Help me choose a USB cable

[Davkj]

Is an Audioquest Forest a decent entry cable @ $35?

For about $10 more I would suggest the Supra USB cable. It has received some very good reviews in the UK and the computer audio forums. I prefer it to my Audioquest Carbon which was over 2x the cost.

FWIW, here are some USB cable ratings from Martin Colloms. (higher numbers are better)
Colloms Sound Quality Ratings: Interconnect Cables - hificritic.com

Audioquest Diamond USB 75
Audioquest Carbon USB 1.5m , 5metre 67, 35
Cardas Clear USB 47
Chord Silverplus 5m USB coiled 70, uncoiled 90
Furutech GT-2 USB 82
Kimber USB-Ag Blue 80
Kimber 'USB' 73
Supra USB 2m 70
QED Graphite USB 3m , 1m 36, 40
Wireworld Platinum Starlight USB 70

 

[Steve]

Have a look at the iFi USB solutions. :thumbsup:

Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 also.

 

[bzr]

Steve, do you rate the iFi usb as good as the WWP7 or better?

 

[Mechnutt]

Is an Audioquest Forest a decent entry cable @ $35?

I have read that some people prefer the AQ Forrest and Cinnamon over the more expensive AQ Carbon. A guy on the AC forum did a shoot out of USB cables under $150 and the inexpensive Belkin held its own. I believe he liked the WW Starlight 7 the best but the differences were minimal according to him.

I have been very impressed by the WW Platinum 7 so far.

 

[johndoe21ro]

I guess I'm the only one to defend AudioQuest's honour... I find the Diamond USB cable to be simply stunning, way better than Coffee and far better than Wireworld Starlight! I also recommend using the shortest length possible. In my case this was 0.75m. The longer it is, the worse it sounds!

 

[Steve]

Steve, do you rate the iFi usb as good as the WWP7 or better?

I think their split USB cable (Gemini) into their iUSBPower+ iPower device plus the USB Mercury is right up there, yes.

I am still experimenting with combinations.

I will be buying more iPower devices which use noise cancelling technology on power. These seem to be as good as a conventional linear PSU.

 

[Yash]

For about $10 more I would suggest the Supra USB cable.

Heard some very good feedback about the Supra - they pay particular attention to proper impedance according to USB Specs.

Others you could consider: iFi Gemini (affordable), AQVOX, TotalDAC USB cable (less affordable), LightHarmonic (too expensive to but for me at that point, so I built my own).

 

[Shadowfax]

So I decided to try the Audioquest Cinnamon USB Cable and it arrived yesterday. By the time I got to listen I could only do so at low volume. Without listening to the original cable first, I dropped the AQC in between Laptop and cheapy Fubar DAC. I played some 320 MP3s and some FLAC files and listened for a while. Sound was good, decent bass and all the rest. I then dropped the generic USB cable that in that came with the Fubar DAC and listened to some of the same music but had a real hard time trying to tell if anything was better, worse, or different.

I need to spend more time playing around at more normal volume to see if it was worth the $65 or if the little Fubar just isn't a good enough DAC to show the cable differences.