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USB printer cable VS USB audiophile grade cable?

I have converted to PC audio about 2 years ago and enjoying the hobby. I recently upgraded my DAC from a Benchmark DAC1 HDR to a DAC2 HGC mainly to download DSD files. I am now using a 'regular' 12 ft. Belden USB printer cable purchased at Office Depot which sounds great. The Benchmark uses asynchronous clocking system to re-clock incoming bytes from the PC.

I just purchased an audiophile grade USB cable (Furutech GT2 Pro-USB). To my great surprise, this Furutech cable just trounced the printer cable. Noise level is down, music micro-details are popping up and bass goes down much lower. I've listened to some of my older CD's which I am pretty familiar with and hearing details I never heard previously. So it has nothing to do with jitter, since the Benchmark is handling it. The 'bits are bits' theory, which I subscribed to has some cracks to it...

Before I purchased this cable, I was of the opinion that the only sonical gain I would get would be better immunity to EMI/RFI since the Furutech has greater isolation. However, this purchase turned out to be of much greater sonical value for about $300.

I am perplexed and very happy at the same time :-)

What is going on?
128x128dasign
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,366 posts
 
Yes I agree the USB cable makes a difference. I bought an Audioquest Diamond USB a while back to replace a ridge street audio cord and the Audioquest cable tuned things in just that much more to my liking. I wouldn't call it night and day difference but certainly one that I didn't want to give up either. I have another DAC I use in a recording studio situation and that uses Firewire and I've been thinking of trying the Diamond Firewire cable for that and see what improvements that can bring me.
vhiner
544 posts
 
When it comes to playing back digital music files, everything matters. If you
have a system resolving enough to re-create the natural micro-details that
convey musicality, you will easily hear the difference between standard
USB data cables and well-designed audiophile grade cables. The best I
have heard so far are the brand new versions of Shunyata's Venom USB
and the Chord Company's Signature Tuned Array USB. They both get
much closer to S/PDIF and AES/EBU performance than any stock USB I
have ever tried. Both companies' websites do a decent job of explaining
their approaches to this interface.
lewinskih01
907 posts
 
While I haven't tried different audio grade USB cables, their impact on sound is well documented by users on other fora. exaSound might be the exception and their DACs indeed neutralize what is going on upstream - be it at the computer or the cable - by using a buffer inside the DAC from where data is retrieved exactly at the DAC's clock pace.
dasign's avatar
dasign OP
201 posts
 
Lewinskih01,

True for synchronous older DACs, better USB cable will not contribute to additional jitter from incoming PC. However, the majority of newer DACs like Benchmark DAC2 HGC and probably exaSound which you mentionned, use asynchronous clocking device which get rid of jitter from incoming PC. The audio impact of USB cables is not well that documented IMHO, for these asynchronous DACs which are more recent. The majority of USB cable reviews that I've seen in audio trade magazines are 2-3 years old, and performed on sychronous DACs variety.

So I am suggesting that jitter is not part of the equation here when using asynchronous DACs. The audiophile variety of USB cables are doing something rigth to the incoming streaming data, but at which level exactly?

The audio improvement is very noticeable, very similar to replacing a middle range to top of the line interconnect from same manufacturer line.

Any suggestions?
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