Vertere Pulse D-Fi DD USB Cable

Jason Kennedy

“Vertere so far it has produced a range of cables, but there is a tonearm in the offing so it’s not safe to call it a cable company. Its ethos is to advance the state of the audio art and that’s why this USB cable came about.”

“Last year Vertere produced its first D-Fi USB cable, and at that time it was the best I had heard, but now Touraj has found a way of bettering it. Rather than using one of the strands within the multicored D-Fi conductor to carry the five volt power from USB to output, DD (Double D-Fi) has an extra conductor for this potential noise source. It’s an approach found in other USB cables, but when combined with the already remarkable capabilities of D-Fi it puts this slinky silver connector in a league of its own”

Vertere Cables D-Fi Minijack-Phono cable

Alan Sircom

“Rather than go the normal route of plugging to the 30-pin iPod connector, Vertere chose to go for the headphone output. This is not simply to avoid Apple licenses. Vertere’s founder Touraj Moghaddam believes the performance through the headphone output is better than most people expect. It also means the D-Fi doesn’t become pointless if someone pitches up with another brand of phone and didn’t become out of date when Apple changed its connector”

“The iPod through the D-Fi proved itself a perhaps unsurprisingly up-beat and natural performer, both detailed enough to pass muster with all bar the snootiest of audiophiles and entertaining enough to keep the beat-hounds tapping their foot along. What I expected was a clean and tidy sound, but what I didn’t expect was that deep and boppy bass that comes with it.”

“…I intended a few hours of listening, and giving the cable a few tracks. I didn’t expect to listen to whole albums at a stretch. I certainly didn’t expect to use it with my laptop’s headphone output, and use it in place of the normal USB DAC arrangement without ever once finding fault with the sound”

“…there is nothing wrong with in-pocket sources, provided they are given the right care and feeding. Which is precisely where D-Fi fits in.”

“…Highly Recommended? This goes far beyond that – you’ll be surprised at how good an iPod can sound, and if Vertere makes iPod sound this good, I can’t wait to see what it does with interconnects and speaker cables…”

Vertere Cables

Jonathan Margolis

…”even though all a cable has to do is be super-conductive and transmit an audio signal faithfully from amplifier to speaker, there are degrees of effectiveness in that, and it’s my considered (if subjective) opinion that there is a percentage gain to be achieved with quality ones. You may be the only one to hear the extra closeness to perfection that you perceive (which makes it sound quite dodgy and nebulous), but you will truly hear it.”

….”It also demonstrates amazing control with good organisation, tidy presentation, and impeccable timing.”

…”the Pulse D-Fi wins on every level.”

What Hi Fi Review | D-Fi USB 2.0

Vertere D-Fi USB Cable

Jason Kennedy

Vertere Acoustics D-Fi Cable

Jason Kennedy

….” I tried the mini-jack to RCA phono cable between both an iPod and an Apple Mac and a variety of amplifiers and was frankly startled by the results….in many key respects, the D-Fi outperforms affordable USB cable and DAC combos….”

….”Even in the context of a very revealing system I found myself getting involved with the music and cranking it to full effect…”

….”This new Vertere cable shows you can achieve a remarkably good result with an iPod or computer without going to the expense of a USB DAC….”

Vertere Pulse B | Vertere Pulse X

….”Fine performers with everything We used them over a number of months, trying them with everything from budget systems based around Marantz 6004 kit (around £310 a pop) up to some tasty set-ups including the likes of Burmester’s £50k  077/911 MkIII monobloc combination, Naim’s CDS3 and NDX streamer (with 555PS outboard power supplies) and ATC SCM 50 speakers. The cables sonic signature remained truly consistent throughout”….

….”In every system we tried, their effect is the same. The leading edges of notes are as sharply defined as you like, and pack a mighty punch when the music demands. More than that, the sound delivered is timed immaculately”….

….”Preserves the energy and dynamic integrity of the signal better than any alternative we’ve heard”….

What Hi Fi Review | Pulse-B

What Hi Fi Review | Pulse-X

Short Reviews

Paul Messenger tries B&W’s P5 first ever headphones

Subjective Sounds

Paul Messenger

….”The biggest surprise came when I substituted the regular Naim cable used between the power supply of my NAC552 pre-amp and the NAP500 power amp. This cable doesn’t often get substituted because it has a 4-pin DIN at one end and an XLR at the other….The initial move to Pulse B brought an immediate and obvious improvement over the standard cable, making one conscious of the substantial extra coherent detail like instrumental textures, and helping make one aware of more individual strands and even individual performers in the music. It was impossible to avoid thinking: “Why didn’t I try something like this years ago?”….”

Yesterday, a visit from the man who designed the Xerxes turntable among many Roksan products rearranged my notions of how to get the best results out of computer audio. Touraj Moghaddam now runs Vertere where he develops and manufactures cables of ever greater variety. Yesterday he put an early sample of a mini-jack to RCA phono cable in between my iMac and preamplifier and almost freaked me out. Why, because this simple approach sounded better than many of the USB DACs I have tried with the same computer, even where an ‘audiophile’ USB cable has been employed. Clearly the headphone output of the iMac isn’t that bad.

Touraj has developed this cable specifically so that newcomers to the sound appreciation game can get a taste of the possible benefits without it costing an arm and a leg. His theory being that if regular folk can hear a big enough improvement with a connection that costs around £50 then they will start to discover that there is more to hear and enjoy in their music than they thought. He plans to put a computer based system together at the forthcoming Bristol Sound & Vision show using a budget amp and speakers hooked up with Vertere cables, in the hope that the sound-dock generation will grasp that what they are listening to is doing a disservice to the music they love. If the sound I got was anything to go by he should be able to put a system together that will annihilate a Wave radio or Zeppelin for almost the same money.

I am all for getting more people into sonic appreciation. Music can sound so much better than many people appreciate that it’s not real. And the irony is that with computers and even iPods so many people have a source that can produce remarkable results if they are connected to a half decent system with decent cable.

“Listening with a pair of Pulse-B interconnects….I was instantly convinced.”

“They just seemed to get out of the way, letting me hear effortlessly what was going on in the system.”

“All I can say is that this one works”

“Could it be that sometimes, it’s still the designer of the main components who has the best idea of how to connect them all together?”

“Touraj’s (Moghaddam) current system maintains that quality with an uncanny level of vitality and temporal coherence. The track “Fit” from Cornelius’s Sensuous LP [Everloving 016] is a metronomic workout that usually sounds very percussive but rarely displays the scale and dynamics that Touraj’s system managed to extract. The sound leaped out of the speakers and took up the entire wall behind in a precise and three-dimensional fashion that was full of life.”

“I managed to borrow a run of balanced Pulse-B interconnects and tried them at home. The results through a completely different, actively powered system delivered the same coherence and increased engagement. Each musician was easy to follow and seemed to be playing more precisely. The overall result was an improved sense of timing.”

“There is now also a Pulse-X speaker cable… What I heard was the difference between a handmade prototype of the Pulse-X and the finished article, the latter delivering coherence and vivacity along with added focus and seemingly increased separation between channels.”

“I don’t go in for cables in a big way — they usually don’t do anything that a tone control can’t — but Touraj’s approach is clearly unique. If the two systems I’ve heard these cables in are any indication, the Pulse-B and Pulse-X live up to Touraj’s professed goal of working no matter the ancillary equipment.”