First Listen: Furutech GT2 Audiophile-Grade USB Cables
I’ve recently received my review sample of Furutech’s new GT2 audiophile-grade USB cable, and have begun trying them out with various USB DAC (or USB DAC-equipped) components that I have on hand. The question on my mind, and perhaps yours too, is whether high-end USB cables actually make positive differences in the sounds we hear from our USB DACs—and, if so, what kinds of differences? Before I tackle that question, though, a bit of background is in order.
Background/Construction Details
Furutech’s GT2 USB cables feature silver-plated conductors made of cryogenically treated, high-purity, OCC-process (Ohno Continuous Casting) copper, with insulators made of a “special-grade, high-density polyethylene.” According to Furutech, the cables feature “3-layer shield construction for improved noise isolation.” Topping things off, Furutech provides its own very high-quality 24k gold-plated USB connectors.
The GT2 models feature USB 2.0 connectors, while an even more ambitious cable, the GT3, has also been released to address upcoming USB 3.0 applications.
What Kinds of USB Problems Are We Trying To Solve?
My opinion: At first listen, digital audio delivered via USB sounds pretty promising. Unlike some of my colleagues at The Absolute Sound, I found that USB offers very good timing and rhythmic definition, and very stable imaging through the midrange. However, one area where I did notice significant problems involved transient information—especially on hard, sharp transients—in the upper midrange and treble regions. I found that USB could handle sustained upper midrange and treble information reasonably well, but that on transients the sound tended to become overly hard, edgy, and in some cases splashy and diffuse—basically undermining the sense of effortless clarity I was hoping for. In the process, a certain amount of very delicate, high harmonic information also tended to get lost through USB.
And The Answer Is…
Given the observations I’ve outlined above, I wanted to find out what the impact, if any, of the Furutech GT2 cables would be. I’m pleased to report that they do make an audible difference—one that directly helps mitigate the problems I mentioned (though it does not necessarily eliminate them completely).
First, I found the GT2 help minimize background noise and hash—something you (or at least I) tend to perceive not so much as a “heightened sense of quietude,” but rather as “more low-level sonic information becoming discernible.”
Second, I found that the GT2s went right after those spitty, edgy, splashy upper midrange and treble transients that had been bothering me. While my initial listening tests lead me to think these cables, while very good, probably do not enable USB interface to sound as good as competing S/PDIF interfaces, though they certainly help narrow the gap considerably. But the key point is this: with a good USB cable in play, digital audio via USB can become a highly listenable and enjoyable alternative (even if can not yet claim—in an absolute sense—to scale true “state-of-the-art” heights).
I find these results very encouraging, since they suggest to me that USB has more performance potential that some have thought—potential that good USB cables such as the Furutech GT2 can help us tap in the here and now.
For more information, visit: www.furutech.com.
Discussion Topics
- Speaker recommendation 2-channel, for paycheck to paycheck music lovers
- Magico V3 vs Magnepan 20.1
- Quad 2905
Speakers
- Bad Firmware Update to Oppo BDP-83
- Anyone bought the new Sony BDP-S350 BD player?
- Oppo BDP-83 Blu Ray Player
Comments
The question is, "Why does a high quality USB cable sound any better than a low quality one?"
The USB cable delivers digital data from point A (the source component, such as a computer) to point B (the USB DAC). Once the DAC receives the binary code, it does it's thing. But as long as DAC receives the same data from the USB cable that the source device produced, I cannot understand how the cable has any affect on the quality of analog sound produced by the DAC. I have read analyses of digital sources that discuss jitter, which a good DAC works to overcome. Does a lower quality USB cable introduce additional jitter? If so, how? It would helpful for your full review to answer these fundamental questions. Thanks!
The answer is: it doesn't! Your engineering instincts are correct. This kind of "reporting" only helps perpetuate hi-fi voo-doo and part fools from their money.
Hepburn, I have the same objections to "upgraded" cables which carry digital data. I would also like to see a clear and credible explanation why this cable makes any difference at all; digital either works or it doesn't. Those 1s and 0s need to be processed within a specified standard/threshold or there will be problems... obvious problems. A 99-cent usb cable does just fine in this respect, otherwise any connected USB device would have problems.
Come on, you guys can push analog cables (interconnects, speaker cables) and claim "great improvements," but this is DIGITAL. The very same 1s and 0s travelling through this great new USB cable, also travel through miniscule traces on both source- and receiving-side circuitboards, making their way between layers of silicon and through surface-mount devices' terminals and tiny solder connections. Any of these pathways or connections should be "choking" or affecting the signal more than the internals of a USB cable.
