analog brother Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 am a newbie to computer audio is there an optimum length for this cable? i bought a 4m type A/B USB so as to keep the computer further away from my system, but it seems to make an intermittent 'crackling' noise. is that common because of it's length? should i have purchased a 1 or 2m cable instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krispy Audio Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 From what I've read on the subject, 1.25-1.5m is optimal but you certainly shouldn't get any crackling issues with a 4m cable. Have you got another you can try just to rule out anything else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analog brother Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 thanks cameron, just spoke to victor, will borrow one of his. the more i 'un-curl' or straighten the wire, the less pops and crackles i get, but still there. it was a 2nd hand cable, so maybe that's it or it's just purely the length. dac is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewantsmoore Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 It can do this due to length, I have a longish (3m?), generic printer USB cable, which crackles on higher sample rates... also when I use a couple of shortish cables joined with an adapter, I get the same noise. It can also be due to your computer/settings. So it's hard to know for sure. Assuming you are working with cheap cables right now, then buying a cheap 1m USB cable, and just seeing if anything changes, will help you narrow things down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BATMAQN Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) I've used a five metre usb cable in the past with no problems your cable is most probably faulty having said that there may be a chance it's the computers usb ports the logic board can be playing up there are numerous things it could be maybe the usb port on the DAC I'm not trying to freak you out but these are possibilities. Start with the cheap stuff first cables. I had a logic board go on me a few years ago it caused no end of havoc to my Mac. Edited March 24, 2014 by BATMAQN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analog brother Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 thanks for the replies, guys. i will borrow victor's cable first to try and see if it's the cable or not. otherwise, it may well be the computer usb outputs (both are doing the same thing).... the dac is brand new and the other inputs work just fine. don't think it would be the usb input on the dac. will report back when i learn more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Borrow some different cables and compare. They sound different. yes, they do! I've tried it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analog brother Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 thank you to victor for lending me his USB cable; mine was defective. problem solved! i'll just chuck mine out with the other computer junk.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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