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A nearly perfect USB cable tester

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Re: A nearly perfect USB cable tester

#101

Post by tomcam »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #32
TeMPOraL wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, they very much do. But like with everything in technology, they can do fuck all about it, so they resign and maybe complain to you occasionally if you're the designated (in)voluntary tech support person for your family and friends. Regular people hate technology, both for how magical and how badly broken it is, but they've long learned they're powerless to change it - nobody listens to their complaints, and the w…

They also tend to hate technology, because us nerds are often unbearable. They hate having to go through people that get them upset, in order to use their kit. Not just tech (although it’s more prevalent). People who are “handy” can also be that way (but, for some reason, techies tend to be more abrasive). I’ve learned the utility of being patient, and not showing the exasperation that is often boiling inside of me.

Amen. I couldn’t have said it better.

In general for the 40+ years I’ve been a programmer I have detested the practice of not surfacing diagnostic information to users when technology makes it possible to do so in a clear and unambiguous way.

Re: A nearly perfect USB cable tester

#102

Post by Aurornis »

dijit wrote: post #98
Aurornis wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The point isn’t really about audio bandwidth; it’s about the cable being strangely overbuilt for what it actually does. The purpose of the heavy construction is to make it durable, not to carry 5 Gbps data streams to your headphones. Unlike most USB peripherals like your printer and keyboard that get plugged in and then don’t move around, headphone cables go to your head and move around constantly. They can get pin…

Apple's woven USB-C cable gets dragged around with iPhones, iPads and laptops daily and manages durability at half the thickness. Durability doesn't require rigidity... in fact for a headphone cable, rigidity is the opposite of what you want. Stiff cables tug on the headphones and transmit mechanical noise.

You don’t wear your iPhone or iPad on your head with the cable plugged in all day like you do with headphones.

Apple’s USB iPhone cables wearing out prematurely is so common it’s a meme.

Re: A nearly perfect USB cable tester

#103

Post by mrandish »

Gigachad wrote: post #49
Raed667 wrote: post #35

As someone who really doesn't care about learning the details, and just want one USB-C cable that does it ALL to put in my backpack what should I buy ?

You don’t really want that. A thunderbolt cable is both stiff and expensive. They only really make sense to leave attached to the back of a monitor or dock. What would work better is a flexible 100w+ usb3 cable. You can’t do thunderbolt on it but it’s a tiny fraction of the cost and does everything you’d actually need on the go. If you actually do want it, this is the do everything cable https://www.apple.com/au/xc/p…

So much this. I have a few different categories of "known good" USB-C cables because one type doesn't fit all my use cases. Sometimes the trait I need is >100w PD charging at 1M. Sometimes I need 80 Gbps dual 4k video at 3M. Other times I need 40 Gbps .5M to a portable NVMe enclosure. USB-C cables I regularly rely on range from $5 to $100 and weight/size varies >3x.

And in my tiny 'go bike bag' for day trips I need one 2M cable that's thin, coils into a tight ball and weighs nothing yet will charge up to 45w and reliably xfer data at up to 5Gbps (USB 3.1) for quick uploads with optional USB-A and Micro-USB adapters at either end (because I still know people with Micro-USB (though it obviously drops to USB2 speeds)).

Re: A nearly perfect USB cable tester

#104

Post by Aurornis »

dijit wrote: post #97
Aurornis wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> so shipping with a chunky cable that doesn’t even carry decent data feels like a bizarre oversight. USB 2.0 can support up to 480 Mbps. It’s more than fast enough for any audio stream you can send to a DAC. Your headphones don’t need USB 3.0 5 Gbps speeds. USB 3 requires extra wires with different properties that need to be controlled more tightly, which can impact cable flexibility. If your headphones used USB 3 w…

Nobody said the headphones needed USB 3. The point is that the cable is physically thick and rigid (like something you'd expect to carry serious data) but doesn't. Meanwhile Apple ships a thinner, more flexible cable that supports the same USB 2.0 speeds and equivalent power delivery. The cable B&W chose is worse ergonomically for no functional benefit. That's the kind of mismatch the Treedix exposes.

