FTA (Final Touch Audio) Sinope USB cable

seatrope

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2017
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Hi all,

Just wanted to post my personal experience so far with FTA's new flagship USB cable, the Sinope. This continues the convention of Jovian naming, Sinope being another one of Jupiter/Zeus' love interests. From NASA's site: "Sinope was named for a nymph who outsmarted a smitten Zeus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter). Hoping to win her favor, he offered her anything she wanted and she replied that what she wanted was to remain a virgin. Sinope outsmarted Apollo in the same way."

I have been a long time user of FTA's Callisto USB cables for the last 2+ years, which I had two of. I prized the Callistos for their natural and musical presentation which is the top priority for me, over soundstaging and infinite detail. The Callistos were superior to all other USB cables I have tried in my system previously to my ears, with a very balanced presentation without undue emphasis or highlighting of any particular aspect of music, while being extremely musical.
These went between my older setup, a SOTM "trifecta" with NUC and USB regenerator as well as in my current setup where I only need one cable, between my Taiko Extreme server and my Lampizator Pacific DAC.

Several months ago I was asked to audition an unnamed beta USB cable from FTA. I did some extensive comparisons between it and my then-reference, the Callistos. I was extremely impressed on how Zoran has managed to substantially improve on the brilliant Callisto. From my recollections of the beta a few months ago, the new cable dug deeper into the ambience of the venue, with improvements in realism of voices and strings over the already amazing Callisto. Musicality and emotional quotient took a step forward as well. The one part that I felt was a minimal regression from the Callisto (for the beta cable only) was a slight flattening of the soundstage compared to the Callisto, even though the acoustic images were more "real". Note that for whatever reason, this slight regression in the soundstage was NOT present on the production cable that I received recently.

This was enough for me to jump in an order one from FTA"s North America distributor, @LampiNA Fred Ainsley. I should also note as usual, exemplary service from both Fred and @Golum who I understand is the worldwide distributor of FTA in response to some logistic issues with getting the Sinope!

The final/production version has now been burning in for about 5 days which is probably still insufficient to reach its full potential. The production version has some differences from the beta version, which may be solely external. A new outer cladding is visually compelling, with somewhat more weighty connectors (but not extremely so) at each of the USB ends.

At this point, I can confidently say that the production cable is better than my old reference Callistos in every way. The Callistos are still amazing and at their price point a huge value, but the Sinope gets more out of my system without question.
Instead of breaking things down into individual components, I like to judge any change in my system with how much I end up getting "sucked" into the music. Often, I will insert a new component and marvel at some particular aspect that has been highlighted "ooh, look at how holographic the soundstaging is!" but end up switching tracks frequently to marvel at the "hifi trick". The Sinope did not do that. What it did was suck me into whatever random piece I started, even if it was not my usual preferred musical genre, which is the best testament to its powers of flow and musicality compared to other cables I have used. This is not to say it does not do all the usual hifi stuff. I do stop and marvel at the solidity and realism of the sonic images, and at the jump and rhythm imparted by the Sinope, but mostly it just makes me want to keep listening to the music and not the sound. b72778be-7ac1-457c-a539-6f98585b5f3e.jpg
 
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Golum

Well-Known Member
Jun 7, 2018
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Many many thanks Yeang for your trust in us and enjoy the cable and music!

Stay well!

G
 

Ranathum

New Member
Dec 9, 2021
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hi,
I would like to know when the cable will be available for purchase at lampi web store.
 

LampiNA

Well-Known Member
Jun 30, 2015
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This is correct. I plan on getting it site updated to include it this week!
 
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Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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i've had my FTA Sinope USB for 3 months, and have really enjoyed it. i compared it to my Gobel LaChorde USB and it was a better match for my system. more neutral and agile, stronger bass weight and more expansive.

i've not explored lots of high end USB cables, so take my feedback in that context.
 

jaxho

Well-Known Member
May 18, 2021
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Last monday a local dealer wanted me to try out a FTA Sinope. Its been playing for 5 full days now and today i think its beginning to show its potential. I have it on a long loan (rest of the year) so it will be properly burnt in.

