Senior Member
Location: Kingsbury, NW London
Posts: 1,232
I'm Clive.
When is USB NOT USB?
Having read numerous articles about USB cables I’m a little confused. It appears that unless a USB cable has the 3 prong symbol on it, the cable does not comply to the USB 2.0 specification.
As most USB cables for us Audiophiles do not have the symbol what does this mean to us, if anything.
e.g. most Audioquest, Furutech, Nordost etc. do and most Atlas, Chord and Tellurium Q cables don’t.
Is this an issue we should concern ourselves about?
SOURCE:OPPO UDP-205 BluRay, SkyQ, Technics SL1210M5G/HexMat Eclipse/MN Bearing/Origin Live Gravity One puck/Isonoes with Boots/Jelco TK-850S Tonearm/Hana Umami Blue, PS Audio Stellar Phonostage. I also have an AT-OC9XSH as a spare cartridge.
AMPLIFIER: Bryston BR-20 Pre/DAC/Streamer & Bryston 4B3 Power Amplifier
SPEAKERS: Spendor D7 on Iso-Acoustics Gaia III’s
HEADPHONES: OPPO PM-1 with Atlas Zeno cable, B&W Pi7 S2 and B&W C5 v2.
CABLES: Analogue: Speaker Atlas Mavros Grun. Interconnect - Atlas Mavros XLR x3, MCRU Silver Tonearm cable
Digital:Audioquest Carbon Ethernet x 4, Audioquest Carbon digital, English Electric 8Switch, Chord Optichord, Atlas Optical.
Mains: PS Audio Perfectwave AC-05 x 5, Isol-8 Powerline Extreme with Quantum Science yellow fuse on input cable, Sounds Fantastic 6way Mains Blocks.
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Senior Member
Location: Worcestershire, UK
Posts: 1,101
I'm Rob.
Would the USB specification be of help: https://www.usb.org/document-library...-specification
Rob.
Powered by crossed fingers and clenched buttocks
Senior Member
Location: Kingsbury, NW London
Posts: 1,232
I'm Clive.
No, not really. My point is that many makers don’t seem to be in spec., so are they being cheeky saying they make and sell USB cables when they don’t comply. If the cable does not have the correct impedance, that will effect SQ.
SOURCE:OPPO UDP-205 BluRay, SkyQ, Technics SL1210M5G/HexMat Eclipse/MN Bearing/Origin Live Gravity One puck/Isonoes with Boots/Jelco TK-850S Tonearm/Hana Umami Blue, PS Audio Stellar Phonostage. I also have an AT-OC9XSH as a spare cartridge.
AMPLIFIER: Bryston BR-20 Pre/DAC/Streamer & Bryston 4B3 Power Amplifier
SPEAKERS: Spendor D7 on Iso-Acoustics Gaia III’s
HEADPHONES: OPPO PM-1 with Atlas Zeno cable, B&W Pi7 S2 and B&W C5 v2.
CABLES: Analogue: Speaker Atlas Mavros Grun. Interconnect - Atlas Mavros XLR x3, MCRU Silver Tonearm cable
Digital:Audioquest Carbon Ethernet x 4, Audioquest Carbon digital, English Electric 8Switch, Chord Optichord, Atlas Optical.
Mains: PS Audio Perfectwave AC-05 x 5, Isol-8 Powerline Extreme with Quantum Science yellow fuse on input cable, Sounds Fantastic 6way Mains Blocks.
STORAGE: Synology DS216J NAS with 2 x 3Tb WD Red hard-drives. Samsung 500Gb SSD.
TV LG55B7 OLED
Drunken Moderator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 37,886
I'm Martin.
Just because they don't put the little symbol on them doesn't mean they are not in spec. Same with the 'CE' symbol, just because something doesn't have it doesn't mean that it doesn't comply.
Plus I don't see what is stopping anyone from putting the USB symbol on a non-compliant cable. These things aren't policed in any effective way.
The solution would seem to be to buy one that has been tested and is known to comply, regardless of whether it has the symbol or not. I'll bet a lot of the 'audiophile' offerings are just tat from China dressed up and sold for a ten times mark-up. Probably never been tested to see what impedance they have,
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Co-Founder/Administrator
Location: Norfolk, UK
Posts: 6,209
I'm BigBobJoylove.
No. If the cable works then all is good, and chances that the manufacturers named would produce a cable that doesn’t meet spec is highly unlikely.Originally Posted by Clive197
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