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Habst Ultra III USB cable - an unusual discovery on bandwidth


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  Does Hapst still make motors for turntables?

 

2012 Mac Mini, i5 - 2.5 GHz, 16 GB RAM. SSD,  PM/PV software, Focusrite Clarett 4Pre 4 channel interface. Daysequerra M4.0X Broadcast monitor., My_Ref Evolution rev a , Klipsch La Scala II, Blue Sky Sub 12

Clarett used as ADC for vinyl rips.

Corning Optical Thunderbolt cable used to connect computer to 4Pre. Dac fed by iFi iPower and Noise Trapper isolation transformer. 

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7 hours ago, Panelhead said:

  Does Hapst still make motors for turntables?

 

This is the Habst company run by Daniel Steinert based in Berlin. Perhaps its a different company?

 

18 hours ago, davide256 said:

@The Computer Audiophile    chris can this thread be moved to the DAC section?  A USB cable is a DAC peripheral discussion, not a network device/solution

 

Thanks for the proper repositioning.

 

19 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

I had been wondering about those conduits myself, so I find your report most interesting.

 

I had a similar experience to yours when I replaced the Lush with the SOtM dCBL-UF (silver wire) USB cable.  Also over the top in price but I certainly wouldn't want to switch back.

 

Ah I've been wondering about SOtM's USB cables. It's the one with the signal cleaning box right? I have their ethernet dCBL-CAT7s and iSO-CAT6 box and they work very well. 

 

Can you hear the silver in the dCBL-UF?

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Following up from the MuMetal conduit tests, after 2 days of listening to very high amounts of details and tight bass, I tried removing the conduits to return to benchmark.

 

There's an immediate drop in perceived information and looseness to the music. It's like a comfortable sofa. Large more relaxed listening without the wow factor. Still detailed bit less tight and wider soundstage.

 

I felt that I missed the details and tightness in the sound of the conduit but it's easier listening without the conduit.

 

Question is how to have both? What can I do to get best of both worlds? Perhaps use 1/3 or 2/3s conduit lengths? Not very scientific but practically it may reduce the more extreme effect of the conduit. 

 

How is it the conduit makes such an extreme perceived difference? Is EMI  management that important for cables or is the conduit affecting the signal in the cable too?  Don Lammersfeld the engineer at Magnetic Shield Corporation informs me the conduit is most effective at low level, low frequency applications.

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2 hours ago, flkin said:

Following up from the MuMetal conduit tests, after 2 days of listening to very high amounts of details and tight bass, I tried removing the conduits to return to benchmark.

 

There's an immediate drop in perceived information and looseness to the music. It's like a comfortable sofa. Large more relaxed listening without the wow factor. Still detailed bit less tight and wider soundstage.

 

I felt that I missed the details and tightness in the sound of the conduit but it's easier listening without the conduit.

 

Question is how to have both? What can I do to get best of both worlds? Perhaps use 1/3 or 2/3s conduit lengths? Not very scientific but practically it may reduce the more extreme effect of the conduit. 

 

How is it the conduit makes such an extreme perceived difference? Is EMI  management that important for cables or is the conduit affecting the signal in the cable too?  Don Lammersfeld the engineer at Magnetic Shield Corporation informs me the conduit is most effective at low level, low frequency applications.

Flkin, do you have a split USB power, USB data cable like a lightspeed 2g? It would be interesting to put one or the other leg in the conduit to learn if the power or data leg is the most impacted.

 

Also, did you use the conduit anywhere else, like other DC cables, or Ethernet cables? Your USB cable is at one end of the chain. You may need to treat the downstream components to raise the quality at the DAC end.

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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5 hours ago, flkin said:

Ah I've been wondering about SOtM's USB cables. It's the one with the signal cleaning box right? I have their ethernet dCBL-CAT7s and iSO-CAT6 box and they work very well. 

 

Can you hear the silver in the dCBL-UF?

 

Yes, I can definitely hear the benefits of the silver.  In a nutshell, I would describe the dCBL-UF as having a much bigger soundstage than the Lush, with a substantial boost in overall clarity and detail.  The entire frequency range is much more defined.  I hear a lot more music with the dCBL-UF.  It has really transformed my listening experience for the better.

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, lmitche said:

Flkin, do you have a split USB power, USB data cable like a lightspeed 2g? It would be interesting to put one or the other leg in the conduit to learn if the power or data leg is the most impacted.

