USB Cable

Ah yet another flat earther rears his head.  Wonderful. 

Please, do not spend high $ for the USB cable.

Well-made basic, cheap works same as expensive ones!

I have tried a number of modestly-priced USB cables - including Transparent - and the one I kept is the DH Labs Mirage.  It is1.5m and I am currently using it in my modest computer-based system at my office for near field listening.  For a 15’ run, another cable may work better, dunno. I do know I am getting remarkably engaging sound with the DH Labs cable in the loop.  FWIW, I also like the Audioquest Carbon USB cable and currently use one to connect the external hard drive to my dedicated (non-computer) server in my main system.  I have not tried the Supra cable others have mention in this thread.

As for computer audio versus a good streamer, I have this to say. The computer you are using matters a lot.  Over the last ten years I have tried using Dell, Lenovo and Microsoft Surface laptops running mostly different versions of JRiver.  I would rank the sound quality as Surface 4 > Dell Latitude > Surface 3 > Lenovo.  I also think that the performance of JRiver has improved with version updates over time.  I am currently oversample all files in software before feeding an old Chord Qute HD DAC because that sounds best to me.  For context, I am using decent cables, a Rega Brio amp, small Wharfdale speakers and a Monitor Audio sub in this system.  Everything is plugged into power conditioners, one for digital components and one for the amps.  

This system sounds better than it has any right to for the investment, but it’s clearly not up to the level of the OP’s gear.  If the OP has $15,000 to drop on a Aurender A20, sure, that would make a bigger difference than $360 for a new 15’ USB cable. But, the cable will help, and it is possible to get decent sound from a computer audio system if you able to spend time optimizing the power, cabling and software.  And in my case I can also create presentations, work on spreadsheets and send emails while listening, although it really doesn’t do much for the audio on Zoom meetings.  YMMV

kn

@soix   Yes, the vast mojoriity know you've got it right.  TVgeek is joining the ranks of jason bourne; nobody needs to hear them repeat the same controverial comments on every thread just begging for attention.

OP,

You've got enough recommendations to add a dedicated streamer, so I'll echo that.....your system deserves a component in the same league......base recommendation would be an Aurender N200. Entry level cable would be a Supra Excalibur for about $140. From there DHLabs, Zavfino, Cullen Cables, Lavri Cables, etc.

mrskeptic needs to join the circus-

When I decided to get back into Hifi, I bought a DAC-it. While hooking it up I realized the DAC did not come with a cable, so I ran to the local Micro Center and bought a $15.00 USB printer cable. It was the most God awful thing I ever heard. Luckily there was a Home stereo/Car Audio shop that sold Audioquest. 

In highly resolving horn systems almost every change you make has an audible difference.

The ones and zeros crowd really need to give it a rest. (maybe more hifi experience or a trip to the audiologist)

Forget USB cable. Get a streamer instead. PC doesn’t compete with a dedicated streamer. But if you insist on a cable, the Mirage is very good for the money. 

“I am curious how many of these people used a fibre optic cable for the final feet just before the DAC.”

@yyzsantabarbara 

I honestly do not know, you can start a new thread and conduct a poll. Million dollar or inexpensive music streamer/server…they all have a processor at heart. The premise here is, a general purpose PC is not optimized or optimal for audio streaming. You can add fiber or filters as alluded by @antigrunge2 ahead of a DAC to reduce noise but a general purpose PC will never sound as good as dedicated streamer designed specifically to stream audio. Fortunately, there are plenty of decent choices out there at all price points. 

@soix

+1 Very true. PCs cannot compete.

I played with PCs for a number of years. I used different software, striped down the background jobs, Changed cables, added noice reduction… did the same on a MAC, ran it on batteries. Still my first stand alone streamer was completely blew away the PCs… the noise floor dropped precipitously, the treble improved enormously, imaging vastly increases… etc.

