb cable for a few hours.  It gives me about 90% of the WW Starlight Platinum 7 cable.  It is warm and smooth sounding.  It lacks some of the musicality of the WW cable but otherwise it is a keeper.    I will have to see how it sounds with 50 hours on it. Maybe it will change and maybe not.  I am not a big believer in cables breaking in but people certainly have heard differences once cables break in.

[Huskerbryce]

Due to conflicting work and family schedules I was unable to do the blind cable test I said we were going to do until tonight.  Just finished and it is late.  I plan to do a full write up on what we discovered.  Its bedtime tonight but tomorrow I will expand upon our findings.  Basically, cables matter.  Also equipment matters.  As does the input on said equipment.  Not all equipment has equal sound from a given type of input.  Some fair better with optical over usb etc…  Tonight we were blown away by the results of the blind test.  More to come tomorrow….

[Zuman]

When you guys A/B USB cables, do you hot-swap them or power down any components before switching?
Thanks.

[Huskerbryce]

When you guys A/B USB cables, do you hot-swap them or power down any components before switching?
Thanks.

While switching the music was Paused and Pre/Pro was muted.

[Huskerbryce]

So the Cable comparison “smack down” happened last night. We had a little bourbon to start. The test results however were so intriguing that sipping bourbon ground to a near halt as we were enamored and became more test focused because of our observations. The purpose of the testing was multi faceted. We wanted to see if various USB cables sound different. Then we wanted to hear differences between USB and Toslink (optical). Finally we toyed with the 5 DACs we had setup to see which one we preferred.

First Test: USB cable comparison.
The goal was not testing specific brands vs others but more of cheap, mid and more expensive to see if there is an audible difference. We used a generic USB printer cable ($5), a Viborg silver plated ($90) and a audioquest cable I think somewhere like ($160.). We had multiple DACs to choose from but chose only 1 DAC and one streamer so the cable comparison was apples to apples. The test was blind in that I would leave the room while the other plugged in (swapped out) a USB cable. A towel was placed over the equipment so I could not see any cables. 3 songs were chosen to repeat listening of the exact same tracks with each cable. Never going back again from Fleetwood Mac. One headlight from Wallflowers. Come away with me from Nora Jones. We swapped out cables 10-12 times over the course of the test. On with the listening….

Cable #1. Right out of the gate I felt bored with the music and even concerned so much that I asked if there was a problem with the stereo. Like something wired wrong. After double checking everything was ok. Music was flat and snare drums lacked attack while fine details were cold. Vocals and mid range seemed thin and not airy at all.

Cable #2. Eureka! Wow. I was excited. Music took on a whole new level of attack, detail and was warm and full of life. I was excited and found myself tapping my thigh to the beat and stomping my foot to the rhythm. Again I suspected that something besides the cable was wrong on the first cable experience.

Cable #3. Sounds good. I was pleased overall and was thinking that perhaps my friend never unhooked cable 2 and just left it to see my reaction. I told him that I think its still cable 2. He swore he swapped out cables.

I ordered my favorite as 2,3,1. After multiple cable swappings my friend altered the order of the swaps so I didnt know which cable was 1,2,3. I would just mark down which one I thought it was. It was clear there was 1 cable that sounded atrocious. I could pick it out every single time. It had to be that first cable#1. Thin, flat, weak, boring and lacking detail and soundstage. Every conceivable thing that would make an audiophile excited was lacking.
I was confident that Cable 1 was generic. Cable 2 was Audioquest and cable 3 was Viborg. No reveal yet. Roles were then swapped and I became the cable swapper and friend the listener. He knew what cable was what on the previous test but now he was blind to which one he was hearing.  I randomly chose an order of what was cable 1,2,3. This is where I was shocked because now I knew what cable was what and could instantly hear the differences. Wow. After several swaps I could not believe what I was hearing. There was 1 cable that was horrible and I knew which one it was now. The other 2 were basically identical. He ordered his choices and we compared our notes of what cable was what.

