New cable = New bass.

[matt"bass"]

Just bought a new cable a Planet waves one with a right angle jack, having been fighting with a straight end jack cable for months.
It has given my bass for a new lease of life, the tone is richer, deeper, fuller and does not clip on my amp when i dial in high amounts of bass and low treble.
What's up with that? can say I'm impressed tho. Best 15 pounds i ever spent.

[alexofc69]

get a Monster cable. Even better. Yes, cheap cables can affect tone etc.

[playibanez]

i always played planet waves. but im gunna wip out a cheapo cable right now and see if i can hear a diffirence.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by matt"bass"

the tone is richer, deeper, fuller and does not clip on my amp when i dial in high amounts of bass and low treble.
What's up with that?

Placebo effect.

Or you were previously using the most defective cable on the planet.

Pick one.

[A9X]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Placebo effect.

Or you were previously using the most defective cable on the planet.

Pick one.

+1.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by playibanez

im gunna wip out a cheapo cable right now and see if i can hear a diffirence.

If you do it's probably in your imagination, as these things usually are. Marketing does not trump physics.

Take a DMM and measure the capacitances of the cables. Less is better. Given adequate shielding and solid continuity in the connections (big ifs, I know) that's about the only cable characteristic that will make the slightest difference in the sound of a hi-Z passive guitar/bass circuit, and that will only be in high frequencies that are inaudible in the way I play bass anyway.

Expensive is not necessarily better in terms of sound.

Here, read this.

The guy's grasp of physics is not pristine, but as a basic debunking of unsubstantiated cable marketing claims, it's pretty fair.

[Debased]

Cable can definitely have an audible effect on your bass rig's clarity, frequency extension, and dynamics, assuming that the amp and speakers are sufficiently revealing, though the effect is subtle compared to the huge differences cable brings to hifi music reproduction.

[A9X]

Originally Posted by Debased

Cable can definitely have an audible effect on your bass rig's clarity, frequency extension, and dynamics, assuming that the amp and speakers are sufficiently revealing, though the effect is subtle compared to the huge differences cable brings to hifi music reproduction.

Rubbish, on both MI and hifi counts.

[anyonefortennis]

My take on this is that a cable won't make you sound better, but it sure can make you sound worse.

I wouldn't spend more that $40 on a cable either.

[Surly]

If a cable has an intermittent connection, one without will sound better

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by A9X

+1.

My favorite signal path myth so far was from some ignoroid regular on The ______ who always replaced the stock cable jack on every new or used bass he bought with a Switchcraft because it "doubled the output of every instrument."

Incredibly, none of the regulars called him on it.

It doesn't bother me so much to read comments that are merely wrong, but claims that are that lavishly impossible really drive me crazy.

[bamx]

I once had a monster cable, it sounded more bassy than a regular cable, but it wasn't necessarily better. Also, it made my GK not clip which i thought "ohh is somewhat better" I increased my volume a bit and then I fried my avatar 2x12. lols at least it has a lifetime warranty? i dont know i lost it in some gig, looks like I didnt care for it much.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by Surly

If a cable has an intermittent connection, one without will sound better

You bet, and it puts all the small stuff in perspective, doesn't it?

[BobXboB]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Marketing does not trump physics.

True, but if it gets to you before an education it can make physics or any science really really scary.

[Surly]

I do own a few monster cables, not for better sound though. I have had some cheap cables die after a short time. They do appear to be good quality. Also the whole "bass cable" "jazz cable" gimmick is really funny to me. :lol:

[Debased]

Originally Posted by A9X

Rubbish, on both MI and hifi counts.

And you know this from firsthand listening experience, or are you just parroting the usual naysayer BS that springs from hearsay or a lack of technical understanding?

Establishing a balanced ratio of conductor resistance to cable capacitance, conductor inductance to cable capacitance, and low electro-mechanical resonance, along with proper shielding and dielectric material selection, conductor purity, and geometry all make a tremendous difference, and it has little to do with price. In some instances, cable selection can actually make or break a revealing audio system. I've heard it for myself many times.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by A9X

Rubbish, on both MI and hifi counts.

Extravagant audiophile claims must (1) have sound physical bases and (2) be instrumentally demonstrable on the bench to be credible.

Most don't hold up under rigorous examination. What people think they hear or what some ad copywriter tells them they hear don't count.

Having spent a few years on rec.audio.pro, I think I've seen it all.

For a mook connecting a bass and amp, adequate shielding and strong, solid continuity are 95% of the job, with capacitance being maybe 5%. All else is puffery.

[A9X]

Originally Posted by Debased

And you know this from firsthand listening experience, or are you just parroting the usual naysayer BS that springs from hearsay or a lack of technical understanding?

From repeated double blind tests, measurements to a far higher accuracy than any human can hear, as well as two decades plus of electrical engineering.

Originally Posted by Debased

Establishing a balanced ratio of conductor resistance to cable capacitance, conductor inductance to cable capacitance, and low electro-mechanical resonance, along with proper shielding and dielectric material selection, conductor purity, and geometry all make a tremendous difference, and it has little to do with price. In some instances, cable selection can actually make or break a revealing audio system. I've heard it for myself many times.

This sounds like a lot of parroted marketing BS.

Decent shielding, or better yet balanced conncetion, decent impedance ratios (source and reciver) as well as low capacitance are all that's required.

If a cable can 'make or break a system', the system must be crap, or the listener deluded.

[A9X]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Extravagant audiophile claims must (1) have sound physical bases and (2) be instrumentally demonstrable on the bench to be credible.

Correct.

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Most don't hold up under rigorous examination. What people think they hear or what some ad copywriter tells them they hear don't count.

Also correct.

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Having spent a few years on rec.audio.pro, I think I've seen it all.

My condolences.

Originally Posted by Bongolation

For a mook connecting a bass and amp, adequate shielding and strong, solid continuity are 95% of the job, with capacitance being maybe 5%. All else is puffery.

Absolutely true.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by Debased

In some instances, cable selection can actually make or break a revealing audio system. I've heard it for myself many times.

OK, we're digressing from the point, which is cabling between a bass and an amp. Cabling, say, elaborate mastering facilities are another criterion with little practical overlap.

That said, I explicitly distrust my own ears and explicitly dismiss everyone elses. Ears are notoriously unreliable and tend to be organs of delusion.

In this context, "ears" are good only for rigorous, blind A/B testing, as far as I've ever known, and in that limited capacity they usually (as in almost always) debunk these claims very fast.

If the claims are real, they will reveal themselves in measurable bench data that falls within the known parameters of normal human hearing in significant levels.