USB leads

[Deleted]

(My second bash at this, I wrote what turned out to be a huge screed and then lost the lot! Oh well, maybe a more condensed version this time....)


Even without going silly expensive there is a huge range of claimed quality available.

I was reminded of this during a conversation with Claus, where he pointed out that the USB A-B that comes with the Mini-Ape is particularly good, working well where others fail.

I dug out an old USB hub that used to always be glitchy, popped on the Apes lead and voila! Faultless.

I tried again with the HA INFO NG27 supplied lead and it too worked without any hick-ups.

So, off I went in search of inexpensive HQ USB leads from the stores. First stop was a computer store, they tried to sell me the twin-of-NG27lead for a cool €40!
The search continued until I found the Vivanco 45200. Virtually identical again, save for colour and for the ferrite being at the B end rather than the A, for a far more reasonable €9.95.

I ran it through the same hub test and is passed faultlessly.

I now intend to buy a couple more, cut the 5vbus cores and hear if it makes any difference over a standard lead.

For the touchy-feely amoung us, the standard lead tends to have thin outer insulation, no ferrite and if you roll the cable between your fingers you can feel the cores "grinding" within, a little like an internet cable.
These better ones have a ferrite and obviously have thicker outer insulation that holds the inner insulations and cores firmly in place.

[Deleted]

Hi Cris

interesting.

i bought an Audioquest forest USB just to hear if it made any difference to the sound.

i thought that it did make a small difference to the standard jobbie.

as you say the construction is waaaaaay better than the cheap ones which seem to be pretty loose about the jacket.

the down side of better more solid construction may be that the 5V bus wire is going to be a bit more tricky to operate on.

so careful with that scalpel main man.

if you do find a difference and start to feel like your going crazy just pop over to ComputerAudiophile.

Plenty of people say that they can hear it to.

let us know what you find

take care

[Deleted]

the down side of better more solid construction may be that the 5V bus wire is going to be a bit more tricky to operate on. so careful with that scalpel main man.

That's where the solder type USB-A male plugs from Jaycar made the job dead easy. I just cut the existing end off, stripped back the outer sheathing to a suitable length, and reterminated the wires on to the new plug with the red wire just folded back.
A piece of heatshrink over the plug and it looks fine.
Alex