To my ears USB cables do make a difference.

[Vincent Kars]

If the OP can hear a difference that's all that matters surely?

If it has been a unsighted test, you are spot on.
If it has been a sighted test the OP has "seen" a difference, not to be mistaken for hearing one.

 

[hifi]

So you would you rather they were just misled?

I genuinely feel sorry for any new members coming here looking for advice...

I Agree 👍

 

[Al ears]

If it has been a unsighted test, you are spot on.
If it has been a sighted test the OP has "seen" a difference, not to be mistaken for hearing one.

Sighted or not if the OP thinks he can hear a difference who are we to argue.
The issue is him then coming on here knowing exactly what reaction he is going to get and what little benefit it is going to give any new forum members.
I often think they are simply being antagonistic.

 

[Al ears]

I Agree 👍

Anyone looking for advice would not be looking at this thread the state it's in...

 

[Vincent Kars]

You mean new members or old members or any member won't profit by knowing the difference between a sighted and a unsighted test?

 

[Deleted member 201267]

Most new forum members come on here looking for answers not just ' you can't possibly hear a difference' approach .
Its not informative and its not interesting.

The only way to decide is to try for yourself and make your own mind up.

This i think is the conclusion that will be reached by new forum members after reading the various threads where one side says do "this" and, the other side, says no do "that".

I don't think new forum members would simply buy stuff, because a stranger on a forum says so, without testing the item in their own system.

 

[hifi]

Any knowledge for new members or old has too be a bonus and experince and learning curb thats the fun of it !

 

[Al ears]

You mean new members or old members or any member won't profit by knowing the difference between a sighted and a unsighted test?

No, l didn't mean that.
I meant getting an idea as to whether it was worth spending money on an anything but standard USB cable and hoping to glean some information from this thread.

 

[Al ears]

Any knowledge for new members or old has too be a bonus and experince and learning curb thats the fun of it !

Exactly what knowledge are they going to get from this thread pray?

 

[Deleted member 201267]

Exactly what knowledge are they going to get from this thread pray?

That maybe there is no consensus therefore the best course of action is to try them out for themselves and make their own minds up !

 

[Al ears]

That maybe there is no consensus therefore the best course of action is to try them out for themselves and make their own minds up !

On this thread there's one person's opinion and that is the OPs.
The rest are simply attempting to dismiss this.
Valuable information to a newbie???
These threads are useless to a newbie and only serve as an increase in post count for the those that need it.
I am out of here but will be interested to see what comes out of this for any potential information seeker.

 

[Jasonovich]

I am glad you said "to my ears" as I am one who is unconvinced of an audio difference in digital cables.
I do wonder if you are hearing a perceived difference on an actual difference.
Are you swayed by the fact that you know which cable you are listening to?

It could be a placebo effect or there really is a difference

Now I have tried a few analogue cables (speaker and inter-connect) and cannot tell a difference (My ears? possibly))

But this has left me a cynic when it comes to cables (most definitely digital)
I am thinking that due the difference in inductance, capacitance and resistance of analogue cables, would affect the sound but I think the effect is more subtle that people realise.

OK... back to digital cables and USB in this case.
I believe that a digital signal is error free or not.
If error free, we get a nice clean signal.
If there are errors. Then we get pops/clicks
None of this increased bass/smoother mid-range talk.

Wanna convince me..... or how do I convince myself.
I think only a blind listening test would do that.
Probable goes for most people as well.

If one knows what cable/piece of equipment they are listening to. I think the person would be biased as to what they are hearing.


Then again you do say that you hear a difference.
Perhaps you have better ears

I hear you and it is music to my ears!
The sonic merits of different USB cables is up for debate.
My acid test is my wife, one needs to be assured one isn't going bonkers!
She assures me the sound appears more energised with the Chord cables but isn't night or day, it's supple. Or she could just be patronising me. Yeah its lovely, please shut up
I can't teach an old audio enthusiast like you to suck eggs but you'll appreciate and
to put this into perspective, you shouldn't buy cables many times price of the hardware. That's plain idiocy. There's more to be gained from a balance system. Cables is something, you build around your system.

I don't expect you to change your skepticism and I respect that but if I can tempt you listen to Lachlan Passion for Sound YouTube blog on the merits of USB cables. The video link is in my previous comment.
It is clear from his experiments, not all USB cables sound the same.
Does this equate to a better sound or the sound is just different?

 

[WayneKerr]

Cables only make a difference if you don't connect them, when connected a cable is a cable. There's no magic in cables... my 2p's worth.

 

[daveh75]

I hear you and it is music to my ears!
The sonic merits of different USB cables is up for debate.

It really isn't.

