Is that what he said?
£45 USB cable?
- Thread starter aquapiranha
- Start date
sq225917
Bit of this, bit of that
Do keep up, that's a coil, not a wire. Suggest you go and read up on the differences.
Darth Vader
From the Dark Side
It depends what you want that coil to do. A coil is just a neat way to take a long wire so that it occupies a much shorter length.
If you had taken GCSE Physics you would have covered the effects of electricity through a wire.
Take for example an aerial - a straight piece of wire but it is one of many secondary of the Xformer at the transmitter - also a straight piece of wire.
At UHF coupling xformers are often parallel pieces of 'wire' etched onto a circuit board.
Cheers,
DV
Prowla
This might be possible but very unlikely. It would mean that the dacs input was poorly isolated. It is unlikely in the extreme that this might be remedied by using a boutique usb cable. Those are for idiots.
Louballoo
dave
Plywood King
Granted a coil is at the end of the wire but it's all about movement (vibration) and what generates it either way.
What would you suggest explains the difference in sound when a PCB populated with solid state devices is simply decoupled a bit from its mounting in a case?
Let me guess...dead white guys with lab coats from eighty years ago couldn't explain it so this is imagined as well.
Darth Vader
From the Dark Side
I think that we are at x purposes. USB makes faff all difference as its digital. Analogue is what I am discussing.
But .....
Cheers,
DV
aquapiranha
pfm Member
So called experts on here and elsewhere have been trying to prove there is an effect for years without a single shred of evidence found that there is any at all. Manufacturers have been peddling rubbish for years claiming all kinds of magical properties without a single shred of evidence. There must have been hundreds of blind tests where no one could hear a difference yet when some can see the nice thick expensive wires with high price tags suddenly a veil is lifted.
More fool those weak enough to fall for marketing hype. It doesn't surprise me that fans of naim fall for it as they have been literally buying into it for years.
Which belief are you talking about - is it:
(a) the belief that cables can affect sound, or
(b) the belief that cables cannot affect sound?
Darth Vader
From the Dark Side
Incidentally cables do matter but to what degree.
I ask can I get a poorer performance (in general) by changing the cable. The answer is yes. For example just try swapping out your NACA5 (or wot eva cable you av) for lighting twin flex that used to be standard issue with speakers years ago. You'll definitely notice a difference unless you have a crap system!
Digital cables matter as we discovered years ago with mainframe hard drives that had long bundles of cable between the boxes. Two identical cables from the same supplier but one worked correctly and the other didn't. So we had to test those cables before installation and I wrote the software that 'stressed' those cables.
So the opposite can cables get a better performance must also be true. I would say its a matter of degree. Its relatively easy (at low cost) today with our modern technology to dramatically improve performance compared to years ago.
Cheers,
DV
PS Getting on for 20 years ago a chap proudly showed me his 10B2 Ethernet network. Close to his repeaters and server was a tight loop of 10B2 cable. I told him that the loop was too tight a radius and he scoffed as it had been working fine for a few months. So I told him what I thought was happening inside the cable and what was happening to the Ethernet traffic and what would eventually happen. He laffed. Around two weeks later his network went down on a Sunday (big project with a 7 day week). He tried everything but couldn't get the network up. He then remembered our chat and replaced that single piece of cable. He called me at home to thank me. Oh and I got a LOT more consultancy work afterwards.
I ask can I get a poorer performance (in general) by changing the cable. The answer is yes. For example just try swapping out your NACA5 (or wot eva cable you av) for lighting twin flex that used to be standard issue with speakers years ago. You'll definitely notice a difference unless you have a crap system!
Digital cables matter as we discovered years ago with mainframe hard drives that had long bundles of cable between the boxes. Two identical cables from the same supplier but one worked correctly and the other didn't. So we had to test those cables before installation and I wrote the software that 'stressed' those cables.
So the opposite can cables get a better performance must also be true. I would say its a matter of degree. Its relatively easy (at low cost) today with our modern technology to dramatically improve performance compared to years ago.
Cheers,
DV
PS Getting on for 20 years ago a chap proudly showed me his 10B2 Ethernet network. Close to his repeaters and server was a tight loop of 10B2 cable. I told him that the loop was too tight a radius and he scoffed as it had been working fine for a few months. So I told him what I thought was happening inside the cable and what was happening to the Ethernet traffic and what would eventually happen. He laffed. Around two weeks later his network went down on a Sunday (big project with a 7 day week). He tried everything but couldn't get the network up. He then remembered our chat and replaced that single piece of cable. He called me at home to thank me. Oh and I got a LOT more consultancy work afterwards.
Robert
Tapehead
Modern technology has nothing to do with it where cables are concerned.
What matters are the things that have been understood for many years, i.e. the basic cable characteristics. In the example of NACA5 5 v thin lamp chord, the only significant difference at audio frequencies is loop resistance. If you used double or triple runs of lamp flex it would sound no different to NACA5.
Similarly, those who like the effect of very thin cables can save themselves the expense of changing cable by simply inserting a cheap series resistor.
No magic, and no need to spend more than a few pounds to get transparent cable links.
dave
Plywood King
So called experts on here and elsewhere have been trying to prove there is an effect for years without a single shred of evidence found that there is any at all. Manufacturers have been peddling rubbish for years claiming all kinds of magical properties without a single shred of evidence. There must have been hundreds of blind tests where no one could hear a difference yet when some can see the nice thick expensive wires with high price tags suddenly a veil is lifted.
More fool those weak enough to fall for marketing hype. It doesn't surprise me that fans of naim fall for it as they have been literally buying into it for years.
The only claims of expertise I've seen on here are by a few junior scientists who believe if it can't be measured, it can't exist. The rest of us use our ears and pick what sounds best....often the cheaper product.
As for the gullibility of falling for marketing... I wouldn't worry about it. In the real world where folks make purchases including audio equipment - if the product doesn't live up to its claim, folks get a refund or sell it. No one is fooled.
Steven Toy
Accuphase newbie
Most of the stoning (scorn, ridicule, absolutism) comes from the objectivist they are all the same until you can prove otherwise and even then.... camp.
aquapiranha
pfm Member
And yet despite all of the tests carried out, there is not one singe instance of people being able to tell the difference when they cannot see which cable is in place. Not one. Ever. Never in the history of audio, despite claims by manufacturers (who say they spend thousands developing these cables) has anyone proved they can tell the difference.
Anyway, we are talking here about a USB cable, one that carries data, 1's and 0's, not an 'audio' signal in the true sense and yet there are those who claim they can hear a difference? I wonder how many could under blind conditions.
That is a bit simplistic, IMHO, as at a minimum it assumes that the USB cable only carries those 1's and 0's.
