USB Cable Ridge Street Audio/Synergistic Research

I saw the RS site and the 40% off sale,so 285$ for .5 meter.I am A/Bing now the Kimber[1week old] and a Radio Shack.Either I cannot hear a difference or its not broken in yet....thats all I know which isn't much,sorry.

Someone here on Audiogon mentioned that he had both. I asked him for his opinion and he said if he had to pick one it would be the Ridge Street cable. I ordered one of the Ridge Street cables when I saw the 40% off deal. It has a 45 day money back guarantee if not impressed.

I compared one of the cheapie free USB cords that you get with a hard drive when you buy it to the USB cord that came with my Wavelength Cosecant. It doesn't have a name brand on it, it just says hi speed USB on the side. It does look a lot more substantial than the Lacie cord. I was floored by how much better the Cosecant cord was. It was really shocking, like probably the biggest change I've heard with any cable swap ever and I've done a lot. So if anyone says USB cords don't matter I know they're wrong.

Too bad you couldnt source the vendor for that one.....or can you?

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Hi,

Super question! IMHO cabling is very, very system dependent, so what you will possibly receive (at best) in reply is honest personal answers to your question, but those answers will all be system dependent.

That's why Robert's (RSA)45 day return policy, and the opportunity to borrow an SR USB cable from the Cable Company are important options for end-users.

Remember that it takes time for the cables and the electronics to settle in to changes made on this level. Initial impressions are not always the most valuable. Give the cables and system time to find themselves.

Yes, USB cables do make a big difference... and that is not just a subjective opinion.

The RCA dog would easily discern the difference!

I A/B'd the cables plus a regular USB printer cable for my highly sceptical son and his wife ("Dad... look, data is just data... ones and zeros... data is data"), both argued with great redundancy and circularity that data is just data... and both left the house after listening to the A/B muttering and sputtering... wrinkling their noses realizing that another axiom in computerland had just bit the dust.

:) listening,

Ed

"Yes, USB cables do make a big difference... and that is not just a subjective opinion."

So what IS the objective difference? Certainly it can't be the "nature" of the one and zeroes, right? There's nothing different about a 1 coming through a cheap cable versus the same bit coming through an expensive one is there? If not that then is it that lesser cables screw-up the bits themselves? Or perhaps cheap cables let unwanted "stuff" through the wire to the DAC?

I'm not trying to be a troll here. I just bought a Benchmark DAC1 USB and am using the stock cable from a laptop while working on the rest of the "real" system (NAS, wired network, fanless dedicated audio PC). If I'll get better sound with a better cable I'll buy one but I also know that the placebo effect can be strong. Hence I would like to know at least the technical theory behind high-end USB cables.