Any kind of commercially available ferrite beads to clamp around cables are effectively attenuating radio frequencies in the 10s to 100s of megahertz only, so can‘t really „create problems with voltage drop“ in the audible range at all.
Is it that I missed some classes back then, or do you have some brand new, cutting edge scientific explanation for your claim?
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Do you suffer from any audible noises other than the music?
If so, rather get a proper galvanic USB isolator like the ones from INTONA, i.e. - they even offer technical documentation and measurements for their products.
Or read Archimago’s blog about actual audio measurements of Topping‘s offer here.
If not, no action required.
Don‘t let yourself get infected by FUD - magic cables will not improve your music data, no matter the rosy prose or pseudo-scientific schematic graphs presented online!
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I have both the original Curious USB cable and the Evolved. To be sure, they’re good cables, but IMO they don’t justify their price. I’m currently not using either one. Instead, I’m using a Chinese knock-off Nordost Odin Gold that I paid $20-30 for and I do not notice any difference between the 3. I would spend your money elsewhere, but do get at least a decent cable, not an Amazon essentials.
Other than being Amazon, and probably assembled by slave labor in some concentration camp somewhere, Amazon Essentials would be indistinguishable in operation from any of the above, too.
Well, that’s definitely not correct. Amazon Essentials products are notoriously bad, especially things like cables. They 100% get the lowest bidder to supply those items.
This! USB as a format for transmitting data, is so beyond the scope of cables making a difference that it is second only to “audiophile” Ethernet cables in its utter madness.
Save your money, there has never been a single shred of evidence that USB cables can make any difference beyond working to spec and there’s lots of evidence that any combination of usb cables makes zero difference to the data output. In fact many audiophile usb cables don’t even meet the official spec for USB.
I know I sound harsh every time I say some of these things, but anyone believing that usb or Ethernet cables can sound different, simply doesn’t understand the technology involved and is purely imagining any differences, as there is no technical reason for any variance.
Edit: let me ask you this as well, what usb cable do you think runs from the socket of your streamer and dac to their pcb? If any? Probably just whatever copper they use for any other internal circuit. Why would anyone think inserting 1m of nonsense between two usb sockets would make a difference. Suspect these individuals need to have their heads and ears checked.
I, to this day, still use the “usb certified” cable that came with an HP printer between auralic aries G1 and Chord Hugo TT2
I made very good experience with Lindy cables. They are up to specs. The ones I use are black/red.
Not USB, but some cables for the DIYers.
What David said.
As much as I despise Amazon and avoid doing any business with them, AB cables are USB spec (unlike various “curiosities”) and, barring either of the connected devices putting some non-spec requirements on the connection, Basics will work just the same as any other proper USB cable.
Hi Steve,
If I could afford a Chord Dave + MScaler like you I would be looking at cables from The Chord Company (not related to your Chord equipment) or Audioquest cables.
However, I believe that a good USB cable for audio is shielded + USB-2 meaning you could stick to affordable (and proven) good brands like Supra or QED.
If it does not hurt, no damage is done (to your bank account).
Regards
Well, some damage, as legitimising this stuff allows these brands to sell snake oil to the ill informed. IMHO selling audiophile usb cables on any sound quality merit is tantamount to fraud and should not be encouraged.
My observation from reading (many) posts here, it’s always the expensive boutique USB cables that cause problems. USB is a standard, so any certified cable should be fine. Don’t fall for strange advertising claims, or waste your money on something exotic or out of the ordinary.
Really, the place to go is Blue Jeans Cable. 10-foot USB for $2.50. And they test everything.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I will not pursue the Curious Evolved. Guess I will just get the Wave Storm cables for my Mscaler Dave connection.
Even here, as long as they’re 75ohm bnc, I’ve yet to be made aware of any benefit to going mad. I use a couple of professional BNC cables designed for connecting broadcast equipment with my chord.
Ditto. I use a studio-grade 75 ohm cable with BNC connectors, hand built and tested by a company that supports the recording industry. You can’t improve on a standards compliant cable.
Just so happens that I stream Tidal and Qobuz without a computer and have a hard wired Nucleus with an MScaler and a Dave Chord. I also have some Curious Evolved cables. I also have a ton of other high end cables. I have not found that using the USB connection helps at all. I suspect that there will be different answers depending on systems and personal preference but I do have this exact setup and have seen no perceptible improvement.
Thanks James! Do you have the Wave Storm interconnect? The Nucleus with this system makes the streaming sound fantastic!
Steve
I use a printed photograph as an example. Does the USB cable or network cable make the picture look better from the printer?