• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required as is 20 years of participation in forums (not all true). There are daily reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Audioquest Pearl USB Cable Review

Rate this audio cable

  • 1. Waste of money (piggy bank panther)

    Votes: 221 82.2%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 32 11.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 11 4.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 5 1.9%

  • Total voters
    269

rwortman

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jan 29, 2019
Messages
688
Likes
620
Blah, blah, blah. There is error detection built into the digital transmission standards. Bit errors don‘t result in harsh midrange or steely highs, they cause nasty clicks and pops. TTL “1” is nominally 5v and ‘0” is nominally 0v. In application a “0” can be anything from 0 to .8v and ”1” can be anything from 2 to 5v. A 2v ”1” doesn’t sound different than a 5v “1”. In USB data transmission there is no 1 voltage or 0 voltage. There are two voltage states. If there is a transition from one state to the other during a clock period that is a 0 and no transition means a one. As long as the transitions can be detected all is good. A USB cable can”t have better bass, smoother highs, or better soundstaging. It either works or it doesn’t.
 
Last edited:

Chrispy

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 7, 2020
Messages
5,591
Likes
4,252
Location
PNW
I'm not a SPDIF expert, so other people can correct me or explain better, but from reading this, it looks to me a bit like they are contradicting themselves...
- they first say voltage above a specific level will give a 1, and voltage below will give a 0
- they then talk about it like only 0V level was 0/black and 1V only was 1/white, with all between 0V and 1V being grey and not doing anything

But in this case, the "grey zone" takes far less time than both voltages states
They're not really contradicting themselves rather than being clueless in the first place...
 

Chrispy

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 7, 2020
Messages
5,591
Likes
4,252
Location
PNW
Yes, I was editing my post because I missed the point I wanted to highlight : the grey zone state is super short, while the 0 and 1 states are far longer, so it should be a big problem
* ... shouldn't be a big problem
Uh huh
 

ahofer

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 3, 2019
Messages
3,193
Likes
5,664
Location
New York City
I guess Alan Shaw liked your video, @amirm (apologies for the invidious comparison below, but the Monty Montgomery is a classic)

1673640070926.png
 

Stanny1

New Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2020
Messages
4
Likes
1
Location
La Mesa, Calif
Typical of AQ Hype. They make up names and labels while almost all their copper is just OFC with no specs. I haven't seen the word "OHNO" but we get "long-grain copper". How long a grain? OHNO long? Same with Cardas Grade One. I say stay away from "Audiophile Cables". There is much more honesty in Pro Audio cables like Mogami
 
Top Bottom