Paul McGowan said My favorite still remains Paul Pang's work. You can get it here for 200 pounds - not sure what that is in dollars, probably around $300?That's far more reasonable than $1K for the Light Speed Harmonic. Thanks, Paul, for the link. That comes out to about $325.
It’s a fine, fine sounding cable. You wouldn’t go wrong.
Rob H. said I looked up the Light Harmonic split USB cable. Looks interesting, but...Does anyone know of a good cable that sounds great, without paying a grand for it?
I had the same reaction after I checked out the Light Harmonic. I have ordered a Mapleshade USB cable. (Yes, I know their stuff is ‘weird’ but I have had good results from their power cord on my preamp and FM tuner.) $135 for the Plus version so definitely worth a try. I will post about it after it’s broken in.
Thanks also to Paul for the Paul Pang suggestion. That is certainly more affordable than much of the competition.
Paul keep us updated on the upgrade to the Mini for SQ. Lot’s of ideas on software/hardware enhancements can be found across several forums for the Mini. Anxious to read about your approach…thanks great stuff!!!
Paul McGowan said Sigh. It's a never ending battle what we fight here. However, it has inspired me to figure out how to get the Mini sounding better and to that goal I have contacted several companies and we're discussing how to upgrade the Mini to get its sound closer to that of the PWT.How does the Bridge fit into this picture in your system, Paul? I have always been pleased with the sound of music through my NAS/MinimServer/Bridge setup (no PC running), first in the PWD MkII and now with the DS. I don't own a PWT for comparison. It's taking some work to get the computer/USB playback up to the level of the NAS/Bridge. I think the SQ can be equal from both sources, if I want to fuss enough the the PC rather than just spending time listening via the Bridge.
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Have you tweaked your LAN/Bridge any to get it to this level ?
Paul McGowan saidHowever, it has inspired me to figure out how to get the Mini sounding better and to that goal I have contacted several companies and we’re discussing how to upgrade the Mini to get its sound closer to that of the PWT.
Paul,
I know this is a cable thread, but as long as you brought it up…
I was running a 2012-13 stock Mac Mini, with SSD and an external HDD. I got with Benjamin at Mojo Audio, and we arranged to give it the Mojo treatment. You get a Joule III power supply, cabling for the Mac and an HDD, and he removes the stock SMPS that introduces a lot of noise to the Mini.
The difference was stunning, immediately clear and recognizable. Surely one of the best bang-for-the-buck upgrades I’ve ever done. Plus, Benjamin is great to work with.
Don’t necc. go for an Off Ramp from Empirical Audio, should you be tempted. Although the OR does wonders for many DACs – including the PWDII – I recently concluded (for now) that it takes away from the DS, as Alrainbow suggested it would. I ran the OR and DS for a while thinking that it helped to tame some highs I was hearing, but now that I’ve boosted the lows from the Vandersteen crossovers, I took the OR out, and things are now nicely balanced.
rogerdn said Have you tweaked your LAN/Bridge any to get it to this level ?I bought an Apple Airport Extreme to replace the switch from the office supply store. This was clearly an improvement, but more on the subtle side than big bang for the buck. The NAS and the Bridge are connected to the Extreme via Audioquest Cinnamon cable, which is not expensive ($60-80, IIRC). That's about it. Someday I will try a better cable from the NAS to the Bridge, now that I have the DS which would probably take advantage of a better input. As I said in another post, there just seems to be more stuff to tweak with a computer/USB setup.
Paul McGowan said Yes and they're close. It's tough because on some music I prefer the red one and on other music the JCAT. In the end I use mostly the JCAT. However, after Arnie came and readjusted the system I have a ton more resolving power - so much so that I now am not happy with the Mac Mini server sound relative to the PWT. So I rarely listen to the mini and stay with the PWT, so much better its sound is.Sigh. It’s a never ending battle what we fight here. However, it has inspired me to figure out how to get the Mini sounding better and to that goal I have contacted several companies and we’re discussing how to upgrade the Mini to get its sound closer to that of the PWT.
Told ya. Once you concluded USB cables sound different, the whole idea of just getting a standard MacMini goes out the door, all bets are off, and you’re back in tweaking and optimizing servers business. Mac versus PC is now also no longer strictly a usability issue, but also an issue of how much performance you can squeeze out of a Mac based versus PC based optimized / fully tricked out server.
magister saidrogerdn said Have you tweaked your LAN/Bridge any to get it to this level ?I bought an Apple Airport Extreme to replace the switch from the office supply store. This was clearly an improvement, but more on the subtle side than big bang for the buck. The NAS and the Bridge are connected to the Extreme via Audioquest Cinnamon cable, which is not expensive ($60-80, IIRC). That’s about it. Someday I will try a better cable from the NAS to the Bridge, now that I have the DS which would probably take advantage of a better input. As I said in another post, there just seems to be more stuff to tweak with a computer/USB setup.
