• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

JPS Superconductor V USB Cable Review

Rate this USB Cable

  • 1. Waste of money (piggy bank panther)

    Votes: 283 96.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 8 2.7%

  • Total voters
    292

antcollinet

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 4, 2021
Messages
7,408
Likes
12,291
Location
UK/Cheshire
(as I type this on my 10 year old MacBook Pro) :confused:

Sort of negates the statement that they obsolete products. :p


I'm also typing this on a 10yo air. About to upgrade, and am mightily pissed off at the price apple is charging for the 32gb ram upgrade. But similar performance windows machines are heading towards similar prices, and I've never owned a windows laptop that is usable beyond 5 years.

So I'm probably going to have to hold my nose and pony up for a new macbook pro.
 

theREALdotnet

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 11, 2022
Messages
1,181
Likes
2,036
Well, in fairness -- Apple'd only charge $300, and they'd offer it in a palette of pleasant, stylish, and hardware-coordinated colours.

Wait, what? Apple sells a $300 USB cable? What kind of dollars is that, surely not US$?

EDIT The most expensive cable I can see on Apple’s site is US$159, and that’s a 3m 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 cable.
 

RF Air

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 7, 2022
Messages
215
Likes
362
Location
Desert Southwest, USA
Sort of negates the statement that they obsolete products. :p


I'm also typing this on a 10yo air. About to upgrade, and am mightily pissed off at the price apple is charging for the 32gb ram upgrade. But similar performance windows machines are heading towards similar prices, and I've never owned a windows laptop that is usable beyond 5 years.

So I'm probably going to have to hold my nose and pony up for a new macbook pro.
Yes, I have the "collection" of PC Laptops that can't be thrown out but can't be used. This is the 2nd MacBook that has given me 10 years. Last one dropped it's HD and I bought this one with the SSD with no more fears. It's a tall pony for the new MacBook these days.
 

RF Air

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 7, 2022
Messages
215
Likes
362
Location
Desert Southwest, USA
Sort of negates the statement that they obsolete products. :p


I'm also typing this on a 10yo air. About to upgrade, and am mightily pissed off at the price apple is charging for the 32gb ram upgrade. But similar performance windows machines are heading towards similar prices, and I've never owned a windows laptop that is usable beyond 5 years.

So I'm probably going to have to hold my nose and pony up for a new macbook pro.
I held the line on the Apple phone, won't own one. Still burns me because my Android Galaxy won't play well with the MacBook, so stuck with the proprietary issue again. :facepalm:
 

mhardy6647

Grand Contributor
Joined
Dec 12, 2019
Messages
11,213
Likes
24,174
Wait, what? Apple sells a $300 USB cable? What kind of dollars is that, surely not US$?

EDIT The most expensive cable I can see on Apple’s site is US$159, and that’s a 3m 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 cable.
Humo(u)r.

Apple and Sony use that same proprietary playbook which has angered me enough to steer clear of their products (as I type this on my 10 year old MacBook Pro) :confused:
You oughta see some of the 'pute hardware in use around here...

Well, maybe not. :cool:

Although, come to think of it, there is a Newton in the basement.
 

AudioX3

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2021
Messages
61
Likes
61
It's a set of thin wires. What possibly can a manufacturer or scientist do to make it better? What could the buyer be expecting? We all love food.... Could anyone fathom a, $100 box of pasta that would enhance your ziti to perfection?
 

theREALdotnet

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 11, 2022
Messages
1,181
Likes
2,036

TCD333

Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2020
Messages
34
Likes
13
Conclusions
USB cables in short length deliver all the bits correctly. The ground connection though from the PC to DAC is an analog affair so in theory, some difference in noise can be there. If there is, and you can audibly hear something the solution is not another USB cable but to use better isolation (Toslink, XLR cables for interconnects, etc.). Measurements here show that there is no difference even in that department when with a "noisy" source like my desktop workstation PC.
WRT Grounding from PC to DAC, some DACs have full isolation, some don't.
The best implementation is a/ full galvanic isolation b/ clocking on DAC side of said isolation c/ Re-clocking after isolation as isolation adds a small amount of jitter.
I have no idea if any of the Topping / SMSL etc DAC's have full galv USB isolation but the above scheme is the best way to do it.

TCD
 
Last edited:

JSmith

Master Contributor
Joined
Feb 8, 2021
Messages
5,153
Likes
13,213
Location
Algol Perseus
galvanically isolated
If not, these do the job and aren't expensive;


JSmith
 

Extreme_Boky

Active Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2020
Messages
102
Likes
60

Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?? You forgot the cups...

1678420998073.png
 

spigot

Active Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2018
Messages
170
Likes
190
Just think how many Richard Clayderman records and concert tickets you could buy for a $1000... on second thoughts is it free postage?
 

