Cable Shootout: WW PS 7 versus Curious "Evolved" USB

[cardri]

I just finished a shoot out between WW Platinum Silver 7 and Curious “evolved” USB cable; using kapton tape to isolate the USB VCC (N+ to Matrix). Both N+ & Matrix have separate Farad Super3 linear power supplies.

Results - Going from JMaxwell “data only” to Curious “evolved” was a big improvement; tighter low end, better mid-range presence, better sound stage all around. A clear winner.

Results - Going Curious “evolved” to WW PS 7 USB cable - More detail that is smooth, not bright. Deeper sound stage, better micro dynamics. Better musicality, just love that cable in my system. Better tone, just better everything but most of all it was the more detail. So easy to listen to without fatigue. Listening to Jessie Cook and hearing the difference in the low end; fills the music room so naturally. The low end is more musical, better tone, the space is properly (realistically) filled and the bass is so good; excellent extension. The string leading edge has a lot more energy when he is plucking very deliberately starting a flamingo ballad. Better tonal quality with violin, guitar… Jessie Cook “Toy Box” is so good, the bass plucking just went right through me, the resonance and harmonics are so spot on like he was in my music room. Went back and forth and the Curious does not have the bass extension the WW PS 7 has. That WW cable gives me chills with how good the bass sounds. Piano and voices are so realistic. I thought being silver, albeit solid silver, it would sound bright and had zero brightness. This cable was purchased used in good condition and had plenty of hrs burn-in so it sounded great from the jump.

Conclusion - WW PS 7 is better; however, it is not OMG better. If I had a choice, WW PS 7; however, if I had to stay with Curious “evolved” I would be happy too… I had 250hrs on the Curious “evolved” cable.

Next step - So, I got to thinking of testing the SR Sigma USB against the WW PS 7 and getting rid of the Matrix and the support cable and tiny shiny boxes going N+ to DSD. I tried a cheap usb cable from N+ to DSD and it works nice, not as nice as the Matrix; however, it is not an SR Sigma USB cable either. This one I have to think about at $2K for the cable. I will definitely go TCC library to check it out. Going the N+ to DSD I get rid of WW PS 7 USB cable, Matrix, Farad Super3 LPS, SR Delta NR PC, move Nordost V2 HDMI to DMP and lose the HT Magic HDMI cable… definitely worth the audition.

Note - I jumped directly from BII to Matrix and should have tested the N+ directly to DSD (USB) before going with Matrix; a definite mistake in the evolution of my system. In the end I would have probably come to the WW PS 7 usb cable and might have eventually moved to the Matrix. Not sure… just something to think about for those that are looking to move out of the BII… love the Matrix and it sounds amazing, just should have tried the N+ to DSD first since I would be using the same USB cable if I went Matrix… this is a tough call cause the Matrix sounds so good and it has been flawless like my N+… this will be a while, I just want to stop here and enjoy the WW PS 7 usb cable and all that it brings…

[weedeewop]

@cardi:
Glad to hear the WW PS 7 USB works so well in your system.
In my system I found the Curious “Basic” to be very good. When I inserted the WW PS 7 USB I had similar results to yours. The sound stage opened up a little more. Instrument placement was slightly better defined. Cymbals had a nice shimmer but not overly bright. Mid-bass and bass were solid and well defined. The mid-range was very natural, as was the Curious, and there was more space around performers. One thing I did notice was when playing Reference Recordings Trittico and Mephisto & Co. the sound was less congested.

The difference between the Curious and the WW PS 7 USB cables were subtle. On well recorded complex pieces the presentation with the WW was more open and the upper end slightly relaxed in comparison to the Curious.

Clearly the results are specific to my system. However, the results I obtained mirror Cardi’s. Cables were un modified. I’d recommend trying either cable based on budget. As I am satisfied with the WW PS 7 I am not going to do a comparison with the Curious Evolved as originally planned. The results were repeatable with either a PSA DSD (Snowmass 3.06) or Metrum Onyx fed by a Innuos Zenith Mk III.

Music Listened to for the Audition - (CD ripped to Zenith Mk III)
Adam Rupolph/Yusef Lateef Go: Organic Orchestra - Little Tree
Airto’s Killer Bees
Mickey Hart Dafos
Mickey Hart Planet Drum
Reference Recordings Trittico
Reference Recordings Mephisto & Co.
Jennifer Warnes Famous Blue Rain Coat (20th Anniversary Edition)
Holly Cole Don’t Smoke in Bed
Brian Eno Apollo: Atmospheres
Shelly Manne and His Men At The Manne Hole Vol. 2
Nik Bartsch’s Ronin Awase
The Jazz Messengers at The Cafe Bohemia Vol. 2
Eric Dolphy Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions
Anouar Brahem - Souvenance
Fairfield Four Standing in the Safety Zone

[aangen]

I went from Wireworld Silver Starlight 7 to a Platinum Starlight 7 and I was almost upset that I could hear and appreciate a difference. I wanted there to be little or no difference. Oh well, better is better.
Thanks for answering the question - is a Curious Cable better.

