Jump to content

Budget Cables Questions


Recommended Posts

  • Members

Hey everyone, since you guys are so good at correcting erroneous misconceptions, I have to ask questions regarding budget cables. My gut instincts tell me not to skimp on XLR cables, but my gut instincts regarding gear are dubious at best.

Now I know that Whilrwind is a great cable company, but they have some very cheap XLR cables up on Amazon sold by a company called 8th Street at www.8thstreet.com.

They offer this, for instance:

http://www.8thstreet.com/Whirlwind-E...s-pcB27808.8th

Which is a 4-pack of this cable for $34.95, which is only about $9.00 per cable. Basically my "too good to be true" bells are ringing:

40129_HR1.jpg

I assume this is crap? Your thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 71
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

Just looking at their site now. And best of all I need a ton of wiring, too. I have to get some balanced cables to go from the Aux sends of my board to my new, home-fashioned wired IEM's I am creating. I also need some 14 gauge speaker wire, one long and one short until I get my new PA, because (ignoramus that I am, I have been using guitar cables to go from wedge to wedge and main to main lol feel free to ridicule). I have to get some other cables too, including varying length XLR cables. I may just end up ordering everything from them and be done with it since you guys recommend so highly.

Would you guys recommend me going for the Neutrik connections? I think they are supposed to be the awesome standard in XLR, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by ChiroVette View Post
Just looking at their site now. And best of all I need a ton of wiring, too. I have to get some balanced cables to go from the Aux sends of my board to my new, home-fashioned wired IEM's I am creating. I also need some 14 gauge speaker wire, one long and one short until I get my new PA, because (ignoramus that I am, I have been using guitar cables to go from wedge to wedge and main to main lol feel free to ridicule). I have to get some other cables too, including varying length XLR cables. I may just end up ordering everything from them and be done with it since you guys recommend so highly.

Would you guys recommend me going for the Neutrik connections? I think they are supposed to be the awesome standard in XLR, right?
If you have the money you can. The standard EWI cables look and feel just like Neutrik connectors, and are just as good, but cheaper.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by djiceman1575 View Post
If you have the money you can. The standard EWI cables look and feel just like Neutrik connectors, and are just as good, but cheaper.
That's very good to know. Can I get some other opinions on this as well?

I would also love to hear from Agedhorse and Axisplayer on this one to seal the proverbial deal. smile.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The promotional ultra-budget cables by any of the mass market or off shore manufacturers are IMO a waste of money. Why buy junk when for a few dollars more you can buy a much better quality product by Whirlwind or by Audiopile?

IME, the standard EWI connectors are plenty good for all but the most heavy duty uses. I do not think your needs fall into this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by agedhorse View Post
The promotional ultra-budget cables by any of the mass market or off shore manufacturers are IMO a waste of money. Why buy junk when for a few dollars more you can buy a much better quality product by Whirlwind or by Audiopile?

IME, the standard EWI connectors are plenty good for all but the most heavy duty uses. I do not think your needs fall into this.
Just so ya know, this is PRECISELY why I asked this here!

As I said in my microphone thread a few minutes ago, I was in Guitar Center early this afternoon trying out vocal mics and I started talking to the sales rep about a {censored}load of new cables I need (Balanced 1/4, 1/4 to 1/4 speaker cables, patch cables, XLR's of various lengths, etc.) and he said the same thing about the budget cables. However, what sent my warning lights going was that he was heavily pushing the LiveWire cables (of course!) and saying the only better cables than that were the Mogami. I politely listened to everything he said, but remembered very clearly from this forum (a while back) that you guys were not big fans of the LiveWire stuff. I also noticed that the LiveWire AND the Mogami cables were all priced VERY high, much more so than the budget cables that you "get for free" in packages, or the four pack Whirlwind I linked to above.

I told him I would have to think about it and I immediately called a buddy of mine who I have spoken about in this forum and resolved NOT to make any move until I talked to you guys about it, particularly you, Agedhorse.

In truth, you guys have MADE MY FREAKING DAY!

Because honestly, given what this guy was ready to ring me up for with the Mogami cables and the LiveWire stuff he had on display, the prices of the EWI cables at Audiopile are SO AMAZING that they too seem too good to be true! I would have completely blown them off if I came across them randomly (for the same reason you guys are telling me to blow off the Whilrwind cables, because looking at the low price, I would have just assumed they, too, were crap.

But now that you guys are giving your stamp of approval, I will order a bunch of cables from them first thing tomorrow morning.

I assume even the lower priced cables on this page are all right? Here:

http://audiopile.net/products/Mic_In...Cables_2.shtml

Also, can I apply the same trust to balanced cables, guitar cables, 1/4 to 1/4 speaker cables of varying length, etc?

