@dawkinsj - thanks… I have about 6 cables I am testing and in the end there is going to be fall out as winner takes all. I have to time the SGC purchase so that I can listen for at least 2-3 weeks so I don’t blow the 30day return policy and be fair to that cable.
Correct SGC, was trying to multi-task. The Inakustik has been on my radar too so interested in hearing how it all turns out.
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@dawkinsj - all good, just getting it right. I will load this one on the back end with a month window. The Curious “evolved” is opening up nice. Still have a few weeks on the burn in… This is going to take till Christmas; however, thanks for the additional cable I’ll add to the party
The Curious Evolved is a great cable. Good bass definition and lots of “air”. Midrange is a little recessed in comparison to other cables that I have but there’s no “right” or “wrong” to this. A very relaxing USB cable that is nice and musical.
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Inakustik has some interesting power and speaker cables. The air separated blocks. A weave design not unlike the Iconoclast. They are somewhat mum on their copper but sounds like they have strict controls on the Referenz series metallurgy. I have a ethernet cord coming from Germany. Its design looks like the 7A stuff I use from Certicable.
I think you will be surprised at how the USB performs for the price. Jay at Audio Bacon has requested some of their Digital Cords for trial. I trust his opinions at least how he described Iconoclasts offerings. They mirrored my experiences.
@Somppsa runs some Inakustik.
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@Vmax - all good and we’ll see about the SQ. Sami has discussed his cables and system with me versus going Iconoclast IC and speaker cables. This is about sharing and I appreciate the insight. Not a fan of massive superlatives with very little design and material insight. However, some companies roll that way. In the end it is about SQ.
I built my 75ft Ethernet CAT7 from router in great room to music room through attic with Certicable and Telagartner connectors. I’m also using AQVOX CAT7 very short (25cm & 50cm) cables from AQVOX-SE to Giga FOIL filter and to N+.
My streaming sounds better than my DMP for sure. Nice listening to Qobuz that sounds great. However, being an SQ whore, always looking for better. This USB selection will play out nicely; however, really interested in the WW Platinum HDMI going head to head w/ Nordost V2. After Iconoclast shattered my view of average cables in a pretty box… very interested in that show down.
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This will be good testing as @cardri goes through all these top end cables and tries them in his system. Many here share most or some of his PS Audio gear but which cables actually works best ,is always system and taste dependent. What is sure is that not many has actually tried and heard them all.
I look forward hearing which one Richard prefers the most at the end of the testing and why.And of course keep us posted in the meantime how you like those playing and burning in 
@Vmax yes I have Inakustik usb and cat cables and I do like them ,yet I prefer their usb cable sound vs cat cable. Let us know how you like that cat when you get it.
Funny you should mention Audio Bacon,I read today Jay´s review of JCAT Signature cat cable. While I find it believable and do personally hear easily same kind of differences with all of my cables,what strikes me are comments below. Those sad people have too much time on their hands to write all kinds of silly comments about ones and zeros 
But clearly they lack first hand experiences ,and probably still live at home with their mother. 
But lets see how Audio Bacon likes Inakustik if and when he writes a review. If we found similarities there.
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@Somppsa - yeah, this is going to come down to a great grade of silver (WW PS 7) versus a great grade of copper (Inakustik reference) and all those in between. So far the JMaxwell is overtaken by the Curious
Curious “evolved”:
- Sound stage is very wide and deep
- Very detailed with black background
- No ear fatigue I thought I’d get w/ silver; tad bright till 50+ hrs.
- Very tight and well defined bass, love the bass.
$460 for 60cm USB cable is a good price. However, it did not blow away the 30cm “data only” JMaxwell I picked up for $175. It has a better sound stage, more detail… still have a few weeks more on the Curious cable. I could easily see owning that cable for my system. I get my WW PS 7 tomorrow and will isolate the VCC w/ kapton tape at each connector to keep the configuration the same with all cables. I will start the WW PS 7 in a few weeks. I will also see how the Curious “evolved” cable changes any SQ over the next few weeks. By then I will have over 200hrs. I am very happy with the Curious cable.
