Do you know about the jitterbug? (not the phone for old people).
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I sure dont, looking it up now
Amazon.com: AudioQuest - Jitterbug FMJ USB Data & Power Noise Filter : Electronics
there are other more expensive and less expensive incarnations.
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what really affects the sound quality is a good song vs a shit song.
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i also have an appreciation for my roland cables. nothing too fancy but they do have that hard to describe but nice feel in the hands.
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USB noise is nearly always ground related.
Whenever people say that they can “hear the difference” between USB cables - it’s usually because they have a ground-related issue in their setup.
This can cause problems like audible noise - which may even fluctuate with CPU/GPU workload, or moving the mouse cursor around - and may sound different if the cable is changed.
But that is spending a lot of money attacking the symptoms rather than the cause.
I don’t know what your approach to “grounding everything properly” was, but in most cases it should be a solvable issue.
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Worst-case scenario: I have worked with someone in the past who found out that none of the electrical circuits in their basement remodel had been grounded properly at all, and that’s why they were having so many issues.
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One of the more common causes I’ve seen is people connecting devices (e.g. their studio montiors) to different power outlets in the room, and moving them to a shared power strip can solve it.
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It may also be caused by things like USB hubs (often ones without a grounded power connection), or a rogue device with a bad USB implementation.
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If it’s an Apple laptop, the power brick will not be earthed unless you connect the extension cable to it.
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In other cases it may not be USB at all, but is solved by using balanced audio connections (XLR/TRS) rather than unbalanced ones (RCA). I avoid unbalanced audio wherever possible.
Unfortunately it’s difficult to say what the specific issue is without being there to troubleshoot it.
I do not recommend it.
Using an audio device (DAC) with a known-bad USB implementation, the AudioQuest Jitterbug does nothing.
Source
A true galvanic isolator for USB (UpTone Audio ISO Regen) brings a measurable improvement in its performance:
Source
Unfortunately this particular device has been discontinued, and I don’t know what alternatives exist - if any are recommendable. In the case of that DAC, it would have been cheaper to replace the device than purchase the isolator.
I have seen people report success with ifi Audio’s “iDefender 3.0” but I would not immediately jump to that as a first step.
Purchasing an isolator should be a last-resort option if there is no other way to identify/resolve the issue.
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The merit of high-end cables comes down to just two things:
- Shielding.
- Durability.
If you’re not in need of either, then you don’t need to splash-out for Radial cables with Neutrik connectors. Studios and touring acts often need both; and so, within that context, they are worth the expenditure.
Otherwise, just about any conductor will carry a signal over a short distance without consequence.
Cheers!
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Hmm, I’ve always considered Hosa cables premium. Literally the most expensive cables I see on Shopee and the likes.
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Yo, what’s the best cables for lo-fi?
Also do I need gold plated connectors to make a gold record?
Personally I have the worst time with guitar leads, it’s just a symptom of how they’re used that they always end up a tangled mess that you gotta sit real still to avoid that buzz.
Also the USB cable that comes with Maschine Studio I wish was just that bit longer. I’ve not yet had luck find a longer cable that works (NI recommends a certain gauge of cable) but it’s easier said than done buying it unless you can read what’s printed on the shielding.
i have had both audio and electrical type noise interference at times from cheap/shitty audio or power cables/supplies.
Funny actually, I bought speaker cable recently for a hifi setup, and whatever those hook things that go on the end of the cables were I’d misjudged. They were either too small for the gauge cable, or the hooks were too big to be held down by the screws on the speaker terminals.
The next best option I had to hand were cable terminals from the truck toolbox left behind at our place by removalists several years ago. Sound perfectly fine to me even with my dodgy soldering.
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The quality and price of the cables definitely affects the sound. My friend is an audiophile, I used to laugh at him when he told me that cables affect the sound and that they must first be “tuned-in” (for a couple of weeks). It’s really true. Of course, there is the price, I guess he spent a few thousand euros just on the cables, from Kimber power cables for the amplifier/preamplifier and CD player, Chord, Van den Hul interconnect cables and other premium speaker cables (which are expensive, per meter) and power strips. But everything I mentioned is related to high end hi-fi. Of course, you don’t need to spend so much money on cables to connect synthesizers, drum machines, audio interface etc., but it’s better to get a cable that costs a few tens of $/€ more than some cheap one whose price is 0.99$/€.
Edit: By the way, from my personal experience, I can recommend Cordial (very good quality, not expensive), Roland (same as Cordial) and maybe Vovox (although they are quite expensive).
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when it comes to the audio quality (irrelevant of the durability):
if you’re into 432hz tuning etc, you should definitely get $500+ cables. if you fall into this category, i should also stress that you should be more careful when listening to MP3 files because they can degrade over time, don’t overdo it. and… there may be a possibility of earth being flat.
otherwise, it means you’re a very sensible person and you can safely pay a tenner for a decent cable and call it a day.
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one should check for yourself… just try to connect your analog synth with regular cable and then with something like Vovox or Evidence and see for yourself (good monitoring needed - check presence, details in headphones etc… ).
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The arrogance seems pretty heavy with the nay crowd. How do you know? From your own critical listening, on a system, and in a room, up for the task of revealing subtle differences?
I’ve found my gear sounds way better with all the cables unplugged!
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You’ve got that backwards.
Basic physics is all you need to understand that the whole “audiophile” world is full of horseshit.
The purpose is to separate rich idiots from their money.
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