Locus Polestar USB Cable

My, this certainly has generated a lot of debate. I'm curious - how many of you own a PowerLine or two, and can you please justify spending $800 or more for each cable? How about a Naim digital cable, or High Line interconnect?
Bits is bits, right? Why should a power cable matter? I've experimented with many cables over the years, and of course have formed my own opinions. Some of you will agree with me, others won't. Honestly, I don't give a flying !@"! what you think of my choices, but having said that, I also won't try to push my choices on anybody else, and I will try to respect what others may believe.

Alright guys,

Cut the crap out. All I want to know from Docmark is that can I borrow your nucleus USB cable? I really like the Polestar does for me and now I am very curious to try the higher end usb cable.

Chief Chirpa,

May I ask what setup do you use?

Do you don't believe usb cable make a difference or just cable in general?

quote:

I never sold fancy power cords, interconnect higher than chrysalis(because I like it), or line conditioners/esoteric power strips until Naim started making powerlines and Hilines. I also use these at home so it's still about what I actually believe in.

But what do you believe in?

Do you believe that bits of wire sound different?

Or do you believe that if you put electronics in resonant cases and suspend circuit boards on springs (for God's sake) you will get an 'improvement' by using plugs and sockets which isolate kit from 50hz vibrations and their harmonics?

My only reservations about all this is customers are being asked to pay a lot for solving a problem which may be better described as a design issue.

I believe that your picking nits. "I've always acknowledged there were differences in almost all cables" so yes.

Damping is not as good as isolation and you can only overcome vibration of any sort with one or the other. Isolation is less selective and it's better to not introduce vibration than it is to damp it after the fact. If your case is ringing it's easy enough to wedge the back with a business card but be careful as it may not sound better. I'm done here as it seems to be going way off track. I don't know if you dislike dealers in general or just me but whatever, your allowed but this and I aren't the topic.

What is going on in this forum tonight?

Just read two threads. First, poor Luxen2 gets destroyed for liking the DAC (this is the Naim forum, right?), and now JS gets attacked for what, being a dealer? And what's up with all of the f**r letter words?

Anyway, sure hope these types of posts don't stop newer users from asking questions or sharing their thoughts. Now that I got that off my chest...

I'll confess to plunking down $75 for a Furutech USB cable to connect my laptop to an M-Audio Transit. Lovely blue cable with nice gold connectors. Thought I heard slightly clearer sound than with the $5 Monoprice cable it replaced, but didn't think it warranted a serious a/b effort.

Hook

The digital transmission part of modern HIFI just gets more and more interesting as time goes on....

We have tried various USB cables between our shop Toshiba Laptop & a cambridge USB DacMagic into a 202/200/allae system.

The 2 things we discovered were:

1. Playback software (i.e. Windows media player, FooBar & Winamp) makes quite a difference, some being vasty better than others at playing quality FLAC & WAV files.

2. The USB cable (CA stock, Wireworld, LaCie & 5 or 6 other generic USB A to B computer cables) also showed wild variation in playback performance. Our best result was from a cable costing half a std Naim 5 pin lavender interconnect (approx 40 pounds UK).

"One" seems to be fairly well accepted now as fact by people who impliment a computer based source, while "two" is less understood from a technical point of view, despite being easily demonstratable to those who take the time to hear it.

I was a doubting Thomas as well, especialy with a background in computer network engineering...but a bit of research into the subject and we decided to try a different cable out just so we would know if it was fact or fiction...I am glad that we made the effort because we now have a solution for those who want a better performance and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Our door is always open to anyone wishing to hear the difference....

quote:

Originally posted by PureHifi:
...

The 2 things we discovered were:

1. Playback software (i.e. Windows media player, FooBar & Winamp) makes quite a difference, some being vasty better than others at playing quality FLAC & WAV files.

2. The USB cable (CA stock, Wireworld, LaCie & 5 or 6 other generic USB A to B computer cables) also showed wild variation in playback performance. Our best result was from a cable costing half a std Naim 5 pin lavender interconnect (approx 40 pounds UK).

...I am glad that we made the effort because we now have a solution for those who want a better performance and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

....

Dear PureHifi,

Would you feel able to name the cable you like at such a reasonable price?

