Pangea Audio Premier XL MKII USB Cable 0.5 Meter

This cable replaced a combination of AQ Forest USB cable and iFi USB iPurifier3 to connect an iMac and an RME DAC. It worked surprisingly well. The XL MKII was actually two cables running into a single connector at each of the two ends. The original version of this cable had two A-type connectors on the source end. Either way, the signal and power conductors were separated and each double-shielded, minimizing cross-contamination in the run from computer to DAC. The XL MKII was very good when used alone. But it was even better when used together with the USB iPurifier3. The sound was smooth and relaxed. The work on USB signal was done for my budget.Pangea had three USB cables: Premier, Premier SE MKII, and Premier XL MKII with a price scheme that stepped up with the power of 2. But the quadruple-priced, double-cabling XL MKII was really good. I didn't want to take it away from the system after auditioning it. For audio equipment performance-cost ratio, we have the diminishing-return law. However there was an ancient Chinese saying: You should count the first ninety li as half of your one-hundred li journey and the last ten li as half. (A Chinese li equals approximately 1/3 mile.)PS: In order to appreciate XL MKII, you have to get the noise floor of your system low. There are many ways to help checking the noise floor when uncertain. Using a good cable is one.

I'm coming from Wireworld USB cables. The Starlight and before the Chroma. They are the best sounding cables in their price range. They were a significant upgrade from the competition. However, my taste in music has changed and started to listen more jazz recordings from the late 50s and 60s. The recordings are usually high quality, but even after remastering, saxophones often sound bright and syllable. I was looking for a cable upgrade that might correct this phenomenon. I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg, so I gave a try to the budget priced Pangaea Audio USB cables. What I heard were promising, but wasn't enough for me. I started with Pangea Audio Premier and the SE version, but still no cigar. Yes, they were surprisingly good sounding cables and made me curious about their high-end model, the Pangea Audio Premier XL MKII. And that's when finally I heard the difference in sound character that I was looking for, a natural smother high resolution saxophone sound free of edginess. Right from the beginning even without burn in I could hear it right away. I like this cable, it is calmer, richer sounding vs anything I had before.