Throw out your fancy leads

jtsuited

and replace them with....... coat hangers:eek:

linky

entertaining read.

cornbb

Haha, I like it. I've always been skeptical of gold-plated connectors. Isn't copper a better conductor anyway?

ogy

i think golds used cos its a good conductor and doesn't oxidise too much, theres better conductors but they rust way too much

studiorat

Not really a true A/B test in my opinion.
It would seem to me that the time taken to switch over the cables would have been too long to accurately judge what would in the first place very small differences.
Also the 'experiment' refers to speaker cables, not mic cables or digi cables.

PaulBrewer

At the Frankfurt Musicmesse last year we did a day trip and flew out first thing and back on the last flight that day.
We'd a packed schedule of meetings with very little time to spare.

One of our suppliers of a top end mic brand also distributes a cable brand. They insisted we visit their Demo room which was a good 10 minute walk from the main area - we weren't in the slightest interested really as we didn't have the time with other meetings pending. Reluctantly we went along.

In their Demo room they had a top end CD player connected to a switcher box and routed to 2 pairs of Genelec 8020s. One set of cables was a Hi End German Hi Fi brand the other the Swiss made brand they sell.

The German brand sounded good, as one would expect.

When they switched to their brand it was a revelation. The stereo imaging seemed wider, the bass end tighter and sounded like it went lower frequency wise and there was an obvious 3 dimensionality added. Also the Genelecs rowdy midrange was somewhat tamed making them a much less aggressive listen.
We suspected it was a con as we certainly didn't think a cable (certainly at line level ) could make such a difference so we checked all the connections ourselves. The only difference between either system was the cables.

They also had a similar test with microphones i.e 2 of the same mics through different cables monitored through headphones - same result, the mic with their cable sounded so much better. Of course we switched Mics to ensure the Mics weren't the difference too!

So in my experience Cables are vitally important. My thinking is that a cables can't make your gear sound better but a bad one can make your gear sound worse. i.e. you're not getting all that you've paid for in your equipment if you don't use great cabling.

I'd also agree that the cable area , similar to acoustics, is full of used car sales men and charlatans!

However your ears will tell you all you need to know.

henessjon

would recommend doubling up on the hangers , anti induction measure

make sure you twist em together

PaulBrewer

It's also important that the Hangy Up Hook End is the input ...... otherwise your mix might get creased.

jtsuited

PaulBrewer wrote: »

It's also important that the Hangy Up Hook End is the input ...... otherwise your mix might get creased.

we may have had our differences before, but that's a corker!!!:D

studiorat

Have a few for sale here! €100 a pair!

trackmixstudio

On one stereo signal, you may not notice a huge difference but over the course of tracking and mixing there is a huge difference in quality cables. Signals pass through many cables from mic cables to patch leads etc. and the comulative loss from cheap cables really adds up.
For example, if you mic a snare drum with a cheap and expensive cable and a/b them you might not hear much difference, but if you mic a whole kit there is a substantial difference.

PaulBrewer

trackmixstudio wrote: »

On one stereo signal, you may not notice a huge difference but over the course of tracking and mixing there is a huge difference in quality cables. Signals pass through many cables from mic cables to patch leads etc. and the comulative loss from cheap cables really adds up.
For example, if you mic a snare drum with a cheap and expensive cable and a/b them you might not hear much difference, but if you mic a whole kit there is a substantial difference.

Michael ought collect his postings and publish them as fact....