USB Cable Testing


I'm curious about what you guys think of getting rid of the conductivity of the USB cable shield.  I've developed a line of audio grade USB cables, called DaBigGenius(TM), with the exterior shield current carrying capability disrupted.

My life has been all about computers, I'm a software expert and have worked in technology for 17 years, and I have no idea why that exterior metal fitting, really it's just a fitting, why it would be a good idea for that to carry current.  It invites interference into the DAC.

I've contacted a leading industrial manufacturer of computer parts, they make certified 2.0 USB cables and then I contacted a very large audio USB cable maker.  The industrial manufacturer says their cables don't electrify the fittings.  But the audio USB cable maker said all of their cables are electrified.

These are interesting perspectives.  My thoughts on it are that some audio manufacturers don't really understand computers that well, why else would they overlook exterior fittings being conductive?

The long and short of it, to me anyway, is that you don't want to give interference and dirty USB power additional avenues to infiltrate your DAC.

There's more on the site, including a video:  http://usbdisruptor.com/dabiggenius-audiophile-usb-cable/
robpriore
Grounded shield is more effective against EMI (skin effect). At higher frequencies it is better to ground shield at both ends. USB power is dirty to start with, with or without a shield, and should not be used. EMI induced current in the shield has to return to ground or shielding will be compromised. There might be some noise induced into twisted pair carrying signal but most of it will be rejected being common mode. It doesn’t really matter, as long as noise is not big enough to flip bits, since asynchronous USB transfer is just a data without timing and therefore without jitter.