Connecting DAC with PC via 30-50ft long USB Cables

[voodooless]

What's even more of a steal though is OP's fully working, already paid for active USB cable

No argument there . But if you ever need longer cable lengths though: you can also get variants that use standard optical cables and connectors. That way you can basically make them as long as you like. And it does 5gbps, which may be useful for things other than audio.

 

[vladc77]

That USB card the op mentioned costs € 5550 fully spec’ed, and then you still need a cable… I’d say the optical cable is a steal

I found many USB optical cables from other brands for a much lower price than Corning. Do you know if cables from other brands are comparable?

 

[im_gumby]

The only way that any cable transmitting digital data (USB, Ethernet, HDMI, Toslink, Coaxial, AES3) can negatively affect the quality of sound is by introducing stutter, dropouts, etc.

It is physically impossible for one of these cables to give you a stable connection, but subtly degraded sound quality like blunted details, weak bass, narrow soundstage, etc.

If you have a stable connection without any stutter, then you can be sure that you're getting the full audio fidelity.

Once you realize that, fancy Hi-Fi cables like your old Nordost become particularly silly acquisitions.

Uhm...
Not quite... but in general its true.

Ok, have to be careful here to make a distinction.

It becomes one of quality.
Now I'm not talking about spending $$$$ for those 'audiophile grade' cables, but getting a better quality computer cable.

Many moons ago, I had a couple long ~20ft or so USB cables to connect my computer to my 'printer/scanner/fax' to do scans. (Back then you couldn't do scans over wi-fi or ethernet reliably.) One cable worked great. The other was iffy. It turns out that the 'iffy' cable had some issues w the connectors not being that good.

My point is that even on the computer cables you need to make sure your cables are of decent quality and you want to buy from a reliable store. Amazon? They let anyone list stuff and the YMMV if you don't know the brand or the seller.

 

[Chrispy]

I found many USB optical cables from other brands for a much lower price than Corning. Do you know if cables from other brands are comparable?

What makes you think there's any significant differences?

 

[boxerfan88]

I want to learn how the length of the USB cable negatively affects the quality of the sound. Should I hear that? Did anyone have the same experience as I do?

My experience with long USB cable (10m in my case) has been intermittent dropouts due to EMI. Powered USB3 is far better than powered USB2. Between USB3 vs USB2, no difference in tonality, soundstage, blah blah blah; other than the dropout mentioned earlier.

I started with powered USB2 with 1 usb repeater built-in, it works pretty well, except for intermittent audio dropouts & one particular light switch when used in a “wrong” manner can cause the DAC to hang up (no more audio).

I changed to a more expensive powered USB3 with two builtin repeaters (one every 5M). This USB3 cable has been very stable & no audio dropouts whatsoever. From the cable thickness I think it has bigger cores & better shielding, plus the dual repeaters help to retain signal integrity.

Just sharing my experience…

 

[somebodyelse]

It's only useful if you share exactly which cables you had this experience with.

 

[Roland68]

I would be interested to know if anyone has tried USB over Ethernet adapters/extenders for this?
Since it doesn't require any drivers and is placed between the USB ports, the devices shouldn't even notice it. 50 meters is usually not a problem.

 

[elmoe420]

I would be interested to know if anyone has tried USB over Ethernet adapters/extenders for this?
Since it doesn't require any drivers and is placed between the USB ports, the devices shouldn't even notice it. 50 meters is usually not a problem.

Yes, my wife uses two HDbaseT extenders (HDMI + 2 USB 2.0). One of those USB ports connects a Schiit Hel+ to her PC over ~85 ft.

 

[rationaltime]

I would be interested to know if anyone has tried USB over Ethernet adapters/extenders for this?
Since it doesn't require any drivers and is placed between the USB ports, the devices shouldn't even notice it. 50 meters is usually not a problem.

I found long USB cables to be unreliable.

I use Smart CAT5-XT-1100 USB over cat 5 adapters. Just plug them in.
It is working for me. Looking now I see those are not cheap on amazon.
However, you can find them cheap on ebay. Of course they are used in
pairs. A box has one pair. If you buy pre-owned make sure there two of
them.

 

[voodooless]

I found long USB cables to be unreliable.

I use Smart CAT5-XT-1100 USB over cat 5 adapters. Just plug them in.
It is working for me. Looking now I see those are not cheap on amazon.
However, you can find them cheap on ebay. Of course they are used in
pairs. A box has one pair. If you buy pre-owned make sure there two of
them.

Note that it can only be used with the very lowest USB speed tier: 12 Mbps.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I found long USB cables to be unreliable.

I use Smart CAT5-XT-1100 USB over cat 5 adapters. Just plug them in.
It is working for me. Looking now I see those are not cheap on amazon.
However, you can find them cheap on ebay. Of course they are used in
pairs. A box has one pair. If you buy pre-owned make sure there two of
them.

Do you mean long USB cables or those USB extender cables? I've used those extender cables for some runs up to 25 meters with no issues.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Corning makes an optical USB cable in long lengths. It doesn't transmit power of course, only data. Archimago did a big article and measurements on it.

MEASUREMENTS: Corning USB 3 Optical Cable, Ground Loops, and Noise.

A blog for audiophiles about more objective topics. Measurements of audio gear. Reasonable, realistic, no snakeoil assessment of sound, and equipment.

archimago.blogspot.com

It's not cheap, but might be better than other options.

This has worked reliably for me in the times that I needed such a long USB link.

 

[Dunring]

This has worked reliably for me in the times that I needed such a long USB link.

I just got the 16ft Fibbr optical USB and put it on a powered USB hub and it's amazing. Inky black noise floor on everything I plug into it. I have a Phoossno optical USB cable coming in Friday and just got another hub for the other computer. They go on flash sale too, got one for $38 instead of $100 and the other for $36. No performance issues and fast data transfers. Nicest thing is I can put the hub away from all other electronics and use really short USB cables to a DAC.

 

[formdissolve]

OP should watch Amir's video:

Is Digital Audio Transmission Really Analog?