usb lead

[wee tee cee]

I found a blind test with my mf m1 dac the usb straight into the lap top sounds better to my ears than the squeeze box duet on either a glass optical or co-ax.I am running a belkin pro 5m cable enabling me to sit the lap top next to my listening position.Both of the afore mentioned connections sound great but introduce an element of sibilance that grates with me.Anybody able to recommend a high quality usb a-b in a 5m length.

[Butuz]

Yes the one you already have.

Butuz

[technobear]

If you want to try an audiophile approved cable then I would suggest the Kimber USB. You can get it from Russ Andrews and if it doesn't outperform the Belkin then you can return it for a refund. The Kimber packaging opens easily without damage.

[Tim]

Personally I think 5M is too long for a USB connection and when I have tried this the quality of sound has suffered and I experienced some buffering issues on occasion. Admittedly it wasn't a high quality cable, but I now don't go over 1M.

[roob]

I was listening to a prototype usb interface at Chevron Audio a couple of weeks ago and it suffered buffering/stuttering with a 5m usb cable from it into the laptop, changing to a 1m cable cured the problem.

[Reid Malenfant]

<snip> Personally I think 5M is too long for a USB connection
I'm not 100% sure about this but i think you'll find the the specs for USB state that 5M is the maximum length allowed for in the design specs, no wonder audio quality suffered ;)

[technobear]

Personally I think 5M is too long for a USB connection and when I have tried this the quality of sound has suffered and I experienced some buffering issues on occasion. Admittedly it wasn't a high quality cable, but I now don't go over 1M.

Precisely!

With a suitably high quality cable it's actually possible to go beyond the 5m limit.

[Ergoline]

If you want to try an audiophile approved cable then I would suggest the Kimber USB. You can get it from Russ Andrews and if it doesn't outperform the Belkin then you can return it for a refund. The Kimber packaging opens easily without damage.

I'll give this a potential thumbs up as well. A friend runs the entry level Kimber USB cable into his Benchmark DAC1 Pre. He says it's a little smoother than his generic cheapie. I haven't heard them A/B and also my impression relies on sonic memory of cables heard weeks apart so I have no opinion. It's fairly inexpensive and seems to have a good rep though.

[WAD62]

Another potential option would be to use an asynchronous USB to SPDIF/TOSLINK converter, obviously there are better and worse depending on what you're prepared to pay. Something like a VLINK or Hiface...

Perhaps at that length (5M) TOSLINK might be the way to go, and it would provide better 'electrical' isolation (there's probably a better term for this help me out chaps).

This suggestion is based on the assumption that the M1 DAC's USB connection is not asynchronous, and from what I can gather it isn't, apologies if I've got this wrong. ;)

[Mark Grant]

it would provide better 'electrical' isolation (there's probably a better term for this help me out chaps).


Galvanic isolation, sounds posh :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_isolation

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[WAD62]

Galvanic isolation, sounds posh :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_isolation

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...there you go, cheers Mark ;)

I need more coffee :)