Isolating the USB VCC
The Farads with black aluminum heat sinks 32mm that allow great heat transfer and also rubber oring bottom for absorption. The Gigafoil Farad Super3 is on the top shelf. I mounted the heat sinks with (2 part) silver aluminum epoxy for better heat transfer.
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I will be using both Inakustik CAT7 and USB since ethernet runs to Ultrarendu and then USB into matrix. I will try CAT7 into ultraRendu and the NAS to modem router to seewhere it affects sound the most.
Jay sure catches flack for his reviews. I can only think naysayers never triedto heardifferences or have systems unresolving or have tin ears.
I will share my results and if better buy a second cable.
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As Ron Weasley would say, Don’t let the Muggles get you down…
Yeah - I read Jay’s Curious standard (yellow, original) review and the feedback he got from the measurement trolls was relentless. The good news is that he dishes it back out well and has very thick skin. Yeah, I thought that the power cord change was BS till I changed the PC on a few components and went OMG. Far from imagining better… don’t mind the measurement trolls telling me they don’t hear a difference changing PC; just don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t hear because they substitute measurement for hearing… I never lend my brain or ears out to anyone… I trust my hearing and brain, they have served me well for decades. The reason why I will collect (6) USB cables and test them out myself. I don’t trust anyone else to tell me what is best in my system. The same reason I tried Iconoclast cables. The design white papers were interesting; however, in home SQ testing is what sold me on those cables, not the math. If Iconoclast told us we’d have to buy the cables w/ no return policy, you would see how very little they would have sold based on measurements and design… the marketplace decides how good a product is, not the designer.
My personal issue in sorting out cables gets to be - is it repeatable, and how do you ensure it isn’t something else, such as the act of simply shaking up the signal or AC chain? After all, a common maintenance practice (among those of us anal enough to care about this sort of thing) is to unplug everything and plug it back in. At least once a year, for “Spring Cleaning”. That seems to have an effect. Although, in order to compare it with anything, you’d have to let it sit for another year. In other words, it is an A/B comparison - no going back to A. So - what happened, and why?
On a more specific subject, I’m going to be returning my Cerious Graphene Matrix USB. Out of the box, it was WAY different than other USB cables I am trying out. Surprising and dramatic. Or to put it more technically, “smiley-faced” - as in an EQ curve that favors the top and bottom extremes (or lack midrange, depending on your POV). I thought, “Wow, if this retains all that ‘information’ and flattens out, it’ll be killer”.
I hooked it up to a laptop and a USB DAC and ran many days’ worth of multiple resolutions of music through it. It now sounded completely different. Much more like the other cables, but less engaging to me (and yeah, I let it “settle” for a couple of days) and bloated bass. I will admit can’t ignore either the price or the apparent fact that if I noodle with my cables and end up moving the damn thing, it is going to take another three days to “settle” again. But that is part of the equation.
I would be really interested to try the cable without the graphene-and-OFC-dust-slurry jacket, to see how it performs as a standard cable. Bob didn’t really bite or answer my question when I suggested it, except to say that for some people, the extra 5% of performance is worth it.
I will admit to being a bit leery of 1m cables that start out and end up as a normal cable on each end, and go through some sort of Transformation in the middle 2.5 feet due to what it is wrapped in.
All of which serves as an example of the other thing that bugs me about this comparison process. Should any of you give a Flying Whatever that this is my experience/opinion? Not really. The thing that continues to strike me in these comparisons is that the more I do them, the more it is clear to me that Synergy is King. And this of course always includes those most critical components we do not share - between our ears, and between our walls, ceiling and floor.
I don’t care how amazing a particular piece is (and this includes components) - if it Ain’t Happening in your system, It Ain’t Happening. It may be the Cat’s Whiskers in yours. Cool! Only one way to find out.
