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Upgrading USB Wireworld Ultraviolet USB Cable

R

ryder

pfm Member
Right folks, let me be clear that I have no interest in claims that there will be no difference with USB cables although I understand that people can post whatever they like. Nevertheless, I would appreciate advice from people who have compared and found some which actually sounded better than few others.

My speaker cables and interconnects are quite decent. The only USB cable that I have is a Wireworld Ultraviolet (Type A to B) which was bundled together free with the Musical Fidelity M1 DAC which I bought many years ago. The USB cable is used to connect the laptop to DAC.

Has anyone upgraded the USB cable and found a noticeable or worthwhile difference? If yes what is the brand of the cables? Price range is irrelevant and can be anything from £2 to say £2,000.
 
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I have an Audioquest Diamond on my shopping list. I was very surprised how much better it is. Worked wonders between my melco and dac.
 
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I have a couple of the Wireworld Ultraviolet USB cables myself and have tried as alternatives -

Supra USB 2.0 - good cable but bass not as firm as the ultraviolet but overall a good budget USB cable.

Chord Company C-USB - found this to be slightly brighter in tone but no better.

I haven’t tried anything significantly more expensive than the Ultraviolet as yet and may do at some point, but in general I really like the Ultraviolet (except that it’s not the most flexible of cables).
 
I have used AQ Carbon, Nordost Blue Heaven and Chord Signature Tuned Aray - clear differences and steps of improvement for me in that order. The AQ and Nordost have their more distinctive characters so may help fine tune your system, the Chord Sig is a very good cable indeed.
 
I went up the ladder from standard usb to Furutech £30 job to a Nordost to a Townsend and ended up with a Chord Sarum Tuned Array. The Chord was £750 (c.10 years ago) but was a major upgrade. It was so much better than the rest, but the Townsend was excellent too with an exceptionally detailed and taught sound...could be a bit lean though.
 
Thetiminator said:
I went up the ladder from standard usb to Furutech £30 job to a Nordost to a Townsend and ended up with a Chord Sarum Tuned Array. The Chord was £750 (c.10 years ago) but was a major upgrade. It was so much better than the rest, but the Townsend was excellent too with an exceptionally detailed and taught sound...could be a bit lean though.
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I found your old post recommending the Chord Sarum TA USB on another thread which I created several years ago. This will be shortlisted alongside Signature TA USB and Curious Evolved.

I also found Hifi Pig's review comparing the Chord Sarum Super Aray USB to the Signature TA USB.

https://hifipig.com/chord-company-signature-tuned-array-usb/
 
A fanless pc with 12v battery using a pico and a decent linear power supply will do more for your digital transport.

I have a PPang USB cable and Total dac and gothic audio(silver).

Don't forget regenerator like Intona.

All worth considering depending on how deep you want to go.
 
Gents, an update. I just picked up the Tellurium Q Ultra Silver USB and am happy to report that it's an improvement over Wireworld Ultraviolet which I have been using all this while. In simplest choice of words, improvements include reduced smearing and digital nasties especially in the treble and reduced hardness. As a result music sounds more real, sounding more analog than digital. Overall better clarity and refinement and cleaner sound. I picked this over Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 as I just wanted to try the Tellurium.

At this level ie. Tellurium Q Ultra Silver vs Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 etc., I presume differences between good USB cables would be subtle and it will be a matter of taste and preference which cable will work or sound better. Happy with this final cable upgrade which completes the system. I'm finally done with cables, and the system.

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I still use a Belkin. Tried others including an Audioquest Diamond but wasn’t sure if there was a definite difference. I might try the Amazon Basics as their interconnect range was a pleasant surprise. Used to buy expensive cables but can’t get excited about them now. Spent too much time reading debates on here and have been corrupted.
 
tonerei said:
A fanless pc with 12v battery using a pico and a decent linear power supply will do more for your digital transport.

I have a PPang USB cable and Total dac and gothic audio(silver).

Don't forget regenerator like Intona.

All worth considering depending on how deep you want to go.
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This is very good advice. A good custom made transport can trounce any mainstream effort. But be warned there are so many pieces to the puzzle that do make very noticeable improvements.....my transport ended up becoming a 9 box affair :rolleyes:
 
Thetiminator said:
This is very good advice. A good custom made transport can trounce any mainstream effort. But be warned there are so many pieces to the puzzle that do make very noticeable improvements.....my transport ended up becoming a 9 box affair :rolleyes:
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Thanks I should have edited that post the Intona is an isolator not a regenerator. Info as per intona site " This product is an ideal solution to break ground loops, avoid noise coupling and protect ports from power surges and voltage spikes in applications which require high speed USB transfers. The galvanic isolation barrier withstands potential difference up to 2,500VRMS. There is no capacitive coupling."

For regenerating Uptone audio or John Kenny's products are examples. Maybe IFI do something haven't checked though
 
I’ve also heard remarkable benefits from opto-isolation. £50-100 worth of USB-optical-USB converters can bring some really worthwhile improvements.
 
Right folks, the differences are marked. Rather noticeable improvement, not a subtle one.

For a more accurate assessment, I figured out I need to carry out a more methodological approach with the listening by swapping the cables between each track. So I listened to a complete track with the Wireworld Ultraviolet and upon completion I switched to the Tellurium Q Ultra Silver and listened to the same track at the same volume. I was prepared to do a 3rd switch back to the Wireworld in case I didn’t hear a difference but there wasn’t any need to do so as the difference is very noticeable.

Music used is David Benoit’s “Drive Time” which is a random selection.

The differences. With the Wireworld Ultraviolet, music sounds good and I still tap my feet to the beat. Once I switched to the Tellurium Q Ultra Silver, I realised the Wireworld lacks the control from top to bottom. The bass sounds big but loose and smeared. Sound of instruments such as piano, saxophone and trumpet is slightly louder and 1 or 2 rows in front. With the Tellurium, everything sounds more controlled. Bass sounds more defined and textured with reduced smearing. Sound of instruments sound slightly softer and 1 or 2 rows behind. The tone of piano is more controlled with shorter decay and sustain times which may have contributed to a cleaner sound.

In summary, the Tellurium cable brought better control and refinement to the sound with an overall cleaner presentation. With the Wireworld, music sounds “messier” with higher levels of smearing especially in the bass and instruments sound slightly larger, airier and louder than they should.

I would recommend trying a better USB cable to connect the laptop or computer to the DAC if anyone is still using some cheap off-the-shelf USB cables, or the Wireworld Ultraviolet.
 
Del monaco said:
I still use a Belkin. Tried others including an Audioquest Diamond but wasn’t sure if there was a definite difference. I might try the Amazon Basics as their interconnect range was a pleasant surprise. Used to buy expensive cables but can’t get excited about them now. Spent too much time reading debates on here and have been corrupted.
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There's no need to debate. We all have different gear and ears and our own experiences. I too hate expensive cables but so far I'm satisfied with the outcome. Although there might be better cables out there, I'm done with the cables and won't be trying other alternatives anymore. This first USB cable upgrade has been a positive one for me.
 
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