If my $1 USB cables are so inferior then how come they transfer files from my external hard drive to my internal one without so much as a single bit out of place? 

Snake oil!

You guys...! These cable are definitely Must Haves!
 
How many of your rinkydink $5 cables come in 5 fruity flavors like these babies?
 
 
Kinda like all that gold plating on your audio connectors hipe. Sure they're better, but unless the wires between them are gold too...
 
$1450??? now that's "Indulgence"!
 
 

 ....usless on desktop , priceless on laptop (specially aluminum based) with ground issues ....

Now, here you talk about something that almost lured me into ordering one of these fruity colored high end cables some years ago. I just couldn't get rid of the 'noise' that came with the USB connection. My entire system was dead silent (i.e. no audible noise / interference) when monitoring through the interface in standalone mode (with PC switched-off) but as soon as I turned the DAW on, it was back there humming and hissing away. I blamed it on a less than ideal ground of the DAW power supply, but couldn't solve. It drove me nuts ...
 
Meanwhile I've rebuild the entire recording set-up from step one (new room, power supply no longer coupled to house, power conditioner, common grounding point for all devices, ...), basically following all the steps the good guys recommend in the text books ... and not surprising, the whole system is quiet, even the old DAW with the 'suspicious' power supply ...
 
Anyway, I spent about 20K along the way, meaning I could have bought some 15 of these top of the pops USB cables instead. I doubt any of them would have solved my original problem. None of them would have given me the tremendous accoustical improvement that the whole building experience provided ...
 

 

Gold plating is not hype. Gold is good because its immutable meaning it wont degrade over time. But its only important for jacks not the wire. If your jacks are not gold plated than you will need to clean them from time to time. Almost all metals will corrode but gold wont. You should clean them anyway. 

The price is not much more for jacks that have a gold coating. 

As for cords that claim a better transfer due to some design is bogus. But you do want well made cables and cords because you want the connections to be well made. Other than that one cable is the same as another. 

heres a good one lol dontknow whether any of yous seen Ethan Winers audio myths workshop Uploaded with ImageShack.us

and this lol Uploaded with ImageShack.us

and this lol Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Ok, first of all, any cable that transfers a digital signal is not going to affect audio quality. USB cables are digital, as are hdmi, DVI, and midi cables.

Digital is either on or off, it either works or it doesn't. If you have a poor signal, you will hear loud noticeable digital distortion or have connectivity issues. In other words, you will know when your cable is cheap.

Now, with that said, the usb standard can have some pretty flaky power issues that can negatively affect connectivity on usb powered devices. For instance, you may have a usb audio interface, and it may not always work correctly, lock up, or not be found because the data is not transferring correctly and/or the device isn't getting enough power.

My DAW has 7 usb devices connected (all usb powered):

keyboard, mouse, Novation SL2, Mackie Blackjack, iLok, Propellerheads key, and Arturia Spark.

I had problems getting all the different devices working when all connected at the same time when I was using lower quality cables. Replacing with thicker cables with ferrite coils on either side, and making sure my motherboard has all it's updates (bios and drivers) fixed the problems. The "better" cables I used cost me about $5 each at a local computer store.

Same with my HDTV, $5 HDMI cables that perform flawlessly in 1080p.

Go cheap, but smart on digital cables. Go mid-range or preferably balanced on analog cables. And for digital and analog, always choose the shortest cables and fattest that will fit your setup.

this- "The "better" cables I used cost me about $5 each at a local computer store."