"transport and interconnect jitter will be out of the picture in the async USB case. Where am I wrong?"
You are not wrong. I have done several async designs, some even with FIFO reclockers isolating the USB and the output. There are still cable effects. Doesn't make technical sense, but there you have it. Ask Gordon of Wavelength or Hansen of Ayre. Same thing. It happens and we dont know why. We can speculate on mechanisms, but noone has the answer yet to my knowledge.
The effect is undoubtedly lower than with Adaptive mode interfaces, but it is evidently still there to some extent in most systems.
I find in my system that the effect is so small that I dont bother with expensive USB cables anymore.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio
