Looks like they are now targetting USB cables.
https://www.futureshop.co.uk/nordost-valhalla-2-type-a-to-type-b-usb-cable
Nordost Valhalla 2 Type A to Type B USB Cable
1m (£3,230,00)
2m (£4,340,00)
3m (£5,540,00)
4m (£6,560,00)
5m (£7,670,00)
6m (£8,780,00)
The Valhalla 2 USB 2.0 is revolutionary in terms of USB cable design. For the first time, Nordost is introducing a flat, twin-axial geometry to its USB cables. This innovative layout allows the two signal wires to run parallel, compared to the standard twisted-pair configuration, shortening the signal path and drastically increasing transfer speeds. Another advantage to a twin-axial design is the ability to separate the power (positive) and ground (negative) legs of the cable, isolating them from signal and each other, minimizing the effects of harmful interference. The Valhalla 2 USB 2.0 then goes one step further, taking the precaution of isolating the signal conductors, by covering each power leg with a finely-braided, silver shield, as well as enclosing both signal conductors in their own braided, silver shields. Each shield is connected to the metal plated backshell, completely ridding the cable of any EMI or RFI and eliminating noise. In addition to these advances, the Valhalla 2 USB 2.0 still uses all of the main technologies and design structures that Nordost has built its reputation upon. The V2 USB 2.0 is constructed using four, 19 AWG solid core, silver-plated copper conductors. Each conductor, both power and signal, is suspended in Nordost’s proprietary Dual Mono-Filament technology, increasing the dielectric and mechanical damping, while maintaining the overall flexibility of the cable. It also takes advantage of Nordost’s unique, mechanically tuned lengths, reducing internal microphonics and high-frequency impedance resonance. Of course, as with all of Nordost's Valhalla 2 cables, the V2 USB is completed with a HOLO:PLUG® connector. Nordost purpose-built this fully shielded, low mass USB connector to ensure that there is no loss of signal transfer from the cable to the connectors themselves. The Valhalla 2 USB 2.0 is the only solution on the market capable of elevating digital streaming, attaining true, reference-quality results.
Contact Enhancer Option
To ensure the best possible connection between your system, Future Shop recommends the DeoxIT Gold G-Series contact enhancer.
DeoxIT Gold is carefully applied to the plug contacts of your cable and is a unique conditioning solution designed to improve conductivity and provide long-lasting protection on gold, base metals and other precious metal contacts and connections. DeoxIT Gold penetrates plated surfaces, molecularly bonding to the base metals to seal and protect both surfaces.
The benefits of applying DeoxIT gold are:
Improved Conductivity
Maintained optimum signal quality
Reduced wear & abrasion
Prevents fretting/dendrite corrosion
Forms a protective anti-tarnishing coating
Stabilises connections between similar and dissimilar metals
Reduces arcing, RFI and intermittent connections
Please select this option from the above ‘Contact Enhancer’ drop-down menu and our engineers will apply the contact solution to your cable connectors prior to shipping.
Specification:
Nordost Valhalla 2, Type A to Type B USB Cable
Length: Custom
Insulation: Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP)
Construction:Mechanically tuned length, Dual Mono-Filament, Flat, Twin-axial design, with individually shielded power and signal conductors
Conductors: 4 x 19 AWG
Material: Solid core silver-plated 99.99999% OFC
Overall Shield Coverage: 100% Total coverage, dual-layer silver foil and braid, with full metal HOLO:PLUG® backshell
Velocity of Propagation: 90%
*Please Note: Due to the high value of these cables we will only supply within the UK 
About Nordost Cables
Founded in 1991, Nordost Corporation is a high-technology cable manufacturer specializing in the audio and medical fields, using precision conductor solutions first developed for the aerospace industry and in conjunction with NASA for the space shuttle program. This grounding in the mission critical fields of space flight and micro-surgery have afforded the company an enviable research budget and an unprecedented degree of manufacturing accuracy and consistency. Nordost also adopted a unique approach to sales, openly demonstrating the performance of their products against the competition. This confidence was well placed and the strategy proved a sure-fire winner, the legendary Nordost cable demos remaining high on the must-hear list for audiophiles attending hi-fi shows around the world
*These cables are only specifically designed to work with stupid naive British suckers as they are of higher value to us and are more wanted than anyone else in the world.Thick USB3 cables and beyond are out there and yet they aim for USB2.
I was interested in this: Velocity of Propagation: 90%
What is that suppose to mean?
https://www.everythingrf.com/community/what-is-propagation-velocity-in-a-cableThe velocity of propagation or velocity factor is a coaxial cable is determined by the dielectric used. There are a number of materials that are used as the dielectric in a cable.
So that is used for coax cable but I am not seeing how that USB2 is coax.
Am I missing something?
What do you think?
