Well, i have completed my audio USB cord testing, results here.

[J-Dawg]

Long time reader, first time poster. Thought I would post this in case anyone wanted to know. Have done the extensive testing here. I took a free generic USB A to B cord I took from my young teenager, which didn't even have a regular B end, but an attachment that would connect one, so it had an extra connection on it the other USB cords would not.

I then ordered 2 very expensive USB "audio" cables over the internet, very familiar names that people invest largely in & frequently think/say are well worth it. So the question is, are they?

I then conducted, with the help of another, blind listening tests- both with headphones and without. With direct boxes/audio interfaces and without. Finally, connected to a large PA system in a gymnasium and home stereo systems in living rooms. I did about all the switching and different ways to test as i could think of.

What do the final results say? That it matters........

NONE WHATSOEVER, when it comes to what USB cable you use. Matter of fact, my ears tended to think the free crappy USB cord actually sounded better! haha

Now sure, might these "expensive" cables be a bit better constructed and better quality? Sure, but that is maybe worth an extra $5, certainly not hundreds or even thousands.

Save your money on this one folks. It really is blinker fluid.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

99.99% Agree, but there are exceptions to this rule (rare and one must really try hard to find such shitty cable)
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2014/01/demo-measurements-what-does-bad-usb-or.html
But all other cases your findings confirm many others before that:
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2013/04/measurements-usb-cables-for-dacs.html

 

[Johnny2Bad]

A poor quality USB cable (or any digital cable) can definitely affect the integrity of a digital transmission. All digital transmission is an analog signal and is subject to the same issues any transmission interface is subject to, in this case introducing jitter and other transmission errors.

Once you use a properly constructed digital interface cable, there should be no issues and therefore no differences in transmission integrity. Assuming the "boutique" cable is competently made, it should work fine; any two properly made examples should be indistinguishable.

Your results are as expected, although the "crappy" cable should not have sounded better, assuming it was indeed "crappy", or even merely competently made. I would suggest further listening between one of the boutique cables (pick one) and the mundane example, to confirm if there indeed was any difference.

I'm not sure using the PA system was necessary, it's unlikely to reveal any differences even if they do exist, as they typically are subtle.

The only questions I would have is what was the length of USB cable(s) you auditioned, and what exact equipment you used in the home system.

Jitter caused by poor USB cable (160GHz 'scope image): Waveform shows digital data that should cross the zero crossing point and represent the opposite bit but fail to do so due to jitter caused by a deliberate interference introduced on the cable by placing it too close to a source of interference (another cable). Not shown: Same data with a properly constructed cable (nothing to see, just a good digital waveform without zero crossing errors).