The new SOtM USB cable is supposed to be excellent.
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4425 we tested several usb cables including the AQ Diamond with Wireworld Platinum, LH Labs cables, and the Enklein Trek. The Wireworld was noticably better than the AQ it has deeper bass and was clearer at the same price. The LH Labs cable was good but not better then the Wireworld. We just received LH Labs active USB but haven’t given it the thumbs up or down yet. The Enklein Trek although the most expensive killed every other high end digital cable and it should at $2500. pure silver with propreitary sheilding materials and even the silver pins are directly soldered to the actual usb cable. It sounded like we got almost an octave more deep bass. You should add the Wireworld Platinum to your list it is one of the best sounding USB at its price point. I will add haven't tested the Audience yet and with the Wireworld we tested the older series 6 many people don't know that the series 7 Wireworld is dramatically better but it only came out about 1 year ago. Dave owner Audio Doctor NJ |
My "real-world" experience led me to preferring a Verastarr Nemesis USB cable for my MacBook Pro to ExaSound E32 DAC link. In my system, it beat out the Curious, AQ Diamond, Synergistic Research Active, and yes, the Audience AU24SE USB cables. The Audience was very close, but I slightly preferred the Verastarr for it's slightly better organic and natural sound. |
+1 Audience. I switched from the Wireworld Platinum USB cable to the Audience AU24 SE USB Dual End cable and it sounded much better. I immediately heard better bass, clarity, less noise and better separation. Th Audience USB duel end cable is excellent and I recommend it. If possible, you should audition some of these cables so you can best decide. |
I don't think they make any difference, and that is to be expected. See here for some telling tests: http://archimago.blogspot.nl/2013/04/measurements-usb-cables-for-dacs.html |
Antipodes DX Gen 2 here and using Totaldac USB Cable/filter into W4S Recovery with outboard LPS then Curious Link into Metrum Pavane Level 3. Sound good to me but l haven't used the other cables being discussed here. The Totaldac USB is preferred over a full Curious Cable USB set-up for being a little more accurate and resolving without losing tone and musicality. |
I'm also in the middle of a USB cable comparison. My system is quite different than yours, and my preferences / priorities may be different than yours, so who knows.... Here is a rough draft take from my comparison, which is still a work in progress. "The Purist and Audience are close cousins in performance similarities. Both are a bit fuller, rounder, darker, than the Wireworld. I'd also label both as being slightly more 'traditionally' musical and emotionally engaging than the WW. On the spectrum, the Audience would sit between the two. The Purist is mid-range centric and it's strength is voice. The Audience splits more of the differences between the two and is slightly less than...on the strengths of the Purist...and slightly less than on the strengths of the WW." (The WW is the 7 Platinum Starlight, which in this first round was the overall winner for my system and needs). What I can say is, that in my system, I preferred the Audience Au24 SE+ over the Purist Ultimate by a small margin.Both cables are good and I can see why someone would choose one over the other. I'm not evaluating the other two cables you list. |
I can confuse the heck out of you...I own the Audioquest Diamond, JCAT Reference and have tried for several weeks the Wireworld 7. At first I preferred the Wireworld 7 and after upgrading my amp during that time I flipped to preferring the Audioquest Diamond. The JCAT is not quite in the league of either but closer to the Wireworld 7. I use it in my computer desktop system now, but the Wireworld was ultimately returned to the dealer. My only point is that system synergy is paramount when it comes to cables. |