USB cable

satfrat · « **Reply #20 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 03:36 am »

Quote from: kitten on 12 Mar 2009, 03:26 am

And for those who think the Axis is expensive, I see the latest cable, Nucleus, is twice as much again.

As I'm currently comparing both the Asix and the Nucleus, let me assure you that the Nucleus is all that and more. I don't say that lightly either. Until you actually start comparing the not so expensive USB cables to these top of the line babies, you really don't have a clue.

As for your other concerns, I think you're way off base with your thoughts but Lee would be the one to be giving the explanations as I'm sure he will.

Cheers,
Robin

Eadron · « **Reply #21 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 02:07 pm »

Quote from: kitten on 12 Mar 2009, 03:26 am

I'd be interested as well to hear whether anyone's actually used the Axis with Isebell(in)a and what the impressions are.

Yippiaiyee..here's one ready to confess

I ordered CryoParts custom cable almost once I got my Mac and Isabella w/ Isabellina. Fully broken in CryoParts bettered standard usb, more natural sounding and removed some edge and glare if there was some. On a negative side it also made the sound a bit opague.

After having discussion with Lee and having read some customer comments, I think I should give it a try to the Locus Design Axis usb cable although I thought the product is way too expensive

.

Now, to make long story short, after listening it for some 100 hours in my system, it has convinced me that the upgrade was well worth it. Who would have believed it? I was quite skeptical. Resolution increased tremendously and it has given Isabellina the ability to really open up and sing. If you have vinyl front end, you know what happens when you add a better cartridge or better phono stage. The improvement isn't marginal, imo.

I hope you'll get a chance to audition the Axis.

Hope this helps,
Jouni

Sigfreed · « **Reply #22 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 03:07 pm »

Well here also is a question regarding USB cables. I currently am running an external hardrive with all of my music files loaded into it. This hardrive is plugged into my computer via a USB cable. Will i hear a noticeable improvement with a better USB cable in this configuration? I am using a decent high end sound card(Echo Layla 24) which has a breakout box and from the break out box run rca analog cables to my preamp and then to the amp. Sounds very nice but was wondering if i could even further improve the sonics with a better USB cable here. Thanks

By the way, i am currently burning in a Sig 30 upgrade integrated(Sig30.2) and definitely am enjoying what i am hearing. I think i am at about 60 hours and will post comments when i reach the 100+ hour mark. So far VERY good! Thanks Vinnie!

satfrat · « **Reply #23 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 03:29 pm »

Quote from: Eadron on 12 Mar 2009, 02:07 pm

Quote from: kitten on 12 Mar 2009, 03:26 am
I'd be interested as well to hear whether anyone's actually used the Axis with Isebell(in)a and what the impressions are.

Yippiaiyee..here's one ready to confess

I ordered CryoParts custom cable almost once I got my Mac and Isabella w/ Isabellina. Fully broken in CryoParts bettered standard usb, more natural sounding and removed some edge and glare if there was some. On a negative side it also made the sound a bit opague.

After having discussion with Lee and having read some customer comments, I think I should give it a try to the Locus Design Axis usb cable although I thought the product is way too expensive .

Now, to make long story short, after listening it for some 100 hours in my system, it has convinced me that the upgrade was well worth it. Who would have believed it? I was quite skeptical. Resolution increased tremendously and it has given Isabellina the ability to really open up and sing. If you have vinyl front end, you know what happens when you add a better cartridge or better phono stage. The improvement isn't marginal, imo.

I hope you'll get a chance to audition the Axis.

Hope this helps,
Jouni

Hi Jouni, I hate to burst your bubble but,,,, hell who am I kidding, I love to burst your bubble

but as much of an improvement the Axis is giving your over the standard Cryoparts cable, the Nucleus wil take you that much further with it's carbon base construction, allowing for extended high frequency clarity and a much tighter bass being it's much touted attributes. It's sorta hard to imagine I know as the Axis is a damn good USB cable which I thought couldn't get any better myself. To Lee's credit, he warned me numerous times that the Nucleus was a dangerous cable , both cuz of it's price and of one's inability to want to return it after demo'ing it.

The whole frequency range with the Nucleus cable gets a veil lifted from it and it extends far in both directions from the midrange.

