Tinker, Tailor, Streamer, Pi.

[karatestu]

Enjoy If your auditory experience has been heightened then it is good

[Fretless]

There is obviously a lot to be gained from cleaning the extraneous rubbish from digital links.
Now, if they could only make an affordable Mscaler....

[keepitsimplestupid]

Big Laptop, hqplayer...

[Fretless]

AudioQuest Carbon USB is IN !!!

Immediately notice more 'weight' and 'presence' in the sound. Have left it to settle in a bit.

Serious listening session later.

[slinger]

The Carbon is a cracking good cable for the money, even if you pay full price.

[Fretless]

Right then, AudioQuest Carbon USB. What's it doing?



So I replaced a perfectly good Inakustik Excellence USB cable with one costing about 3x as much. Both are silver-plated copper wires and have extensive shielding, in theory there shouldn't be all that much difference in audible performance.

But there is - and it isn't minor.

Leaving one of the Inakustik cables to run from Tinkerboard to Schiit Wyrd, I have put the AQ Carbon in from the Wyrd USB regenerator to the DAC. This ought to be the most critical place as a freshly-generated datastream needs to be as un-disturbed as possible before it gets into the DAC for conversion.

Inakustik don't say how much silver is used in their cable but the AQ Carbon series has a serious 5% silver layer over OFC copper. It has been found that there is a phenomenon called 'Skin-Effect' where most of the data transmission of High Frequency signals in a wire is done on the outer rim, so putting a layer of highly-conductive silver here means that you can approach the performance of a solid-silver wire at a fraction of the cost.

And then there is shielding - something we are becoming aware of that has a significant effect of the clear transmission of audio data. Both cables claim triple-layer shielding, but the Carbon incorporates AQ's NDS (Noise Dissipation System) technology that is used on the (considerably) more expensive Coffee and Diamond series.
This also makes the Carbon a rather stiff cable - rather like NVA SSP mk2. Not easy to bend around sharp corners. Although it does give the impression you are dealing with something serious here.

Soundwise: straightaway there was a feeling of increased solidity to the sound, weight, presence. And smoothness - I wanted to turn the volume up to hear more. It's not that the system is actually quieter but there is a seductive listenability without glare or 'edge' that just invites you to want ... more.
I was really happy with the Inakustik Excellence, still a great cable for the price, but now you hear that it is a bit bright and untamed. The Carbon also has this big, solid, widescreen bass that got a 'wow' out of me.
The clocks from DSOTM's 'Time' have never sounded so lifelike - as if you're right in your grandparent's sitting-room when the big old clock chimes the hour. Actually everything is more lifelike and deeper in projection. Soundstage is wider and softer, without losing any detail. At one point I thought I was listening with headphones as the sound was so 'between my ears'. Weird, that.

I remember having an AQ Cinnamon USB years ago and finding it a bit too polite and restrained (but that was in combination with a polite and restrained Musical Fidelity DAC). The Carbon is a BIG step up from that in performance. It is a sold, detailed and luscious SQ beast which is going to keep me very happy (for now).

[CN211276]

I found AQ Carbon to be a significant step up from the Wireworld Violet I had been using which was around half the price. I think being round and not flat might have something to do with it. In my set up it connects the streamer to the Mscaler. Dual BNC are required to connect the Mscaler to the DAC.

[slinger]

I've said it before, and it's only an opinion, or a "guess" if you like, but I think AudioQuest give a bit more "bang per buck" than a lot of cables because they sell in large (for hifi cables) volumes, so can keep the price down a bit. I don't think there are many audio cable manufacturers that have whole displays or spinners in Walmart, Target, and the like in America. On the Walmart website, there are 12 pages (476 items) of AudioQuest kit. Target only list 97 of their products. Whatever the reason, discovering AudioQuest and saving money has cost me a bloody fortune, and that's mostly at used prices. Still, it makes a change for me to be "ahead of the curve" in anything hifi-related.

[Fretless]

The biggest letdown you can have as an audio-nutcase is spending far too much dosh on an overly-hyped lump of bling gear only to discover that it makes absolutely no difference to the sound of your system.

Luckily that isn't the case here. The AQ Carbon USB ain't cheap but has lifted my installation to a new SQ Level.

As it runs-in the performance is just getting better and better..
Happy bunny.

[karatestu]

I believe you Fret but you go try telling the sound experts over at pfm that.