It means that signal propagates through the cable at 90% of speed of light. Or so they say, but that would be easy enough to measure with a scope if you don't mind buying one for science.
But I am a little concerned about their marketing, because the nanoseconds of latency gained that way will not translate to a dramatic improvement in transfer speed.
The velocity of propagation or velocity factor is a coaxial cable is determined by the dielectric used. There are a number of materials that are used as the dielectric in a cable.
So that is used for coax cable but I am not seeing how that USB2 is coax.
Am I missing something?
As magic said, it's the propagation speed. All cables, wires, traces, etc. have a velocity factor, not just coax. The value depends on the dielectric, be it plastic, air, or vacuum.
When I worked with communications networking fiber optics, I found it interesting that the velocity factor of optical fiber is generally lower (slower) than with the old twisted-pair phone lines (a combination of plastic and air dielectric). Not by a lot, and of course the fiber has hugely more bandwidth than copper, but the signals do get there more quickly with copper.
The velocity factor there is total rubbish. You won't start breaking above 75% until you start using foamed dielectrics. Even air dielectric coax (
https://www.tessco.com/product/4-heliax-standard-air-dielectric-cable-587956 ) is barely breaking into the 90's.
Also 7 nines copper seems extremely dubious. And not twisting your pair isnt helpful for noise rejection since EMI coming from one side couples into one wire more thn the other. It's in a foil/braid overall shield, so probably not going to be bad enough to make a USB 2 link fail.
They didn't say anything about the wooden sleeves on the cable!
You would ordinarily expect them to serve up a whole page of marketing BS on the the special qualities of the wood used in these sleeves and how it enhances the listening experience.
Just what a needed. A $3k USB 2 cable for my Power Mac G4.
Avoiding use of a twisted pair, and instead using several parallel wires, will allow the same length of wire to be used in a cable that's a couple inches longer, if the cable is already several feet long. It's not that much of an improvement. It's a tiny fraction of its overall length. It's not a very tight twist that's being used in most cables.
It's not a significant improvement over a normal cable. But it also isn't bad. It doesn't add a lot of RF noise to the cable (somebody here claimed it would), as it's already not a very tight twist in even normal cables. And anything additional RF noise would easily be blocked by the per-wire shielding they added. Each of the 4 wires has itself become effectively a coaxial cable, by them adding a braided shield around each of the 4 wires in the USB cable.
The only part I don't like is the fact they are charging thousands of dollars for these cables. That price make it seem far more like a scam than any of their claims they made about its effectiveness. There's no way that any USB cable would ever be worth that much money.
I think most customers pay for the last feature: elevation of digital streaming to reference quality
Avoiding use of a twisted pair, and instead using several parallel wires, will allow the same length of wire to be used in a cable that's a couple inches longer, if the cable is already several feet long. It's not that much of an improvement. It's a tiny fraction of its overall length. It's not a very tight twist that's being used in most cables.
It's not a significant improvement over a normal cable. But it also isn't bad. It doesn't add a lot of RF noise to the cable (somebody here claimed it would), as it's already not a very tight twist in even normal cables. And anything additional RF noise would easily be blocked by the per-wire shielding they added. Each of the 4 wires has itself become effectively a coaxial cable, by them adding a braided shield around each of the 4 wires in the USB cable.
The only part I don't like is the fact they are charging thousands of dollars for these cables. That price make it seem far more like a scam than any of their claims they made about its effectiveness. There's no way that any USB cable would ever be worth that much money.
The twist is more to establish the impedance of the balanced pair, and the tightness of the twist only makes a difference in common-mode interference balance in very near-field situations. It's the balanced pair versus single-ended configuration that makes the big difference. I have no idea how much common-mode rejection the typical USB receiver has, so perhaps twin coax cables might be better as they will have less common-mode than poorly-shielded twisted pair.
And of course none of this makes the slightest difference in audio quality. It probably also makes zero difference in the digital quality (BER).
They didn't say anything about the wooden sleeves on the cable!
I was a bit disappointed by this also. Those are wooden ferrites. Metallic ferrites negatively affect the audio signal, reducing spatial directivity and dynamic transients. Wood is better. Wood is always better, if we could use conductive wood we'd make cables out of them.
Call me nitpicky, but a licensed (certified) USB-product needs an USB-logo (and stuff) on a "flag-type" sticker attached to the cable.
That's just noise pickup, but what about propagation velocity and packet latency, impedance matching and uniformity, high frequency attenuation and rounding of digital square wave corners, et cetera, et cetera?
Given all the hair splitting between 0.1ppm and 0.2ppm THD headphone amplifiers, I hoped for a better review from that guy
The wooden sleeves have the grain going the wrong way. You'd get much better clarity and transparency in the woodwind section if the grain was going the other way. Otherwise, these seem like very nice cables, it's a pity I can't afford them.