Instrument cables rated and compared. A buyers' guide!

[MarkA]

That was definitely a problem with first generation Monster cables! Many a guitar repair customer would come in with loose/intermittent output Jack's on their instrument. "Do you use Monster cables by chance?" They thought I was a wizard!

Not necessarily a bad rep to have!

Your post gives me more confidence to try these cables.

 

[1958Bassman]

That was definitely a problem with first generation Monster cables! Many a guitar repair customer would come in with loose/intermittent output Jack's on their instrument. "Do you use Monster cables by chance?" They thought I was a wizard!

I was told by an electronics repairman at a local music store that Fender sent service bulletins to dealers specifically stating that if Fender amp jacks failed and a Monster Cable had been used, they wouldn't honor the warranty. It's important to note that the all-metal jacks didn't have this problem, just the plastic ones that could break. The plugs will just be very tight in a metal jacks.

I do low voltage electrical work (audio/video, home theater, distributed audio, network- anything other than power) and before that, I did car stereo/security- the first time I used a Monster cable, I needed to unplug it and the audio - ferrule pulled out of the Alpine amplifier. I have never seen that happen when any other brand of cable was used. Monster likes to sue anyone who uses the word 'Monster' and it makes them look like a corporate idiot. Noel Lee's son was asked about Monster products and he said "My father developed a solution to a problem that didn't exist".

Lawsuits-

Invalid Link Removed

This is a response to one of their legal actions-

Blue Jeans Cable Strikes Back - Response to Monster Cable

Audioholics has a thread about Monster Cable suing Monster Mini Gold of Rhode Island, then they sued Monster Transmission Repair. The outrage by members of Audioholics caused the owner of Blue Jeans Cables to donate the profits from one of his cable lines to the legal fees incurred by Monster Mini Golf, which had grown to more than $100K. The owners of Mini Golf thanked him on Audioholics.

I started using Planet Waves cable in my work in '07 and since I knew I would have some leftover and scrap pieces, I decided to include some 1/4" plugs with the cable/RCA plug order.I made up some short jumpers to replace the cheapo's between my pedals and from the last pedal to the amp- the difference was drastic and honestly, it was a bit bright, but only by comparing them. Once I became accustomed to the difference, it was clear that the cheap ones were just filtering the sound. While a guitar's sound is mostly mid-range, including the highs when playing a Strat through a Tweed Bassman makes a huge difference. Playing a bass through an amp using these cables is much better, too. I haven't needed to re-terminate the Planet Waves cables, but I have needed to cut the end off and re-solder the Whirlwind cable that I have been using for a long time.

 

[mpdd]

just used the boss fancy 24k instrument cable and darn that thing really brought the tone out of the L2000 treble boost in a way i've never heard before with the cheapo cables i usually get

 

[gungrog]

Great thread!
A cable has one job - get a signal from a to b without:
1. adding anything to the signal (noise, hum, etc)
2. taking anything away from the signal (blocking/attenuating at any frequency)
3. needing regular replacement due to wear 'n' tear (can take a reasonable level of abuse without failure)

While there are some engineering & 'laws of physics' stuff which mean that you won't get 100% for the above, getting close isn't that difficult or expensive.

Decent quality plugs, cable and assembly will do it. Anything else is just cosmetic, and/or bull poop. Feel free to pay for what you want.

Personally I like a full signal from a cable, I have tone controls to roll off the top end if I want to, but I do want the option. It's my tone, I'll decide how to shape it ☺

# edited to add 3 above.

 

[TomB]

I’d add an important #3 to the post above. My cable needs to be mechanically rugged enough to withstand being stepped on, yanked and rolled over, an endless number of plug and unpluggings, and be of the right flexibility to behave nicely on stage at both close and long range from the rig at all kinds of temperatures, and roll up smoothly and neatly at the end of the gig - IOW, take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. That’s what I’m willing to pay for. Oh, and sonic transparency’s a good thing too .

 

[gungrog]

I’d add an important #3 to the post above. My cable needs to be mechanically rugged enough to withstand being stepped on, yanked and rolled over, an endless number of plug and unpluggings, and be of the right flexibility to behave nicely on stage at both close and long range from the rig at all kinds of temperatures, and roll up smoothly and neatly at the end of the gig - IOW, take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. That’s what I’m willing to pay for. Oh, and sonic transparency’s a good thing too .

