To mock up real-world use, I bypassed another USB bridge, now a Singxer SU-6. Local files came off a 4TB SSD drive into Audirvana Studio, cloud files through two slaved LHY Audio network distributors aka switches. With Audirvana's SoX algorithm handling 4 x upsampling, that 176.4/192kHz stream then piped out via Curious or Furutech cable into the Laiv Harmony DAC which applied 4 x upsampling to 705.6/768kHz. The vast majority of my files is 16-bit/44.1kHz. My hi-res contingent spans 24-bit/48kHz to 96kHz to a few 192kHz albums. Throw in some DSD64 and 128 for good measure and to outfit my reviewer's tool box. Basically though it's all CD quality exactly like on the upstairs memory card which I populated from the same SSD library.

Furutech on footstool. 

'twas another short walk. The Furutech put at least as much distance between itself and the Aussie as it and the Exact had done upstairs over the Forza; on the same score. Because this system is bigger to stage accordingly, spatial gains in layered specificity and image focus were grander. Because this duo of dipole 6" papyrus Satori and dipole Mundorf AMT is even more lucid, gains in airy shimmer, harmonic richness, treble finesse and general in-room presence also were more lucid. I didn't expect this gap to be meaningful but ate delicious crow. To be fair, Curious now have their blue Evolved version. That upgrades my still current yellow cable. Truth told, I'd not re-polished my USB pipe in years. To satisfy personal curiosity, I now compared bridge x direct mode. The former seated the Furutech in the Singxer SU-6 which then dispatched coax into the DAC. This still caused a little uptick, albeit far smaller than when I had first installed the USB bridge because without it, my Denafrips Avatar CD transport still bested the streaming of local files. Optical playback remained my gold standard until PCfi finally equalled it. Now I only spin CD when such a machine stops by for review.

Furutech's GT2 NCF USB-B put me on notice that times have moved on from when I last investigated USB. The loveliest bit of this notice was its small print of €347/3.6m. Many listeners will get by with 1.2m, possibly even 0.6m. That saves more green. I'm fond of saying that past core competence in cables, spending more tends to net little or nothing that I can get excited about. As I put it in a recent review, my biggest cable realization is that a complete more budget loom matters more than a hodgepodge of posh links. It's what unifies our system's cable design front to back. We run matching conductors, dielectrics, cable geometry and the ears of the same R&D team. It's then and not before that the old math of a sum greater than its parts really kicks in.

It seems that my new standard for core competence in USB just rallied around Furutech's latest. To do still better should require significantly greater outlay when at thrice, my one competitor that fit the bill only moved ahead very marginally. Less fussy auditioners in fact won't care what might exist beyond the GT2 NCF USB-B; unless of course it's about sheer spendiferocity as something to then brag about. Some folks do roll that way. The upper floors of HighEnd Munich 2024 were mostly about that.

Though feeding a discrete R2R DAC DSD512 seems dubious, the maker of my speakers who owns the same DAC swears by first resampling PCM to hi-rate DSD. I had to try it for myself since it never occurred to me before. Not for me!

Purple as the new black and orange? If you still do USB then play in a hardware sandbox like mine or shallower, that answer is affirmative. Whilst Furutech can do chrome and shiny carbon fibre, for this simple but finely executed digital leash they eschewed bling for understatement. The special ingredients of nano-crystal² formula, multi-stage cryo and quality conductors all hide inside. With different lengths up to the standard's 5-metre limit, Furutech have us covered six ways from the moons. If like me you last investigated this category 4-5 years ago, there's a good chance that you'll find the GT2 NCF USB-B to evolve your game. For once you won't have to go under the knife and part with a kidney. Not even your family's holiday budget is under siege. Just go easy on something like steaks or alcohol to temporarily tighten the belt and pursue this far better digital cable. You'll obviously want the rest of the system already up to snuff to maximize its improvements. NCF. Never call foul. That's my cue to call this a wrap!