AudioX3

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2021
Messages
61
Likes
61
Oh this is more fun than you could ever dream of.... Check out their website.... Jpslabs.Com. Start making your Christmas list.
 

voodooless

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
10,223
Likes
17,799
Location
Netherlands
Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?? You forgot the cups...

View attachment 270585
Why don’t you try responding to any of the actually decent questions that were directed at you? If you want a decent discussion, that’s the proper start.
 

RF Air

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 7, 2022
Messages
215
Likes
362
Location
Desert Southwest, USA
A Prime Mover reset for triggering? Is that the correct answer? :rolleyes:o_O
 

AudioSceptic

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
2,691
Likes
2,534
Location
Northampton, UK
Oh come on guv'nor - I worked at a Linn/Naim dealership (itself a huge subjectivist minefield) and left the retail side retail in 2004!!!! That's nineteen years and almost a third of my life ago and believe me, the journey's been a rocky but enlightening one since and I ain't given up learning/unlearning more just yet!!! :D

All the sensible objective 'stuff' and realisations coalesced many years later when I DID do some unsighted comparisons and realised that level differences usually account for any perceived changes within reason. I do remember the odd occasion when I 'thought' I heard a difference and yet nothing was changed from A to B - other tales of the same thing told here, so I'm not alone in deeply un-trusting my ears, especially now with them as they are - the HD25SP on-ear headphones do seem to inject high frequencies better when I'm not wearing the hearing aids for some reason and they're still ok if 'lively' when I am, but that's a different subject :)

I mention the Linn Black interconnect as to itch a scratch I bought a used one recently to see if it really did appear to change the sound of the CD player I wanted to use it with :facepalm: level matched but sighted and A then B I could swear it appears to lighten the tone ever-so-slightly and emphases 'acoustic' a little more than the home made RG59 based cable I was using. Of course it's not scientific in any possible shape or form and on the face of it, these cables look to be straightforward screened coax types and nicely soldered up into the custom but basically competent generically sourced plugs which you can have customised with labels or whatever if you order enough. This well used cable does what I think I need it to do, but if anyone in the US has a set (unlikely to be any/many Linn electronics owners here though), perhaps Amir could give 'em a go.
It's a shame that it costs so much to send stuff over the pond, even something like a cable which doesn't need a huge amount of padding/protection. Perhaps there's some test we could do ourselves with REW, Audacity, or whatever? Perhaps Linn cables aren't that rare in the USA anyway? The LP12 is well known, of course, and the Linn phono preamps were favourably reviewed in Stereophile, so cables "to match" wouldn't be so unlikely, would they?
 

AudioSceptic

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
2,691
Likes
2,534
Location
Northampton, UK
Sort of negates the statement that they obsolete products. :p


I'm also typing this on a 10yo air. About to upgrade, and am mightily pissed off at the price apple is charging for the 32gb ram upgrade. But similar performance windows machines are heading towards similar prices, and I've never owned a windows laptop that is usable beyond 5 years.

So I'm probably going to have to hold my nose and pony up for a new macbook pro.
Same here, 10-yo MacBook Pro, bought as an Apple refurb so I saved a few £100. I'll do the same again when the time comes. But we digress...
 

DSJR

Major Contributor
Joined
Jan 27, 2020
Messages
3,312
Likes
4,425
Location
Suffolk Coastal, UK
It's a shame that it costs so much to send stuff over the pond, even something like a cable which doesn't need a huge amount of padding/protection. Perhaps there's some test we could do ourselves with REW, Audacity, or whatever? Perhaps Linn cables aren't that rare in the USA anyway? The LP12 is well known, of course, and the Linn phono preamps were favourably reviewed in Stereophile, so cables "to match" wouldn't be so unlikely, would they?
I'm well out of all this now, but I'm sure a null test could show any real differences ;)

Got to say that these days, I use whatever I can find here of the right length. Any cable supporters would be stunned to 'hear' the Amazon Basics RCA cable if they didn't know what was in use (I remember someone who took his apart and was pleasantly surprised how the cable was put together as well as terminated).
 

AudioSceptic

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
2,691
Likes
2,534
Location
Northampton, UK
I'm well out of all this now, but I'm sure a null test could show any real differences ;)

Got to say that these days, I use whatever I can find here of the right length. Any cable supporters would be stunned to 'hear' the Amazon Basics RCA cable if they didn't know what was in use (I remember someone who took his apart and was pleasantly surprised how the cable was put together as well as terminated).
I'm sure the Amazon cables are fine, but I've already got all the cables I'll ever need (Linn and QED) so won't need to buy any more. Yes, they cost more than they needed to, but I still had "that" doubt and the prices were quite reasonable (20-30 years ago). I never heard the differences claimed in What Hi-Fi and the rest, of course, just felt I was "playing safe".
 
Top Bottom