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Long USB Cable??? My head is going to explode!


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First... my system... Mac mini feeding music to KEF LS50w through USB cable. 

 

I need to run at least 30'.  I have also been reading reviews of Regen and iFi 3.0, long usb cables, etc., etc. :confused:

 

Has anyone done this ? Or does anyone have any recomendations? 

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Yes... now studying long tb cables... looks as if I have one choice, Owens corning fiber.

 

Question: Has anyone compared the audio differences of the input USB cable of the iFi 3.0 ? If I use the Ifi at the speaker end, and a good quality 10m USB cable between Mini and it.

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3 hours ago, gbryant said:

First... my system... Mac mini feeding music to KEF LS50w through USB cable. 

 

I need to run at least 30'.  I have also been reading reviews of Regen and iFi 3.0, long usb cables, etc., etc. :confused:

 

Has anyone done this ? Or does anyone have any recomendations? 

 

HQPlayer with NAA is a possible solution.  Mini-computers that can serve as NAAs can be found for under $100.  (Google's your friend for the general concept - if you're interested, you can come back and ask about specifics.)  Audirvana+ is supposed to be incorporating something similar in the near future, but it's not out just yet.

 

I want to note that optical USB incorporates very thin copper wires, and these, as I and others have found, can be very, very fragile.  My Corning USB cable stopped working within a month or two, and I was able to return it for a refund.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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3 hours ago, gbryant said:

First... my system... Mac mini feeding music to KEF LS50w through USB cable. 

 

I need to run at least 30'.  I have also been reading reviews of Regen and iFi 3.0, long usb cables, etc., etc. :confused:

 

Has anyone done this ? Or does anyone have any recomendations? 

microRendu + (ethernet or ethernet-over-powerline adapter or wifi bridge).

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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2 minutes ago, miguelito said:

microRendu + (ethernet or ethernet-over-powerline adapter).

 

Right, but you need to feed it one of the types of streams it works with:

 

SqueezeLite

ShairPort

MPD/DLNA 
- DLNA 
- MPD - Intended to work with a SMB mount.

- Linn Songcast

HQ Player NAA 

Roon

Spotify Connect

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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9 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

Right, but you need to feed it one of the types of streams it works with:

 

SqueezeLite

ShairPort

MPD/DLNA 
- DLNA 
- MPD - Intended to work with a SMB mount.

- Linn Songcast

HQ Player NAA 

Roon

Spotify Connect

Ah good point! I keep thinking everyone is using Roon. Sorry!

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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52 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

will an Apple TV3 plug into the speaker interface?

 

then you can just run WiFi/AirPlay to the Apple TV3 and stick the mini where you want

Coupla horrible news...

1- Apple broken Airplay to ATV3 from third-party software (Airfoil, others) with v10.2

2- ATV3 does NOT have toslink out

 

If you're gonna go Airplay, I'd suggest an Airport Express - additionally this will double as an Ethernet bridge if you decide to do the microRendu.

 

Edit: My mistake - it is ATV4 that's broken and doesn't have toslink. However good luck finding an ATV3. Still recommend the Airport Express.

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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2 hours ago, gbryant said:

Yes... now studying long tb cables... looks as if I have one choice, Owens corning fiber.

I've used the OC cable successfully but note that it does not carry or convey the +5v USB line that some devices seem to require. 

Kal Rubinson

Senior Contributing Editor, Stereophile

 

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This will do what you need.  These sometimes gives trouble if the device is running off of USB power (USB powered hard drive for instance).  If not, and you merely need to communicate data these are fine. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Hi-Speed-Extension-U026-10M/dp/B008VOPEQW/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1495661687&sr=8-13&keywords=usb+active+extension+cable

And always keep in mind: Cognitive biases, like seeing optical illusions are a sign of a normally functioning brain. We all have them, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, but it is something that affects our objective evaluation of reality. 