If you are using very inexpensive audio gear that itself is very noisy and low fidelity… then there may not be a difference. But as soon as you have a good system, there is no comparison. I am sure this line varies from system to system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zncAhs44sp8&t=1564s

The reviewer offers a more objective assessment of Supra, Wireworld, and Oyaide USB cables. I encourage you to watch the video for a comprehensive evaluation if desired. In essence, the reviewer concludes that, in his opinion, Supra provides the best sonic quality with a slightly richer and warmer sound, possibly due to its better EMI/RFI rejection capabilities. He notes that Oyaide is less bright and harsh compared to Wireworld. I also looked into their impedance specifications; both Supra and Wireworld are rated at the standard 90 ohms, but I couldn’t find the impedance rating for Oyaide.

No further affirmations needed! There are several folks here, who took the initiative to audition a high quality streamer over PC; heard the obvious improvements and couldn’t go back to PC as their prime source for streaming.

The 1’s and 0’s and bits are bits believers won’t understand the value proposition of a well-designed streamer. Just leave them be.

I am curious how many of these people used a fibre optic cable for the final feet just before the DAC. Something like a Sonore OpticalRendu or better yet a Lumin X1 with direct fibre into the DAC. Compare that to a million-dollar music server/streamer (or also called a computer). 

I find Audiotroy‘s comment offensive and unwarranted. USB is a fraught interface, at a minimum requiring separation of the 5V and signal lines, better even using a galvanic isolator and in high resolution systems more likely requiring re-clocking than not as well. His relentless shilling of product is tiresome.

Audiotroy- you don’t know what you don’t know! You call people dumb when all you do is try to sell someone gear that you carry. Everybody can see this.

If you call us all dumb, I’m going to say you can’t hear. If you think usb sounds good, then you need new ears. USB sucks for a dac interface. Why do you think people spend hundreds/thousands of dollars on usb tweaks/gimmicks to try to get better sound? I’m sure you sell some of these gimmicks too. I’ve been down the dedicated streamer/usb dac route with over thousand $$$ of usb tweaks/gimmicks while using a $1000 usb cable and sold all of that crap and got the best dac that uses a better interface than usb and went with Roon and audirvana. 
I have my eye on a couple of streamers now that don’t even provide an usb output, so I might try 1 of them, but I really don’t want a streamer/computer (all streamers are computers) in my dedicated listening room.

@soix

No further affirmations needed! There are several folks here, who took the initiative to audition a high quality streamer over PC; heard the obvious improvements and couldn’t go back to PC as their prime source for streaming.

The 1’s and 0’s and bits are bits believers won’t understand the value proposition of a well designed streamer. Just leave them be.

I believe using a PC is vastly better than a streamer as it gives me the opportunity to manage buffer and digital gain so as not to introduce digital filter clipping.

This is, to say the least, a controversial statement.  I’ll take the other side of this one and choose a good streamer over a PC any day.  Anyone else wanna chime in here?

Worse yet, where is just looking at the actual problem?  What is wrong with your current USB cable?  If a dime store cable, probably poor shielding and it can introduce noise into the ground of your DAC.  A "decent" cable, say one from Belden 8733 series cable. Do be sure it meets USB2.0 spec. Cone cheap cables are not. In theory, if both ends are USB C, then it should meet USB 3.0 standards.   Then does your DAC have galvanic isolation? Most better newer ones do but not all.  An external transformer, about $12, will break that ground and shield so it won't inject noise.  Maybe that is all you need. 5M is vary long so quality of the cable does matter, but price and quality have almost  no correlation when the word "audiophile" comes into play.  

You could always grab several off Amazon and see if they have any positive sonic effect before going down the "audiophile" rout.  I used to trust Monoprice, but not sure now. Belkin cables should be to spec. There is also the USB to fiber/tranceiver game for a cable that long as 5M is the max length by USB2.0 spec. 

I believe using a PC is vastly better than a streamer as it gives me the opportunity to manage buffer and digital gain so as not to introduce digital filter clipping. A few DACs take care of that themselves, but few. Host based, I have some control over what is happening to my bits. I also like my 20 inch touch screen as the interface, not some stupid phone ap.   A quality streamer will hopefully have better digital processing than a cheap one, but I'm keeping my PS and not paying ROON to access my local FLAC library!  The DAC is where those bits become music. Not in the PC or streamer though the software in both can screw things up. Good streamers I hope have better processing software. 

