Chord Signature Digital Super ARAY USB-A to USB-B USB Cable

The Chord Company's first venture into USB cables arose from having musicians working within the company. After copying a CD master recording to a laptop, they were shocked by the poor performance of the burned copies when compared to the original master CD. At that time, they were using one of the first DACs with a USB input, so they played the master from the laptop. Although the result was still far from ideal, it was better than the burned CD version. By employing higher-spec ripping programs and improving playback management, they achieved significant improvements to the burned CD's performance.

Features

• Super ARAY conductors, a revolutionary way of building audio interconnects that brings new levels of coherence, detail and involvement.
• Precision silver-plated oxygen free copper twisted Bi-data conductors
• Separately shielded data and power conductors
• Composite PE/LDPE/PE Tri layer insulation
• Chord Company custom Signature Super ARAY conductor configuration
• Dual layer precision applied high coverage foil shielding, effective to very high frequencies
• PVC outer jacket minimises signal degradation caused by mechanical noise
• Chord Company custom silver-plated USB plugs

The Search for Improvement

While the team at Chord Company was pleased with their ability to produce a decent CD copy from the original master, the laptop copy of the master (sent to the DAC via its USB input) still sounded considerably worse than the CD copy when fed to the same DAC. This led to an investigation into the construction of the USB cable between the laptop and DAC. The original Signature USB cable featured four separately shielded conductors. Since then, the company has refined the gauge of the silver-plated copper conductors and upgraded the insulation to a high-speed PE/LDPE/PE composite dielectric. Furthermore, the earth shielding connection is now further protected from high-frequency noise by its own foil tape layer. The ARAY technology has been enhanced from Tuned ARAY to Super ARAY with a Signature USB-specific design. Additionally, improvements were made to both USB A and B plugs, all of which are soldered, and the USB plugs are ChorAlloy™ plated to their specification in the UK. These refinements have contributed to a noticeable improvement in performance.

The Resulting Signature Super ARAY USB Cable

With the increasing availability of high-performance storage and streaming devices, the Signature Super ARAY USB has become an obvious choice for use with these devices. It is also highly recommended for use between a PC or tablet and DAC, particularly if the DAC is filled with high-quality rips of personal CD collections, high-definition downloads, or streaming services like Tidal. If possible, it is advised to avoid using Micro USB adapters with any of the USB cables. However, for those with a high-spec DAC that only has a micro USB input, auditioning a good USB cable with an adaptor is still worth considering.

Specifications