USB cable quality

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phofman

Member
Joined 2005
Just like UAC1. Here are altsettings (available configurations) of a dirt cheap (1.20 USD incl. shipping to Europe :) ) UAC1 8 channel sound card with 6 analog out plus 2ch SPDIF out:

Code: 
pavel@eeepc:~$ cat /proc/asound/card1/stream0 
USB Sound Device         at usb-0000:00:1d.1-1, full speed : USB Audio

Playback:
  Status: Stop
  Interface 1
    Altset 1
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 8
    Endpoint: 6 OUT (ADAPTIVE)
    Rates: 44100, 48000
  Interface 1
    Altset 2
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 6 OUT (ADAPTIVE)
    Rates: 44100, 48000
  Interface 1
    Altset 3
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 4
    Endpoint: 6 OUT (ADAPTIVE)
    Rates: 44100, 48000
  Interface 1
    Altset 4
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 6
    Endpoint: 6 OUT (ADAPTIVE)
    Rates: 44100, 48000
  Interface 1
    Altset 5
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 6 OUT (ADAPTIVE)
    Rates: 96000

Capture:
  Status: Stop
  Interface 2
    Altset 1
    Format: S16_LE
    Channels: 2
    Endpoint: 5 IN (ASYNC)
    Rates: 44100, 48000
 
qusp

qusp

Member
Joined 2009
i'd like to see the audio quality you get 8 channels on USB full speed...

scratch that, I know what it was like, 8 channel 16bit is a bit pointless too, mixing and any sort of digital volume in 16bit is a waste of time. of course I suppose there would be the odd device that could handle USB2 with UAC1, but doing any sort of multichannel playback or recording was problematic at best without custom drivers before UAC2. hardly anyone took it (USB audio with native drivers) seriously in pro audio. it was all firewire, PCI or custom USB
 
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P

phofman

Member
Joined 2005
You have it all listed in the altset specification - 16bit, 44100/48000Hz. The typical standard for adaptive USB soundcards.

It handles full 8 channels easily without any bit loss. Maximum high-speed isochronous payload is 1023 bytes each 1ms, safely above the 8 x 2 x 48 = 768 bytes used. I could show the usb payload with wireshark but we would see only identically sized URBs. I have tested that multiple times before.

The actual sound quality is actually surprisingly decent considering it is a dirt cheap compromised device. It even has toslink input which actually works too :)
 
qusp

qusp

Member
Joined 2009
phofman said:
You have it all listed in the altset specification - 16bit, 44100/48000Hz. The typical standard for adaptive USB soundcards.

It handles full 8 channels easily without any bit loss. Maximum high-speed isochronous payload is 1023 bytes each 1ms, safely above the 8 x 2 x 48 = 768 bytes used. I could show the usb payload with wireshark but we would see only identically sized URBs. I have tested that multiple times before.

The actual sound quality is actually surprisingly decent considering it is a dirt cheap compromised device. It even has toslink input which actually works too :)
Click to expand...

above listed it as logged as a full speed device, is that a typo mentioning high speed? edit: nvm I was thinking low band (1.5Mbit)/high band(12MBit)

provided its the only thing on the bus it should work at 16 bit I guess, I only know 24bit was glitchy and 16bit pointless for an audio interface, so would never have tried it, but you just illustrated that point pretty well so i'll not argue :D
 
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robert07

Banned
Joined 2013
Thanks for share your topic which is USB cable quality. Everyday we are using a lots of Electronics substance where needs a lot of USB cable for various purposes. From above topics now I am know about what are the quality a good USB cable. This topics help me a lot. Now I am using USB3 cable for my PC. But sometime this doesn't work like as when I put a pendrive It show taht this is not recognize..Please tell me what should I do now?????I am waiting for your answer.......Thanks
 
S

Starre

Member
Joined 2011
Listening?

A lot of theory here, but have you really listened and compared different USB cables? I have compared 4, from a few dollars to 1500 and the all sound different.
The cheap standard one: very good reproduction of space, but rather unclean and somewhat tiring to listen to. I did not want to keep that cable in my system although on some recordings it was good.
The other ones from 100 dollars to 1500: Here it is all a lot smoother in sound but I miss some space and depth in the recordings. The 1500 one was the most natural sounding and best timing, but I still miss some of the space and detail the cheapest cable gave. Too bad the cheap one had so many other "problems".
Bottom line: I have not found my ideal USB cable yet, still looking. And no doubt it sounds different with different cables when I listen. :):confused::p.
 
R

RayCtech

Member
Joined 2007
Starre said:
A lot of theory here, but have you really listened and compared different USB cables? I have compared 4, from a few dollars to 1500 and the all sound different.
The cheap standard one: very good reproduction of space, but rather unclean and somewhat tiring to listen to. I did not want to keep that cable in my system although on some recordings it was good.
The other ones from 100 dollars to 1500: Here it is all a lot smoother in sound but I miss some space and depth in the recordings. The 1500 one was the most natural sounding and best timing, but I still miss some of the space and detail the cheapest cable gave. Too bad the cheap one had so many other "problems".
Bottom line: I have not found my ideal USB cable yet, still looking. And no doubt it sounds different with different cables when I listen. :):confused::p.
Click to expand...

It is mainly the difference in noise that get transferred that you observe as a difference in audio quality.
I use my own galvanic isolation with USB 2.0/3.0 and then much of the noise from the PC are eliminated.
There are still a difference between cables, but I expect the difference then are so small that only very few will be able to notice..

Dont get annoyed by those that tell you that there are no difference or that it is placebo or whatever...
It is you that will use your setup and then it only matters what you prefer.
 
M

marce

Member
Joined 2007
Starre said:
A lot of theory here, but have you really listened and compared different USB cables? I have compared 4, from a few dollars to 1500 and the all sound different.
The cheap standard one: very good reproduction of space, but rather unclean and somewhat tiring to listen to. I did not want to keep that cable in my system although on some recordings it was good.
The other ones from 100 dollars to 1500: Here it is all a lot smoother in sound but I miss some space and depth in the recordings. The 1500 one was the most natural sounding and best timing, but I still miss some of the space and detail the cheapest cable gave. Too bad the cheap one had so many other "problems".
Bottom line: I have not found my ideal USB cable yet, still looking. And no doubt it sounds different with different cables when I listen. :):confused::p.
Click to expand...

How do you determine what is going on with either the signal or excess noise if you don't use a scope or network analyser, physic ability?
Noise from computers has been discussed in detail, again those that claim it is a problem very rarely produce scope shots or such like so the problem can be solved (if it exists).
 
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