@badbeef - that is the exact reason I test these cables out myself. My system is not your system and you can generalize to a point like silver versus copper… it is all about system synergy… It has always cost me more to approach cables this way; however, I take my time and get my system sounding exactly the way I like my system. It may not be anyone else’s system, it is mine and I take full responsibility for the sound. Not one to abdicate that responsibility to make sure my view is that of a hive… I share my SQ results on my system and sometimes it is not what others are hearing and some times it is spot on. This data goes into the hive’s consciousness and my uniqueness is added to the collective. In no way am I doing this to tell anyone what they should buy. I do this because this forum is about sharing. I don’t see the midrange recess as @JMK hears with the Curious “evolved”. I have been listening for it and don’t hear it… no right or wrong, just don’t hear it… there is no right/wrong, just experiences based on your particular system. Sharing experiences allows me to collect (6) cables that are thought of as excellent and audition them on my system, not your system. Also, since day one I have been in the Ted camp as to USB cable as short as possible. I had to fight w/ Curious dude to prove that my Matrix was close enough to allow 60cm cable. As you can see, I could have used a 30cm cable. I had to send the dude a picture of the components w/ measurements… OK, no harm, took a few minutes. My Cerious cable I requested 50cm cable. My WW PS 7 is 30cm; however, the SR Sigma is 1500cm… WFT, that is so long and for what… well, the designer believes no cable should be shorter than 1500cm… OK, will add that cable to the mix. The JMaxwel was only 30cm I specified it…
Rich, its OK, man - not actually “aimed” at you - just sharing as well. I am simply finding comparisons more difficult as I go along rather than easier. It is easier when something “just works” for you than when it doesn’t (see: Windom thread). And it is also way easier if you don’t think about it beyond, “I like this one better than that one”.
I find myself going down the rabbit hole of trying to decide what is happening and why - which I think if we’re going to opine on it at length, we are ultimately tasked with doing, particularly if we are operating without measurements. For those who consult measurements but don’t listen (or choose not to listen to a particular thing based on measurement) the operating assumption seems to be that us “subjectivists” are always fooling ourselves or being fooled by Something, because we can’t document it.
So from this end - the Listening end vs. the Measuring end - of the equation, I’m feeling the need to sort something more rigorous out. I’d be interested in any thoughts you have, having done a lot of it in the real world, which is all that matters to me.
I may be beta-ing an upcoming AC cable, and the thought of how I verify THAT process really wierds me out. I think most of us might acknowledge a reboot of anything, or simply removing an AC cable and reattaching it, may have a sonic effect. So how do we sort that out - especially without trashing our sensitive gear through repeated power cycling?