Greetings Jaxho
 
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GroovySauce

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Nov 9, 2020
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I’ve had the FTA SiNOPE in my system for 10 days now, I’ve been playing playing music through it almost 24 hours a day. I’m comfortable saying the cable has 180-200 hours on it. The SiNOPE had the most wild burnin I’ve ever experienced with a cable, took 40ish hours to settle down and become stable.

The SiNOPE replaced the FTA Callisto. I’ll offer a few distinctions between the two cables.

Both cables produce an expansive soundstage wide and deep.

The SiNOPE has settled in very nicely and I’m loving it. It has a great balance between detail, dreaminess, density and room filling envelopingness.

The Callisto has the same traits, however the Callisto can get a little thick and obfuscate fine detail, calling for focus to “hear through” the thickness for the higher frequency information.

The Callisto does a very good job of giving mass to notes, instruments, vocals and etc., At times it can feel like an effect. The SiNOPE does it in a natural way, the holography is inviting. The SiNOPE encourages listening to "just one more song".

Going from the Callisto to the SiNOPE was a significant upgrade.
 

Kingsrule

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Feb 3, 2011
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I've been told burn-in is 500 hours..
 

Golum

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Jun 7, 2018
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I've been told burn-in is 500 hours..
For the sake of being on the safe side lets say 1k h.
Joke aside 100h should be more than sufficient...
 

Kingsrule

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For the sake of being on the safe side lets say 1k h.
Joke aside 100h should be more than sufficient...
Well if that's the case all hope is lost for me with this cable

It has great width but no layering or depth. Like none! It's very 2 dimensional....
 
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Golum

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Jun 7, 2018
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Burn in experiences are different so some reported longer time some shorter so there is no common ground. If you have willingness give it some more time and see what happens...
Well if that's the case all hope is lost for me with this cable

It has great width but no layering or depth. Like none! It's very 2 dimensional....
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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Well if that's the case all hope is lost for me with this cable

It has great width but no layering or depth. Like none! It's very 2 dimensional....
i'm sure i'm over 1000 hours now, maybe 1500-2000 hours. it continued to get better after quite a few hours.
 
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GroovySauce

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Nov 9, 2020
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The first few days it would go from sounding really good to awful in 20-30 minutes. That is the wild burn in I was talking about. One night I turned the system off and did something else for the evening because it was so bad. Now It's surpassed the Callisto and I'm really pleased with the purchase. I suspect it still has some more to give with more time. I'm going to stop streaming music all night and day now.

Glad to hear you are giving it more time. Burn in is such a bizarre and at times frustrating phenomenon.
 

LampiNA

Well-Known Member
Jun 30, 2015
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Yes I plan to give it more time.....
It has definitely been my finding that this cable has a very real and significant burn in period and more time is a good idea. That said, the way you've described it doesn't really align with our own observations or how anyone else has perceived it thus far, so I'd be happy to swap it out for you to check it out myself and also to see if the behavior remains.

What is your DAC/Server combo, btw? Any re-clocking devices in the mix?
 

Kingsrule

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Feb 3, 2011
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It has definitely been my finding that this cable has a very real and significant burn in period and more time is a good idea. That said, the way you've described it doesn't really align with our own observations or how anyone else has perceived it thus far, so I'd be happy to swap it out for you to check it out myself and also to see if the behavior remains.

What is your DAC/Server combo, btw? Any re-clocking devices in the mix?
Taiko Extreme...MSB SII, PRO USB
 

LampiNA

Well-Known Member
Jun 30, 2015
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Taiko Extreme...MSB SII, PRO USB
Interesting... same as Mike L. Shoot me a PM and I'll snag that one back and send out another for you to try. We'll get this sorted. ;)
 

Legolas

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Dec 27, 2015
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This is an exciting cable indeed. TBH how a USB cable can affect / upgrade / change the overall sound signature of an audio system never ceases to amaze me.

Here's some early pics. Cables can ship from around 12th January from us. I will add to my website this week.

6663e328-9fb8-4e9b-9be5-315e8e5189bd.jpg 60b0123e-84bf-4370-aa60-4dfdf440cc0e.jpg 83d867eb-0e53-42f7-86e0-d693f0bcfbe3.jpg 5c877e28-f7e9-4edb-b698-59a9215bb70f.jpg 9cf28424-cc0b-4837-9f72-fd55ada72a59.jpg b72778be-7ac1-457c-a539-6f98585b5f3e.jpg
 
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