Again, THANK YOU GUYS so {censored}ing much!!!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators
Quote Originally Posted by stangconv View Post
Any comments on Monoprice.coms cables? I've ordered iec's, iPad cables, and a bunch of other stuff through them and it was all very good
I can't vouch for their XLR cables, but I tried a 1/4" guitar cable and it was absolutely unusable. Microphonic as hell, and too fat. I know it was $5, or something, but I just threw it out.

Their computer cables rock, tho.

MG
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Those are nice cables, Telecrusier and rbts! But are they a little overkill for my needs? They do look sweet, I will tell you that!

Quote Originally Posted by agedhorse View Post
IME, the standard EWI connectors are plenty good for all but the most heavy duty uses. I do not think your needs fall into this.
So are you saying that these cables are really good?

http://www.audiopile.net/products/Mi...cutsheet.shtml

I get the feeling that those "budget" cables (They call them MP-101) are equivalent to the crappy Whirlwind ones I linked to in my OP. The 20' cable here is a mere $9.35.

I have the feeling this is more what you are recommending?

http://www.audiopile.net/products/Mi...cutsheet.shtml

The 20' Mic cable in this line is still quite reasonable at $12.10!

Finally, would it be dumb and a waste of money (for my needs) if I bite the bullet and jumped up, say to the EWI Premium Twisted Pair cables with Neutrik XX ends for $18.75 a piece for the 20'?

http://www.audiopile.net/products/Mi...cutsheet.shtml
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Quote Originally Posted by Rbts

View Post

I'm sure those are great! Really - GREAT!

 

They sure look awesome. I am looking to snag 6 cables (2 at 20', 2 at 10' and 2 at 5'). So it would cost me $98.50 for those cables. On the other hand, if I went with the same lengths of 6 of the Blue Quad cables with the Neutrik XX ends, it would cost me $125.40. Honestly, even that is still a reasonable price for 6 high quality XLR cables.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by dennis a View Post
Technical Description says "24ga" and Specifications says "22ga".....which is it? 22ga=good, 24ga= less good
Great question I'm glad you asked! In fact, I am looking to order cables today so I am going to call them and speak to their customer service reps. I will be sure and ask that questions since, as you are suggesting, I believe 24 gauge is a deal breaker.

Edit: Looks like they open up at Noon EST, so I might as well ask this here before I wait for them to be around: Do you guys know if they sell other wires? Specifically I am looking for one long and one short 14 gauge speaker cables - both 1/4" to 1/4". Also, I need a couple of regular balanced 1/4" to 1/4" cables to go from Aux send of my mixer into my headphone amp.

Dumb Question: Is "balanced 1/4" that I would use for Aux to headphone amp the same as a guitar (instrument) cable?

If Audiopile doesn't sell the 1/4 to 1/4 14 gauge speaker cables, who do you guys recommend for reasonable priced but good quality cables? smile.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Audiopile has 13 gauge speaker cable with 1/4" ends in various lengths, but if you talk to Liz they can make just about anything you want.
A problem with going from the Aux send of your mixer into the headphone amp; the aux send is likely balanced trs, while the headphone amp is likely stereo trs. These do not match up. What model mixer do you have, are the Aux sends mono or stereo?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Quote Originally Posted by madjack View Post
Audiopile has 13 gauge speaker cable with 1/4" ends in various lengths, but if you talk to Liz they can make just about anything you want.
A problem with going from the Aux send of your mixer into the headphone amp; the aux send is likely balanced trs, while the headphone amp is likely stereo trs. These do not match up. What model mixer do you have, are the Aux sends mono or stereo?
Oh wow I didn't even think of that. I ordered a bunch of cables.

Okay, this is what my mixer manual says about my aux sends:

"Aux 1 is always PRE-FADE and pre-EQ which is ideal for Foldback or Monitor feeds where the send needs to be independent of the fader so that, for instance, the mix to artists headphones is not affected by changes in fader level."

Edit: just looked and that is irrelevant to your question. Let me look through the .pdf manual some more and find out.

Edit #2: Okay, this might be more relevant because it looks like the aux sends are mono:

"These controls route a mono sum of the channel signal to any one or more of six Auxiliary which are used to set up separate mixes for FOLDBACK, EFFECTS or recording, and the combination of all the Aux Sends is mixed to the corresponding Aux Output at the rear of the mixer. The controls are specially chosen to give a particularly smooth control range at the lower end of the scale where it is most needed - quite unique on a mixer
of this type."



I am not sure if the aux sends are mono or stereo, but I will look. Before they get that order out, can you suggest what I should use for cabling to go from the aux sends to the headphone amp?

I am using the Rolls PM351 headphone amp:

319CRjKITPL.jpg

And my mixer is the Soundcraft Spirit Folio Rac Pac.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...