[genjamon]

blah, blah, blah...

the show was in my home the other day.  you missed it!  better luck next time.

[santacore]

Guys, thanks for sharing. I'm a huge believer in the differences between USB cables. I hadn't thought to try it from my HD to my laptop, but I'm not surprised by the results. I would try this cable, but I'm running my library off firewire.

[senad]

Today, I swapped the Virtue in between the external hard drive and the Asus, instead of the basic USB cable I had before.  I hadn't tried any kind of audiophile USB cable between hard drive and laptop until this point, assuming that it didn't matter.  Well, that was a bad assumption.  There was significant additional reduction of hash/haze and better articulation/separation of instruments with the Virtue feeding the laptop.

So true!! I replaced the USB cable between my computer and my hard drive and suddenly my computer is twice as fast and picture on my monitor is so much sharper! So I checked the data dump and not only that it transfers zeroes and ones, it does twos as well now!

People, stop smoking. What is next, audophile grade DIMMs? Wait a second, I think I just discovered a new niche!
It will make your FLAC files sound oh so much better! For only $100/GB! Any takers?

[pardales]

What if the 1's and 0's are the same, no matter what cable you use, but there are other properties that effect sound quality? I think some audiophiles have their systems so dialed in and tweaked that even the slightest alteration can change the sound.

I don't know.....just a thought. 

[genjamon]

Why do you all constantly feel the need to try to impose your opinions on a thread that is clearly all about discussing differences in USB cables?  What do you think you can say to me to make me NOT hear what I have heard with my own ears? 

It's annoying, yes, but it's also very boring that these threads always get hijacked by such bloviating b.s. 

Can't you leave us digitally confused brethren to further confuse ourselves?  I'd be very happy if you would. 

[genjamon]

And, no, I will NOT stop smoking...  aa

[panomaniac]

All you need to do is look at the USB signal (or spdif) on a scope to see that not all cables are passing that signal in the same way.  How bad it has to get to start generating errors depends on the receiving circuit.  They are not all created equal.

Yes, bits are bits.  But you want to get them from one place to another error free.  Sometimes that is easy, sometimes not.

[senad]

This is not an argument about cable passing signal to the audio component / DAC (I am not touching that one! ) This is about the claim that the external hard drive connected to the computer passing information to the motherboard is somehow affecting the final result. This is whole new level of ridiculous. Anybody with a basic understanding of PC architecture would call bullshit on this one.   

You know what, you guys are right. If you have money to waste, go for it. There are definitely worse ways to piss it away. You have my full support... somebody has to stimulate the economy.   

>> And, no, I will NOT stop smoking...

Don't be selfish... share!    aa

[satfrat]

This is not an argument about cable passing signal to the audio component / DAC (I am not touching that one! ) This is about the claim that the external hard drive connected to the computer passing information to the motherboard is somehow affecting the final result. This is whole new level of ridiculous. Anybody with a basic understanding of PC architecture would call bullshit on this one.   

You know what, you guys are right. If you have money to waste, go for it. There are definitely worse ways to piss it away. You have my full support... somebody has to stimulate the economy.   

>> And, no, I will NOT stop smoking...

Don't be selfish... share!    aa

Is there any way for you to share information and get your point across w/o all the sarcasm? Thanks. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[Nuuk]

What if the 1's and 0's are the same, no matter what cable you use, but there are other properties that effect sound quality?

That's a very good point. The trap is to look at something, and the job that it does, and to ignore anything else that it may do as well.

In the case of hi-fi (or computer) cables they carry a signal (digital or analogue) from one place in the system to another, ie that is their job.

But they can also do other things, eg couple the places that they are attached to thus transferring noise and even mechanical vibration.

I am very happy for people not to believe that a USB cable between a USB hard drive and a PC can make any difference. That is their prerogative, and
as they won't be touching my system, they can think what they like. If their system doesn't show the improvement that I hear here, then I simply wish them luck in improving their own hi-fi to a level where they can hear the improvement providing that their hearing is good enough. 

[genjamon]

I've shared all the information I have - way back in my first post on this thread.  No sarcasm there.  I just think it's very distasteful to impose this kind of conversation on this particular thread, which was focused from the beginning on user experience with the Virtue USB cables.

I'd have no problem with the thread if it was over on the discless circle or something.  I just wouldn't be participating in that thread.  I've read way, way too many threads that devolve into name calling about what cables can or can't do, and I'm quite sick of them.   

This is not an argument about cable passing signal to the audio component / DAC (I am not touching that one! ) This is about the claim that the external hard drive connected to the computer passing information to the motherboard is somehow affecting the final result. This is whole new level of ridiculous. Anybody with a basic understanding of PC architecture would call bullshit on this one.   

