Always wanted a studio! Frankly with that gear you can buy what the hell usb cable you like, coz frankly even if you spent $1000 on usb cable it is a tiny drop of that total system cost. One would argue you’re underspending on the Roon nucleus server though but that’s none of my business! 
If I had a DAC that was susceptible to noise coming in from the USB connection I’d be dissatisfied with it no matter how much I paid for it. There are plenty of quality DACs at every price level that don’t suffer from that kind of defect.
4 Likes
No they don’t. Fact!
5 Likes
I used to believe that too. But I was wrong. Good luck with that closed mind thing…
1 Like
As I have stated many times before on this forum, “beliefs” don’t generate facts.
Perhaps you can point me at the factual measured proof you have that shows the difference you mention?
I’ve said this a dozen times in these pages. Human perception is liable to such incredible
Manipulation and it’s completely possible to perceive real differences as a result of expectation bias and listening conditions.
That doesn’t mean the differences are real. I have no expectation bias about cables, therefore they all sound identical.
I’ve tried my system hooked up three different ways.
-Mac mini via optical info dac
-Mac mini via usb to coax into dac
-Mac mini direct usb into dac
-all of the above with and without the use of roon vs iTunes.
It should.come as no surprise to the rational among us that every single method and software playback system sounded identical, because the process of delivering 1’s and 0’s to a dac is not influenced by any half competent bit of wire of software.
There was a chap a few years ago that compared coaxial cables, and he went the whole hog, measuring and comparing the waveforms of original source file vs the output from the cable.
He used one high end 75 ohm 1m digital interconnect and compared it to what can only be described as the most shonky array of cables, couples, split and joined together to form some 10m of the worst conditions you can imagine.
The waveforms were identical.
Usb is even more resilient than coax.
So please don’t confuse belief with fact. They’re not the same thing.
2 Likes
It’s hysterical that you don’t realize the irony of that sentence…
2 Likes
You can’t ironically hear things that don’t exist. If there is a genuine real difference, I don’t need expectation to tell me it exists. If there’s an actual difference you’ll hear it.
It’s more hysterical that you think there is an irony there that doesn’t exist.
The irony is that you have an expectation bias even as you protest strongly that anyone that doesn’t hear things the way you do has expectation bias which renders their opinions useless. Your bias is a closed mind that believes there can be no difference caused by cables.
Human perception is liable to such incredible manipulation and it’s completely possible to perceive no real differences when they exist as a result of expectation bias and listening conditions.
Your beliefs are not anymore facts than mine are on this subject. It is very clear to me that plugging an electrically noisy computer directly into a DAC via USB produces lower quality music than plugging that DAC into a low noise endpoint. Nothing you can say or do can change that opinion.
Since cables with different electrically characteristics can alter the electrical signals the DAC receives, I have no problem seeing how it could affect the analog signal coming out a DAC.
3 Likes
Indeed and all I’ve asked for is some measurements and data that prove this is the case?
A simple enough request.
And I can ask you to prove me wrong…a simple enough request.
Of course, if you are correct, this topic would have no reason to exist since the sound quality of Roon could never change as long as bit perfect data is delivered to the DAC.
The trouble is that so many people are trying to catch smoke in their fingers instead of just enjoying music.
Sure you want a good system, but there comes a point where you have to say, enough is enough?
I can be moved to tears by a YouTube video on my iPad speakers and so the real goal is not in the last infinitesimal tweak of a cable, but in the quality and emotional connection you have with the music…
14 Likes
I agree with some of that, I certainly don’t understand people who say they can’t enjoy music on “inferior “ systems. But it is wonderful to be able to capture the magic of a live performance played on great instruments
That’s what we try to do at the gigs we run. We record it all on a Mackie 32 track PA. we employ a professional live sound engineer and then J mixes the audio at 48/24 for our own archive and pleasure, also for you tube releases we film.
That’s as close as we can get to catching smoke and saving performances that would otherwise be lost in the ether. Catching the artist at a place and time…
We use quality kit, we don’t have Uber priced cables and the results are astonishing and I use the live experience and my years of experiencing the real thing as my bench mark for audio quality.
In my room on my system (Meridian DSPSE) I get the experience as close as I can imagine with out any fancy add ons. The music certainly moves me, I close my eyes, and I’m back at the LRB (Sadly closed for lockdown)
2 Likes
Over the years have experimented a lot with all sorts of cabling in my audio system. And, yes cables do sound different but only less than 1/10th of the degree many people would like you to believe. Cables can not make or break your system, anyone who says they will is at least a tenfold over exaggerating. It can help to experiment with cabling as long as you’ll never expect them to transform your system into something much better. In reality it is only a bit of icing on the cake, you need a good tasting cake first.
4 Likes
I don’t muck about testing lots of different cables when I can just be listening to music. If I need a new cable I go straight to Audio Sensibility as I have just done this week for XLRs. They are very well made, quality products and I am happy with the sound of my system. Not uber expensive but more than some people will pay. Plus I get to support a Canadian business in my somewhat recently adopted home country.
I completely concur that cables won’t make a system, but can be the final, small tuning step. I have, however, had some moderately expensive (high 3 - low 4 figures USD) cables break my system (as compared to a 2 figure cable expenditure). Fortunately, those were on loan from a dealer, so back they went with no harm to me.
Cheers!
1 Like
I admire your verve but I fear you are seriously wasting your time with the likes of the bits are bits fraction.
Don’t feed the troll 
1 Like
I know…but the “bits are bits” and “digital cables are all the same” factions conveniently forget that the digital data are moved around in what is effectively an analog envelope.
1 Like
But surely the analog signals of 1 and 0 are not altered?
1 Like
It’s not a matter of “conveniently forgetting” this truism, it’s rather a matter of understanding its significance.
1 Like