Usb dacs have been extremely popular in music playback for the last years. Audiophiles like me have figured out that different usb cables can make rather large sonic differences for their dacs. I tried a few "mid-level" product of some popular brands in the past such as Nordost, Oyaide, WireWorld, Dh Labs. After passed to upper class by adding Acoustic Revive USB-1.0PLS into my chain I was very pleased with its positive and perfectly balanced contribution to the sound. It was a special cable which belongs to another league. You can check the full story here.
Last week a friend of mine came to me with this unique looking cable named "Curious usb" designed by Rob Woodland. Here official web page for more information.
It's a robust (a bit stiff but no problem), nicely finished, two separated cable design with a large sleeved body, looks like braided three conductor inside for data lines, and a shielded thin orange wire for dc power line. Actually we are familiar with this kind of separate data/power principle from Acoustic Revive, ifi and also Wireworld. It looks like Rob Woodland is using same principle with a new approach.
How does Curious usb sound ?
Before the answer let me explain how it's competitor sound. I'm taking my reference cable, Acoustic Revive USB-1.0PLS (AR) for this benchmark. I found AR's performance well detailed, well balanced, a little bit sharp but musical enough for me, and relatively flat sounding. There isn't any over emphasis disturbing me in the frequency range. Curious usb is a new cable. Within three days my total playback time has not exceeded twenty hours. Also I do not think that my friend used it for a long time enough to complete burning. I'm sure that it will be a little bit better in time.
This is my chart after my three days enjoyment :
| Acoustic Revive USB-1.0PLS | Curious USB | |
| Resolution | 5 | 5 |
| Naturalness | 5 | 4.5 |
| Presence | 5 | 5.5 |
| Tonal density* | 5 | 6 |
| Timing* | 5 | 6 |
| Clarity | 5 | 4.5 |
| Soundstage | 5 | 5.5 |
| Body & fullness | 5 | 6 |
| Realizm of low freq. | 5 | 4.5 |
| Realizm of high freq. | 5 | 5 |
I have to say that Curious usb surprised me. I did not think it would be that good at first. I realized that the strongest sides of this cable are timing and tonal density. You are feeling a clear step up in the sense of rhythm, starting foot tapping unwittingly. Tonal density was good (may not be as good as pure silver Wireworld Platinum 7) but clearly better than Acoustic Revive. Presentation of the body of instruments was also stronger than Acoustic Revive. Soundstage was similar in the manner of depth and layering but there was a slightly feeling that you're coming close to music. The rest were very similar to Acoustic Revive except for some little drawbacks in low freq. definition and overall balance. I liked the sound of Curious usb.
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