My acid test is my wife, one needs to be assured one isn't going bonkers!
She assures me the sound appears more energised with the Chord cables but isn't night or day, it's supple

Ah, the faithful wife. Haven't seen this one trotted out in years.

. Or she could just be patronising me. Yeah its lovely, please shut up

Or, It didn't happen, or she's humouring you...

Cables is something, you build around your system.

No it isn't.

I'm only surprised you haven't lobbed in "you need a resolving enough system to appreciate the difference" for good measure...

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

I think the reason why Al has felt the need to chip in is that cable threads can be relied upon in two ways:

1) People say the same things, repeatedly, and

2) They become gradually but increasingly polarised/ill-tempered and/or patronising.

In those respects, newcomers are more likely to pay attention to the manner in which people express themselves and draw conclusions about the poster than they are about the subject in question.

If it were up to me, I'd just have a single sticky thread where people could say what they thought - once and once only, no replies, no commenting on others' posts etc.

 

[abacus]

The original OP was just stating his belief that USB cables do make a difference in their opinion , not that it was undeniable fact.
This is perfectly fine as everyone is entitled to their opinion.
The problem only occurs when opinion is touted as fact, and doing so requires verifiable evidence or the claim is meaningless.

Bill

 

[npxavar]

I think the reason why Al has felt the need to chip in is that cable threads can be relied upon in two ways:

1) People say the same things, repeatedly, and

2) They become gradually but increasingly polarised/ill-tempered and/or patronising.

In those respects, newcomers are more likely to pay attention to the manner in which people express themselves and draw conclusions about the poster than they are about the subject in question.

If it were up to me, I'd just have a single sticky thread where people could say what they thought - once and once only, no replies, no commenting on others' posts etc.

Some topics can make moderators' life harder. Understandable. Disallowing certain kinds of discussions because of that is ridiculous though.

 

[Deleted member 201267]

I think the reason why Al has felt the need to chip in is that cable threads can be relied upon in two ways:

1) People say the same things, repeatedly, and

2) They become gradually but increasingly polarised/ill-tempered and/or patronising.

In those respects, newcomers are more likely to pay attention to the manner in which people express themselves and draw conclusions about the poster than they are about the subject in question.

If it were up to me, I'd just have a single sticky thread where people could say what they thought - once and once only, no replies, no commenting on others' posts etc.

Maybe have a new section on the forum dedicated to cables then the moderators could simply move all cable threads to this section ?

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Some topics can make moderators' life harder. Understandable. Disallowing certain kinds of discussions because of that is ridiculous though.

No-one is talking about disallowing them - just wishing they weren't so predictable.

 

[Jasonovich]

It really isn't.



Ah, the faithful wife. Haven't seen this one trotted out in years.



Or, It didn't happen, or she's humouring you...



No it isn't.

I'm only surprised you haven't lobbed in "you need a resolving enough system to appreciate the difference" for good measure...

Thank you for your inciteful comments, well that's it then, let's close shop.

 

[Gray]

If a thread is based on opinion, then, as long as the opposing opinion is expressed - the thread has (necessarily) been balanced - and no Newbie has been misled.

This forum is good in that respect.
I fear for what Newbies get to read elsewhere - where everyone agrees and nobody challenges cult-like opinions.

Better that a Newbie sees disagreement than reinforced, one-sided opinion.

Seems to me that the OP here is unusually realistic and reasonable about the response he knew he was going to get.
Credit to him for that 👍

 

[Gray]

let's close shop.

The shop is open 24/7, forever.
(You can checkout, but you can never leave).

 

[npxavar]

Seems to me that the OP here is unusually realistic and reasonable about the response he knew he was going to get.

To be fair, he had generous help from the cavalry, who came in early on to keep the peace.

 

[Deleted member 201267]

The original OP was just stating his belief that USB cables do make a difference in their opinion , not that it was undeniable fact.
This is perfectly fine as everyone is entitled to their opinion.
The problem only occurs when opinion is touted as fact, and doing so requires verifiable evidence or the claim is meaningless.

Bill

What are the "facts" regarding USB cables ?

 

[npxavar]

What are the "facts" regarding USB cables ?

Blocking interference in the cable improves the signal quality. All transmission is liable to be corrupted and that is why there is the concept of acknowledging reception of network packages in TCP/IP and getting corrupt files on the Internet is rare.

Digital audio transmission is real-time though and corruption will not be fixed with retransmission of a USB package. In case of USB audio there is no error-correction too.

Buying a well-shielded cable for USB connections in audio gear makes 100% sense. It does need better shielding than the average cable for the reason mentioned before.

Interference also adds jitter to the signal, but this is difficult to explain here.