It would be helpful if we had a thread where users can list the USB cables they know work with the Directstream and are happy with the sound quality.
Paul’s mentioned the JCAT. Any others?
I’ll add a +1 to alcarp’s suggestion. It seems that I’m now in the market for a decent USB cable that is compatible with the DS.
I think it would also be useful to add a second list of cables that are know NOT to be compatible with the DS. I have one in mind. Would it be inappropriate to list these?
I had an email exchange with the cable manufacturer, and referenced some of what Ted so wisely said in this thread, that being, there IS a difference between the DS and PWDII, with a number of variables/possibilities that would make it hard to discern what’s really going on. (Paraphrasing, of course.)
Compound this with the variables introduced by the cable manufacturer, and we have double-trouble.
The manufacturer did state, “I do know that not all cables are compatible with all DACs”, while also suggesting that the problem lies more in the way that a DAC is built, and not so much in the cable, as “Any cable being USB or analog transfers a signal, period.”
Whereafter, I made note to him that his cable is “built to USB 2.0 specs,” which does not imply that it’s USB 2.0 certified.
Hmm, wish I had known about that before I laid out extra bucks for that cable. It’s not going to change my mind about the DS, though. As a co-worker once said, “SMOC”, it’s a Simple Matter of Cabling.
I’ve decided to suspend testing for the time being. I think we’ve found the problem. I’m now running with a $12 Gigaware USB 2.0 certified cable, which works well, although it might be a bit bright (or, the DS is not fully broken in.) I’ll be moving other cables around to ensure that there’s no problem with the USB inputs on the DS, but aside from Port 1 on the Mini, I doubt I’ll encounter any issues, based on what I’ve seen.
So… can I name the cable? I’d hope to help others from making the same mistake.
Rob
Absolutely name the cable. This information may help others.
I do not like seeing posts which bash a product for the mere sake of trolling, but identifying a product which does not appear to be compatible does not fall into this category. Honestly describing your experience moves the hobby along.
Thanks, Elk.
I’d peg my confidence at 98+% based on my tests (and I’ve stopped testing for fear of damage), but…
I would not recommend using the SilNote Audio Poseidon USB cable for use on the DS.
On the DS, or between the Mini and Off Ramp going I2S to the DS, I get pops, crackling, warbles, dropouts, etc., which Ted suggests is possible. About the worst thing I’ve ever heard in my system, problematic enough that I dive for the volume-down button.
I’ve never heard a problem with it on the PWDII.
The cable is “built to USB 2.0 specs,” but is not declared to be USB Certified.
I think maybe USB is another area where a “do no harm” cable is needed. I mean, it’s just bits, so if the cable is doing no harm, and passing perfect square waves (that is what the bits look like over the cable, right Ted?), then any cable that doesn’t muck up the squares (do no harm) should be fine. Be it a $12 certified cable or a $480 “audiophile” cable.
Rob, I don’t know if it’s any help, but the Pangea .5m cable I just got from Amazon seems to have cleared up 98% of my problems. The last 2% appears to have been JRiver on my media PC. Using the new cable I had my best listening session yet with the DirectStream -> Decware Mystery Amp -> Decware Speakers. Switching to Foobar2000 cleared up playback issues, simple and faultless.
I got two Pangea cables from Amazon actually…one was a silver wire one, and the other is the PCOCC copper, both .5m. The Silver happened to show up first and has been working so well I’ve not even tried the copper one.
Pangea folks seem to have a very sensible cable design methodology (much like PS Audio). So USB certified or not (I’m not sure honestly), they seem to work quite well.
Ted,
Question: Does the DS use the power in the USB cable for anything? I thought I read something about it here, but can’t find the reference.
Raven, thanks for the pointer to the Pangea. I’ve tried silver ICs and speaker cables in the past, but they tend toward ‘bright’ on my system. I may pick one up – the price is certainly fair – but would also like to hear from others on the cables they’ve tried.
I think my system is rather unforgiving in terms of brightness. A fast SS amp, Class D switching, Magnepan 3.7 speakers… it does lean more toward the top end. Any attempts to calm things down with tubes has been a bust. Cables often help immensely.
