Description Audioquest Carbon A-B USB Hard-Cell Foam (HCF) Insulation ensures critical signal-pair geometry. Any solid material adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Wire insulation and circuit board materials all absorb energy. Some of this energy is stored and then released as distortion. Hard-Cell Foam Insulation is similar to the Foamed-PE used in our more affordable Bridges & Falls cables, and is nitrogen-injected to create air pockets. Because nitrogen (like air) does not absorb energy and therefore does not release any energy from or into the conductor, distortion is reduced. In addition, the stiffness of the material allows the cable’s conductors to maintain a stable relationship along the cable’s full length, producing a stable impedance character and further minimizing distortion. Audioquest Product Page Specifications for product Carbon USB A > B Metal: Solid 5% Silver Noise Dissipation: Carbon-Based Noise-Dissipation for USB A – B and USB 3.0 A – 3.0 Micro Insulation: Hard-Cell Foam Bitrate: Up To 480 Mbps USB Version: High Speed USB 2.0 Power: Up To 5 Volts Amperage: 500 mA Power Delivery: No Cable Length: 0.75 m = 2 ft 6 in Jacket: Gray on Black Braid Weight: 0.35 lb Solid conductors prevent strand-interaction, a major source of dynamic distortion in cables. 5% Silver-Plating is applied to AudioQuest’s Long-Grain Copper (LGC) conductors to improve Noise-Dissipation. Alternating layers of metal and carbon-loaded synthetics “shield the shield,” absorbing and reflecting most RF energy before it reaches the layer attached to ground. Hard-Cell Foam’s high air content minimizes energy absorption for clearer sound. All conductors controlled for RF-noise directionality.
