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need help upgrading USB cable

C

carlo3874

Jan 25, 2007
184
2
San Diego CA
#1
Hello,

I feel like I'm about to kick a hornet's nest by asking this. Can someone suggest an USB cable upgrade for my Apogee Duet 2? I'm not concerned about how it sounds because that's subjective and there are a zillion posts here on how various USB cables sound that make your head spin. I'm just looking for something that will help eliminate or minimize noise / electric interference from my home and my iMac. Here's my current setup in order:

Outlet > Ebtech Hum X Exterminator > Monster Power Pro 1000 > 27” 2010 iMac > Apogee Duet 2 > KRK Rokit 5 (2nd Gen) / Shure SRH 440

I’m using 2 Mogami Gold Balanced TRS ¼ cables connecting the speakers to my DAC.

Thanks!
 
#3
The world's greatest USB cable will not have any more impact on noise in your system than a basic cheapo USB. A USB carries data, it does not carry audio signals.

Honestly, when you read claims about various USB cables "sounding different", you can be completely confident that whoever is saying such a thing is either in the business of selling overpriced cables, or they are deluded fools. And yes, famous endorsers can often fall into that second category.
 
#6
As a rule of thumb, cable quality CAN make a difference when you're dealing with audio cables FROM a passive guitar or bass to something else. At any other part of the signal chain, or in any other kind of signal transfer, cables either work or they don't.

People will dispute this, but to date blind tests have only demonstrated audible differences at the high-impedance output level. Everything else is pseudoscientific theory and placebo effect. Your money is better spent elsewhere.
 
#7
carlo3874 said:
Hello,

I feel like I'm about to kick a hornet's nest by asking this. Can someone suggest an USB cable upgrade for my Apogee Duet 2? I'm not concerned about how it sounds because that's subjective and there are a zillion posts here on how various USB cables sound that make your head spin. I'm just looking for something that will help eliminate or minimize noise / electric interference from my home and my iMac. Here's my current setup in order:

Outlet > Ebtech Hum X Exterminator > Monster Power Pro 1000 > 27” 2010 iMac > Apogee Duet 2 > KRK Rokit 5 (2nd Gen) / Shure SRH 440

I’m using 2 Mogami Gold Balanced TRS ¼ cables connecting the speakers to my DAC.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I have no love for Munster anything, other than the TV show, so I would bypass that before anything else. If you have ALL equipment plugged into the Munster, you should be OK, in theory. However, if your cables are all bundled together, including the power cords, you broke the first rule of wire dressing- NEVER bundle power cables with anything that carries data or signal, even if it's all shielded. If the cables pass behind/near the monitor, move them. That's a major cause of noise, as is any kind of motor, compressor, pump, etc.
 
#8
Take any literature that says Monster and throw it in the toilet. There is nothing about any compliant USB cable to differentiate it from any other aside from build quality, as in one might go iffy on you and another passes data for years and you always are confident with it. That's it. Anything regarding data transfer (jitter, shmitter, blitter) that gets mentioned, sometimes with good reason and sometimes not, has to do with things other than the cable.

But that's good news! You can immediately eliminate the USB cables as a source of noise and look elsewhere. 1958Bassman speaks the truth in that there are many rules to follow for best results when using cabling and wires. But digital data transfer, as regard to the cable, either works or doesn't.

OT: My wife just screamed something from the other room about Manning not getting protection. What happened?
 

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