Corning Optical USB cable experiences

[lmitche]

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.

 

reverendo,

 

Here is the hub at Fry's:

FRYS.com | J5 CREATE

 

And at BestBuy:

j5 create 4Port USB 3.0 Hub Black JUH340 - Best Buy

 

Inside you will find this:

威鋒電子

[Superdad]

Inside you will find this:

威鋒電å*

 

Good chance of that one sounding pretty bad. Better off with a USB2.0 hub, and one that does not rely on the chip's crappy internal DC-DC switching regulators for 5V.

[reverendo]

just posting here what I found out on the Corning thread:

Originally Posted by tubesound

The Corning cable carries little power on the output side (just enough to do the light to electrical signal reversion) and so I think this setup won't work.

Originally Posted by lmitche

In my setup, I need to have the hub between the Corning cable and the DAC. Corning cable> HUB> DAC. For me, it won't just work the other way around.

Originally Posted by reverendo

ok. now I get it. this means that I'm actually not the last link before the DAC? that doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for, then, since I still have that messy switch on the hub. I'll probably go the FMC route for the ethernet connection and see how that goes.

[reverendo]

thinking this through, I also believe that in the case of SBT>Corning>Hub>DAC I'd also need an additional A/A M/M USB adapter that would connect the Corning to the hub, right?

[lmitche]

thinking this through, I also believe that in the case of SBT>Corning>Hub>DAC I'd also need an additional A/A M/M USB adapter that would connect the Corning to the hub, right?

 

Yes, you need one these from Hub to DAC

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009KAKVRI/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_3p_dp_1

 

And one of these for the Corning cable to J5create mini hub.

 

SYBAUSA - SY-ADA20084 >> USB 3.0 Plug Adapter: Male to Micro B Male

[lmitche]

Good chance of that one sounding pretty bad. Better off with a USB2.0 hub, and one that does not rely on the chip's crappy internal DC-DC switching regulators for 5V.

 

Hi Alex and Reverendo,

 

Alex, you are the expert on USB hubs here for sure.

 

Nevertheless I am delighted with the sound of the Corning cable through the J5create mini hub. The hub has a single high power "CDP port" used for charging phones . . etc. right next to it's external power connector. When external power is supplied it takes it's power from that external source, not from the chip, avoiding the need to draw on the limited power supplied by the host computer.

 

My setup sends clean LPS 5 volt power to the hub through this connector and the sound quality is just terrific.

[reverendo]

Yes, you need one these from Hub to DAC

 

Amazon.com: HDE® USB Type A Male to USB Type B Male Adapter: Computers & Accessories

so you connect the hub with the first adapter (which I already bought at Fry's) directly into the DAC in order to bypass the need for another USB cable from the Hub to the DAC?

And one of these for the Corning cable to J5create mini hub.

 

SYBAUSA - SY-ADA20084 >> USB 3.0 Plug Adapter: Male to Micro B Male

What's the difference if the Corning Cable used a male/male Type A adapter instead of the micro USB 3.0 connection. Does that make any difference?

I just remembered that I have this Inland USB 3.0 4-port Hub lying around here at home.

Sorry for all the questions.

It's a pity that the Corning doesn't connect to the DAC directly, which would have made far more sense, but since I have it here, I might as well give it a try and see if it betters my coax. I did get it to work with the DAC a few times after Hub and the impressions were very good, although I only got to compare three of my 10-15 reference tracks for evaluation.

[lmitche]

so you connect the hub with the first adapter (which I already bought at Fry's) directly into the DAC in order to bypass the need for another USB cable from the Hub to the DAC?

 

What's the difference if the Corning Cable used a male/male Type A adapter instead of the micro USB 3.0 connection. Does that make any difference?

I just remembered that I have this Inland USB 3.0 4-port Hub lying around here at home.

Sorry for all the questions.

It's a pity that the Corning doesn't connect to the DAC directly, which would have made far more sense, but since I have it here, I might as well give it a try and see if it betters my coax. I did get it to work with the DAC a few times after Hub and the impressions were very good, although I only got to compare three of my 10-15 reference tracks for evaluation.

 

The micro USB adapter is only for the J5create mini hub. But hey, why not try the Inland hub with the with the regular USB adapter?

 

The only experience I have is with the J5create, but that doesn't mean other hubs won't work. They should do. I can only share what worked for me.

[reverendo]

The micro USB adapter is only for the J5create mini hub. But hey, why not try the Inland hub with the with the regular USB adapter?

 

The only experience I have is with the J5create, but that doesn't mean other hubs won't work. They should do. I can only share what worked for me.

 

thanks for the swift reply.

my inland also has one 3.0 micro USB input, but, like the Jcreate, it also has others, which, in theory should also work, hence my question. maybe there was a specific reason you prefered this input.

I would power mine it with the wall wart.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

got mine.

does NOT work with the TEAC 501 (an alert on the Mac says the device needs power while on the TEAC itself it looked good, the "unconnectected" message disappearing as soon as the Corning was plugged)

I don't think there's any power at all going to the device and when I looked inside the receptacle my feeling was that plastic pins at each extremity prevented that...

rushed (after a phone call) to an improbable place where, in a 10 at most shops tiny city, a guy still had a USB 2.0 powered hub he was happy to sell at original buying cost (14 €); made in China, no brand, looks good though, and makes the whole thing work though I have no idea of the chipset and it's probably as standard a hub as a hub can be.

