I'm very new to computer audio. In fact, still quite ignorant of all of this. My first venture was to get a DACmini from Centrance for my iMac and Audioengine A2 speakers. When on the phone, I asked about USB cables and was told that the ones they use have a very high RI rejection factor and that's about it. These guys are one of the major players in this market (chip design, buffer implementation, Apple and PC consultants, with a long list of manufacturers that wish to remain nameless, not to mention Lavry, Apogee, Benchmark, TI, BB, AKM, etc.)
It seems that proper shielding is of paramount importance. They go on to state that all data coming over a USB cable is in packets and comes in bursts-never in a continuous stream- and as a result you need a really good buffer on the receiving end. It seems it doesn't really matter on which side of the USB cable the clocking is done. I know this is raising a lot of hackles at various sites but I'll take their word for now as this can get real expensive real fast.
By the way, their headphone amp on the DACmini is really sweet.
It seems that proper shielding is of paramount importance. They go on to state that all data coming over a USB cable is in packets and comes in bursts-never in a continuous stream- and as a result you need a really good buffer on the receiving end. It seems it doesn't really matter on which side of the USB cable the clocking is done. I know this is raising a lot of hackles at various sites but I'll take their word for now as this can get real expensive real fast.
By the way, their headphone amp on the DACmini is really sweet.