For example, we listened with the $12 Radio Shack cable yesterday. While it was okay, it was almost painful to listen to. I replaced it with some generic cable I had (it has some sort of wart inline on one end… purpose?) and it seemed to smooth out the highs. Haven’t listened well, though.
Rob H. said Question: Does the DS use the power in the USB cable for anything? I thought I read something about it here, but can't find the reference.No the DS is a self powered USB device. But the DS indirectly uses the 5V to see if a cable is connected, but (AFAIK) it doesn't really care except to show the green light on the DS screen.
The bigger problem is that some OS’s, some hubs, etc. use the 5V to see if a device is connected and a lot of the time they do care.
Some have reported things working without the 5V connected, others the opposite. You won’t hurt anything if the 5V isn’t connected but the reliability of the connection is likely to suffer (e.g. bugs with sleep, hibernate, power up…)
Thanks (again!) Ted.
I’ve sometimes inserted the Short Block from Empirical, which knocks out the 5V leg. No problems that I can discern. Perhaps I occasionally have to check the Sound panel on the Mac or reinitialize the DS, but worse things have happened in a given day.
Ted Smith saidRob H. said Question: Does the DS use the power in the USB cable for anything? I thought I read something about it here, but can't find the reference.No the DS is a self powered USB device. But the DS indirectly uses the 5V to see if a cable is connected, but (AFAIK) it doesn’t really care except to show the green light on the DS screen.
The bigger problem is that some OS’s, some hubs, etc. use the 5V to see if a device is connected and a lot of the time they do care.
Some have reported things working without the 5V connected, others the opposite. You won’t hurt anything if the 5V isn’t connected but the reliability of the connection is likely to suffer (e.g. bugs with sleep, hibernate, power up…)
This DIY cable, the guy uses an LED to trick the system into seeing a device connected.
http://2channelaudio.blogspot.com/2013/01/audiophile-usb-yes-your-cable-makes.html
Sneaky.
Ted Smith saidAccording to Tech Support, the DS looks to see if there is 5V at the sending port on the source to determine if the port is "active" even though it doesn't use this power.Rob H. said Question: Does the DS use the power in the USB cable for anything? I thought I read something about it here, but can't find the reference.
I tried 2 cables with separate data and power legs - an Elijah cable and a Revelation Audio cable. Neither works even with both legs connected to different ports on the mac. Its almost as though the DS is expecting to see both data and power coming from the same port.
Both these cables work well on a NAD M51 DAC in the same system. Everything identical except the DAC. The RA cable, BTW, sounds sensational.
I must add that this is only a minor issue for me - I’m delighted with the DS even with a cheap USB cable.
Like a few others here I’m looking for a better cable to get that extra lift in sound quality.
I just finished a round of A/B testing on inexpensive USB cables. I don’t have the noive to try that SilNote cable any longer.
It seems that if the Empirical Short Block is inline, the DS has trouble picking up a cable change, but I’d expect that since the SB cuts the 5V.
Without the SB, I could easily hot-swap.
Thing is, I rarely make cable changes without powering down the DS and the amp; I just don’t want to take the chance, even though my system doesn’t generate any audible pulses. So, I always tend to reinitialize the DS, which picks up the cable handily.
The Mac, OTOH, sometimes loses the cable with Short Block on, which I’d expect. All I have to do is check the Sound panel to make sure the PS Audio driver is selected.
In other words, no major issues, no inconvenience to speak of. Once I get done with all this testing, I’ll set it and forget it.
Like Alcarp, I’m a-lookin’…
Rogerdn: Have you tried the USB cable from Leon, yet?
alcarp,
Specifics on the RA cable? Length, any other designators? Point of purchase?
I don’t know how this forum works, really, but is there a place where we can store lists as they build?
Rob H. said alcarp,Link below. 1.25m purchased directly from manufacturer.Specifics on the RA cable? Length, any other designators? Point of purchase?
I don’t know how this forum works, really, but is there a place where we can store lists as they build?
Prophecy Cryo-Silver™ Reference DualConduit™
USB 2.0 Digital Link cable
Rob H. saidRogerdn: Have you tried the USB cable from Leon, yet?
