AudioQuest Forest USB Cable - USB-C to USB-A

Forest Adds the First Silver to AudioQuest's USB Range

AudioQuest's Forest is the second rung of its USB cables. Its conductors are Long-Grain Copper with 0.5% silver plating. Hard-Cell Foam insulates them and a Metal-Layer shield wraps the pair. It is the point where AudioQuest starts adding silver to the signal path.

Long-Grain Copper With 0.5% Silver Plating

AudioQuest says a USB signal is so high in frequency that it travels almost entirely on the surface of the conductor. So it plates the copper with silver, 0.5% on Forest. The silver surface behaves close to a solid silver wire, AudioQuest says, at a fraction of the cost. Every conductor is direction-controlled.

Hard-Cell Foam and a Metal-Layer Shield

The insulation is Hard-Cell Foam, injected with nitrogen to form air pockets. AudioQuest says nitrogen neither absorbs nor releases energy, so the foam causes much less of the out-of-focus effect that solid insulation can. It also holds the signal pair in a fixed geometry.

Around the pair sits Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation. AudioQuest says a plain shield drains radio noise into the ground and dirties the reference. Its metal layers catch most of that noise first. Forest is a USB 2.0 cable rated to 480 megabits per second.

The USB-C and USB-A Plugs, Explained

Forest ends in a small USB-C plug for the computer end and a flat USB-A plug for the other end. USB-C is the small oval plug on newer laptops, and it fits either way up. AudioQuest does not publish the plug plating. Where it applies, arrows on the connectors show which way the cable runs.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Doug Blackburn reviewed Forest, Cinnamon and Carbon for SoundStage! Access on September 15, 2011. Forest "dissipated enough of the fog for me to see the instruments and musicians, but there was still plenty of fog in the room," he wrote.

Glenn Young's Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity test of August 31, 2022 was cooler. On one track "there seemed to be less imaging outside the speakers than with the Pearl cables," he wrote.

Who Is This USB Cable Best For?

• You want the first taste of silver — Forest plates its copper with 0.5% silver, so the surface the signal rides on is silver at the lowest AudioQuest price
• Your laptop or phone has only USB-C — the cable starts with a USB-C plug and ends in USB-A, so it reaches a DAC or hub with a USB-A host port without an adapter
• Your desk is full of power supplies and WiFi — the Metal-Layer shield drains radio noise before it reaches the ground reference, so the DAC sees a cleaner signal
• You want the reviewer's caution as well as the praise — Secrets heard less imaging outside the speakers than with Pearl, so audition it in your own system and use our 60-day guarantee
• Your laptop has only USB-A ports — the USB-C plug will not fit. Choose the AudioQuest Forest USB-A to USB-B instead, or call us and we will match the plug

How Does It Connect to Your System?

Plug the USB-C end into your laptop or phone and the USB-A end into the DAC or hub. Run any arrows on the connectors toward the DAC. Then choose the DAC as the output device in your player or system sound settings.

Then listen. Other and longer lengths available. Call for prices.

Pairs Well With

A USB cable is one link in a digital chain. It usually joins these categories.

• Digital-to-Analog Converters — the usual receiving end
• Music Streamers — streamer or server to DAC
• Headphone Amplifiers — a DAC and amp on the desk
• Power Cables — clean power at both ends

Frequently Asked Questions

Why plate copper with silver?

AudioQuest says a USB signal rides almost entirely on the surface of the conductor. A silver skin on that surface behaves close to a solid silver wire at a fraction of the cost.

What is Metal-Layer Noise-Dissipation?

AudioQuest's name for its shield. Instead of letting a plain shield dump radio noise straight into the ground, the metal layers catch most of it first. AudioQuest says that keeps the ground reference clean.

Will it power a bus-powered DAC?

Yes. AudioQuest lists 5 volts at 500 milliamps for this USB 2.0 cable, which is the standard bus-power budget. Power Delivery charging is not supported.

Which way does the cable go?

Where it applies, AudioQuest marks arrows on the connectors. Run them from the computer or streamer toward the DAC.

What warranty does AudioQuest give?

A limited lifetime warranty to the original owner, for cables bought from an authorized US dealer. AudioQuest will repair or replace a defective cable that has not been abused. Keep your proof of purchase.

Is there a step up?

AudioQuest Cinnamon USB-A to USB-C is the next rung with USB-C on one end. It moves to 1.25% silver plating and a nylon-braided jacket.

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