And AC power cables improving a stereo image? Boy what someone will say to support a sponsor.
This site makes me laugh.
If this site makes you laugh, do us all a favor by staying away so we can have an enlightened civil discussion. If the reviewer hears a difference, that's observational data. Reviewers may be wrong, but to suggest their findings are tailored to support a sponsor's product is an undeserved insult.
I thought the $16,400 speaker wires review was biased. At least speaker wires are in the analog domain. This? Whoof! The good news is that your review is front and center on the Furutech web site.
Unsubscribe.
I don't think the question is whether it's digital or binary. Digital interconnects can stray from true data because of internal reflections that cause constructive or destructive interference between the electrical pulses, changing ones to zeros and vice versa. The question, I think, is "Does the USB protocol have error correction, and is that error correction effective enough?"
This is a matter of fact, not opinion. I don't know the answer but I do know that USB is used for data transfer between disk drives, which suggests that there is error correction. If that's true, than apart from benefiting from more secure connectors and perhaps EMI shielding, any cable should do. I know I use very basic cables for my music workstation -- the cables don't change the sound of my keyboad or guitar synth in any way I can detect.
Sorry, meant to say the question isn't whether it's digital or analog.
Contrary to what anyone might think 1s and 0s do not get transmitted through any cables .Do some homework on your digital theories.
Right, that was my point: they travel as square waves, with ones being the peak voltage and zeros being some positive offset from 0, in other words, a one might be a 5mV signal, a zero a 1mV signal. If those two destructively interfere, then a 5mV signal becomes a 4mV signal and will be read as a zero. I may have the voltages wrong, but that's the general idea I was trying to convey.
However, it would also seem important to understand the logical processing of those signals. Many computer protocols have sum form of error checking: checksums, CRC or others to detect when a bit is wrong and either correct it or request retrransmission. My question was whether USB works that way and if so, why would cable induced errors matter if they are being corrected?
A third question is the overall robustness of USB at all, which I think is the jitter question, and it's my impression that it's not that good that way. I hooked my computer up to my DAC with USB and compared that with my M-Audio external audio interface, which is Firewire to the interface and then analog out to my preamp. To me, the USB/DAC combo sounded inferior to the M-Audio route, and my DAC (a PSB) does very nicely with my Squeezebox digital out. So I chalked that up to USB itself, not the cabling.
Looking on wikipedia, USB does have error correction built into its data packet structure:
A data packet consists of the PID followed by 0–1023 bytes of data payload (up to 1024 in high speed, at most 8 at low speed), and a 16-bit CRC.
There is also a scheme for detecting and retransmitting missed packets. None of this has anything to do with timing, but it does seem to have everything to do with data integrity.
So I think the skeptics have a valid question: why should the USB cable matter? Is this a case of wishful thinking? The cable seems higher quality so we hear it as better? Or is there any reason to believe that a cable can result in a DAC getting better data to work with?
Sorry Chris, I think you've lost the plot.
Unlike traditional digital data transfer in audio, USB is data packet based, ie. the packet requires a re-assembly at the other end. There is NO WAY a USB cable can make things sound "quieter". Not technically possible and it can be proven.
Your imagination is getting the better of you.
Sorry AndyC,
I got my Furutech USB cable (AR type) and tried it on my Audio Note DAC and the improvement is not even subtil, from the first note, the clarity and the "space" between the notes and instruments was much improved.
Take care now.
Hi all,
I use to have a top CD player (over $5,000), seven years ago. Then a friend of mine brought me a sound card (Terratech) and a computer to compare with my CD. I thought I was dreaming, so I had my three audiophile friends listen to both sounds. Unanimously, we determined that the sound card was WAY better than my CD player. So I sold the CD player and have now progressed on my digital conviction to the point that I now own an Audio Note DAC, which, so far, only a Naim CD player worth $15,000 has been able to top, by a small margin, in mid frequencies definition. Now to cables.
Being new here I don't know what the majority thinks about the difference a cable, anywhere in a system, can make. I'm of those who thinks it is huge (AC, interconnect, internal wiring, etc.) I just ordered a Furutech USB cable and I will let you know what I will find, but I think the Mr. Martens is probably coorect in saying the difference is audible.
Of course, there are the dinosaurs of audio, I met many of those, who won't even listen to a digital sound because, they say, it just can't sound right. It does.
Post new comment