I have a $300>$400 Budget
Any favorite USB cables in that price range out there?
WireWorld Platinum Starlight 7WWPS7 at 1 meter used for $350. With patience you may be able to score one. I should add this is not an endorsement of eBay for cables.
I really liked the Audioquest Carbon.
But it took a while before it sounded optimal.
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Thank you
Considering Clarus Crimson as well
For that price get Inakustik Referenz usb and be happy you did. Of course there are dozens where to choose from but i think you cant get overall better than that for a price.
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I have a very lightly used WWPS7 1.5 meters long for $400 shipped PP F&F if you are interested.
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That is an extremely fair price for an incredible USB cable, based on my experience in my system.
Yes thank you
I have reached out to Baldy with hopes he still wants to part with it
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Does anyone have an opinion regarding the WireWorld Platinum Starlight 7 vs 8 USB’s?
I just picked up a used WireWorld Platinum Starlight 7 USB and have finished comparing it to the iFi Mercury 3.0 I’ve had in my system for a couple years. I really wanted to like the WireWorld better considering how well I liked the Platinum Starlight HDMI I recently purchased.
I actually liked the iFi better. I use a particular Tom Grant song that has a lot of panning chimes and some cool triangle percussion that I use to gauge how well a cable presents higher frequencies and more subtle nuances that can sometimes get lost in some cables.
Actually the WireWorld did comparable there but what I noticed is that the drum and cymbal hits kind of got lost whereas with the iFi they sounded more pronounced and realistic, maybe because the overall instrument separation was better, which it did seem like was the case with the iFi. As a result the iFi was just more toe-tapping and involving.
The iFi is a 3.0 cable and I use it between my NUC, which has 3.0 ports, and my Matrix X-SPDIF 2, which also has a USB 3.0 port, so maybe that has something to do with it.
But for anyone who wants a cheaper alternative in a USB cable you might consider the iFi Mercury 3.0 based on my results. YMMV of course.
I have a very high end AES cable (Kimber Kable Orchid) that I much prefer to USB. Granted my USB cable isn’t as fancy, but my understanding is that there are serious diminishing returns moving up the chain in USB cable quality.
I wonder if others have A/B tested AES vs. USB and also found that they preferred AES?
I have tested With the same quality cables, WW Platinum S7 USB and WW Platinum Eclipse 7 XLR, and XLR no doubt is better. USB is more grainy sounding because it transmit more noise with the signal. If you are using maximum XLR is capable of, 24 bit 192k and DSD 64, it’s fine, but if you want to use the higher sampling rates, you need USB or the best input on the DS, the I2s. Using the I2s input really takes the performance of the DS to another level no matter what format you use. It really makes sense to use the best input on your Dac and get the best sound your Dac is capable of, if you able to do so.
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I just plugged one into my DSD Mk2 today and was completely blown away. Transformative!!
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