Kitten, the Isabella's DAC has it's own DC voltage but your computer isn't run by battery, is it? Well that's where your signal's coming from, The computer's your source and that's the signal being transferred by the USB cable. I have no doubt tho that the Isabella is a step ahead of an AC powered DAC tho.

Even tho I've never used an Isabella, I have compared power supply's with my Trends USB transport, power from the computer, an optional battery pak, a Channel Island VDC-SB power supply and I know all too well about how clean power improves the performanace of a USB cable. But I did these comparisons with a Kimber USB cable, only then first came the Axis, then the Nucleus, with both cables totally redefining my computer audio system. As Jouni will attest to, your shouldn't underestimate the improvements from these expensive USB cables as you'd be doing your Isebella a disservice IMHO.

Vinnie, I hope I haven't overstepped my boundries by talking about USB cables from another company in your Circle but this is a subject I feel strongly about and I do feel that the higher quality a USB cable is, the better your Isabella will perform as Jouni has comfirmed for me. Thanks jouni for coming out of the closet.

Cheers,
Robin

edit: Sigfreed, I hear what you're asking and Lee recommended that while I was demo'ing the Nucleus, I try using the Axis with my external hard drive (backup only) as he personally does what you're doing from his laptop while using an external hard drive library but in my system, neither the Axis or the Nucleus would even allow the hard drive to connect to my HTPC. Lee couldn't understand it himself but that's the way it is with my system. From what Lee was saying tho, the Axis/Nucleus USB cable from his laptop to his external hard drive makes a really big difference.

veloaudio · « **Reply #24 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 04:31 pm »

I'm enjoying the comments although I have a feeling my wallet won't.

I'm probably going to go for a cryo'd "stock" cable and upgrade in the future. No point in demoing a $$$ cable that I'm sure I'll want to keep but can't afford.

satfrat · « **Reply #25 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 04:36 pm »

Quote from: veloaudio on 12 Mar 2009, 04:31 pm

I'm enjoying the comments although I have a feeling my wallet won't.

I'm probably going to go for a cryo'd "stock" cable and upgrade in the future. No point in demoing a $$$ cable that I'm sure I'll want to keep but can't afford.

Very smart,,, and a whole lot smarter than me.

pardales · « **Reply #26 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 04:46 pm »

Quote from: satfrat on 12 Mar 2009, 04:36 pm

Quote from: veloaudio on 12 Mar 2009, 04:31 pm
I'm enjoying the comments although I have a feeling my wallet won't.

I'm probably going to go for a cryo'd "stock" cable and upgrade in the future. No point in demoing a $$$ cable that I'm sure I'll want to keep but can't afford.

Very smart,,, and a whole lot smarter than me.

Me too. I am thinking about trying the Polestar USB cable first.

PhillipC · « **Reply #27 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 05:00 pm »

I definitely think a high end USB cable makes a big difference. I went from a Belkin USB cable to a Ridgestreet Audio Poiema!!! rv.3 USB cable and I couldn't believe the transformation. Better imaging and soundstaging. It was like a 2d image suddenly became 3d. This was on a CI Audio VDA2/VAC1 DAC combo. Can't wait to try it on the Isabellina DAC that I have coming...(hint...hint...Vinnie

)

Eadron · « **Reply #28 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 07:14 pm »

[/quote]

Hi Jouni, I hate to burst your bubble but,,,, hell who am I kidding, I love to burst your bubble

but as much of an improvement the Axis is giving your over the standard Cryoparts cable, the Nucleus wil take you that much further with it's carbon base construction, allowing for extended high frequency clarity and a much tighter bass being it's much touted attributes.
[/quote]

Robin, I just love to being bursted

.. Actually, I do believe you. Lee knows what he does. But I'm also thinking that the Axis is so good usb cable that I start thinking the point of diminishing returns there before I'd jump to the Nucleus. But my audio buddy is into computer based source now(not acquired yet) and he owns the Isabellina, so he's propably the guy who'll go straight ahead to the N

. But, these things do make a difference and that difference is definitely for better sounding digital, not just different sounding.

jouni

kitten · « **Reply #29 on:** 13 Mar 2009, 01:53 am »

If I did this I'd probably go straight for the Nucleus and be done with it. But only if everyone promises not to tell these guys...

