USB Cables: beginning the rabbit hole

@dvvilkins Save your money, if the cable does not have physical defects, there will be no difference whatsoever in the sound quality. There well might be some difference how flexible it is or how pretty it is but if the upgrade is for sound quality take the 500 bucks and use that as a starter fund for speaker upgrades. Nearly all of use would get more SQ improvement from a speaker upgrade than from any electronics change unless there is something truly inferior and unsatisfactory in the chain, i.e. the current amplifier has to little power to adequately drive your speakers or the speakers you decided to buy...but other than that, upgrading speakers makes a lot more sense sound wise. And the second part of the question, ’is break in required?’ and the answer to that question is no. If no physical changes occur when you first starting using a new item, then no break in is required. Solid state amps don’t materially change when you start using them so no break in is required. Tube amps sort of break in though I would not use that terminology to describe what happens. Tubes, because of their filaments will ’settle in to a stabilized state’ after the first few hours of operation from brand new. The tubes then remain relatively constant in terms of performance for the rest of their useful life. Speakers do require some exercise to get to their stable point from brand new as the spider assemblies relax slightly, normally helping low frequency extension. The change is measurable in many cases. But solid state electronics is normally rock solid stable from the get-go. No break in required. Same goes for cables.

I see no reason to engage further with @soix due to him obviously being a legend in his own mind. I will add one thing to my original post, as long as the cable you are using for USB service can pass the bandwidth of data being transmitted, its all about the bits. If the cable has the required bandwidth then you gain nothing by spending more other than perhaps physical appearance and possibly durability. Other than that, its a wash. But its a free world (sort of) and you can spend your hard earned money however you wish. Choose carefully grasshopper.