[timm]

Wireworld just makes good cables period. I have their eclipse 7 speaker cables - and what a nice sounding cable it is.

[waymanchen11]

I am using the WW PS 7 HDMI. It just sounds so right. Other cables seems to have problems in one area or another, but not the WW. I also am using the WW Platinum Eclipse 7 interconnects, both balance and RCA’s, and they outperform cables like Cardas Clear, MIT Oracle, Tara Lab Zero, Synergistic Galileo, Audioquest Wild Blue Yonder, Acoustic Zen Absolute, and a few other interconnects in my system. I guess my system has synergy with WW. Of course some of these other cables can be mind boggling in some other system, but in mine, the WW just reveal more information with the fewest degradation of the signal. In other words, I here more music without the over brightness and looseness from some these other cables. I also use the WW Platinum Electra 7 with excellent results powering my P12. Outstanding sounding power cord. My brother has the WW Platinum Eclipse 8 which I also tried in my system and they sounded very close to the seven. I could hardly hear any difference. If anything, the 8 is a little smoother and detailed, but you would have to very critical to hear it. Anyway, that’s my experience with WW cables.

[cardri]

I have about 100hrs on the WW PS7 USB and this cable is so sweet. The stage is opening up a bit more. I was listening to some Incubus and the bass, upper detail and sound stage are amazing. I was going get an SR Sigma USB from TCC library and maybe early next year; this cable is just so gorgeous… Zero shine, zero ear fatigue… a cable is great if you lost interest in delving deeper into any more cable shoot outs…

[watchdog507]

I appreciate your efforts to find USB Nirvana. A few years ago I decided to skip the merry go round of USB Cables and I bought a Siltech Classic Anniversary USB. It has silver and gold construction that has a proprietary geometry that’s uncannily silent. It’s proven so good that I haven’t any interest in leaving the Siltech fold. It still retails at $1000USD.

[timm]

Dang. I am so tempted to start the WW interconnect train. Right now I have Aq king cobra from my pre to amp to dac.

[aangen]

Wireworld is the best cure for Audioquest.

[straightwire]

My experience only lies with an HDMI shootout, and the WW Platinum
cable was superior to others I tried. Music seemed more natural without the
upper end bite often associated with silver designs. I hoping not to pay the
$1K for it but I the context of the competition and the results, I ponied up.

[aangen]

I just bought yet another Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 1m USB cable off of eBay for a great price. I do not believe Wireworld has released a version 8 equivalent yet. (I looked at their site first)
I hope I am equally offended by how much obviously better it is than what it will replace as I was the last time. It bothers me that these cables have such a positive effect on the data they carry. Bits are bits, except no, they are not.

[weedeewop]

My experience with it has also been positive. The Curious Cable was quite good but I found the WW to take things to another level (for a price) in a positive way. Glad you are happy with yours as well.

[umiami91]

That overall evaluation of WW makes me feel good and confident with getting a set of their balanced cables. Thanks for the advice.

[aangen]

I have never been sad about any Wireworld Cable I have bought. They sound audibly better every time.

[Somppsa]

I had Curious Evolved usb in my setup for some time and it sounded big,airy and open for sure. Also hollow and lacking body and physical feeling.Tone was off,grey and dull and feeling of realism was not there. No meat on the bones or instruments. Sound was like it was made of pieces here and there, instead of a whole continuos presentation where musicians play together. I felt it was not as good as original yellow label.

Then time for a surprise. I installed usb cable which comes with Matrix x spdif 2 unit. Let it play for a week…whoa. Sound is full of color,texture,being here or there, and excellent PRAT…it´s all there. No downsides I can point out. It let music through in a way it made me forget about analysing it´s sound anymore.

Hands up how many of us Matrix owners even bothered to try that usb? I suggest you do that now

[Narbooty]

It’s all I ever used when I had my matrix. Infact, I kept it when I sold it. I never had anything else to compare against, but I thought my matrix sounded darn good with it

[Somppsa]

That sounds like a good move you did there keeping that usb. It is amazingly good. I found it strange that no one ever mentioned anything about using that usb,though so many have Matrix converter itself in use and huge praises over it.

[Vmax]

That is curious. I have that around somewhere never used it. Did you need a week on it before you liked it? Does it have that ferrite bead looking filter on it? I have been using the inakustik reference USB quite happily. Have you tried that?

[Somppsa]

This one has no ferrite beads or filters. Maybe they ship different usb´s depending what they have at the moment ? Also doesn´t look like that model they sell separately for $99.

It naturally was not as good when I installed it new, but that week is a rough estimate. Surely didn´t take very long to sound good. Give it a few days to open up ,and I am sure you will appreciate it´s character,or lack of it.

Sure, I still own and have tried Inakustik usb at times too. Now it is feeding my pc sound output to Matrix x spdif 2. I like this Matrix usb sound more now from Innuos to DSD. Great match…

[Excelgam]

This is the USB cable that came with my Matrix. Does it look the same as everyone else’s?