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/USB-Cables-0

Mariusz · « **Reply #30 on:** 13 Mar 2009, 02:21 am »

Quote from: kitten on 13 Mar 2009, 01:53 am

If I did this I'd probably go straight for the Nucleus and be done with it. But only if everyone promises not to tell these guys...
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/USB-Cables-0

I won't tell if you can keep a secret.
If not.

Gold Series Belkin

cryoparts · « **Reply #31 on:** 13 Mar 2009, 02:40 am »

Thanks for all the kind words, guys!

Peace,

Lee

texendo · « **Reply #32 on:** 17 Apr 2009, 08:49 pm »

I've known that USB cables definitely sound different, but I've never had a properly implemented one until this week when my Polestar 6ft cable from Locus Design arrived. I also wondered if it would really make a difference in a NOS/NOS dac like the Isabella that has relatively less influence from jitter than some other dacs. The Polestar now relays between my macbook playing WAV and my Isabella (with the Amperex tubes that were offered on this board for a short while) driving 70.2s into Devore Nines. I was very pleasantly surprised at the level of improvement across the board. The soundscape is more encompassing, the bass is juicier, there is more detail, and there is actually less fatigue. The improvements are immediately apparent and not something you have to try and convince yourself of, and this is with no burn-in time. I'm glad I don't have access to hear one of the more expensive models because it's very likely I'd sell an organ for one.

cryoparts · « **Reply #33 on:** 17 Apr 2009, 09:21 pm »

Quote from: texendo on 17 Apr 2009, 08:49 pm

I've known that USB cables definitely sound different, but I've never had a properly implemented one until this week when my Polestar 6ft cable from Locus Design arrived. I also wondered if it would really make a difference in a NOS/NOS dac like the Isabella that has relatively less influence from jitter than some other dacs. The Polestar now relays between my macbook playing WAV and my Isabella (with the Amperex tubes that were offered on this board for a short while) driving 70.2s into Devore Nines. I was very pleasantly surprised at the level of improvement across the board. The soundscape is more encompassing, the bass is juicier, there is more detail, and there is actually less fatigue. The improvements are immediately apparent and not something you have to try and convince yourself of, and this is with no burn-in time. I'm glad I don't have access to hear one of the more expensive models because it's very likely I'd sell an organ for one.

Thanks! Glad you are enjoying it!

Peace,

Lee

rydenfan · « **Reply #34 on:** 28 Apr 2009, 02:33 pm »

Lee, when will your firewire cables be available?

acidmikeam · « **Reply #35 on:** 28 Apr 2009, 04:27 pm »

hmmm i didn't know that, i always thought RJ5 was way better than the USB cables

cryoparts · « **Reply #36 on:** 28 Apr 2009, 06:19 pm »

Quote from: rydenfan on 28 Apr 2009, 02:33 pm

Lee, when will your firewire cables be available?

I've been prototyping them, but they are not ready for prime time yet. Getting ready for Can Jam and keeping up with orders has been occupying most of my time lately, sorry. Hopefully 30 days, or so.

Peace,

Lee

Mariusz · « **Reply #37 on:** 28 Apr 2009, 06:36 pm »

And how does it sound with RWA Isabellina ?????

but

is a

.

Mariusz

cryoparts · « **Reply #38 on:** 28 Apr 2009, 06:48 pm »

Quote from: Mariusz on 28 Apr 2009, 06:36 pm

And how does it sound with RWA Isabellina ?????
but is a .

Mariusz

Indeed. But I talked with Vinny about posting the info and he was cool.

Vinny--move the thread if it bothers you, please.

Lee

Mariusz · « **Reply #39 on:** 28 Apr 2009, 06:59 pm »

Quote from: cryoparts on 28 Apr 2009, 06:48 pm

Quote from: Mariusz on 28 Apr 2009, 06:36 pm
And how does it sound with RWA Isabellina ?????
but is a .

Mariusz

Indeed. But I talked with Vinny about posting the info and he was cool.

Vinny--move the thread if it bothers you, please.

Lee

Vinnie's "O" and his rules but I still find it

.
It might be better idea to start fresh thread and have more participants and voices about the USB cables, differences and such.
I will be glad to read that thread but here ....... I am lost and do not really know what is it about.
RWA DAC and cables for it ? or
USB cables and components for it?

Please, no offense Lee but I hope you see my point.

P.S

I have one for you:

Mariusz