In 1982 Sony gave us "Perfect sound forever," along with the attitude that, "it's just digital, so all CD players sound the same." That was disproved and qualitative differences between players became accepted truth. Next came separate transport and DAC combos, which brought with it the attitude that "all S/PDIF digital audio cables sound the same..." until that too became disproved. Now the frontier has moved once again. Is digital audio really just ones and zeros? We don't believe so, and once you've had a chance to listen to Coffee USB, you won't think so either...
Features:
Solid-Core 10% Silver Coated Conductors
Solid-core conductors eliminate strand-interaction distortion and reduce jitter. Solid-core silver-plated conductors are excellent for very high-frequency applications, like USB audio. These signals, being at such a high frequency, travel almost exclusively on the surface of the conductor. As the surface is made of high-purity silver, the performance is very close to that of a solid silver cable, but priced much closer to solid copper cable. This is an incredibly cost effective way of manufacturing very high-quality USB cables.
Foamed-Polyethylene Insulaton
Any solid material adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Wire insulation and circuit board materials all absorb energy (loss). Some of this energy is stored and then later released as distortion. Foamed-Polyethylene Insulation ensures critical signal-pair geometry while minimizing insulation-induced phase distortion.
Carbon Based 3-Layer Noise Dissipation System (aka NDS)
100% shield coverage is easy. Preventing captured RF Interference from modulating the equipment’s ground reference? This requires AQ’s Noise-Dissipation System. Metal and Carbon-Loaded synthetics prevent most RFI from reaching the equipment’s ground plane.
Dielectric-Bias System (aka DBS)
All insulation slows down the signal on the conductor inside. When insulation is unbiased, it slows down parts of the signal differently, a big problem for very time-sensitive multi-octave audio. AudioQuest’s DBS creates a strong, stable electrostatic field which saturates and polarizes (organizes) the molecules of the insulation. This minimizes both energy storage in the insulation and the multiple nonlinear time-delays that occur. Sound appears from a surprisingly black background with unexpected detail and dynamic contrast. The DBS battery packs will last for years. A test button and LED allow for the occasional battery check, about once a year is sufficient.
US Pat #s 7,126,055 & 7,872,195 B1
Termination
Precision direct-silver plated pins are carefully attached with the very best solder. Through choice of flux and metallurgy, AQ solder has been optimized to make a low-distortion connection. The difference you hear between solders is a result of connection quality. AQ Solder does not have a high silver content because the more silver there is in solder, the more difficult it is to make a good connection.
