Higher End USB Cables

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Mb9061

Good to hear that you're trying this cable out.

My experience with it is that it gets much better the longer hours are put on it. I have several hundred hours on it, and it is much better now than when I first received it.

This cable works very well for me on a low-res integrated tube amp (updated McIntosh MA230) with a MacMini and iRoc DAC. But on my other better systems it still sounds a bit bright to my bright-sensitive ears.

A typical way to get lots of hours on the cable is to play Rhapsody or your music library into your DAC. No need to have the preamp on, but the DAC does need to be on. Give the cable a break (off-time, a rest) for an hour every twelve hours or so.

Let me know how things go for you.

:) listening,

Ed

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Thanks Ed.

Thinking on it now (and this is going to seem like we're manufacturing a sales pitch for Cryoparts), I'm honestly not sure I've noticed as big an improvement in any cable upgrade I've made so far compared to this one. Only thing I can compare this to is going from a Musiland MD10 DAC to the Benchmark DAC1 I used to own. I'm suprised the cable makes that big a difference (particularly since it's just a beefed up standard USB cable).

It is a tad on the bright/forward side (slightly), likely due to it being brand new. I'm not using a pre-amp, just going straight from my IMac to a Turbo-3, then to a Havana DAC and from there into a modified Rogue Audio Stereo 90. Itunes provides volume attenuation. I've never been a fan of separate pre-amps in my setup because they always seem to rob some of the signal or veil things when compared to directly driving the amp.

Thanks again for the input.

Marc

Definitely system dependent. I have just spent about 3 weeks with the Locus Design Polester ($250), taking it in and out of my system. I have used the Belkin Gold for 4 years now. The Polestar added a tiny bit of image density on my best recordings but I enjoyed the music no less when I put the Belkin back in.

If your system is reasonably revealing you will hear differences whenever you change something in it. Don't be fooled into thinking that different is always better. You have to try these cables in your system over many weeks to be able to decide whether it is a real improvement.

That's a similiar experience I'm having with the 10' Cryoparts USB cable. It clears up the presentation moreso than the Belkin gold and does add a sense of dimension and weight, particularly to the midrange frequencies (fairly noticeable in my system). I can skate by with the longer USB cable given the USB converter I'm using, otherwise I wouldn't even consider anything over a 6' cable like when I owned Benchmark DAC1 a while back.

I decided to try the Ridgestreet Audio Poiema USB, but it hasn't arrived yet. We'll see how it fairs and if the money is worth any margin of improvement.

Let us know how the Poiema works for you. I may try that one next. I am also trying the bel Canto USB link and thus far I am having mixed results. On the one hand it cleans things up rather nicely, especially internet radio, but at the same time it robs the dynamics on some music.