He did not understand what I wanted to do and brought what I already had, the Transparent Premium because he likes it better than the Diamond, so no.
I was able btw to get my Bridge connected (for first time in most of a year), he brought a Naim NDX DAC and connected to my LAN bingo we had bridge music, nice app but SQ is a bit on lean side for me but it’s a very good DAC. So it’s my Mini as I had suspected, maybe it needs a tune up.
alcarp saidAccording to Tech Support, the DS looks to see if there is 5V at the sending port on the source to determine if the port is “active” even though it doesn’t use this power.
I tried 2 cables with separate data and power legs - an Elijah cable and a Revelation Audio cable. Neither works even with both legs connected to different ports on the mac. Its almost as though the DS is expecting to see both data and power coming from the same port.
Both these cables work well on a NAD M51 DAC in the same system. Everything identical except the DAC. The RA cable, BTW, sounds sensational.
I wonder if something more complex may be going on… I have a USB card that severs the 5V leg and don’t have any issues with the DS. I had experienced initialization problems while using a different driver (PC would not recognize the DS without rebooting the PC), but haven’t had a single issue since installing the generic Windows driver. I realize many of you guys are using Mac’s, but, again, it merely makes me wonder if there is another layer of complexity in the handshake between devices.
I use a 2.0m Wireworld Platinum Starlight and love it. I haven’t done comparisons to cables in its price range, and primarily bought it because of its reputation, materials and design. That being said, it was superior to a generic USB cable and a DH Labs aftermarket one. The differences are small, however, and less so since moving from the PWD II to the DS.
I’ve been using an active USB cable and while it does pass the 96K bit perfect test made available by PS Audio (thanks much appreciated 
I’m not confident it will pass a 192K bit perfect test I have not been able to verify this. I am keen to do so - I seek the 176.4 and 192K bit perfect test files from PS Audio please…
I’m also moving to a small computer locating it in close proximity to the DAC and moving away from the long active USB cable.
edit; It should be noted I’m not seeking to test the ability of the DS DAC with the test but the Cables fitness is what I wish to verify
Johno saidI’ve been using an active USB cable and while it does pass the 96K bit perfect test made available by PS Audio (thanks much appreciated
I’m not confident it will pass a 192K bit perfect test I have not been able to verify this. I am keen to do so - I seek the 176.4 and 192K bit perfect test files from PS Audio please…
I’m also moving to a small computer locating it in close proximity to the DAC and moving away from the long active USB cable.
edit; It should be noted I’m not seeking to test the ability of the DS DAC with the test but the Cables fitness is what I wish to verify
The bit perfect test is a great way to narrow down problems at multiple levels. With USB if 96k passes the bit perfect test 192k is likely to pass also. Never the less I’m pretty sure Paul will have the 192k bit perfect test file up on Monday or Tuesday. If it works 176.4 is very likely to work. The poorman’s 176.4 is seeing if you can get DSD to work.
Thanks Ted,
Fully understand I’m just keen to get the file bit perfect file from the experts as my up sampled 96k bit perfect to 192k file fails.
It will help me ensure I have a good USB cable solution 
Cheers
Johno
Paul said (although I’m not sure where he said it…)
"Couple of points to note…
- By doing this you're able to see what possible damage the one or two aftermarket cables do
- Isn't it better to know about those few and cull them out?"
As you know, I believe I’ve isolated my issues to the USB cable being used. I have taken it out of the lineup, of course, but was going to sell it on Audiogon. Also of note is that I think my Port 1 on the Mac Mini is bad, and I had to have Steve Nugent replace a blown USB module on my Off Ramp 5. This all points to the potential for damage that Paul mentions.
The cable manufacturer – one guy – suggests that “not all cables are compatible with all DACs,” which at this point is pretty obvious. He claims that if there’s a problem, it’s in the DAC, not the cable.
I guess my question is, How in good conscience can I sell this cable to another party? How do I know it won’t damage someone else’s gear? Or, do I just take the hit? I doubt I’d get any sort of return from the manufacturer.