Just Another USB Cable? Are there any of our readers here at Mono and Stereo that have tried USB cables and was surprised that there is a difference? Count me in. Years ago I NEVER thought that there could be a change in the quality of the sound, and I mean NEVER – just by changing a 1 meter USB cable.
4-5 years ago I did a review of maybe ten or twelve USB cables for the Scandinavian magazine Fidelity (I have tried cables from Entreq, TelluriumQ, Mad Scientist Audio, AqVox, Transparent, Kimber Kable, Crystal Cable, Acoustic Revive, Audioquest, Nordost, Furutech, Viablue and many many more ), and I was in a state of shock how big the differences where. Now fast forward to the year 2019 and there have been lots of new players on the market for USB cables. Mad Scientist Audio from New Zealand is one of my favorites, and also is Curious Cable from Australia. Both have surprised me how much better the sound is compared to even high-priced cables from other brands.
And now Curious Cables comes with a new USB cable, called Evolved. On the outside you don’t notice much new, oh maybe some new plugs, a new return line, a new blue sleeve…. To much to mention, so I give the word to Rob Woodland, the Master Mind behind the original Curious Cable and also this new Evolved creation:
“The Curious USB cable was launched in 2015 in response to a lack of “dimension” and “realism” in many of the audiophile USB cables I evaluated. It was a product of the enquiring mind – and a cable that I wanted to use in my system.
The new Curious Evolved USB cable takes the original design principles and pushes them further. The work wasn’t so much on the data lines (which I’m really happy with) but on the ground system. And at this point, I believe the most important decision you make in designing a USB cable is how you use the ground wire/s.
There is a special relationship between data lines and ground. One of those things where “art” is just as important as “science”.
In the Curious Evolved, I have beefed up the ground system, decreased resistance and lowered noise transfer between ground and data lines.
A lower noise floor means higher resolution, means more inner detail, means better spatial cues, means more space, dimension, and realism. Not to mention drive and energy.
And so, the original design work has been built on, by focusing on the ground system – and fine-tuning the “synergy” between data lines and ground. The result is the Curious Evolved USB cable.”
As much as I don’t know about every detail and the technology, and the construction of the new Evolved cable, I DO know when I plugged it in my HiFi system, within seconds, that THIS IS GREAT! Compared to the “old” cable from the same manufacturer there is a more vivid presentation of the music. We hear more low-level details and the change is not subtle – its more spacious, and more open, with a wider look inside the music. The bass is more precise and deeper and we hear more music, just more enjoyable music. The change is bigger then what I´d suspected it to be. Much bigger.
THE MUSIC

And with the Curious Cable Evolved the punchiness of the now more dominant bass-lines is a joy to listen to and way easier to follow. As well as the more open sound of the vocals and all the tracks spaciousness is way better than ever before. It´s just GREAT to listen to every track on this album.
But also Beth Hart´s fragile voice comes to alive on her new song Let It Grow (from the album War In Mind, TIDAL 44.1kHz, 24 bit, MQA), backed by a large choir in the chorus. The Evolved cable makes even the compressed parts of the song (where the choir chimes in) shine through and lets the voices to be found easily in the imaginary sound picture.
Trentemøller is a Danish act performing electronic music. Most of his stuff is done on computers, and so is his newest creation “Observe”. And as much as his music evolves from his earlier work, the Curious Cable Evolved lets the bass-lines go deeper than with the “old” Curious Cable.

The gentle and soft music of “Land Of Anaka” from Geoffrey Oryema (Flac 44.1kHz 16 bit) is just as touching with the spacious flutes and vocals floating around in the sound space. Beautiful, just beautiful!
Try to lend your ear to my old friend the singer Søren Sko, a Danish artist with a voice as soft as summer rain. He has made loads of albums with his co-worker Palle Torp in the band Sko Torp, but maybe even better is his version of James Taylor’s “Fire And Rain” from Sørens solo album “Unpolished”. Sørens voice is just as sweet as ever, and the brushed drums are easy to listen to; so no harsh USB digital sound.
CONCLUSION
As you might have been reading between the lines, I am very much taken by surprise by this wonderful 1 meter USB cable. It is a big upgrade from the original Curious USB cable which already was very, very good. The price also has made a step up from 390 to 590 USD. But again this includes worldwide freight, and also a 30 days money-back guarantee – which I am sure you don’t need.
PRICE
Curious Cable Evolved: – 1m 590 USD
CONTACT
Pictures and text © kurtlassen2019