Quote Originally Posted by Bigman80 View Post
Managed to get a hold of a banger laptop on loan. Installed the drivers and threw the cheapest USB cable in the world at it.

It works and sounds better than it has any right to. Loses out a bit to the CDP in resolution and soundstage, probably due to the cable but, it's good enough for me to delve further into a good quality USB cable and see where that leaves me.
I would get a Lindy cable, as they are guaranteed to be properly in spec and are very cheap compared to ‘audiophile’ cables.

Also, is your computer set up for ASIO or WASAPI? This can make the differences that you are hearing with either one bringing more clarity and focus, and no resampling by Windows.