I had a wywire cord laying around, so I used that with no noticeable upgrade in performance on the DAC. There's a 2m for sale on flee bay & I can reterminated it for my needs. Why? cause I can...
USB cable recommendations
I recently purchased the Bricasti M3 for my system & am looking to upgrade my A-B USB cable. I currently have 2 USB cables that I used with my prior DAC (Qutest), a Cardas Clear that I preferred with my Qutest & an XLO ultra plus that I far prefer with my M3. It is OCC copper & actually sounds very good, but wondering if I can do better.
My target price is around $500 used, certainly willing to do less & willing to do more for the ’right’ cable. I am looking for a cable that is absolutely neutral.
I actually tried to buy an AQ diamond used yesterday, but was 2 hours late. Not sure if it was the right choice, but it was a great price & could resell if not right.
My virtual system is available, but my digital side is: Aurender N150 > XLO ultra+ > Bricasti M3 > Zavfino Arcadia > PSAudio BHK w/tele medical NOS tubes > Zavfino Fusion mk2 > SimAudio Moon 330A > Transparent + gen 5 > KEF Reference 3’s.
Please let me know your thoughts and/or recommendations. Thanks!
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@danmar123 i have a Stream1 with the separate USB Phoenix reclocker in my dining room system (also with an LTA Aero, and a Coda CSib v2 integrated with JA Perspective Graphene speakers). The Aero is happy with the USB feed in that set up. LTA does say that the Aero is designed to excel with either USB or SPIDF, and to my ears, that has been essentially true. I use an LTA LPS+ for the Stream1. That seemed to help a bit; not a night & day difference. My USB on that is Veritas Audax from Phoenix to Aero and DH Labs Mirage from Stream1 to Phoenix. Not surprisingly, that performs better (especially in terms of PRAT) than the stock Innuos cable and a TODN. @fthompson251 when i had the N200, i tried both USB and coax/spidf. I preferred SPIDF slightly. With the N20, i have not tried USB, but if you believe Aurender (and various commenters), you would not expect USB to be better. I’ll say, though, beyond the better clock, the N20 has the better power supply and overall construction, and that does improve soundstage and noise floor. Presumably, those benefits would still be present via USB. In any event the improvement is noticeable, but by no means major. The N200 is a reality fine streamer and very synergistic with the Aero. (Finding tubes whose sound I liked was a bigger improvement than the move from N200 to N20, but the combined effect of the two is really, really nice.) |
@kirkwallace I have the Audience Front Row USB & the XLR’s in my setup. Very happy with my WIMM Utra. I’m sure the Pulsar will be a huge step forward, & with @audphile1 power cord suggestion, I can put this to bed. (rabbit hole) |
@danmar123 yes. I’m sure you’ll be very pleased. |
@danmar123 Congrats on the Pulsar! I added one last year to my Innuos streaming system. I'm now using my Zen Mk3 as a server only, while the Pulsar functions as an Innuos Endpoint. The Pulsar has been a wonderful upgrade for streaming, with particular effects on transparency and on bass extension and impact. The Innuos Sense app is fantastic! Not long ago, I did a comparison among several power cords from Cardas, Snake River Audio, and Shunyata. I was looking to upgrade cords for my preamp, DAC, and streamer. The winner in my system was the Shunyata Alpha-X NR, which is what is powering my Pulsar now. I'm not sure what your price range is for cables, but the Alpha-X is significantly more expensive than the Kimber PK14 mentioned by @audphile1. My only advice would be to try several power cables in your system - they can make a significant difference when using an Innuos Pulsar. |
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