To keep this thread on track I posted a follow up question on the Network Tips/Total DAC Ethernet Cable
^^ Thanks! ^^
I reported earlier that Audioquest Coffee usb cable caused pops. I did a second test and put Coffee back to my system. First night (about an hour of listening) I didn’t hear any pops and same thing next morning. But the following night I started to hear pops again? So pops came back after an a day. Really wierd. It is like static or something is building up and starts to cause pops. They disappeared right after I replaced Coffee with Cardas Clear. I didn’t have this problem before DS and I’ve had Coffee for about an year now. I play music with Auraliti connected with usb to DS. Rest of the system is Audio Research. I have Transparent audio powercables and Powerisolator reference so there shouldn’t be any problems (okay, okay - PS Audio powerstuff is propably good too).
This doesn’t mean that Coffee doesn’t go with DS but just to let you know. I don’t really mind because changing the cable solves the problem. I kind of like the Coffee, though. It makes everything a lit a bit clearer, but may be too sharp for some people or systems.
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I doubt that it’s your problem and I don’t know your playing software, but if it has a setting to control the buffering you might increase it. Just to give my drives time to spin up I have foobar2000 and JRiver set for 16 or 20 seconds of prebuffering…
I agree this looks like a buffering issue, but if nothing is changed but the USB cable, and the pops only appear with the Audioquest Coffee cable I, too, would suspect the cable.
Harbapapa, if you would be so kind, please swap the cables a few times more to learn if the pops continue to follow the Coffee cable. I do not disbelieve you, but this is odd behavior. 
Yes, I think it’s really weird. Problem with swapping is that pops seem to appear after a day? I would be nice to get another Coffee cable for loan, but I don’t believe I can get it anywhere.
I’ll continue to investigate this matter…
Yes, the “after a day” part does not make sense as either buffering or cable.
Rob H. said I looked up the Light Harmonic split USB cable. Looks interesting, but...Does anyone know of a good cable that sounds great, without paying a grand for it? I’d like to “move up” from the Pangea I’m using if it’ll get me some benefit, but my budget won’t allow for the Light Harmonic.
I thought the best bang for the buck USB cable was the Cardas Clear. In my system it sounded better then the top of the line Wireworld which all the critics raved about.
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Synergistic Research just came out with a new USB cable which should result in a few of their last model ending up on the used market probably in the $350 to $400 range. The Light Harmonic is better in my system but I compared the Synergistic Research to several pricey USB cables and the only one that gave it a run for the money was the Audioquest Diamond. I purchased the Synergistic Research and used it for a couple years until the Light Harmonic bettered it in my system. The Cable Company has a lot of USB cables for trial and they are a real pleasure to deal with. What sounds good to me or in my system might not do the same for you.
Anyone tried the Pranawire Photon USB?
I found the DS to be a breeze as far as setup, update and USB cables is concerned.
For the first 4 weeks, I had the DS on my desk, using a 1m standard ($8) USB cable. Some days ago I moved it to my rack (promotion!), adding an active 5m USB cable ($22) since the rack is about 5m from my PC. Again, no issues at all. Bitperfect.
Next, I tried the 5m DH Labs Silver Sonic USB Cable ($150) that I use for my KORG MR-2000. No problems, bitperfect, and, surprisingly, I could hardly hear a difference in sound quality with the $8 cable.
I could have stayed with the $8 cable + active cable combi, but you know how it is. What if a more expensive cable gives a better sound? (Although the DH Labs obviously didn’t). So I ordered a 5m Wireworld Starlight 7 cable ($285). Again, no issues, bitperfect and… I have the distinct impression that the sound just MAY be an itsy bitsy teeny weeny bit … Wishful thinking or …?
In general, I think that using any standard USB cable will still give you the full benefit and sound quality of the DS, especially if you experience issues with more expensive cables.
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While I was writing this post I was playing randomly (through the DS) from a drive that contains rips from about 3000 hits from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Just now, ironically, it started playing “American Pie”. Sorry, Mr. McLean and fans, thanks to the DS, the day the music died is officially over!