Listed in The Absolute Sound 2012 High-End Audio Buyer's Guide
Solid Perfect-Surface Silver (PSS) Conductors and Dielectric-Bias System
Solid Perfect-Surface Silver (PSS) Conductors plus AudioQuest's exclusive Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) make Diamond a no-compromise USB cable. Diamond is part of AudioQuest's delicious new 'Indulgence Series.' It delivers low jitter, low distortion audio and top overall performance. Enjoy Diamond USB cables with PCs, DACs, and other digital gear, and experience how good digital music can sound.
AudioQuest Diamond USB cable was honored by being included in The Absolute Sound 2012 High-End Audio Buyer's Guide. According to the magazine, "This über-expensive USB cable is simply revelatory in its combination of ease and refinement on one hand, and resolution and transparency on the other. Although capable of resolving the finest detail, Diamond USB has a relaxed quality that fosters deep musical involvement."
Perfect Surface Silver Conductors
Conductor material quality makes a world of difference in the performance of a USB cable. AudioQuest's unique Perfect Surface metals start with very high purity silver to minimize distortion caused by grain boundaries that exist with any metal conductor. The metal is then drawn and annealed though a novel proprietary process which creates an exceptionally soft silver conductor with an astonishingly smooth and uncontaminated surface. Extreme high-purity solid Perfect-Surface Silver (PSS) is the ultimate embodiment of this conductor technology.
Diamond's 72-Volt DBS System
Unfortunately, because insulation stores and releases energy, it is also a 'dielectric.' In a cable application, all released energy is distortion. The misnomer break-in is often used to describe the pronounced improvement in performance as the dielectric adapts to a charged state as the cable is used. Whenever a cable does not have a charge on it, it is re-adapting to an uncharged state; it is becoming new again.
By maintaining a 72-volt dielectric-bias, far above the voltage of delicate audio signals, the DBS system provides considerably better transparency and dynamics than is possible even from a cable in continuous use. It takes a couple of weeks for the DBS system to reach maximum performance. Since DBS battery packs are attached when Diamond cables are first terminated, Diamond will be approaching or at peak performance by the time it is installed in your system. Since there is no load on the two standard hardware-store batteries, they will last for years. A test button and LED allow for occasional verification of battery performance.
The Indulgence Series of USB Cables
AudioQuest has a well-earned reputation as a manufacturer of exceptional analog audio cables. However, the advent of USB presented a new set of design challenges that needed to be solved. In order for AudioQuest to maximize audio performance over USB, new materials and higher levels of manufacturing precision were employed to handle the high-speed, wide-bandwidth signals.
Several of the analog audio design elements that have proven so important over the years turned out to be meaningful to USB signal design. Solid core conductor technology, conductor metallurgy, insulation material and overall precision of manufacture have all been carefully optimized to create a superior line of USB cables.
The Next Evolution of USB Cable Performance
With the Indulgence Series of USB cables, AudioQuest is proud to introduce the next evolution of cable performance. Why the word "indulgence"? When we set aside the time for audio/video entertainment in the home we are, after all, allowing ourselves a bit of well-earned personal indulgence. We allow ourselves time for emotional transportation via video and sound.
There are huge differences in the sound of USB cables. As part of AudioQuest's re-examination of USB cable design, specific attention was paid to maximizing the sonic performance of USB. AQ's Indulgence USB series pushes USB sonic performance to new levels. While test equipment is excellent at tracking control errors or ensuring data pass through, no computer can compete with the human ear when it comes to perceiving the subtle but crucial audio errors and distortion that can reduce the enjoyment of your music and video files via USB.
The Engineering and Construction Edge
AudioQuest begins with Long-Grain Copper (LGC) and adds increasing amounts of silver-plate culminating in Diamond USB, whose conductors are made using solid Perfect-Surface Silver (PSS). Solid Polyethylene insulation ensures stable conductor geometry while minimizing insulation induced phase distortion. On the two top USB cables, Coffee and Diamond, AudioQuest's patented Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) polarizes the insulation, providing a drop in the perceived noise floor and an increase in dynamic contrast.
