Hacker News Reader

Comment by xbmcuser | Hacker News Reader

LTT has created true spec cables with the actual spec mentioned on the cables but they can not keep up with demand despite being expensive get sold out as soon as new stock comes in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfovjw7Ts_U&t=974s

View on HN

They are not TB5 compatible though, and if you are going to drive monitors through it, or connect external GPU, 120Gbit (TB5) is much better than 40Gbit TB4 gives you. If you are willing to pay a bit more, consider TB5 cables from CalDigit, StarTech, CableMatters, or Apple.

I can't find it anymore, but I'm pretty sure that the only reason they don't say it support TB5 is because they would need a license to say so.

You’re thinking of TB4 which only requires 40Gbps.

TrueSpec cables that advertise 40Gbps work fine as TB4 cables.

TB5 is 80Gbps so TrueSpec isn’t capable.

I used LTT's 40 Gbps cable to connect my ThinkPad X270 to a USB-C monitor and it worked fine. I guess neither device there is TB5, but just wanted to share that those cables do at least support DP-alt mode (or whatever it's called).

By chance, has anyone tested Cable Matters' cables?

I just bought a couple of their Thunderbolt™ 5 cables. They seem like a reputable company that would make their cables true-to-spec. Thanks in advance!

I've not spec tested them, but astronomy gear is notoriously picky about USB cables and since I switched all of my cables to cable matters a lot of weird behaviors just stopped happening

They are excellent.

I bought a 3-meter long USB C cable from them for data and display transfer, which turned out to be the only USB C cable of that length capable of driving my display at its full resolution and framerate. However, after a year of use, it stopped transferring any sort of data. So while they're probably up to spec, the quality isn't necessarily what their pricing may suggest.

Support allowed me to send it back for replacement as a "one-time exception", though I was well within the common 2-year warranty period in the EU.

We had good results testing Cable Matters stuff here at work, but that was for non-critical use so I didn't go too hard on the tests. (Actually, I didn't go too hard on any of it since it was mostly make-work from a manager trying to cause trouble, but still....)

I was quite impressed by GlobTek (available at Digi-Key) and have been buying those when I need something nice. Their USB-C line are some of the best I've seen, not that I'm a connoisseur.

I have some that I got to connect to my MBP, which supports TB5. Unfortunately my MSI MPG 321URX doesn't properly support it, so half of the time the DisplayPort over USB negotiation doesn't work, and the monitor doesn't connect properly.

Apparently the majority of non-TB devices will have trouble with it. I can't even use the cable to charge my phone when attached to a wall wart!

> I can't even use the cable to charge my phone when attached to a wall wart!

It sounds like maybe you have a defective cable? When I first used the cable, it didn't charge my phone until I made sure it was plugged in all the way.

I have a few of these cables, pretty decent although I think the USB-C ports are a bit too thin? They feel lose in multiple of my devices

Multiple people I know, and myself included, have experience failure of their USB-C port on their phones.

I don't think they are really durable enough.

They also crackle out of the package, or at least the 5 I got did. Kind of sound like the thin glow sticks a bit.

Could that possibly be shielding?

I can't say I've seen it on USB-C-esque cables (except maybe a thunderbolt cable a while back?) but I've seen some cables use a type of aluminum or mylar-looking foil between the outer rubber sleeve and the inner sleeves and wires.

That shield is a drain wire combined with either a woven braid (most effective at lower frequencies) or a solid aluminized mylar foil (most effective at higher frequencies), or, for the best cables, both together.

A USB-C cable really should be shielded. Here's a cross-section I took of a nice full-featured USB-C cable: https://ibb.co/svR5Yvyr . You can see the VBUS/GND (fat red/black), the SS pairs (white plus red/blue/yellow/brown, each one foil shielded on this cable), the USB 1/2 pair (white/green), and then the CC and SBU stuff is the remaining wiring. Notice how not just the whole thing is braid+foil shielded, but the SS pairs are individually shielded; that's really important at these speeds, and what you want to see on a good cable.

Compare with two USB 2.0 cables: https://ibb.co/BHz4v1mx and https://ibb.co/GfpJmgbx ; the first one has the shield braid, as it should, but everything else is nicer on the second one. Cables!

Oh yeah, I do think it's the shielding. I was just kind of surprised by it since I've never bought a cable that's done that.

Didn't they not care enough and not put vendor id on their cable. Which results some devices rightfully refusing to operate at high powers... Or am I miss remembering something.

I managed to get a few and so far am impressed. They are definitely on the chunky side but that probably comes with the durability

My concern is stiffer cables are likely more likely to rip USB ports off the PCB. A lot of devices provide very little support to the USB port which is basically just hanging off pads on the PCB, so a stuff heavy cable could provide a lot more bending force to rip it off.

Phones and macbooks have it done right where the outer portion of the port is built in to the device body, but most other devices don't do this.

They’re chunky, but very flexible. There’s basically no memory effect to them either, so they don’t try to curl up on their own.

Yeah even the shorter lengths (thicker) are way more complacent than I expected.

I’m slowly replacing every cable in the house and cars. I’m up to 7 and counting.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com