OP, a system like yours deserves a high quality streamer like Aurender N20 or Innuos Pulsar (if you prefer ROON). I just concluded a head to head comparison between N30SA and W20SE and chose to go with N30SA over W20SE. I used to own N20 and IMHO, N20 holds the sweet spot in Aurender line up. For half the price of N30SA or W20SE, it’s capable of ringing 85%-90% performance of the aforementioned top tier models.

You gotta love our forum…you must be scratching your head. How the hell this discussion morphed into  $100-$200 USB cable recommendations to spending $12K to $25K streamers….lol!

OP,

Holy cow! Definitely get a streamer of that caliber… I recommend an Aurender W20SE given the rest of your system.

Our systems are very similar… Audio Research REF 6SE, REF CD9SE DAC, and for me ref 160s and m. You definitely want the Aurender W20SE… I have had a host of lessor streamers (including PCs, MacBooks.. etc) and an Aurlic Aries G2, Aurender N100, N10, and W20SE, and a Grimm. Each of these steps was a big upgrade. The W20SE moved the sound up to the level of my outstanding analog end… Audio Research Ref 3 / 3SE Phonostage and my near Klimax Linn LP12 with Koetsu Rosewood Signature.

My system is ARC Ref 6 SE preamp, ARC Ref 80s amplifier, ARC Ref CD9/DAC, Quad 2812 esl speakers, Transparent Audio cables for all

First of all you said nothing about the quality of your system ,or dac 

being an ex Audio dealer how can I recommend anything without needed information. To budget to match your system 

cables  can go over $2k. , stock Ethernet ,cables and usb like Pangea, or Beldon 

are starting points , for in the under $250 range Wireworld starlight both usb,and Ethernet is very respectable ,and very good for the money if your dac is $1k or less.

I cannot argue with anyone's experience, but my experience with USB cables is that they make a very big difference. I suggest you get the best one you can find on Used Cables. com.  Wireworld's best (the red ones) from one generation ago sould do very well. I'm using a Zafino (spelling approximate - I'm away from home) from Canada which is the best i've found. Happy listening!

+2 @soix , @ghdprentice 

using any PC in lieu of a quality dedicated server/streamer is a significant downgrade and compromise in audio performance, that no USB cable upgrade can fix.

Choose wisely 

Audio Research Ref CD9

Audio Research REF CD9

What is your outboard DAC?

1s and 0s don't care and no cable you use will objectively change the sound. 

P.T. Barnum was so very prescient. 

Not quite. USB cables do make some difference even with those piece of junk computers. I prefer Supra $55 cable to Wywires $300 cable and they are both much better in every respect than no name in the box cables. Try Supra first, they are sold on ebay, Good streamers are very expensive. USB cables require burn in time too, give it 100 hours or so. Power cord for DAC is also very important and can make a hell of a difference.

Now this comes from someone who hates digital but has to a degree deal with it. I have a modest Burson Preamp/DAC/Headphone amp in the second system.

I use DH Labs but what helped was an intona reclocker https://intona.eu/en/products/7055-c

Get this and 2 usb cables.

@soix 

+1

I agree. While both the DHLabs and Transparent USB cables are really good ones… I use both… Transparent on my main system and DHLabs on my headphone system… they are connected to wall wart wifi extenders and first class streamers on the other end. I would recommend not wasting money on USB interconnects until you get the PC out of the picture.

I ran all sorts of PC configurations for years… different software, CODEX, cables… and none of that mattered until I got a dedicated streamer. The huge jump in performance made a better cable worth it.

Ditch the PC and get a good streamer — the PC is killing your sound.  Also, you can run the streamer to a Wi-Fi extender or Mesh node to an outlet near your system and not have to buy a 5m USB cable AND have much better sound.  Upgrading a USB cable from a PC is basically putting lipstick on a pig.  Sorry, but it’s true. 

So what is a quality system (very subjective) 

I have the DH Labs Mirage and they replace Supra Excaliber USB  but I could hear zero diffence. I have an Innuos Zenith and Less Loss DAC with a Wyrded 4 Sound ISO USB Recovery in line to my DAC.  No PC in the chain other than a tablet running the Innuos application. 

Move your pc within 3 ft of your DAC