mhardy6647
Grand Contributor
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I totally agree that cables can makes a difference in some applications and that saying that cables don't matter is not accurate. And there is people here which refuses this general statement and tries to understand properly what's going on. I guess this message is so strong here at ASR just to counter-program all this snake oil cable insanity. The thing is that in the 99% (or 95%, don't really know) of systems cables won't make an audible difference, and that makes this general statement almost true for most applications. It depends on the context of the conversation.Maybe we can start to acknowledge Cable can make a difference in noise rejection and test for this... properly
And maybe we start to acknowledge hum and noise is a real problem for some.
What's the cost of a failed cable in a pro application? You don't get the same quality for 1/10th the price.
I always have the impression that star quad is the analogous of snake oil for informed people. In the Thomann store there are no star quad cables. Cordial and Sommer don't have star quads, as far as I know. That makes hard to believe it's necessary in any reasonable environment. Maybe for precise measurements purposes.
I wasn't aware of that Sommer cable star quad, I looked for it one some time ago and din't find it. Thanks for that. You will agree however that the vast majority of their balanced cables are not star quad.^Sommer does though; and given that Mogami, Canare (also Benchmark), Van Damme, Gotham, Audioblast and others make their own quality star quad cablesSommer cable
shop.sommercable.com
What I wanted to say it's quite clear: that there is an unjustified use of star quad when in most application it doesn't make any difference. And who buys star quads? People that understand what all this EM induction concepts and have watched the Benchmark demonstration video, namely, well informed people.I'm not sure what you're trying to imply with that ill-informed statement Snake oil will be snake oil and what is not will not be, regardless of what manufacturers produce.
Wasn't replying to you, must have missed this so-important post of yours which you assume must have been seen by everyone. Whether it is constructive is not for you alone to say either. You don't monopolise this forum, and I'm sure you're capable of being helpful without flexing your egoAre you happy you got your opinion that added nothing to the conversation out now? I provided an answer to your question several posts ago and I was very clear about it. Other examples of been provided here to of a benefit or beneficial situation of better designed and manufactured cables.
Wasn't replying to you, must have missed this so-important post of yours which you assume must have been seen by everyone. Whether it is constructive is not for you alone to say either. You don't monopolise this forum, and I'm sure you're capable of being helpful without flexing your ego
I used the cheapest of the cheapest cinch-cables for many years and none ever failed. What's so complicated about soldering two pieces together? Also what pro-application are you talking about? Studio use? Maybe for a Studio it makes sense to invest a little more to make sure, but for Hifi it's just a waste of money.
If elderly people are looking for equipment, does it mean that anything with a frequency extension of 17kHz and beyond is unjustified for them? If somebody listens to music in a less than ideal environment, does it mean that anything with SINAD 85dB and above is unjustified?
Why are people saying one thing for cables when they don't for DACs, Amps and such, even when there are measurements backing them? Hypocrisy at its finest, sometimes silence is best
Yeah my point exactly- some people would benefit from cables that provide extra noise rejection like those of the star quad design, just as people with ideal listening environments and good hearing would benefit from extra SINADWell, I guess the nice feeling of owning something with high performance is one form of justification. But if you are spending x10 or x100 times more money on something you'll actually never be able to benefit from, at least you should be honest to yourself about it.
Personally I try to be as consistent in my scepticism as possible. Whether you get perceptual bias from snake-oil claims or overkill technical performance doesn't really matter to me.
Doesn't stop me from talking out of my ass ever so often though
might be a little late but I recommend just making your own cables, you can buy mogami's cables without the connectors for cheap, then you get to choose whatever sleeving you want and you can cut them to the perfect length.Does anyone know of a reliable source of Mogami Gold cables in the UK.
Cheers
Kev
What's the cost of a failed cable in a pro application? You don't get the same quality for 1/10th the price.
Again, the magnitude of SINAD difference is crucial. Simply having 'extra SINAD' isn't. Difference != audibleYeah my point exactly- some people would benefit from cables that provide extra noise rejection like those of the star quad design, just as people with ideal listening environments and good hearing would benefit from extra SINAD
Actually solder joints fail all the time in cables because of poor workmanship. If you don't know what pro use is then you are in no position to judge and obviously have no idea what represents "quality". Even for home use, I regularly connect and disconnect stuff. Saving $10 on a cable is not worth my time.
What an arrogant comment. I was asking you if you mean Studio use. If you can't tell me what you mean by pro use (seems to be something else than Studio use then), you don't seem to have a clue yourself what you are talking about. Also this board is mostly about Hifi. If even for Home use you need to regularly connect and disconnect stuff, maybe you should spend your precious time for buying a preamp with more inputs, don't you think? But if you are one of those people who have their fun in plugging and unplugging and trying to hear sound in cables then i don't want to spoil your fun by recommending blind tests. I like listening to music.
By the way - i am a musician myself (Cello and Bass), having recorded myself in tone studios, learned recording in a media school myself, used pro gear before. I am not working in this area, but i have some experience. Of course if you spend 350.000 dollars for a mixing console, you wouldn't buy cheap cables. But that's what i said - quote: "for a Studio it makes sense to invest a little more to make sure"