Devialet and USB cables

[Womaz]

Ok I am resurrecting this old thread.
I guess I am a bit of a cable skeptic as last year I tried some different speaker cables and could not hear any difference from what I remember, but I admit to still feeling a little intrigued by this subject.
I have now been further intrigued as I have just had an experience with my Headphone cable. I will try and keep this short but over a year ago I bought the HEK headphone and the stock cable at 3m was not long enough so I just bought a cheap replacement cable off ebay from the USA. It was just over £100 from what I remember. I did not bother doing a comparison as the stock cable was too short anyway.
So today I did that comparison and the difference was huge even to these 53 year old ears. The Ela cable off Ebay is way superior and the stock cable is really muffled and cloudy by comparison. The difference is not subtle, it is very noticeable.

So thats got me thinking about this USB cable again. I own the Telleriium Q Blue USB for no other reason than I have used their cables for last 10 years or so. I am now going to buy a cheap AQ Pearl £20 cable to see if I can hear any difference.

Xmas holidays and all this time on my hands  

I have an Aqvox and an AQ (the green one). If you want to borrow some to do a few blind tests and see if you can hear any difference, I'll happily post them up.

I've personally never been that impressed by any I've tried. The only things that I repeatedly went back to because I (subtly) preferred them were the totaldac USB and the Intona, both of which have componentry in. The Intonas still in use today with a curious Regen link (short USB cable basically) and I don't think the Regen link has any magic, it's just very short and there's definitely science behind keeping USB cables short so it suits me.

Compared to room correction or EQ the differences are incredibly subtle to my ears. Seeing what some brands charge for USB, Ethernet and mains cables makes me feel a bit ill. They're wires with connectors soldered/crimped either end. The manufacturers must b e laughing their heads off - because even if they have an effect, you're being massively ripped off. My opinion of course.

Well that is a kind offer but it wont surprise you that I not take you up on it

I tried to compare the two today and I just find it hard to do, always have done. I didnt think I could hear a difference and then I put the TQ USB back in and felt I heard slightly more detail. So I then out the AQPearl back in and once gain felt it had the same level of detail. If there are any differences I am not sure I can hear them, and as you say they are probably very subtle. Maybe with a real high end rig you may be able to hear differences but maybe not in mine.
I struggle with this kind of A/B comparison as the music always takes over. I cant be analytical as the emotion of the music takes over.
I did it as I was considering trying a different more expensive USB cable, but not sure I will bother now.
Thanks for the offer though