 

As of the SQ ? if somebody cares I'll detail. In a nutshell the sound is tighter and I took the pain to plug the thing directly to my DAC.

Today I don't think I would order the ferrites (I'm pretty sure they only protect the feed of the optic to electric converter, not sure it's worth at all and I took expensive ones...) nor the adaptor : I would probably plug my Belkin in the hub rather than in the Mac and voila...

Since I'm not going to test (well I did once but with the time it took to move things, plug the thing directly, find foam to fit it etc I won't say anything) , what would you guys (Alex!) do : keep the shortest distance as intended with the REgen or give some distance to that cheap gear using the Belkin?

 

Will the Regen do the job?

For those who have a JS2, solution would be : câble adaptateur usb-b pour alimentation externe usb-a

[lmitche]

On my hub, the micro usb port is for the host, and the others for peripheral devices such as the DAC.

[reverendo]

On my hub, the micro usb port is for the host, and the others for peripheral devices such as the DAC.

 

thanks. I'll try to find out if that's the case in mine, too.

[occamsrazor]

Anyone here tested the Corning cable with an Audiolab MDAC? Just wondering if it works direct...

[Le Concombre Masqué]

[reverendo]

Today I got the necessary adapter plug in order to connect the Corning cable as a host the USB 3.0 hub. I then connect the USB hub directly to the DAC with the appropriate adapter. It still doesn't make the handshake. I'm giving up on it, especially since I should have seen from the start the the Corning wasn't going to be the last link to the DAC, which, IMO, would have made more sense.

Pity, though.

[rattosecond]

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

 

stay tuned ;-)

 

Any update on this if it worked properly?

[EuroDriver]

Any update on this if it worked properly?

 

Will be testing this week

[EuroDriver]

As I am typing this I have my electrically almost unlistenable MS Surface Pro3 i5, running HQ Player doing 16/44 to DSD 256 with Polysinc-2s and DSD7. The wet cloth from the RF with copper USB is gone and the SQ from the SP3 is shockingly good, but need testing later this week to see if the playback is in the sonic class of WS2012 on NAA. The strength of the perceived bass is pretty amazing . . . .

 

I suspect blocking RF from the DAC is only part of the story of getting good / ultimate sound and that OS and OS optimizations will still matter.

 

 

Side notes

- I put some ferrites on the optical cable, but could not detect a difference

 

- Unfortunately my Surface Pro3 can only run the Polysinc filter for about 20 secs before it starts to have dropouts, maybe I should have got the i7 :-(

[wisnon]

Ed, is this just with the Corning optical USB cable and no other tweak?

 

Also, what do you think about the recent fuss regading JPlay 6? People are saying its fantastic wit plan old Windows 8...

[EuroDriver]

Ed, is this just with the Corning optical USB cable and no other tweak?

 

Also, what do you think about the recent fuss regading JPlay 6? People are saying its fantastic wit plan old Windows 8...

 

Norman,

 

What I discovered today is that the Corning has to be plugged into a USB 3 port to work properly !

 

JPlay 6 is not an option with ExaSound DAC's :-(

 

Win 10 is also causing a stir !

 

Best Ed

[wisnon]

USB3 Port on the Computer end, I imagine? Did you need it to plug into a hub to work with the Dac and do you think the Regen will help matters, theoretically?

 

Why wont Jplay work with Exa Dacs? I know its not compatible with Win10....which as you say is also causing a stir.

[EuroDriver]

Yes computer end needs to be USB3. ExaSound does not need powered hub to work. Regen should help too, I have my name down for one ;-)

[Le Concombre Masqué]

Mine stopped working today, after 2 or 3 days of erratic behavior ; had to unplug/replug) and I miss it, its subjective dynamics, to say it in a nutshell

[lmitche]

Yes computer end needs to be USB3. ExaSound does not need powered hub to work. Regen should help too, I have my name down for one ;-)

 

Hi Eurodriver,

 

Funny, my Corning cable works fine with the host end plugged directly into the SMS-100, which is essentially a Pogoplug E02 with 4 USB 2.0 ports. I do need the USB 3 hub on the DAC side for the Vega DAC to sync, but not for the Gustard U12, both of which are USB 2.0. Strange. Kinda the definition of YMMV going on here.

 

With the TPLINK FMCs, Corning cable, two LPSes, Audiophile Optimizer and various NIC setting adjustments, my system has become incredibly 3D and ambient. All together a great value at a cost of less than 2 or 3 percent of the total system.

 

I am looking forward to trying the REGEN as well.

[EuroDriver]

Hi Eurodriver,

 

Funny, my Corning cable works fine with the host end plugged directly into the SMS-100, which is essentially a Pogoplug E02 with 4 USB 2.0 ports. I do need the USB 3 hub on the DAC side for the Vega DAC to sync, but not for the Gustard U12, both of which are USB 2.0. Strange. Kinda the definition of YMMV going on here.

 

With the TPLINK FMCs, Corning cable, two LPSes, Audiophile Optimizer and various NIC setting adjustments, my system has become incredibly 3D and ambient. All together a great value at a cost of less than 2 or 3 percent of the total system.

 

I am looking forward to trying the REGEN as well.

 

You are a lucky guy with your SMS-100, it has now become an audio classic as it's sold out and no longer available ;-)