How to see if your DAC needs USB 5V

Most audiophile DACs do not need the 5V power line that USB provides. If your DAC does not need 5V then you can use more advanced cables such as the Ground-Breaking USB or the Heretical USB type 2.

This page shows you how to test your DAC to see if it needs the 5V line.

What You Need

Just a cheap USB cable, scissors and some sticky tape (I've used brown packing tape so it's easier to see..)

How To Test

The basic idea is to put some tape over the 5V line then plug into your PC and DAC to see whether you can still play music. There are 4 pins - we want the right-hand one - the picture below shows which pin we are aiming for:

Step 1 : Cut thin strip of sticky tape and stick it over the right-hand pin as shown below

Step 2 : Plug carefully into your source (eg PC) and DAC. See whether the DAC is recognized and can play music OK. If it can then you do not need 5V, and this means you can use the Ground-Breaking USB cable.