So in every test we both got 100% correct on the bad cable. It was the viborg silver plated. We were both no better than 50/50 on the Audioquest and the generic. So cables do matter. I didnt expect the generic to sound so good or the viborg to sound so flat. Upon further observation the viborg cable had big metal ends that were magnetic. Sticking to the back of the equipment. I suspect this was interfering BIG time with the signal.

USB cable test conclusion was that there is HUGE differences in cables sound. I would stay away from anything with metal ends. Especially magnetic metal ends. A generic $5 cable can be far superior to a $90 cable. Dont know for sure as to why but it was clearly evident. Now, I wish I had a $1000 USB to compare to the others. 😂🤣.

[Early B.]

Now, I wish I had a $1000 USB to compare to the others. 😂🤣.

I wouldn't expect much difference comparing USB cables $250 and below. Like most things in audio, once you move above a certain high-dollar threshold, things get more interesting. Don't tell my wife, but my next USB cable will be in the $1,000 range (used price!). Yeah, that's crazy for sure. 

[Huskerbryce]

I wouldn't expect much difference comparing USB cables $250 and below. Like most things in audio, once you move above a certain high-dollar threshold, things get more interesting. Don't tell my wife, but my next USB cable will be in the $1,000 range (used price!). Yeah, that's crazy for sure.

Bring that cable over otherwise I am going to tell your wife!  😂🤣

[Huskerbryce]

Early B….just curious, what cable are you eyeing? 

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I wouldn't expect much difference comparing USB cables $250 and below. Like most things in audio, once you move above a certain high-dollar threshold, things get more interesting. Don't tell my wife, but my next USB cable will be in the $1,000 range (used price!). Yeah, that's crazy for sure.

Several years ago we did a usb cable shootout at my house.  The cables were-

WW Starlight Platinum 7  $600
Light Speed $600
WW Starlight 7 Red $150
Pangea $40

The cables all sounded remarkably different as my Luxman DAC is very cable sensitive.  The WW Platinum came out on top by a wide margin.  The Pangea was the worst, bright and thin sounding.

I also own an AQ Carbon, AQ Cinnamon, Oyaide and a Ghent Audio Silver plated copper cable that sells for $40.  The Carbon is the most expensive at $250.  It sounds the worst and the Ghent is the best and it compares favorable to the Lightspeed.   It is what my son uses now with his Chord DAC.

The Platinum 7 is a very special usb cable in my system.  It sounds fabulous.

[Jon L]

A generic $5 cable can be far superior to a $90 cable.

Once in awhile, it's worth re-trying some "generic" cables, not just USB but especially power cables.  Generic OFC copper speaker cables can be surprisingly good as well, but less so for interconnects.
Some "audiophile" cable makers seem to think More is always better, throwing in thicker and thicker AWG, more and more shields, heavier connectors, more "silver" in the name in the form of silver-plated, more Teflon, thicker jacket, etc.  But sometimes, in certain applications, good ol' generic copper wire with light connectors and jacket can present surprisingly balanced sound.   

[Huskerbryce]

Very interesting development in the USB cable saga this afternoon.  I had an opportunity over the last hour or so to play around with different USB cables on my system. Although not a blind test I wanted to hear or recreate the differences we heard last at my friends place.  I hooked a generic USB cable from my WiiM Ultra to my RMC-1+. Sounded pretty damn good right out of the gate. Hooked up my sons LED (light up) gaming usb cable from his computer and it sounded pretty damn good. I dont have the audioquest cable but I do have that viborg silver plated USB. My Bias from last night was that it will sound flat, thin and not dynamic. I listened to it and thought “this sounds ok but not as rich in sound”. All the cheap USB cables connected to the RMC1+ sounded great. So I compared USB to Optical by switching back and forth. This is where things got interesting. When switching from optical back to USB my WiiM Ultra either quit talking to the RMC1 or the other way around. I had to reboot the WiiM to get that viborg USB cable to play again. If I use optical or any of the generic USBs I have no issues. I repeated the switch with the viborg cable and again the WiiM stopped talking to the RMC1+. Its a repeatable issue. I again connected the generic USB and wiim and RMC1 talk, music playing again. I determined the RMC1+ is working flawless. It is not an issue there. Given the large audio discrepancy among the cables last night and todays repeatable offenses, im going with a loose wire or some other impedance flaw with the viborg cable that is causing the issues. Im going with bad cable.  Rather than hearing a sonic characteristic of a cable, I am hearing a mechanically faulty cable in some fashion. It still think those large Magnetic metal ends on the viborg could be the culprit.

