Noob Question: USB Cable?

R

RMosack

Member
I just got my FM9 a few days ago. So far, I've simply plugged it into a pair of PA speakers and had fun scrolling through the Presets and Scenes. I've also watched the first four of the Rosh "FM9 Basics" episodes and downloaded the editor to my PC. I've also spent a bunch of time reading the manual.

I know that I need a USB cable to connect the FM9 to my PC. I can't find any sorts of specs or recommendations anywhere on an appropriate USB cable. Does it matter? Can anyone here recommend a good cable for this usage?

From what I can see, I need the usual USB Type-A for my computer. Looks like the Fractal FM9 requires a Type-B, which I think is the typical printer cable. Beyond that, does it matter?
 
RMosack said:
I just got my FM9 a few days ago. So far, I've simply plugged it into a pair of PA speakers and had fun scrolling through the Presets and Scenes. I've also watched the first four of the Rosh "FM9 Basics" episodes and downloaded the editor to my PC. I've also spent a bunch of time reading the manual.

I know that I need a USB cable to connect the FM9 to my PC. I can't find any sorts of specs or recommendations anywhere on an appropriate USB cable. Does it matter? Can anyone here recommend a good cable for this usage?

From what I can see, I need the usual USB Type-A for my computer. Looks like the Fractal FM9 requires a Type-B, which I think is the typical printer cable. Beyond that, does it matter?
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Not really. I bought a few off Ebay and they worked just fine. Found another one from an old printer box and that worked fine also.
 
Any USB cable should work just fine. For my home setup, I use completely standard USB cables that I got from Amazon. That said... when people post on the forum that they can't get their unit connected to the editor, it's about 99% of the time due to the cable. So if you find that your FM9 and the editor aren't on speaking terms, start by inspecting the USB cable, and perhaps swap it out for another cable.
 
Thanks. I have a little 1' that I used to connect the MC8 to the computer, but it's way too short. Good to know that any normal A to B will work. Looks like the local Best Buy has a 6' in stock today.
 
RMosack said:
I need the usual USB Type-A for my computer. Looks like the Fractal FM9 requires a Type-B, which I think is the typical printer cable. Beyond that, does it matter?
Click to expand...
Buy decent quality and stay within the specs for the cable length, which is ~5 meters or less.

Type-B USB plugs are notoriously loose, every device I have ever had that uses them has had the same problem, there’s a little wobble and it feels like it’s not connected well, but I have never had problems with the connection either. They’re not particularly strong though so always be careful when moving the unit. I disconnect the USB first and plug it in last when I am packing up or unpacking when I get home.

The USB protocol was designed to be convenient and able to discover and route the connections between the computer and the peripherals, but the designers must have lived in a perfect world because, with multiple drives and a keyboard, mouse and trackpad, plus multiple Fractals, I initially experienced otherwise. I found that plugging my Fractal units directly into the hub built into my iMac Pro, and then use a good USB3 powered hub for my drives, gives me a reliable connection. I always have my three units plugged in and running 24/7, except for when one gets to go on a field-trip, and they behave.

The power-management for a computer can cause problems. On a Mac the Energy Saver controls have a setting that allows turning off drives when the computer is asleep, which might help with a laptop on battery, but it seems to cause the modeler’s connection in the computer to fail causing Edit to not be able to reconnect when the computer wakes up. I keep that setting OFF and it seems to help a lot. Every couple weeks I’ll have to quit and restart Edit for the FM3 to reestablish the connection. Quitting FM3-Edit at the end of the day would probably be the solution but I rarely think that far ahead.
 
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MarthaMarms said:
I have a Curious USB cable, it is about 6 inches long. I just tried a 1M Pangea and to my surprise it sounded better! Is it because of the longer length or the cable itself? I know the Pangea usb is considered an el cheap- o cable, can someone recommend something better?
usb cable manufacturers
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The USB carries a digital audio signal. You can't and won't have a "better" sound because of the cable...
 
unix-guy said:
The USB carries a digital audio signal. You can't and won't have a "better" sound because of the cable...
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^THIS^

The cable is merely the messenger. If the numbers can get through and the checksum for the packet matches, then the data payload was safe. It could be a cheap cable or a really expensive one, but the numbers are still the same.
 
MarthaMarms said:
to my surprise it sounded better
Click to expand...

Record something into the looper. Record it into your DAW once with each cable. Invert the phase of one and play them back simultaneously. The result will be silence because the two clips will be identical. They won't just sound the same, they will literally be the exact same clip.
 
MarthaMarms said:
Just got a TEAC A H01 DAC + Amp and now using a HP printer cable which i think sounds really crap. I scrolled some post regarding this topic and found out it dosen't worth spending loads of money in a usb cable. i have around $60 budget and basically Im finding a cable which can give me deeper and wider sounds stage, also clear overall picture and mid range. Thanks
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It's going to work or or it's not.

The signal is digital - it can't produce better audio because the audio is not analog.

Edit:

I just realized I already said the same thing above...
 
Greg Ferguson said:
Buy decent quality and stay within the specs for the cable length, which is ~5 meters or less.

Type-B USB plugs are notoriously loose, every device I have ever had that uses them has had the same problem, there’s a little wobble and it feels like it’s not connected well, but I have never had problems with the connection either. They’re not particularly strong though so always be careful when moving the unit. I disconnect the USB first and plug it in last when I am packing up or unpacking when I get home.

The USB protocol was designed to be convenient and able to discover and route the connections between the computer and the peripherals, but the designers must have lived in a perfect world because, with multiple drives and a keyboard, mouse and trackpad, plus multiple Fractals, I initially experienced otherwise. I found that plugging my Fractal units directly into the hub built into my iMac Pro, and then use a good USB3 powered hub for my drives, gives me a reliable connection. I always have my three units plugged in and running 24/7, except for when one gets to go on a field-trip, and they behave.

The power-management for a computer can cause problems. On a Mac the Energy Saver controls have a setting that allows turning off drives when the computer is asleep, which might help with a laptop on battery, but it seems to cause the modeler’s connection in the computer to fail causing Edit to not be able to reconnect when the computer wakes up https://rockatship.com/. I keep that setting OFF and it seems to help a lot. Every couple weeks I’ll have to quit and restart Edit for the FM3 to reestablish the connection. Quitting FM3-Edit at the end of the day would probably be the solution but I rarely think that far ahead.
Click to expand...
I have connected a LG DVD drive to my Auralic Ares G1.1 via a USB cable for CD playing and ripping. Already it outperforms my Audiolab 6000 CDT transport. I got several Amazon $10 variety inexpensive cables to audition not thinking it would make much of a difference. Wrong. An Audioquest Cinnamon cable bested all the inexpensive cables so I tried an Audioquest Carbon. Yet another improvement. I have return rights on the Audioquest cables and if nothing else turns up, I will keep the Carbon. Actually the Carbon was suggested by the dealer where I got the 1.1. I won't be going crazy on the USB cable but something affordable that produces good sound would be the goal. Your experience?
 
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