Corning Optical USB cable experiences

[occamsrazor]

Clearly the cable was intended to run USB over long distances, rather than audio use. It's a shame they don't make shorter cables than 10m e.g. one metre at a lower price.

[EuroDriver]

Another vendor in Europe: USB3 Optical Cables - No Trouble

 

3m cable is out of stock at the moment :-(

[matthias]

3m cable is out of stock at the moment :-(

 

AFAIK, the shortest Corning USB is 10m and the shortest Corning Thunderbolt is 5,5m. I have never seen shorter lenghts.

 

Matt

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

I have followed this thread and the one about network isolation using fiber optic. I am not clear as to the benefit of having both a fiber optic USB cable with low noise power supply (from a music player to DAC) and a fiber optic LAN cable (into the music player). Can anyone explain the benefit ? Is it that noise transmitted through the LAN to the music server could disrupt the data processing, because if it all comes down to transmitting noise to the DAC, then the isolation between the music "player" and DAC would seem sufficient...

[Hiro]

There are reports from another forum(link above) that the 5V pin on the DAC side of the corning does not carry any voltage.

 

Only RF from computer?

[matthias]

Only RF from computer?

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/corning-optical-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-cable-experiences-23437/index2.html#post405074

 

and the following posts(superdad)

 

Matt

[EuroDriver]

AFAIK, the shortest Corning USB is 10m and the shortest Corning Thunderbolt is 5,5m. I have never seen shorter lenghts.

 

Matt

 

Doh, my mistake 10 m is the shortest one, and its out of stock !

[EuroDriver]

I have followed this thread and the one about network isolation using fiber optic. I am not clear as to the benefit of having both a fiber optic USB cable with low noise power supply (from a music player to DAC) and a fiber optic LAN cable (into the music player). Can anyone explain the benefit ? Is it that noise transmitted through the LAN to the music server could disrupt the data processing, because if it all comes down to transmitting noise to the DAC, then the isolation between the music "player" and DAC would seem sufficient...

 

If USB optical works well, then no need for LAN optical isolation

 

stay tuned ;-)

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

If USB optical works well, then no need for LAN optical isolation

 

stay tuned ;-)

 

Thanks - looking forward to hearing more...

[occamsrazor]

If USB optical works well, then no need for LAN optical isolation

stay tuned ;-)

 

I was thinking the same. Out of interest for those with the 10m cable, I assume this is too long for your needs... can it be wound up easily, or how do you cope with the extra length neatly?

[lmitche]

I was thinking the same. Out of interest for those with the 10m cable, I assume this is too long for your needs... can it be wound up easily, or how do you cope with the extra length neatly?

 

In my system, essentially a 2pc setup, there are benefits from both fiber runs, the FMC between the NAS and the streamer, and the optical USB cable between the streamer and Gustard DDC.

 

FYI, I have isolated the AC power sides of the NAS, streamer and the DAC/AMP into 3 zones using AC isolation transformers. Separate linear power supplies are used in each zone. Taken together, I can't hear any major digital artifacts. There is still a little female sibilance, but it is greatly reduced by the FMC and seems like natural sibilance at this point. Lastly, I have a network isolation transformer on the LAN side of the NAS.

 

I am delighted with the result. Thanks to everyone for sharing the FMC solution. It was the final straw that broke the "digital hash" back.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

My TEAC needs a handshake, did not work when I taped the 5V pin, can you confirm once and for all that so it is with the Gustard and hence that there is at least that minimum voltage, necessary and sufficient, passing through to the DAC ?

 

Thanks

 

In my system, essentially a 2pc setup, there are benefits from both fiber runs, the FMC between the NAS and the streamer, and the optical USB cable between the streamer and Gustard DDC.

 

FYI, I have isolated the AC power sides of the NAS, streamer and the DAC/AMP into 3 zones using AC isolation transformers. Separate linear power supplies are used in each zone. Taken together, I can't hear any major digital artifacts. There is still a little female sibilance, but it is greatly reduced by the FMC and seems like natural sibilance at this point. Lastly, I have a network isolation transformer on the LAN side of the NAS.

