Members ontimerecording Posted April 19, 2004 Members Share Posted April 19, 2004 I'm looking to buy some balanced cables for my studio for recording. Some people say that Monster Cables are the best and others disagree. BEFORE I spend a ton of $$$$$ on Monster, I would like to know, ARE THEY REALLY WORTH IT ??For better sound quality, do I NEED the Monster Cables or can I get good quality audio from another brand of 1/4" Balanced Cables, like Horizons or Pro Co, and save myself some $$$$ ?? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aeon Posted April 19, 2004 Members Share Posted April 19, 2004 to begin with, why do you want to use balanced cables in a home recording situation? in general, you hardly have the opportunity to run cable lengths long enough such that balanced would be a good idea. that said, if you want to go balanced (and of course, the source and destination of each cable connection will be a balanced jack), consider buying raw cable from Canare, Mogami or Belden and interconnects from Switchcraft and Neutrik and make your own cables... voila! perfect lengths and you save a ton of money and you get the best quality components! cheers,aeon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davehorne Posted April 19, 2004 Members Share Posted April 19, 2004 All things being equal, balanced lines will be quieter than non-balanced lines. Whether or not you hear that difference in your particular set up is another issue. Re MonsterCable - save your money and buy generic cable, you will not hear any difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted April 19, 2004 Members Share Posted April 19, 2004 I dont like monster cable. First cause theyre imo stupid high price for what you get. Heres what you get: low grade copper wire instead of oxygen free copper like most of the competition inc budget. 2nd to me monster cable screws with the midrange content resulting in imo inferior midrange sound. 3rd with any of the Mc that have multiple wires these are made of on average 2-4 brittle overthick strands that frequently break off near the plug. This aplies even to the top of line audiophile cables. Your better off with musiciansfriend house brand ACC (American cable comp) or other imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davehorne Posted April 19, 2004 Members Share Posted April 19, 2004 >> ???? I agree that MonsterCable is a waste of money, what you write, however .... could you supply a link to tests backing up that claim? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AfroRouge Posted April 20, 2004 Members Share Posted April 20, 2004 Monster sucks. I had one of their cables simply fall apart, and it was inside a rack! Don't waste your money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted April 20, 2004 Members Share Posted April 20, 2004 davehorn> The most valuable tests you can do are done by yourself. I've done such to include with MC's med-high end top of line speaker cables & those for connecting cd players ect to receivers. The magazines Absolute Sound & HiFi, reviews on cables agree with my own findings. The proof should allways be in your own ears though, not in someone elses written or spoken claims. The curious will get best confirmation by spending the money to do coparrissons with various cables on their own system. Magazine articles & other peeps opinions can serve as an indication of something. Wire corrosion tests are also easy to do for oneself. Buy some monster cable Strip the end so wire is exposed to air. Get another cable that states its oxygen free copper. Do same with it. Leave both out and unprotected for a month. The wire that isnt oxygen free will become discolored. The oxygen free stuff wont. Try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davehorne Posted April 20, 2004 Members Share Posted April 20, 2004 The proof should allways be in your own ears though, not in someone elses written or spoken claims. While I trust my ears, I trust test equipment better. It has been proved time and time again that when the listener is aware of what is being used, that fact alone influences what he hears, thus, I rely on double blind tests. In a double blind test, the cheapest speaker cable will sound the same as any speaker cable. (If the wire gauge is the same, the results will be the same.) The differences the listener claims to hear occur when he is aware of what is being used and that is well documented ... that's why some companies prefer to work on the emotions of the listener because in a double blind test, their product will be indistinguishable from the rest. The same thing with CD players - there might be measurable differences between units, but in a double blind test, a $50 unit will nail the 1's and 0's as well as the $700 unit. (There may be measurable differences between the DA converters, but the quality today is better than our ears.) People simply feel better when they spend a fortune on equipment and some companies take advantage of that fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cheptronics Posted April 20, 2004 Members Share Posted April 20, 2004 by the way, are there balanced inputs and outputs on the devices you want to connect ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aeon Posted April 20, 2004 Members Share Posted April 20, 2004 davehorne said:All things being equal, balanced lines will be quieter than non-balanced lines. True, but there is also a downside. A balanced connection needs to use a transformer, op-amp or other means by which to balance the connection, so a balanced connection, all other things being equal, will always have greater levels of distortion, coloration, phase shift, etc. cheers,aeon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wilson Posted April 20, 2004 Members Share Posted April 20, 2004 I like buying cables from Markertek and B&H. Both shops (the former is more so) cater to the A/V professionals. They are pro grade w/o the stupid Monster markup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ontimerecording Posted April 20, 2004 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2004 Thanks for the Info Everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Klaseed Posted April 20, 2004 Members Share Posted April 20, 2004 The good thing about Monster Cable: they're insured for life, so once you buy a cable, you can replace it free of charge if it ever stops functioning. The bad thing about Monster Cables: they stop functioning ALL THE TIME! Seriously, every Monster Cable I've ever bought has died within a year... I also think they're overpriced. If you want good cables, buy some Mogami or Canare or something and solder your own cables. Of course, I use all HOSA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rbts Posted April 21, 2004 Members Share Posted April 21, 2004 I buy all my cables from audiopile.net The prices are great, and he will custom make anything you need for still what I think is a good price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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