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Cables & consistency

  • Tell the Average Jo/e not versed in the double trouble of electrical noise and jitter that you dropped US$350 on a USB cable and s/he’ll likely question your sanity. Audiophiles know what Jo/e does not: that not all USB connections are born equal.

    For this commentator, there’s no doubting the Curious USB cable’s audible superiority to vanilla wire – some of which doesn’t even meet the USB spec. The Curious also knocks out other audiophile-aimed offerings like AudioQuest’s Carbon. Old Yella lends music more pep, more detail and a better sense of space but without straying into the Carbon’s occasional brightness — a handful of reasons why the Curious has been my goto USB wire for the past three years.

    The review gig demands that I swap gear often. The interconnecting cables must, therefore, like the room itself, remain a known constant. For the past seven years, I’ve run AudioQuest’s Yukon interconnects between DACs and amps – the balanced version between preamps and actives – and their Rocket 88 between amps and passives.

    In addition to the Curious USB cable, AudioQuest forms the backbone of (almost) every hardware configuration put together here at the DarkoHaus; and given the ‘show n tell’ treatment here at the request of (some of) the 12,000+ audiophiles and Average Jo/es already subscribed to the Darko.Audio YouTube channel.

    Hang tight for the accidental surprise finding:

    Further information: AudioQuest | Curious

    Written by John

    John currently lives in Berlin where he creates videos and podcasts for Darko.Audio. He has previously contributed to 6moons, TONEAudio, AudioStream and Stereophile.

    Darko.Audio is a member of EISA.

    Follow John on YouTube or Instagram

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