[Early B.]

Early B….just curious, what cable are you eyeing?

I'm a Hapa Audio fan. I use their ICs. The copper Aero USB is $1,099 new, but I really want the silver version ($1,699).

[Early B.]

Once in awhile, it's worth re-trying some "generic" cables, not just USB but especially power cables.  Generic OFC copper speaker cables can be surprisingly good as well, but less so for interconnects.
Some "audiophile" cable makers seem to think More is always better, throwing in thicker and thicker AWG, more and more shields, heavier connectors, more "silver" in the name in the form of silver-plated, more Teflon, thicker jacket, etc.  But sometimes, in certain applications, good ol' generic copper wire with light connectors and jacket can present surprisingly balanced sound.

So true. I had an expensive power cord on my power conditioner for a while, and then switched to the stock cord it came with, and I didn't hear any difference. Cables can be very finicky. Its impact, or lack thereof, depends on the entire system or where it's connected within the system. It's not uncommon to switch out or switch around cables with every component change. It'll drive you crazy until you finally decide not to make any more cable changes, and that can take many years and many money.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I'm a Hapa Audio fan. I use their ICs. The copper Aero USB is $1,099 new, but I really want the silver version ($1,699).

I spend a lot of money on electronics and speakers but just can't justify spending that kind of money on cables which may or may not make a difference.  Cables are so system dependent.  You just never know. For example, when we did the usb cable shootout, a friend of mine brought over the WW Platinum and the Litespeed, both $600 cables.  In my system the Litespeed was hyper detailed but excruciatingly bright sounding.  In his system, it is neutral and detailed. He prefers it over the Platinum which sounded fabulous in my system.   My be all and end all usb cable is the WW Platinum Starlight 7 which I bought used for 1/2 price.  I also had the new WW Platinum 8 in my system.  While it is very good, I prefer the 7.

I recently upgraded my RCA's and XLR's to Duelund 16g cables which just sound fabulous with a beautiful tonally rich midrange and a bit of warmth. They replaced my Belden 8402 cables which are excellent in their own right and perform way above their price point.

Yesterday, I ordered a pair of Duelund 12g speaker cables to replace my 10g Blue Jean cables.  They are on sale at Parts Connexion for $33 a meter.  I needed 10 meters (ouch).  I will post a review when I get them hooked up. 

[corndog71]

Yesterday, I ordered a pair of Duelund 12g speaker cables to replace my 10g Blue Jean cables.  They are on sale at Parts Connexion for $33 a meter.  I needed 10 meters (ouch).  I will post a review when I get them hooked up.

10m speaker cables!?

Wouldn’t it be cheaper / more efficient running balanced cables to amps closer to the speakers?

[I.Greyhound Fan]

10m speaker cables!?

Wouldn’t it be cheaper / more efficient running balanced cables to amps closer to the speakers?

I need 5 meters for each speaker.  The way my room is set up I can't put my amp close to the speakers.  I actually only need about 6-7 feet for 1 speaker the other is about 16 feet away.  I like to keep my cables the same length.

[Early B.]

I need 5 meters for each speaker.  The way my room is set up I can't put my amp close to the speakers.  I actually only need about 6-7 feet for 1 speaker the other is about 16 feet away.  I like to keep my cables the same length.

I have the same issue. My component rack is on the side of the room, and I can't place my amp in the middle of the speakers. If I did, I'd need longer ICs and power cord, which would cost more than longer speaker cables.