Does the Quality of the USB cable matter?

You will get different responses from different camps on whether cables make any difference. I hear a difference in USB cables. It's not as dramatic as other types of cables but it's enough, for me, to justify the extra cost.

I, too, use a 5 meter length of USB which is considered a no-no (conventional wisdom dictates nothing more than 3 meters) and I get fabulous sound from my computer, and I run another 15 feet of ICs to my stereo system with no attendant loss. I've tried all possible variations (running either USB or ICs diagonally across my room which kept the USB or IC to connect to my system to one meter) and it made no difference.

Something like a WireWorld Starlight USB would be among the cheapest you can use that is of sufficient quality. It's what I use.

All the best,
Nonoise

There's been so much discussion about 'it being only 1s and 0s' here and on other sites. It's true if all you're doing is faxing a document or printing a photo but music is much more complicated, not to mention the many and varied platforms that it's played from, the implementation, etc. On a highly resolving system, I propose that anyone can hear the difference. If one keeps to one's beliefs and limits their exposure to what's possible, then they are entitled to what they believe. They just shouldn't be so dogmatic about it when dealing with others. Sorry to hear about your experience at that other site.

All the best,
Nonoise