USB 3 doesn’t just mean “higher quality wire”. It requires additional data pairs that take up space and add cost.

Apple’s iPhone cables are not known for their durability. They serve a mostly stationary purpose, unlike headphones you wear on your head.

Re: A nearly perfect USB cable tester

#106

Post by sokoloff »

mrandish wrote: post #92
Vogtinator wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK that's just when plugging in a USB 3 device into a USB 2 port or using a USB 2 cable.

> that's just when plugging in a USB 3 device into a USB 2 port Dell XPS laptops (and some others) can also warn if the charger isn't providing the full wattage the laptop is rated for. This warning is an option that can be turned off in the BIOS settings. I usually turn it off because I sometimes intentionally do day trips with a smaller/lighter portable charger which delivers 45w to my laptop which can need up to 6…

Just this morning, my old Latitude failed to boot with a “this charger is only giving 20W and that’s not enough to boot this laptop” error. (I was testing a new USB-C charger that’s obviously going back.)

Weirdest part was it was 100% charged, so could have booted with 0 Watts of charger but decided not to boot with 20 Watts more.

Re: A nearly perfect USB cable tester

#107

Post by kotaKat »

ssl-3 wrote: post #99
kotaKat wrote: post #64

Similarly: Is there a USB-C power delivery adapter to force directionality? I needed to siphon off power from small batteries into a larger pack (that could supply more power out than the small packs) in a power outage. I absolutely could not force my larger power station to accept a charge and it kept pushing power back the wrong direction despite which ends of the cable I plugged in first.

It's ugly, but yes: https://www.anker.com/products/a8895?variant=45839927509142 That cable has one power input (that is only an input), and two outputs (that are only outputs), and a brainbox in the middle to direct the circus. If we label the connectors as A , B , and C , then it works like this: A charges B and/or C , and other charging directions are no-op. The less-complex way is to use a USB A to C cable, if tha…

Ah, yeah, I remember those. That miiiiight work for my use case...

--- (I remember. The poop.)

Re: A nearly perfect USB cable tester

#108

Post by mrandish »

sokoloff wrote: post #106
mrandish wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that's just when plugging in a USB 3 device into a USB 2 port Dell XPS laptops (and some others) can also warn if the charger isn't providing the full wattage the laptop is rated for. This warning is an option that can be turned off in the BIOS settings. I usually turn it off because I sometimes intentionally do day trips with a smaller/lighter portable charger which delivers 45w to my laptop which can need up to 6…

Just this morning, my old Latitude failed to boot with a “this charger is only giving 20W and that’s not enough to boot this laptop” error. (I was testing a new USB-C charger that’s obviously going back.) Weirdest part was it was 100% charged, so could have booted with 0 Watts of charger but decided not to boot with 20 Watts more.

Oh, refusing to boot at all is evil. I've never seen that.

Sure, you or I would just unplug the charger and run on battery but bad UX decisions like that generate a support call to me from my 95 yr old mom. It should not only warn and continue to boot, it should use whatever power is on offer to reduce the rate of battery drain.

Re: A nearly perfect USB cable tester

#109

Post by Retr0id »

dijit wrote: post #94
Retr0id wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like most things in the audiophile world, it's more about aesthetics than anything else. A big cable looks like it means business.

I think that's being a bit uncharitable to B&W specifically; they're one of the few headphone companies where the engineering does back up the price. The cable is the odd one out.

I don't have an informed opinion of B&W either way, but are you sure it's not an instance of Gell-Mann amnesia?

Re: A nearly perfect USB cable tester

#110

Post by graemep »

tomcam wrote: post #101
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also tend to hate technology, because us nerds are often unbearable. They hate having to go through people that get them upset, in order to use their kit. Not just tech (although it’s more prevalent). People who are “handy” can also be that way (but, for some reason, techies tend to be more abrasive). I’ve learned the utility of being patient, and not showing the exasperation that is often boiling inside of me.

Amen. I couldn’t have said it better. In general for the 40+ years I’ve been a programmer I have detested the practice of not surfacing diagnostic information to users when technology makes it possible to do so in a clear and unambiguous way.

Most users tend to ignore diagnostic information.

"What did the error message say"

"I don't know."

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