USB cable shootout: 8 cables tested

[Synaxis]

Well I've also got a USB cable from Z axis audio I'm about to listen too as well, and was going to do an update to this thread or maybe a new one now with the the three back to back. However, as a bit of a teaser I'll give you some of my notes on the Sig ref (compared to the Tara Master):-

- Bass full, lots of lower tones, not quite bloated
-great stereo picture/timing v good/left-right sep good
-Listenable/musical quality, pushes image out more

In comparison, the Tara has :-

-slightly more detail
-fractionally pacier
-not as good stereo
-kick drum/deep bass punches harder
-more upper highs

Anwar, my contact at AA tells me that his local customers found that the Sig Ref was a bit weak on bass, and so he has tuned the Extreme to be more bassy!! Didnt think it was a problem personally, but lets see what happens

Thank you for spending so much time doing this and sharing your experience with us.

 

[chbreton]

Well I've also got a USB cable from Z axis audio I'm about to listen too as well, and was going to do an update to this thread or maybe a new one now with the the three back to back. However, as a bit of a teaser I'll give you some of my notes on the Sig ref (compared to the Tara Master):-

- Bass full, lots of lower tones, not quite bloated
-great stereo picture/timing v good/left-right sep good
-Listenable/musical quality, pushes image out more

In comparison, the Tara has :-

-slightly more detail
-fractionally pacier
-not as good stereo
-kick drum/deep bass punches harder
-more upper highs

Anwar, my contact at AA tells me that his local customers found that the Sig Ref was a bit weak on bass, and so he has tuned the Extreme to be more bassy!! Didnt think it was a problem personally, but lets see what happens

Thanks for this !
i have a Cable USB David Laboga "Emerald" connected between my SoTM tX-USBultra and my dac TEAC UD503.
if i want to replace it with AA Audio USB XT , is it a great upgrade , or would you go for another USB ?

 

[Anyoldears]

Thanks for this !
i have a Cable USB David Laboga "Emerald" connected between my SoTM tX-USBultra and my dac TEAC UD503.
if i want to replace it with AA Audio USB XT , is it a great upgrade , or would you go for another USB ?

They are similar I would say. That Emerald is a fantastic cable, so it would be a case of if one is a better balance or fit in your system than the other. It would be a small tweak rather than a major step forward. I mean its worth a try, but you should probably look at other components and cables before you revisit the USB. You will probably make more improvement elsewhere

 

[ssfas]

Do you think a £5 cable would be any good? Quick answer, no theyre not. We moved on from that sort of thing decades ago, not because we are snobs, but because they are crap and not worth our time. Get a David Laboga Emerald2 on loan and find out for yourself

I used a £5 cable for 10 years
Chord usb-C
It now costs £59
OFC silver plated conductors
Very popular.

NeoTech UP-OCC single crystal silver
24K gold plated connectors
Factory built by NeoTech
£120 delivered

NEUB-1020 Neotech USB 2.0 cable, UP-OCC Silver | HIFICollective

NEUB-1020 Neotech USB 2.0 cable, UP-OCC Silver

www.hificollective.co.uk

My current cable

 

[chbreton]

They are similar I would say. That Emerald is a fantastic cable, so it would be a case of if one is a better balance or fit in your system than the other. It would be a small tweak rather than a major step forward. I mean its worth a try, but you should probably look at other components and cables before you revisit the USB. You will probably make more improvement elsewhere

I'd rather go for a new dac?

 

[Anyoldears]

I'd rather go for a new dac?

or grounding or power cables or vibration isolation etc

 

[agisthos]

My friend had a (now defunct) USB cable operation. He was literally one of the first in the world to split the power and data lines apart, back in 2011. He used to also isolate the power lines with battery power packs e.t.c. This last trick only worked if the receiving DAC did not require the 'power on' signal from the source.

I still think keeping the signal and power lines well spaced is one of the keys to a superior USB cable. It's just a messy type of cable though, and prone to damage.

 

[DHT4ME]

When i did my personal test of a bunch of USB cables I found that the best tracks to use were critical. Listening to my favorite tracks as reference was much more difficult than the tracks I found to be very revealing of USB bitstream issues. In general I found that closely mic’d piano was incredibly revealing in a very short time. I found a track that has a pianist that lacks finesse which musically was a turnoff but as an analysis tool was potent. Sharp transients with easily discernible decay seem to really lay bare issues in the bitstream. I’ll look for it today.

 

[DaveC]

My friend had a (now defunct) USB cable operation. He was literally one of the first in the world to split the power and data lines apart, back in 2011. He used to also isolate the power lines with battery power packs e.t.c. This last trick only worked if the receiving DAC did not require the 'power on' signal from the source.

I still think keeping the signal and power lines well spaced is one of the keys to a superior USB cable. It's just a messy type of cable though, and prone to damage.

I tested that cable, forget the name... It was the best USB cable at the time, but not by a ton. USB cables aren't as impactful as most others.

USB is all about isolating power from signal and shielding. There's not much you can do otherwise, the cable simply won't work at all if you deviate from the std. I think this is why OP preferred the Tara with it's well-grounded shield.

NeoTech UP-OCC single crystal silver
24K gold plated connectors
Factory built by NeoTech
£120 delivered

NEUB-1020 Neotech USB 2.0 cable, UP-OCC Silver | HIFICollective

NEUB-1020 Neotech USB 2.0 cable, UP-OCC Silver

www.hificollective.co.uk

My current cable

It's hard to do much better no matter how much you spend, which is why I don't offer a USB cable. This or the newest Furutech USB cable are what I normally sell and recommend. I'd recommend buying one of these cables as a baseline, and see if the higher-$ cables make sense to you.