Locus Polestar USB Cable
Posted by: kent on 09 March 2010
I have recently auditioned a few dacs and compared USB/firewire options. Having decided to stick with USB for the next few years, I decided to explore USB cables to see what are the fuss are about.
The Locus Polestar USB cable has replaced a Belkin Pro gold ($15), both 14~15 ft in length. Manufacturer claimed 100-150 hours of usage before reaching its full potential.
With just 24 hours of usage, I really like what I hear. Not day and night improvement but definitely easily noticable and meaningful. The improvement is not as dramatic as adding a XPS to Naim Dac, but comes pretty close at a small fraction of the cost.
I am interested in your experiences if you have tried and compared USB cable. Please feel free to keep the technical theories why USB cables should sound the same to yourself
Posted on: 09 March 2010 by garyi
Good god no, please no.
Posted on: 09 March 2010 by Dustysox
quote:
Originally posted by garyi:
Good god no, please no.
I'm guessing...they should be 3.5 meters in length, this has a fundemental technical gain!!!!!
Posted on: 09 March 2010 by kent
For what it worth, I could not hear a difference between Kimber cable and the Belkin.
Posted on: 09 March 2010 by rich46
quote:
Originally posted by kent:
For what it worth, I could not hear a difference between Kimber cable and the Belkin.
me too. just settled for the visual construction of plug/cable etc
Posted on: 10 March 2010 by Chief Chirpa
kent, I h pe th s messag reac es y u ok. If y u wa t to us a $249 usb ca le, go f r it. I'l st ck wi h the ones I hav , ev n thou h som of t e data g es miss ng occ sion lly.
Posted on: 10 March 2010 by james n
quote:
kent, I h pe th s messag reac es y u ok. If y u wa t to us a $249 usb ca le, go f r it. I'l st ck wi h the ones I hav , ev n thou h som of t e data g es miss ng occ sion lly.
Posted on: 10 March 2010 by SC
quote:
Originally posted by Chief Chirpa:
kent, I h pe th s messag reac es y u ok. If y u wa t to us a $249 usb ca le, go f r it. I'l st ck wi h the ones I hav , ev n thou h som of t e data g es miss ng occ sion lly.
Very good !
Posted on: 10 March 2010 by SC
Just wait though - Naim will release a USB cable, no doubt with 'air' plugs, and we'll all do a u-turn and suck it up...!
Steve.
Posted on: 10 March 2010 by rich46
quote:
Originally posted by SC:
Just wait though - Naim will release a USB cable, no doubt with 'air' plugs, and we'll all do a u-turn and suck it up...!
Steve.
is that what you call "hot air"
Posted on: 10 March 2010 by Joe Bibb
quote:
Originally posted by garyi:
Good god no, please no.
Too late, there is nothing that audiophiles get involved with, that is immune from a little foo.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by kent
quote:
Originally posted by Chief Chirpa:
kent, I h pe th s messag reac es y u ok. If y u wa t to us a $249 usb ca le, go f r it. I'l st ck wi h the ones I hav , ev n thou h som of t e data g es miss ng occ sion lly.
Huh? I can't understand a word that coming out of your mouth!
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by docmark
Well, I'm using a Nucleus USB cable between my MacBook Pro & a Benchmark DAC. It sounds better than a stock USB cable. Haven't purchased the Naim DAC yet.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by David Scott
quote:
Well, I'm using a Nucleus USB cable between my MacBook Pro & a Benchmark DAC. It sounds better than a stock USB cable. Haven't purchased the Naim DAC yet.
That's it! For God's sake, can't you people finally accept that when it comes to sense impressions - particularly judgements of quality, ALL human beings are ridiculously suggestible. How come nobody even bothered to market gold plated usb cables to professional photographers? Because they don't make any difference. It's hi-fi culture. It's not real. Don't waste your money. Give it to charity.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by Guido Fawkes
Denon's hi-fi ethernet cable a snip at £350.
