USB cable for digital audio with Long-Grain Copper conductors
Pearl USB links a digital source, such as a computer or a streamer, to a DAC or an amplifier fitted with a USB input. Although its construction is straightforward, it follows the same criteria as the more elaborate models: selected metal, stable signal-pair geometry and control of radio-frequency noise.
The cable carries digital audio as well as computer data, so it suits a hi-fi system and a desktop setup equally well.
Conductors
The metal is Long-Grain Copper (LGC), which compared with ordinary OFHC copper has fewer oxides, fewer impurities and fewer grain boundaries, favouring a smoother and clearer sound. In the USB-A > USB-B version the conductors are solid, so no strands interact with one another; in the Micro-B version they are Semi-Solid Concentric, with strands that hold a fixed position in the bundle and limit distortion.
Shielding and insulation
A conventional shield collects radio interference and dumps it onto the equipment ground, disturbing the reference the signal depends on. Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation adds layers that soak up and reflect a large share of that energy ahead of the layer tied to ground. The Hard-Cell Foam insulation, expanded using nitrogen, takes up little energy and its stiffness keeps conductor spacing, and therefore impedance, constant. The conductors are also Direction-Controlled: arrows on the plugs show which way round to fit the cable.
Terminations and lengths
The USB-A > USB-B version is the classic link from a computer or streamer to a desktop DAC; USB-A > Micro-B 2.0 is meant for compact and portable devices with a Micro-B socket. Both are offered in 0.75 m, 1.5 m, 3 m and 5 m lengths.
Key features
- Conductors in Long-Grain Copper (LGC)
- Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation against radio interference
- Nitrogen-expanded Hard-Cell Foam insulation
- Direction-Controlled conductors
- Terminations: USB-A > USB-B, USB-A > Micro-B 2.0