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1 hour ago, miguelito said:

Coupla horrible news...

1- Apple broken Airplay to ATV3 from third-party software (Airfoil, others) with v10.2

2- ATV3 does NOT have toslink out

 

If you're gonna go Airplay, I'd suggest an Airport Express - additionally this will double as an Ethernet bridge if you decide to do the microRendu.

 

Edit: My mistake - it is ATV4 that's broken and doesn't have toslink. However good luck finding an ATV3. Still recommend the Airport Express.

 

I started out with an AE and always thought the sound with AirPlay was much worse than through a wired connection.  Never looked into why that should be, but that's how it sounded to me.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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1 hour ago, Jud said:

 

I started out with an AE and always thought the sound with AirPlay was much worse than through a wired connection.  Never looked into why that should be, but that's how it sounded to me.

You can have a wired connection to an AE and use Airplay that way. I always thought Airplay is ok but not great sound wise. I would say Sonos for example sounds better.

NUC10i7 + Roon ROCK > dCS Rossini APEX DAC + dCS Rossini Master Clock 

SME 20/3 + SME V + Dynavector XV-1s or ANUK IO Gold > vdH The Grail or Kondo KSL-SFz + ANK L3 Phono 

Audio Note Kondo Ongaku > Avantgarde Duo Mezzo

Signal cables: Kondo Silver, Crystal Cable phono

Power cables: Kondo, Shunyata, van den Hul

system pics

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5 hours ago, Jud said:

 

I started out with an AE and always thought the sound with AirPlay was much worse than through a wired connection.  Never looked into why that should be, but that's how it sounded to me.

 

By now, somewhere in the 000's of posts here at CA, someone has explained why different wi-fi setups sound different. I use wi-fi due to my home's layout and the lathe and plaster construction (bad for wi-fi). In my completely unscientific tests, the best wi-fi results to my Airport Express were, in this order, from: NetGear Orbi, Airport Extreme, and NetGear R6700. The first two trounced the R6700. 

 

Because I'm using the optical out from my AEx to my W4S Remedy (and silver Oyaide coax BNC from that to my DAC), I thought I'd try running direct optical from my MacBook Pro. While it did offer more transparency and high frequency "space," the bass and low mids did the usual blurring/recessing act that they do with the "wrong" cables. 

 

FWIW, Ethernet out of the AEx into mRendu powered by LPS-1 sounded as good as the optical I settled on. A bit more etched and digital, and perhaps not as analog as the coax input. This was using LMS and Squeezebox on the mRendu (which sounded mucho better than Minimserver). (No Roon or other streaming here; I own too much music already.)

 

Recently I spent almost four hours with a friend listening to top gear on two LP-12s and three cartridges. We came back and listened more on my system. Happy to say my system easily hung with the store's despite some minor (to me) inferiorities. 

 

Anyway, just wanted to suggest that maybe, maybe, wi-fi over AEx isn't as bad as has been reported here. YMMV.

Sum>Frankenstein: JPlay/Audirvana/iTunes, Uptone EtherRegen+LPS-1.2, Rivo Streamer+Uptone JS-2, Schiit Yggdrasil LiM+Shunyata Delta XC, Linn LP12/Hercules II/Ittok/Denon DL-103R, ModWright LS 100, Pass XA25, Tellurium Black II, Monitor Audio Silver 500 on IsoAcoustics Gaias, Shunyata Delta XC, Transparent Audio, P12 power regenerator, and positive room attributes.

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Well... I got a long cable, $15 on amazon. That sounds like do do...

 

Then I went down to the basement and dug out the old Mac Pro(2007 with Lion)... thought that would be a fun project. 

I can only run iTunes because it's not new enough to load the updated software.

 

Plugged this into the LS50w with jitterbug and AQ USB cable..... wow! This sounds great! 

These speakers can really shine... with the right setup.

 

The mini can't compare, I wonder if it has something to do with the power supply???

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