Yep, I kinda thought that #3 was implied, but happy to add that

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Mogami Gold added to the list. It's a decent cable, but it doesn't make the top 5 cut.

Mine seems to tangle up easily.

 

[wattsman]

Has anyone tried the Reverb cables?
$7 for a 10' and $9 for a 20'
Reverb in Instrument & Audio Cables
I asked Reverb if they were a particular brand and then re-branded for them, but they told me they were manufactured for them directly.
Has anyone tried them?

 

[maturanesa]

Im very pleased with Kirlins. Very reliable, never had a problem.

 

[rodw]

Wow, the original post here is awesome. Given the number of uninformed equipment review sites that only seem to exist for affiliate marketing purposes, [this](Audio Cables Compared and Recommended) is very refreshing to see. (Many thanks to @bongomania!)

...but the OP is nearly 10 years old, the linked page reads "I wrote this in 2011, and have not added anything new since then" and even the most recent comment in this thread is 6 months old.

Are these recommendations still valid? Are any of the specific cables known to be worse than they were when originally tested? Known to be as good as ever? If this analysis is stale can anyone point to a similarly credible, data-driven resource?

To be clear I'm not trying to disparage or question the continuing validity of this analysis. I'm just curious how out-of-date I should expect this information to be (and from my scan of this thread I don't see a clear answer to that question). I'd love to be able to buy reliable cables without a lot of trial and error and without dramatically overpaying. Personally I've had pretty mixed results from what seem to be well-regarded cables. I'd love to hear that this list is still accurate.

 

[bongomania]

Regrettably I don't have a solid answer for you for my part. I still own most of the cables I tested, and none have crapped the bed, even the cheapest ones. I do occasionally wonder if one or another has become more microphonic than before, but I never did figure out how to test that in a reliably measurable way.

The cables I have used most heavily and consistently since then are the DiMarzios and some Canare cable with Neutrik plugs that Butch at Bayou Cables assembled around the same time as those reviews. Since those are still just fine after years of regular use, I'm inclined to give them the long term thumbs up. But I have not given equal treatment to all the others in the group, so I can't say whether they'd handle it better or worse.

 

[Moody Tuner]

I’ve switched to the BTPA low capacitance cables and haven’t looked back. Affordable and high quality.

 

[MobileHolmes]

Regrettably I don't have a solid answer for you for my part. I still own most of the cables I tested, and none have crapped the bed, even the cheapest ones. I do occasionally wonder if one or another has become more microphonic than before, but I never did figure out how to test that in a reliably measurable way.

The cables I have used most heavily and consistently since then are the DiMarzios and some Canare cable with Neutrik plugs that Butch at Bayou Cables assembled around the same time as those reviews. Since those are still just fine after years of regular use, I'm inclined to give them the long term thumbs up. But I have not given equal treatment to all the others in the group, so I can't say whether they'd handle it better or worse.

Man, I have a Bayou cable from about the same era as yours and it is still the one I use at most rehearsals and gigs (it has a right angle silent plug on one end, which I like).

Lately, I have also been using Planet Waves American Stage Cables (sometimes pedal board to amp, when I use a board, and for my guitar rig, since I end up needing two whole set ups at most gigs). They are a really nice balance of sound, construction, and price.

 

[farace]

Has anyone tried the Reverb cables?
$7 for a 10' and $9 for a 20'
Reverb in Instrument & Audio Cables
I asked Reverb if they were a particular brand and then re-branded for them, but they told me they were manufactured for them directly.
Has anyone tried them?

I have a couple of 20' Reverb guitar cables. I get noise from them that I don't get from other cables, so I no longer use them. I was going to give them away, but didn't want them to become someone else's problem. So they're now in the "use only in a dire emergency" pile. They fall in that regrettable category of "too good to throw away, not good enough to use." My every day cables are D'Addario/Planet Waves American Stage.

Interestingly, I've not had similar problems with Reverb's mic cables (got a couple free as swag at AES conventions), but they don't see nearly as much use, either. Unfortunately they're bright orange, so if you're trying to hide your stage cables, they're working against you.