BTW for those interested there is a forum that discusses nothing but cables called the cable forum - don't all rush at once.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by David Scott
At least it's cheaper than Docmark's usb cable.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by kent
quote:
Originally posted by David Scott?:
quote:
Well, I'm using a Nucleus USB cable between my MacBook Pro & a Benchmark DAC. It sounds better than a stock USB cable. Haven't purchased the Naim DAC yet.
That's it! For God's sake, can't you people finally accept that when it comes to sense impressions - particularly judgements of quality, ALL human beings are ridiculously suggestible. How come nobody even bothered to market gold plated usb cables to professional photographers? Because they don't make any difference. It's hi-fi culture. It's not real. Don't waste your money. Give it to charity.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by garyi
OK I think Kents on the wind up. I hope he is. Docmark however is a fool.
haha.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by docmark
Garyi, senior member - go get your hearing aids tuned up. If you have nothing constructive to add, well, you know what you can do.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by Chief Chirpa
Gary's first post in this thread says it all really.
As requested, I'll skip kent's 'technical theory', so here's the technical facts...
1: It's a USB cable and allows for a 1:1 transmission of data. It can't add anything, and the only way to degrade the signal is to cut the cable in two.
2: See 1.
While my first reaction to the OP was to laugh, having googled our man's Nucleus, I almost find it offensive that anyone can be duped into spending money on this kind of thing. Still, I cut-and-pasted this for anyone who likes a good giggle:
Which then takes me the the real deal, the Locus Design's Nucleus USB cable ($1149 for 3 feet). What sets this apart from the rest? Well, to paraphrase from the Locus site, the Nucleus features an entirely new design, utilizing Lee's custom manufactured DCT-Ag wire. This Teflon coated silver wire is also prepared using their CryoFreeze™ process. Additionally, close attention has been paid to mitigating mechanical noise and triboelectric effects. The core of the Nucleus USB is a special braid of ultra pure DCT-Ag conductors and Teflon air tubes; this braid is proprietary and only available from Locus Design. This geometry is designed to mitigate degradation and interference (in every way) the data and VDC lines of the USB signal. For the Nucleus USB, Lee has developed a new special shielding comprised of a tinned copper weave, carbon fiber, and strategic use of ERS fabric. This shielding and damping is designed to isolate the data +/- lines from the +/- VDC lines that far exceeds not only their earlier designs (and that found in their less expensive models), but that of anyone else Lee is aware of…
So what does one get with the Nucleus? Pure joy, that's what I am getting here! Simply put the Nucleus performs at such a high level sonically and musically that it leaves the rest of the USB cables I have here in the proverbial dust. Music has a lovely sense of purity and elegance, and it is as tonally clean and articulate as anything I could ever hope for in that there is no sonic grunge or glare to detract from one's enjoyment. Music has a natural airiness and engagement; it is sweet, rich, and tonally 'right' while being dynamically powerful. Resolution is there in spades and yet it is not done in a way that draws attention to itself… simply put, WOW. You get it all without any trade-offs. What a presentation. No glitches, glotches, and/or bitches… no problems at all for something that is more a work of art than anything else. And the cable has the looks the price implies.
Snazzy.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by docmark
Hey Chirpa, I'm not about to get in an argument with you or garyi about cables, audio or data. You Naim luddites should stick with your lamp cable, and I'll experiment as much as I want to.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by BigH47
quote:
and I'll experiment as much as I want to.
Just what the manufactures of cable made with stupidium alloy and expesiveness sheathing want you to do!
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by docmark
Expesiveness sheathing? Stupidium alloy? Wow - sounds awesome. This coming from somebody who apparently spends most of his adult life on this forum - 13,244 posts? Maybe you should spend less time typing and more time listening.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by BigH47
Multi tasking, and semi retired. I bet I listen to more music than you, I'm even listening whilst I type this.
BTW for most of my adult life this forum didn't exist.
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by docmark
Glad to hear you can still do more than two things at the same time. And I suppose you're correct - this forum probably isn't very old - which makes 13,244 posts in a short space of time even more disturbing.
Now - can we quit taking shots at each other?
Posted on: 11 March 2010 by Guido Fawkes
I agree 13,246 posts is very disturbing.
