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Audioquest Pearl USB Cable Review

Rate this audio cable

  • 1. Waste of money (piggy bank panther)

    Votes: 225 82.1%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 33 12.0%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 11 4.0%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 5 1.8%

  • Total voters
    274

restorer-john

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I just don't trust the manufacturer due to prior art if that's the rigth word ?
Their track record with other products in my probably childish opinion is such that one should not do business with them ? Hence "waste of money" ?
Maybe their should one lower option thats says "dysfunctional" . For products that does not do what it's supposed to do .

The voting does get a bit ridiculous in the cable category as everyone of them actually works fine in most cases, so they all should be great and have the golfing panther if nothing but technical performance should be a factor ? they all do their job just fine ?
Good point.

The community voting system isn’t really useful and actually does damage IMO to the ASR ‘brand’. But I get it, Amir wants member engagement. It’s a tough line to tread.
 

delta76

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And that's why the ASR voting system is childish, pointless and a complete waste of space. You voted 'waste of money' because of the brand name! How is that remotely objective, scientific or facts based?

The cable works perfectly, does the job and doesn't cost a fortune.
I reluctantly disagree. yes upholding the high scientific standards is important, but so is common sense. we have been demonstrated times after times that AudioQuest fancy cables do nothing more than a decent cable and charge a premium for it. You can buy a 4$ cable which perform just as same, probably as well built/long lasting, and no audio quality is lost.

we will never be able to review every AudioQuest, or Nordost, or any other fancy & ridiculously expensive cable. Forming an opinion at this point is a reasonable/common sense thing to do.

Of course you can keep an open mind and check each and every review to see if there is something that less of "waste a money". that's your choice and I applaud that.
 

AudioSceptic

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I had one of these. I did not buy it as such, it came with a used device I got on eBay .
it worked! it even managed to put my Hugo2 into fast charge mode, meaning it was low impedance .
did it have any effects on sound, No. I didn't even look for such things. but it was well made, with gold plated contacts.
Of course I sold it back on eBay for £25, because I make my own DIY cables.
So I don't know why it has been voted as terrible!
it is an overpriced cable, but it is a decent cable.
compared to the Groundaray , this is actually a wonderful , value for money product.
It's tricky with stuff like this, isn't it? Compared with, say, the Nordost Tyr, this is the bargain of the century with identical performance for $41 vs $1400. Of course, it's still a rip-off because you don't need anything other than a properly made generic cable for a few $, but there are much greater crimes committed in this business.
 

Thomas_A

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My take on cables are that they should have good fit, be flexible and not giving strain to the device connectors. That excludes many of the ”esoteric” cables.

And… if you have these heavy nonflexible cables giving strain to the connectors, you might have to buy cable lifters not to break the equipment.
 

AudioSceptic

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The copywriters should be flogged. No excuse for misusing "less" to mean "fewer."
Odd that they would say "...fewer oxides..." but then get it wrong. Flogging's too good for them: burning at the stake is the only fit punishment.
 

pavuol

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Nice, but why not buy and measure each of their flavors?:
2022-08-12 12_47_14-Window.jpg


Ok ok it's not April anymore.. :)
 

Dennis_FL

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fpitas

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$41 is not complete theft. If the cable is well made, flexible and has high quality connectors that stand the test of time, I have no problem with it. I bet Audioquest also offers a pretty decent warranty if it fails.
All that is true. But claiming great sonic virtues is a little unethical, to say the least.
 

Steve Dallas

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$41 is not complete theft. If the cable is well made, flexible and has high quality connectors that stand the test of time, I have no problem with it. I bet Audioquest also offers a pretty decent warranty if it fails.

This was my first inclination as well. Yet, with Mediabridge, Amazon Basics, Monoprice, and many other brands, you can get the same qualities for $7 delivered in the US. If people want to pay 6x the price for the same performance as a "luxury" expenditure, fine, but it is functionally the same as a $7 cable. At least they are not charging 100x for once.
 

Grotti

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I voted "fine" because the cable seems to be without flaws and although it comes at a price it sells within the price bracket I would consider reasonable.

In Germany 19 % of this price would be VAT and the dealer, the distributor and the manufacturer have to earn some money. The price may be elevated but is literally nothing compared to the usual ripoff Audioquest is known for....
 

Transmaniacon

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This was my first inclination as well. Yet, with Mediabridge, Amazon Basics, Monoprice, and many other brands, you can get the same qualities for $7 delivered in the US. If people want to pay 6x the price for the same performance as a "luxury" expenditure, fine, but it is functionally the same as a $7 cable. At least they are not charging 100x for once.
A lot of times the "nice" cables look a lot better than the generic stuff from Amazon/etc. I have some of the cheap AQ stuff because it looks better and lays a lot better than the other USB cables I had laying around. I can see all the wiring in my open rack so I wanted something that looked better, but I have no expectations that sound quality would be any different.
 