 

I am delighted with the result. Thanks to everyone for sharing the FMC solution. It was the final straw that broke the "digital hash" back.

[lmitche]

Yes, I connect the Corning cable directly to the Gustard. There is enough power to make the handshake.

 

With your Teac Dac try adding power with a hub into the Dac. A j5create hub worked for me with the Vega Dac. In suspect a regen will do the same

[Le Concombre Masqué]

Thank you, I hoped it would end my "anxiety" with all the contradictory reports but.... why should I need trying (my anxiety rises ; means it could not work ?) adding a powered hub if there's enough juice for a handshake ( TEAC is self powered)

Yes, I connect the Corning cable directly to the Gustard. There is enough power to make the handshake.

 

With your Teac Dac try adding power with a hub into the Dac. A j5create hub worked for me with the Vega Dac. In suspect a regen will do the same

[lmitche]

Thank you, I hoped it would end my "anxiety" with all the contradictory reports but.... why should I need trying (my anxiety rises ; means it could not work ?) adding a powered hub if there's enough juice for a handshake ( TEAC is self powered)

 

It is hard to know why some devices need a hub with the Corning cable, and others don't. The Vega DAC is self powered yet it needs a hub to handshake. The Gustard U12 DDC does not. I have had 3 other DACs here, Marantz HD01, IFI iDSD, and the Cambridge DACmagic 100. None needed the hub to handshake. None sound as good as the Vega either.

 

The good news is that a $25 USB Jcreate USB 3 hub solves the problem and sounds great too. It's a mystery why this is necessary.

 

It will be exciting to try Superdad's Regen as a substitute for the Jcreate. I do expect it to sound even better.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

Thank you, I will report regarding the TEAC

It is hard to know why some devices need a hub with the Corning cable, and others don't. The Vega DAC is self powered yet it needs a hub to handshake. The Gustard U12 DDC does not. I have had 3 other DACs here, Marantz HD01, IFI iDSD, and the Cambridge DACmagic 100. None needed the hub to handshake. None sound as good as the Vega either.

 

The good news is that a $25 USB Jcreate USB 3 hub solves the problem and sounds great too. It's a mystery why this is necessary.

 

It will be exciting to try Superdad's Regen as a substitute for the Jcreate. I do expect it to sound even better.

[reverendo]

just ordered the Corning USB cable. let's see how that goes.

[ilok]

Got one on order as well, will suck if I have to resale it....

[JohnSwenson]

On the issue of some DAC working with the Corning and others needing a hub, could people post whether the DACs in question are USB 2 or 1.1 interfaces.

 

There is a USB core implementation common in ARM chips which leaves out some hardware which is usually not an issue BUT turns out to be critical for USB1.1 DACs using asynchronous protocol. With these DACs sticking a hub in-between (which does have the piece of hardware) fixes the problem.

 

If Corning used this core in their implementation it could explain the issue.

 

John S.

[lmitche]

On the issue of some DAC working with the Corning and others needing a hub, could people post whether the DACs in question are USB 2 or 1.1 interfaces.

 

There is a USB core implementation common in ARM chips which leaves out some hardware which is usually not an issue BUT turns out to be critical for USB1.1 DACs using asynchronous protocol. With these DACs sticking a hub in-between (which does have the piece of hardware) fixes the problem.

 

If Corning used this core in their implementation it could explain the issue.

 

John S.

 

Hi John,

 

The Corning cable supports self-powered USB 2 and 3 devices. Reading the Corning website there is no evidence of support for USB 1.1 devices.

 

My Auralic Vega DAC needs an external hub to successfully handshake with the Corning cable. I use a Jcreate JUH340 usb mini hub for this. This hub uses the VIA VL812 REV B2 chipset. Curiously, this hub will run powered directly from the Corning cable, but sounds marginally better if connected to a clean 5 volt external source. I am looking forward to trying the REGEN in it's place.

 

The Vega DAC uses an XMOS USB chipset. I don't know if USB 1.1 is supported on this DAC.