I have a nice little external DAC, which is immensely pleasing, and which works via USB cable connection to my destop running XP and unmodified iTunes, and would be willing to take a punt on a cable at £40.

Thanks from George

Fact or Fiction?

How do the colours in a digital photo fair over this USB lead?
Are word documents arriving any better with it?
Does you printer fire up quicker with its use?

How are your determining fact or fiction exactly?

GFFJ - Sure it was the Wireworld Ultraviolet, but the LaCie was also quite good and was 1/4 the price of the Wireworld...differences here were tonal...

garyi - How do I separate Fact & Fiction ? I ask you of course...

quote:

Originally posted by PureHifi:
GFFJ - Sure it was the Wireworld Ultraviolet, but the LaCie was also quite good and was 1/4 the price of the Wireworld...differences here were tonal...

Many thanks. I'll try the LaCie, and see if it betters the few pence worth of USB cable [actually came with an external LG DVD reader/writer, costing £30, so the cable is well enough made but definately not expensive] that I am currently using.

Thanks again for the advice! George

I'd hate to see the posts if we were talking about anything serious.

"Nurse, another round of blood pressure tablets, (again)."

quote:

We have tried various USB cables between our shop Toshiba Laptop & a Cambridge USB DacMagic into a 202/200/allae system

One is tempted to ask why? Must have sounded dreadful - I feel sorry for those poor Alleas - please treat them more kindly in future; they don't deserve to be subjected to such torture.

A quick google of LaCie reveals that the USB cable may be had for less than £10.

I shall consult the bank tomorrow, and after that pull the trigger on one!

Dear ROTF, have you heard a properly set up DAC, and it does not have to be an expensive one to be more than merely adequate or competent, feeding Naim kit?

I know you hated the Lavry, but that does not alter the fact that quite a few including me did not! Perhaps you are listening in a negative way, and this is not unheard of with people who refuse to countenance anything that does not have the Naim Logo on it!

The great thing about this DAC idea is that it gets such fantastic results - or at least results that seem fantastic to all of us tone deaf people who can enjoy music from non-Naim elements in our music replay sets - that in comparison to dedicated CD player playback our previous assessments of VFH are completely changed!

Best of luck to you from George

Dear George

I don't know if I heard one correctly set-up - one of the set-ups I heard was at UHES (Lavry), some others by Naim, one by a company I must not mention on this forum, I've heard the Cambridge Audio DacMagic as I have a colleague who buys Cambridge Audio because of reviews. I've also heard a MacLavry in a different setting.

It is not strictly true that I do not countenance products that lack a Naim logo - although Naim do seem to get things right and make it painless for mere mortals like me to obtain good results with their kit. I hardly ever fiddle with my system I just play music on it. I use to spend ages with mix and match systems and it never quite worked - so surely it is no surprise that I sing the praises of a single brand approach.

Other brands that I really like include Linn, Rega, Stax, conrad-johnsoon, Audio Research, April Music ... I'm sure I have posted as much.

However there seems to be a torrent of posts trying to say things that just don't match what I've heard ... of course, it is possible to enjoy any system. I know when I get a headache though.

The separate DAC has been with us for ages - the dCS being a superb example if a little bit out of reach for me - April Music makes the best I've heard under £1000 though I heard it without a Computer Audio front-end (so cannot say what I'd think if it were so driven). The DAC in the Rega Apollo CD is superb and it would be great if those awfully nice Rega folks were to release it stand alone.

Still perhaps best I stick to the music room. I had not realised that I was upsetting folks and have no wish to. I had thought that my counter-evangelist stance might help people to decide for themselves through auditioning. You come across to me as nice guy who has a down on certain Naim products such as the CDX range, which many people have in their systems and thoroughly enjoy. Perhaps, I equally come across as having a down on cheap Chinese DACs - for which I apologise.

I wonder if we could make an agreement not to post on the subject again and see how others get along - just a thought. It is the music that matters after all and perhaps I post too often.

With all best wishes,

Dear George

I don't know if I heard one correctly set-up - one of the set-ups I heard was at UHES (Lavry), some others by Naim, one by a company I must not mention on this forum, I've heard the Cambridge Audio DacMagic as I have a colleague who buys Cambridge Audio because of reviews. I've also heard a MacLavry in a different setting.

