USB Cable Ridge Street Audio/Synergistic Research

"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.

I too am very curious if a better quality USB cable will make an improvement since i am in the process of downloading my entire collection to an external hardrive. That being said, is it just going from your computer to an external DAC that will make a difference? The only USB cable i am using is going from my external hardrive into my computer and then i have a separate non USB cable(looks like a computer cable similar to one that goes to your monitor but not sure of the type) going into my outboard breakout box of my soundcard which has an internal DAC. From there i go out of the soundcard breakout box via 1/4" ends and then into my tube preamp via RCA ends. At this point i am very pleased with the results i am hearing but if a superior USB cable going from the external drive into my computer will improve sonics then i am all ears. But i too have previously read that they don't make a difference so i am very interested in hearing more about this matter.

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Why remain in the dark?

Why not borrow the SR & Kimber USB cables from The Cable Company.

Take Ridge Street Audio's (Robert Schultz) offer of 45 days for a no questions asked $ return and decide for yourself.

You could even compare and contrast these cables to your favorite USB printer cables (all of us have several of those lying around somewhere). Bring it on with a premium Belkin USB cable from Best Buy or Circuit City.

Check them out.

I have emphasized that there are marked differences. That there are differences is not in question.

The qualities and your preferences in relation to those (sometimes considerable) differences are what should be carefully considered.

The question wondering if there are differences is "elementary, Watson".

:) listening,

Ed

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Followup: for reasons that have been explained to me but which I seem to not fully understand: the USB lead from the peripheral HD to the computer doesn't seem to make a difference. It's the USB lead from the computer to the DAC that seems "mission critical."

:) listening,

Ed
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I am part of a group of audiophiles that compared the Ridgestreet to Kimber to Cryoparts to Synergistic to the Belden "Gold" USB cables. The good news is that the clear winner was the Ridgestreet USB cable (by a healthy sonic margin). Every single sonic parameter (that differentiates USB cables sonically) was clearly better with the Ridgestreet offering. As a side note, I must give Cryoparts some kudos here too for offering a clear step up the sonic ladder for very little money (by far the cheapest of the bunch but not cheap sounding). It's not nearly as good as the Ridgestreet but both of these USB cables are solid recommendations in my book. One as a low cost upgrade and the other that may represens the best sounding USB cable in the audio marketplace today (at this point in time mind you). I'm sure that Nordost will offer a $5.000 USB cable "for us" once we start seeing more USB dacs approaching the $20k mark ;-)

As for the other companies making USB cables (in this comparison) I seriously started to wonder if they really did their research as they created their offerings or just tried to "grab some marketshare" by quickly "baking up" something that "looks good" and put USB connectors on each end ;-)