 

The best sound from the Vega is obtained in it's highest clock speed setting called EXACT mode. This mode is prone to dropouts via USB, especially when switching between tracks sampled at differing frequencies. In my case 96hz is the most problematic. In normal clock mode (AUTO) there are no dropouts with the Corning cable.

 

I suspect these dropouts occur due to timing errors somewhere in the signal chain, with the NAS, or renderer the likely culprits. It would be cool if the REGEN fixes this. However, my experiments indicate that disk operations in the NAS are the real issue with EXACT mode on the Vega. Disabling OS and application log files makes an immediate difference.

 

Hope that helps.

 

lmitche

[reverendo]

Hi John,

 

The Corning cable supports self-powered USB 2 and 3 devices. Reading the Corning website there is no evidence of support for USB 1.1 devices.

 

My Auralic Vega DAC needs an external hub to successfully handshake with the Corning cable. I use a Jcreate JUH340 usb mini hub for this. This hub uses the VIA VL812 REV B2 chipset. Curiously, this hub will run powered directly from the Corning cable, but sounds marginally better if connected to a clean 5 volt external source. I am looking forward to trying the REGEN in it's place.

 

The Vega DAC uses an XMOS USB chipset. I don't know if USB 1.1 is supported on this DAC.

 

The best sound from the Vega is obtained in it's highest clock speed setting called EXACT mode. This mode is prone to dropouts via USB, especially when switching between tracks sampled at differing frequencies. In my case 96hz is the most problematic. In normal clock mode (AUTO) there are no dropouts with the Corning cable.

 

I suspect these dropouts occur due to timing errors somewhere in the signal chain, with the NAS, or renderer the likely culprits. It would be cool if the REGEN fixes this. However, my experiments indicate that disk operations in the NAS are the real issue with EXACT mode on the Vega. Disabling OS and application log files makes an immediate difference.

 

Hope that helps.

 

lmitche

 

I'm pretty frustrated at the moment. Tuesday I re-installed the EDO USB output for the SBT, but wasn't aware that it doesn't work with the soundcheck TT3.0 from Klaus. That made me lose all my time trying to figure out how to make it work and getting to the point of a factory restore for the SBT.

Today I was ready to do my listening, but unfortunately found out that the Corning Cable doesn't establish a connection between my SBT and the Cantata DAC. I know that my Cantata needs the 5V for the handshake, since I've tried using a USB cable without the 5V lead in the past and it didn't work. Is there any solution for this case? I have a powered USB 2.0 Hub on my main computer, so I could try using it, but how would that look like? This is my USB hub. How could I connect from my SBT to a hub and then to the DAC?

Hope someone can help this very frustrated person out asap. I still have some time to do whatever necessary to get the cable to work.

Best regards

lmitche,

[reverendo]

just saw that it seams that I signed as lmitche, but it was supposed to be at the beginning of the post. can't edit it now, so just correcting

[lmitche]

Hi Reverendo,

 

The Jcreate hub referenced above solved my handshake issue with the Corning cable. No guarentee that it will solve your problem, but it did mine. I tried several other hubs, and this one was the only that worked. Evidently the chipset is highly regarded for compatibility.

 

You may want wait for the Regen however. I will try one as soon as I can.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

has anybody tried this ? câble adaptateur usb-b pour alimentation externe usb-a

[reverendo]

Hi Reverendo,

 

The Jcreate hub referenced above solved my handshake issue with the Corning cable. No guarentee that it will solve your problem, but it did mine. I tried several other hubs, and this one was the only that worked. Evidently the chipset is highly regarded for compatibility.

 

You may want wait for the Regen however. I will try one as soon as I can.

 

Thanks lmitche,

I got it to work with my DAC using my hub, but handshaking has been very shaky. Sometimes it connects, sometimes I just get two small flickers of the bit rate and then the SBT restarts to retry the connection. I was able to compare three tracks, but it's pretty tough to do it decently thus way.

What do you mean by chipset? I'd probably go to the microcenter or Fry's close by if I could see what chipset I'd have to look for in advance. I didn't see any chipset information on my hub's specs regarding that.

Using a Regen would kind of forfeit my main goal, which is not to have to use the USB cable I'm suing to achieve the effect I'm looking for, since it's pretty expensive.