Reviews
Reviews
White Magic Analog Interconnects
Black Magic Ultra USB Cable
HiFi Advice
HiFi Advice
“To my ears, the White Magic interlinks are simply the best cables I have heard yet from the Mad Scientist.
Despite being the most neutral and revealing cables from this brand yet, in line with everything the Mad Scientist makes, all three cables remain musical and involving. Their most significant achievement is their well-balanced nature. There is no hardness or edge, but neither is there any thickness, abundance of warmth, or other coloration. These cables are all about effortless musicality, lifelike dynamics, and emotional expression, combined with excellent precision, transparency, and linearity.”
Inner Magazine
HiFi Advice
“It is really hard to ignore their superiority. If you are happy with mellower sound, stay there. If you want to know the new limits of your system, White Magics won’t disappoint you. You are granted with a new kind of analytical approach to music and the system..I find the White Magic cables be very detailed and resolving, but phenomenologically also very musical and respectful of the dynamics of music/
As regards Mad Scientist’s White Magic cables, they make one wonder how on earth could one settle for inferior options while knowing that there’s something that is exceptionally good!.”. “
White Magic Prime USB Cable
Black Magic Ultra USB Cable
User Review from Richard D. in the UK
HiFi Advice
“I just had to share my experience with the new Mad Scientist Audio White Magic Prime USB cable. I’ve tested many cables, but this one genuinely shocked me with the level of improvement it brought to an already highly optimized digital front end.
I inserted it between my Diretta Target (RPi5) and my Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe DAC. The difference was immediate and completely mind-blowing!
🌟 Mad Scientist Audio White Magic Prime USB Cable 🌟
The cable delivered a mind-blowing 🤯 performance in my highly-resolved reference system. Inserting it between the Diretta Target (RPi5) and the flagship Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe DAC unlocked levels of performance I truly believed were already maximized. The difference was immediate and obvious, confirming the cable’s ability to maximize signal integrity even among meticulously selected, high-end components.
The Sonic Revelation
The cable acted as the final piece of the puzzle, significantly enhancing transparency and detail retrieval:
* Clarity and Presence: The entire soundscape became dramatically more present, obvious, and “forward”—like a veil being lifted, making every subtle nuance easier to follow. This was a gain in audible information and sheer clarity, not simply an increase in volume.
* Depth and Control: The low-end frequencies went very deep, but the defining trait was the accompanying great precision, timing, and control in the bass, providing a tighter, more rhythmic foundation.
* Soundstage and Imaging: The soundstage is beautifully wide, creating a vast, immersive space. Instruments and voices were exceptionally easy to locate and track, giving them palpable body and air within the acoustic environment.
* Resolution: I genuinely heard fine micro-details in familiar music that were previously obscured, proving that what Mad Scientist Audio has created is truly out of this world.
The Optimized Reference System
This review was conducted on an extensively optimized audio chain, where every component, isolation device, and power supply has been carefully chosen to achieve the lowest noise floor and highest performance.
| Component Category | Manufacturer | Model / Configuration | Specific Details |
| USB Cable Tested | Mad Scientist Audio | White Magic Prime USB | Connected the Diretta Target to the Cen.Grand DAC. |
| Digital Transport (Diretta) | Diretta / Raspberry Pi | Host RPi4 and Target RPi5 (8GB) | Two-device setup with dedicated ULPSU power supplies (separate transformers/outputs) to eliminate power supply noise. |
| Network Isolation | Stack Audio | SmoothLAN Regenerator | Connected via CAT8 LAN patch cable to isolate the Host RPi4 from external network noise. |
| DAC | Cen.Grand | DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe | Flagship DAC known for its high-resolution native DSD processing. |
| Amplification | EAM Lab | Element 202i | Powerful Class AB dual-mono integrated amplifier. |
| Loudspeakers | Kerr Acoustic | K200 Speakers | High-performance 3-way standmount speakers. |
| Speaker Isolation | Stack Audio | AUVA100 Isolators | Fitted to the K200 speakers to dissipate mechanical energy and clarify bass response. |
| Component Isolation | Stack Audio | AUVA EQ Isolators | Used beneath all electronics (sitting on bamboo plinths) for multi-stage vibration control. |
| Speaker Cable | Townshend Audio | Isolda Speaker Cables | Flat-ribbon design selected for low-inductance and low-capacitance characteristics. |
| Power Conditioning | Puritan Audio | PSM156 | High-performance mains conditioner, filtering noise from the dedicated supply. |
| Power Infrastructure | Custom/Dedicated | Radial Circuit & Separate Earth | Dedicated 20A twin and earth radial circuit fed from a custom split board with a separate earth wire (10mm) connected to its own ground rod. |
Even with this extreme focus on reducing jitter, noise, and vibration across every level of the system, the Mad Scientist Audio White Magic Prime USB cable provided an undeniable and fundamental leap forward in musicality and detail retrieval. You should to try this cable if you are really into digital playback in your system and you think it will brings more to it.
I was having another two cables from different manufacturers, one at same price another more expensive.
So should expect similar or close performance.
But it turned out different, completely different
The Audio Standard
HiFi Advice
“My lasting impression from the first time using the White Magic Prime was “where on Earth did all that detail come from?” So much tiny background information is unearthed, revealing previously hidden tambourines, cymbals, triangles, bells and other effects in the mix. All of this tiny information is organic and a part of the high energy presentation, in fact the dynamics and sheer attack can be quite breathtaking and helps make the music sound like a live performance.
The next impression was how the soundstage is at the same time wider, deeper yet more solidly filled with holographic music. Classical music especially benefits with concert halls revealed in all their magnificent air and space and natural reverb. At the same time, the whole presentation is tighter and more spatially focussed, sounding ‘faster’ as a result. Every instrument is accompanied by the sound of space it is playing in, increasing the sense of vividness and realism of the performance.
Timbre is very well revealed, with piano strikes sounding more percussive and the metallic nature of cymbals ringing clear. All this with no brightness or shoutiness, which in itself was surprising – since in my experience harshness tends to grow when increased resolution is not well controlled.
A final mention for dynamic snap, as revealed by the sound of drums, sometimes shocking in their attack and power. Overall system dynamics took a rise when using this cable.
Black Magic Network Cable
Black Magic Network Cable
HiFi Advice
HiFi Advice
“Once again, the Black Magic has an effect that is obvious even from the first bars of music. Most impressive is that the cable seems to take away a previously unheard masking effect that reduces the immediacy and clarity of transients. The result is that snare whacks and other transient sounds from the midrange and up have more urgency and impact.”
“No matter which server or streamer is used, the results are evident. The Black Magic cable makes the standard cable sound flatter, somewhat gray, and relatively unexciting. Secondarily, but arguably even more importantly, the Black Magic has a remarkable uncluttering effect in the midrange, apparently removing blur and haze to make transients more immediate and the sound more expressive.“