It is not strictly true that I do not countenance products that lack a Naim logo - although Naim do seem to get things right and make it painless for mere mortals like me to obtain good results with their kit. I hardly ever fiddle with my system I just play music on it. I use to spend ages with mix and match systems and it never quite worked - so surely it is no surprise that I sing the praises of a single brand approach.

Other brands that I really like include Linn, Rega, Stax, conrad-johnsoon, Audio Research, April Music ... I'm sure I have posted as much.

However there seems to be a torrent of posts trying to say things that just don't match what I've heard ... of course, it is possible to enjoy any system. I know when I get a headache though.

The separate DAC has been with us for ages - the dCS being a superb example if a little bit out of reach for me - April Music makes the best I've heard under £1000 though I heard it without a Computer Audio front-end (so cannot say what I'd think if it were so driven). The DAC in the Rega Apollo CD is superb and it would be great if those awfully nice Rega folks were to release it stand alone.

Still perhaps best I stick to the music room. I had not realised that I was upsetting folks and have no wish to. I had thought that my counter-evangelist stance might help people to decide for themselves through auditioning. You come across to me as nice guy who has a down on certain Naim products such as the CDX range, which many people have in their systems and thoroughly enjoy. Perhaps, I equally come across as having a down on cheap Chinese DACs - for which I apologise.

I wonder if we could make an agreement not to post on the subject again and see how others get along - just a thought. It is the music that matters after all and perhaps I post too often.

With all best wishes, Rotf
------WebKitFormBoundary76n3

I wonder if we could make an agreement not to post on the subject again and see how others get along

Dear ROTF,

Thanks for your reply, and if you decide one way or the other about posting about computer audio I shall be pleased for you.

However as all my music at home comes through the Radio and Computer Audio, then I crave your forbearance in allowing me to post on occasion about it. In this very thread, I have found valuable information, which may allow for a small additional quality hike from my modest Chinese Based computer audio front end!

When I win the Lottery [which is not guaranteed considering how often I buy a ticket] then I will get a Naim DAC!

ATB from George

Tough crowd here...the data positivists seem to be out in force, when, in fact, the effects of a different cable may in fact NOT be data-related, but transmission-related.

How much noise is induced down a cable from one device to another? And how much of this is related to the connector design (at both source and destination) itself?

I'm not advocating spending ridiculous money on a boutique USB cable, but there is definitely an argument to be made for reducing data-related emissions from the wire itself.

quote:

Originally posted by kent:
Chief Chirpa,

May I ask what setup do you use?

Do you don't believe usb cable make a difference or just cable in general?

Hi kent,

I don't believe USB cables make any difference, and though I'm open-minded, I've never tried to tell the difference between any others. I use basic Naim and Chord wire, a cd5x, Nait 5i, iTunes, a DAC, and Neat Motive 2s.

I should say that I've only sharpened my pitch fork and joined the madding crowd of cable naysayers on this occasion against the manufacturers and pushers of expensive USB cables, and not you and anyone else who uses one, of course. I don't know, maybe I was hoping to save a few folk some hard-earned cash.

I hope all my posts in this thread show that I'm only having a joke with you about all this, but I couldn't help wondering why well-known cable manufacturers such as Chord, and even Nordost, don't bother with USB cables?

I don't have an answer for that one, so I'm done. : )

CC

They don't like USB DACs? jk

If the market does then companies that avoid the issue will be selling to fewer real customers ...

It was clearly a joke and the implication of the previous post was that the decision wasn't market driven but a conscious decision of avoidance. USB DACs may well become the preferred way as standards change. Who knows? I just don't think that one company or another making a product or not means much. Therefore my nonsensical response. It was genuinely said in jest.

An interesting article I found on the Wireworld http://www.gcaudio.com/cgi-bin...owProduct.cgi?id=539, with a link to the WhatHifi review.

quote:

Originally posted by Chief Chirpa:
I don't know, maybe I was hoping to save a few folk some hard-earned cash.

NO ONE that can afford a $1000 USB cable needs saving or help from anyone with respect to their financials. They are doing quite fine I would think.

I like the levels of commentary and opinion going on here. Not only do we provide our opinions, but we also comment on the manner in which others provide their opinions. And now I'm commenting on the manner in which others comment on the manner in which we express our opinions. Do USB cables sound different? Who knows? You'd never figure it out from this thread....