@badbeef - all good, did not take it that way, just sharing too… as we evolve our sophistication with measurements, one day we might get to the reasons why one cable is better than another cable at a cost/benefit point that drives better. The test equipment Galen uses is close to $100K (from parent company) to get good measurement data. There is no small company that has the budget to take on that level of test data commitment; let alone the time to really measure properly and cover the dissemination and data analysis. Look at TQM and the cost it entails. Going level (5) with process feedback is burdensome. Designing FPGA(s) for aerospace industry, we use a DO254 standard to make sure that each line of VHDL is traced to a requirement that drives the design. Code coverage, dead code, no ops, “on target testing”…the cost of that V&V is 3X the cost of the design. For what… well, to make sure our planes that contain boards that contain FPGAs have a very rigorous process to ensure safety… does small audio companies do that level of testing… no… should they, no… so a lot of it comes down to the cost of really understanding the difference. If we really wanted to quantify the differences could we… hell yes… does this industry want to incur the cost of really understanding why… hell no… too costly… let the consumer sort it out and to their credit, they do…
For me PC are very easy - I plug in another cable and listen. Took me 5seconds from PSA AC12 to Shunyata research Sigma SR. Do I think the AC12 is junk… no, I think the SR Sigma NR is better. You could look at the CCI filtering design, the wire geometry, the materials… hell you would need a PhD to sort that out… so, I use my ears and listen. I listen for a day, week, month. I then change the cable back and hear the difference… or lack of difference. I shut out all the noise I hear from the hive and just listen. The same way you listen and you have a more sophisticated vocabulary to describe what you hear. Mine has developed in a year because of forum exposure, testing, listening. Like when @JMK says recessed midrange… what does that mean… OK, for someone that does not understand the feedback, he/she would ask him and then the education begins… All of my testing takes a lot of time and effort. It is not plug it in and you are done in 5 minutes. How do you get rid of the initial euphoria, the placebo effect… you listen at different times of the day. For me I am very analytical in the morning and more creative in the evening. I listen over time in different time frames with different music… all of this you understand because you have been doing this for decades, same as so many smart audiophiles on this forum. I am not stating anything revolutionary… it is the way you measure with your ears understanding the brain can trick you, the room alters, the mood alters… it is the best way I can think to render what each thinks is better - SUBJECTIVE… measurement can also be subjective if not properly focused and well understood. Why is it that specs never tell the real story… If I used specs as a guide to owning gear, I would never have bought PSA gear… why did I guy it… cause it sounded amazing… so throw away the specs… no… use them as a way to gain insight and understand they are not the be all and end all…
Well said. What maters is the impression a change has on you and your system. I’d also agree, on that special magic within the 2.5 feet between the connectors that you suggest.
It appears wire can and does have an impact for some of us, and that System Synergy is fundamental. That said I’ve always wondered about the upstream recording chain and what studio engineers prefer. Or possibly they do not have the time or inclination to obsess with cabling in the recording chain itself. I would lean towards cables that do no harm, technically maximizing the critical performance characteristics such as impedance and noise rejection.
Thanks for the report out on the Cerious Graphene Matrix USB cable.
Mark
Consensus seems to be that the annual unplug/plug is good audio hygiene. I do it, but never hear anything.
Like Richard, when I changed power cables, I heard an immediate and substantial improvement. That’s why I bought them after the audition.
If you have to try to hear an improvement, it’s not an improvement, imo.
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@RonP - very well put… yeah, spending substantial coin on a PC to really have to sit there and figure out if you thought you heard what you thought you did… save the money, send the PC back… for me it was holy shiet, man that sounds amazing… like when I unplugged the AC12 and plugged in the SR Sigma NR PC… took me a short time.
Time, inclination - and money, unless you’re in the elite. And even then, you’re working in studios where you don’t get to choose what it is wired with. If you build a studio with a full-on console and separate tracking rooms, that adds up to a whole lot of cable, and a very large expense.
I’ll never forget - I have this “photograph” in my mind from something like 30 years ago - the time I visited a home studio of a very wealthy client of a buddy of mine. It was a home studio that rivaled or beat most “real” studios in terms of gear. This was during the install and testing phase. The floor in the control room was floated, and a floor panel was lifted out for configuring wiring to and from the console. There was this massive loom of Mogami cable heading off to the other rooms. I had never imagined anyone could afford that level of cable on that scale. I started multiplying the per-foot cost of an 8’ Mogami mic cable by the thousands of feet…
At the time, to most everyone I knew, Mogami was a wild luxury - maybe you would buy a few for your best microphones. Audiophile cabling didn’t exist (at least I hadn’t heard of it). In the audiophile world we now consider Mogami, “pretty good for what it is” or a reasonable value.
Most engineers would rather spend that money on a better microphone, mic pre or compressor.
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Interesting viewpoint from the “production” side of music. Something many (most?) of us pure listeners never consider. The cost of production is a fixed overhead that must be paid for somehow some way. I would imagine that top of the line studio time is probably fairly expensive ($100’s per hour)?