DudleyDuoflush

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Yes, UHV systems like this Titanium /Gold evaporator. Here it is motivated with oxygene free copper.

Before my retirement I build this UHV evaporator.

View attachment 223758


View attachment 223760


View attachment 223761


/ Bo Thunér, Linköping, Sweden.
That's a cool system. I loved my time working on UHV sputtering systems. Double load locked - turbo then cryo pumped and the capability to sputter from 1300C down to liquid nitrogen temperatures. Took 2 full days after fully venting to reach base pressure including baking out the system which was the size of an old mini. All OFC copper metal seals - the same as the conflat flanges on your system. Each run took 18+ hours so I wrote the software to auto-start in the middle of the night. Funniest moment was I when I came in one morning and the liquid nitrogen fill and overfill sensors had failed and turned the machine into a huge ball of ice. Proper science!
 

AudioSceptic

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A lot of times the "nice" cables look a lot better than the generic stuff from Amazon/etc. I have some of the cheap AQ stuff because it looks better and lays a lot better than the other USB cables I had laying around. I can see all the wiring in my open rack so I wanted something that looked better, but I have no expectations that sound quality would be any different.
The problem, apart from the price, is that "nicer" looking cables might actually be worse in practice. The greater weight puts extra strain on the ports and the (often) greater stiffness means that any movement is more likely to break any solder joints in the plug.
 

roog

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This was my first inclination as well. Yet, with Mediabridge, Amazon Basics, Monoprice, and many other brands, you can get the same qualities for $7 delivered in the US. If people want to pay 6x the price for the same performance as a "luxury" expenditure, fine, but it is functionally the same as a $7 cable. At least they are not charging 100x for once.
True, but I see these things as the gateway drugs of the audio cable world.

Edit, please forgive my drawing parallels between the serious issue of drug misuse and the frivolous nonsense that revolves around the world of so called audiophile cables.
 
Last edited:

Transmaniacon

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The problem, apart from the price, is that "nicer" looking cables might actually be worse in practice. The greater weight puts extra strain on the ports and the (often) greater stiffness means that any movement is more likely to break any solder joints in the plug.
Sure that is a concern, but I am not buying the ridiculous looking cables, just something like reviewed here that has a nice sheathing while still being light.
 

CedarX

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I voted “waste of money”. If I was on a “USB Quest”, it’s an OK pick, if a little pricey. But if I am on “Audio Quest”, it doesn’t do what the manufacturer claims, and is a ripoff.
 

Orion76

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Here’s some fun reading… (sigh).

—-
I have personally identified four instances where cables objectively made a difference and the effects can be video’d using an iPhone.

The first was when I tried “flat silver coated” ribbon cable as an interconnect that I got off eBay. Since these were unshielded, they picked up an RF hum that would be absent once I switched to shielded RCA cables (of any brand).

The second is my McIntosh MX113 tuner/preamp which still uses lamp cord for the AC power. Throwing a ferrite choke over the AC cord removed the RF noise. That was just a few bucks on Amazon. Using a ferrite choke also helped with one of the early Sony noise cancelling headphones I got from Costco.

I have visual line of sight to Sutro Tower which broadcasts Ten television stations, three FM radio stations, and 20 wireless and mobile communications users (i.e. law enforcement agencies, taxi cabs, school buses, wireless internet, etc.)

Third, my digital piano has balanced outputs. It doesn’t get moved around much. One day I did move the piano to another room and one of the Monoprice cables developed a discontinuity. It was the same problem as…

…Fourth, the cable on my iPhone charging cable frayed. :)

1) @amirm, what sort of testing can you do with ferrite chokes around cables? Is that only relevant in areas with very high RF exposure?

2) the absolute worst cables might not have the durability of better cables. It depends if you are going to be frequently unplugging and replugging (iPhone charging cable) or not

3) Nelson Pass, who is a mix of objectivist and subjectivist uses Radio Shack cable himself.
Wow at that Cardas Clear Beyond RCA review-

Switching from Cardas's budget-priced, $125-per-meter Iridium to Cardas's $4250-per-meter Clear Beyond changed my system's sound character as much as changing phono cartridges or DACs: The Bartók DAC became more silent, grainless, full-spectrum, and beautiful-sounding than it had been with any of my other cables.

Of course it sounds better! It has to. Otherwise you just wasted $4,125.

Lol, it would cost me $12,750 to get my stereo working with these cables, since I would need 3 one meter pairs.
 
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