USB Cables for K50 / Oladra

I was wondering what USB cables owners of K50’s and Oladra’s are using.
Relevant for me as I’ll upgrading my K50 soon with the enhanced USB output

I was think of getting perhaps the Audioquest Diamond or even a Siltech

Thanks!

On a K30, I have the CAD USB II, which replaced a Curious and before that AQ Carbon. I picked the CAD up used at a decent price and it’s significantly better than the previous ones i used. Using Mark’s terminology, the CAD brought a big improvement on the ease and whilst not notably allowing more detail, it made what was coming through, more enjoyable with the removal of a bit more digital nastiness.

The Shunyata Omega is the best I’ve heard with the Shunyata Sigma the second best.

I used the AudioQuest Diamond USB with my CX, however I love the Shunyata cables and have no doubt they would be extremely good, but I moved away from USB before trying their USB cable out.

I have tried many USB cables, including Wireworld Platinum and AudioQuest Diamond. I now have a Siltech 880 USB. It’s not cheap, but it’s in a class of its own in terms of naturalness and spaciousness.

I recently bought Siltech 680 mains leads (680P) and analogue XLR cables (680I).
Good to know the USB cables are similarly good

I also have 680i and 680L. The crown is the 880 USB :slight_smile:

I’ve tried or owned Wireworld Platinum, Audioquest Diamond, Shunyata Omega, and several others. In my system the Infigo Audio Signature USB cable is the most open, natural, and detailed without brightness.

If only we could tempt Antipodes to make a USB cable . !!

Having said that , I regret selling my CAD 2 USB cable .
I preferred it to a Curious , several Lush cables and a AQ Diamond.

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I really like the Final Touch Audio Callisto cable and am sure the higher end Sinope is also very good

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You could try a Sablon usb cable they get great reviews.

After using several different USB cables, including an AQ Coffee, the present state is a
Stealth Audio USB-T-select. With always increasing results.

The chord company sarum T digital super array usb

Wireworld Platinum Starlight 8. I like the separated power conductors.

I used a previous version (v6) of this back in the day. For the money, it was a good choice.

I ended up replacing the WWPS 6 with the cable that follows. Audience also splits out the power conductors. This was an even better value as it was discounted by The Cable Company as an audio show special. For those looking for a good value, be sure to see what The Cable Company has in stock as far as show specials.

Audience Au24 SE USB Cable - The Absolute Sound

I made some tests with my K50 and my Gryphon DAC Kalliope. I found that the sound gets better with USB than AES. Kalliope works in asynchronous mode, i.e. K50 is clock controled by Kalliope.
That may be reasoned by the very good clock of the Gryphon. I used a simple AQ Cinnamon USB cable. There a some cables on the market which do have only the signal wires and shield but not 5V wires to reduce possible noise disturbances.
Is the 5V wiring necessary for the K50/Oladra USB output?

The server supplies 5v regardless. What matters is whether the DAC requires it. That is a question for the manufacturer of your DAC.

Obviously my Gryphon Kalliope does not require 5V because the Gryphon Vanta USB cable has only the data wires and no 5V connection. I would like to have that confirmed by Gryphon.

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I ended getting a Network Acoustics muon2 USB cable.
It sounds amazing