 

Also, did you use the conduit anywhere else, like other DC cables, or Ethernet cables? Your USB cable is at one end of the chain. You may need to treat the downstream components to raise the quality at the DAC end.

 

Both the Curious and Habst has split power but joined permanently at both ends so I can’t slot the conduit on only the data leg. Yes, that would be an interesting experiment to see what differences may be caused with the data or power leg wrapped. 

 

I suppose I could cut the power from the USB cable using the USPCB connector and an adaptor. I have a couple lying around. But my DAC needs the power leg for communications to work.

 

And I’m using also using the MuMetal conduit on a Ghent JSSG Ethernet cable from router to the Pink Faun streamer and on a POE DC cable that supplies power to my router. This POE DC is of my own design that has two Lan cables rather than one (4 wires in the first Lan cable for power, the other 4 unused wires looped around using the second Lan cable). I put both cables inside the conduit like the picture below. The picture shows the DC conduit on the left side and the router conduit in the middle also. Router's at the bottom of the picture.

 

IMG_1567.thumb.jpg.529b513a44488477434c9386a56ce1df.jpg

 

 

Too many variables to hear the effect of conduit on each of these places. But I will in time. My plan is to get all the conduit on and sounding great first (cant help it, too excited about the effect of the conduit). Then when I’m used to the sound, to take off one at a time and hear the difference.

 

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An update about the sound of the MuMetal conduit over USB cable to DAC. My earlier findings of enormously improved details and tightening of bass remains. Unfortunately it comes with a recessed soundstage and less organic sound. The balance of sound moves towards being brighter but not in a harsh way. Initially impressive but for longer listening periods of say 3-5 hours, music becomes less engaging as the presentation is details with less emotion and engagement.

 

So at this time, full length MuMetal conduits over USB changes the music significantly but has downsides too. Working on partial lengths of conduit to see if I can bring back some of that engagement while keeping the details and tightness of bass.

 

That tightening of conduit bass is addictive. When playing SuperBass tracks or double bass tracks it's pretty amazing. It's something I want to keep if possible. These are the bass tracks I use as a test - for those into natural bass instruments, these are must have discs. Check out Track 3 in King of Bass - Bass, Bass, Bass, Bass, Bass & Bass by L'Orchestre de Contrebasses.

 

1285120751_ScreenShot2018-08-10at12_19_16PM.thumb.jpg.06e1ba41fc9bb5a75d44f7b88ad22c86.jpg

1822193266_ScreenShot2018-08-10at12_21_09PM.thumb.jpg.1bc1acded60124c014322cf61434eb84.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Very interesting, this Habst cable. As far as the reviews, comparisons and descriptions I can find go, it seems to be right up my alley. Is anyone else using this cable? Please add your experiences, comparisons (f.e. Lush^2, Tellurium Q) etc. That would be very helpful indeed.

 

Thanks a lot!

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Just want to update briefly that I haven't spent a lot of time testing the MuMetal conduits but have cut some third lengths and short 3 inch lengths to test. 

 

I'm still unable to optimise easily a position to get a better sound with the conduits over my Habst USB. But they definitely affect the sound - in some ways amazingly better bass tightness and clear treble but loose organic feeling and reduced size of soundstage. Currently I prefer not using the MuMetal conduits.

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3 hours ago, flkin said:

The Habst USB cable is a good one and in my system far surpasses the Lush I was using previously. The change is pretty obvious and not subtle. But I haven't compared it with other high end USB cables to date.

 

Thanks, flkin. I saw your comparisons - that's why I got interested in the first place!

Cheers

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  • 10 months later...

Any new Habst users?

Triangle Magellan Concerto 2 < AQ Everest < Vitus Audio SS-010 Mk2 < AQ Dragon High Current < AQ WEL XLR < Chord Qutest DAC w UpTone JS-2 & AQ Dragon Source < AQ Diamond USB < Innuos Phoenix USB w AQ Dragon Source < Aurender N100H & AQ Dragon Source < NetGear GS105GE Switch w UpTone LPS1.2 < Supra CAT8 Ethernet < Gryphon PowerZone w AQ NRG-Wild < Stillpoints UltraSS, Ansuz Darkz D-TC & D2, Omicron Harmonic Stabilizer, Gold Evolution SE & Classic < Furutech FT-SWS (R) < Synergistic Research Orange Quantum Fuse < Solid Tech Hybrid < GigaWatt G-16A 2P Circuit Breaker

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