You know what, you guys are right. If you have money to waste, go for it. There are definitely worse ways to piss it away. You have my full support... somebody has to stimulate the economy.   

>> And, no, I will NOT stop smoking...

Don't be selfish... share!    aa

Is there any way for you to share information and get your point across w/o all the sarcasm? Thanks. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[panomaniac]

Unfortunately, this IS a cable thread, so we will have to live with some shouting and arm flapping. 

USB audio is not as robust as it should be, so a good cable may reduce the error rate.  I think this should be easy to test.  But it will be dependent on the send a receive circuits and maybe even the electrical noise in the system.  The nice thing about digital is that bit perfect is perfect. For audio jitter is important, too.

[virtue]

As a cynical audiophile myself, the fact-based reasoning is welcome here   I'd like to think that USB cables didn't matter - ever.  I mean, so long as there s error-correction in the transmission, who cares how it gest there.  Pictures sent over email arrive in-tact or not at all regardless of the speed of the connection.  Right?

In audio, the wireless chips do error correction.  We evaluated STS and SYNIC a few years ago.  Do the digital receiver chips do it?  If not, getting data through the first time does matter a lot.  As distance and interference increases, shielding, guage, and topology must matter more.

Perhaps some of you rocket-scientists can chime in.

[Carlman]

I have a fancy USB cable (Locus Axis) and it does sound better than others we compared it against.. stock, and an experimental effort from a cable mfg'r.  We had a group comparison of USB cables at my place and it was easy to identify differences among cables.  The Axis made a nice improvement in my system.  The comparison we did is here.

I think getting the cable to pass the signal without internal interference is key.. That definitely worked for Locus..

On a related topic, does anyone have a good recommendation for a motherboard that has really good USB ports?  Or what should I look for when buying a MB?  I want to build an Ubuntu-based computer to play music.. So, I'm shopping for a new board.. and want one that has a particularly good USB output.

Thanks,
Carl

[virtue]

Hey Guys,
I couldn't resist.  Did anyone read this article over the weekend in the Wall Street Journal?  The conclusion of the article is that ratings in wine competitions are statistically no different than a coin toss. 

1996 study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology showed that even flavor-trained professionals cannot reliably identify more than three or four components in a mixture, although wine critics regularly report tasting six or more. There are eight in this description, from The Wine News ... of a Silverado Limited Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ... : "Dusty, chalky scents followed by mint, plum, tobacco and leather. Tasty cherry with smoky oak accents?" ... The Wine Advocate, describes a wine as having "promising aromas of lavender, roasted herbs, blueberries, and black currants." What is striking about this pair of descriptions is that, although they are very different, they are descriptions of the same Cabernet. One taster lists eight flavors and scents, the other four, and not one of them coincide.

Another...

In his first study, each year, for four years, Mr. Hodgson served actual panels of California State Fair Wine Competition judges?some 70 judges each year?about 100 wines over a two-day period. He employed the same blind tasting process as the actual competition. In Mr. Hodgson's study, however, every wine was presented to each judge three different times, each time drawn from the same bottle.

The results astonished Mr. Hodgson. The judges' wine ratings typically varied by ?4 points on a standard ratings scale running from 80 to 100. A wine rated 91 on one tasting would often be rated an 87 or 95 on the next. Some of the judges did much worse, and only about one in 10 regularly rated the same wine within a range of ?2 points.

Mr. Hodgson also found that the judges whose ratings were most consistent in any given year landed in the middle of the pack in other years, suggesting that their consistent performance that year had simply been due to chance.


For the next 7 days, use this link:

http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=89048653

[Nuuk]

On a related topic, does anyone have a good recommendation for a motherboard that has really good USB ports?  Or what should I look for when buying a MB?  I want to build an Ubuntu-based computer to play music.. So, I'm shopping for a new board.. and want one that has a particularly good USB output.

I can't help much on the hardware side Carl (other than to say that the PSU may be one of the most critical components), but I had the following OS recommended to me the other day that should up the quality of sound output.

http://ubuntustudio.org/

[Carlman]

Thanks, Nuuk.. I'm planning to build an Ubuntu box... I've got the cd burned and ready to go.. I just need the hardware now..

I'd be surprised if anyone knew whether a specific motherboard had a particularly good USB output.

-C

[Nuuk]

I'd be surprised if anyone knew whether a specific motherboard had a particularly good USB output.

Only thing I can say about that is it seems to depend on the physical location of the USB port in relation to other parts of the PC, particularly the PSU.

On my Ubuntu PC, I take the USB out from one of the USB ports on a separate USB PCI card located right at the bottom of the computer, ie as far away from the PSU, CPU, etc as it will go.

This may give you some more ideas too. 

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/2/27041.html

[frank1]

hi i am from holland , are there stil usb  cabel for sale , i need 1 meter, thanks wim wschenderling@chello.nl