 

[Killens84]

I’ve been getting all my cables custom made from Stompin’ Ground. They’re very high quality, and they have numerous customizable options for you to select.
Cables for guitar, instrument & audio for the working pro.

 

[bucephylus]

I’ve been thinking about this thread the last few days (must be bored); and I’m a little confused on one matter.

Most high sensitivity measurements in the lab with various scopes and analyzers are performed using the industry standard RG-58/U cable with BNC coax connectors. That cable is basically the lab standard for low noise / artifacts. Here is a link to the specs:
https://catalog.belden.com/techdata/EN/9201_techdata.pdf

The RG-58 has a capacitance of 26 pF/ft to 29 pF/ft; placing it solidly in the middle of the capacitance values tabulated by @bongomania for the MI cables.

Based on the analysis in this thread, one might expect impedance artifacts with RG-58 in the neighborhood of 1.5 kHz to 2 kHz. But, I am quite certain based on a LOT of years using RG-58 for extremely high sensitivity low frequency (< 1.0 MHz) measurements that such artifacts are reliably not observed with this cable.

This leads me to believe that the peaks noted in the Spectrum Analyzer measurements linked in this thread are related to a circuit specific resonance that happens to exist in the particular test rig, which does happen to vary with cable capacitance.

I would be VERY cautious not to over interpret the Spectrum Analyzer data.

Also, there are other transmission effects not included in ideal transmission line models. Dielectric loss, in particular, can be an issue for certain polymeric materials, especially rubbers.

Interesting topic and props to @bongomania for taking a swing at it. But, I don’t see any data yet, either in this thread or elsewhere that would suggest any particular cable at any price point produces superior audio response. I do agree with the comments about durability and quality of connectors being important.

Carry on.

 

[bongomania]

Certainly, no question that the test rig is itself a circuit that has its own capacitance etc. relationships which would show up in the test results. The notable thing would be variances between test cables, in that unchanging context, rather than about a given frequency shape seen.

 

[Relsom]

Way back in post #91 I reported the capacitance of NEW Rockflex at 65.5pf/m, thinking it as a high number. In Bongo's standard reference of pf/f, it's actually 19.6pf/f, which is pretty darn good.
I love this cable. The cables I made with it ten gears ago are still going strong. ++++ on the Neutrik NP2X plugs too!
For you that make up your own, I urge you to check this stuff out. Quite flexible and tangle free. Very easy to work with too. I order it out of the UK. I don't know if there's a US distributor.
http://www.connectronics.uk.com/rockflex.htm

 

[Thir13teen]

I found this "rig rundown" most interesting & entertaining. Granted, it's from a guitarist (Page Hamilton) - but for those who know his music background (see below) you know your're going to take notice to what he says or tend to believe him. But he talks about using different cables and without knowing which cable is which - he can tell the difference which I thought was interesting.

Hamilton was born in Portland, Oregon and raised in Medford, Oregon. Hamilton studied guitar at the University of Oregon before moving to New York to study jazz guitar at the Manhattan School of Music.Invalid Link Removed While there he played in Invalid Link Removed composer Glenn Branca's guitar orchestra, performing the composer's Symphony No.6 (Devil Choirs at the Gates of Heaven),[2] and joined noise rock band Band of Susans, performing on their Love Agenda album[3] and Peel Sessions,[4] before finally forming his own group, Helmet.

While still active with Helmet, Hamilton embarked on a career composing and performing music for film, working on movies including Heat, Invalid Link Removed, In Dreams, Catwoman, and Chicago Cab. Helmet also contributed to a number of movie soundtracks, including The Crow, Feeling Minnesota, Johnny Mnemonic, Saw 3, Underworld, and appearing in The Jerky Boys: The Movie (performing a cover of the Black Sabbath song "Symptom of the Universe").[8]

And for those of you that enjoy "rig rundowns" and/or are fans of Helmet, here's the vid

 

[Luckydog]

Bongo, I read your cable comparison chart a long time ago, and think its a great resource. Thanks for going to the trouble to put that together. For what its worth, I use Spectraflex. I’ve had 2 failures in 30 years, and both times sent them back for replacement under their Lifetime Warranty.