Nothing wrong with monoprice cables. If you just replace the connectors, and the wire between them, they can be very good, solid cables.
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Say no to cheap ass cables....
- Thread starter Mike Caldwell
- Start date
I don't use enough cables to invest in a spool of cable and connectors, so I only buy them off the shelf, BUT . . . only Mogami for store-bought cables or custom lengths from butch at Link Removed. Butch only uses Canare and genuine, legit Neutrik connectors (I'm real fond of the red-bodies angle silent plugs for the instrument end), and spent many years as an electronic tech for a US Navy maintenance subcontractor. He laughs that working on submarines was finding the ultimate floating ground !
mogamicable.com
This always comes up. Over years, I've bought cables not in the ball park with what I mentioned above, and always, always, always they go bad in the middle of a set or recording and bit me right square in the ass. You can bet any amount of money that cheap cables with iffy connectors or solder jobs will always make their quality level known at the most unfortunate moments. You can take that to the bank.
Just ask yourself what do the giant professional tour sound companies use, serious recording studios use, or broadcast? It ain't the $5 cables out of the bucket at GC ! They simply can NOT afford to stop a stadium show or a broadcast TV event for a bum cable.
And neither can YOU.
I also find that unless something accidental happens, really good cables last forever. Strain relieved, silent cable, no handling noise, solid solder joints, all this goes a long way if you're just careful with them.
MOGAMI® - Gold Inst Silent R (10, 18 or 25 ft)
Detailed information and applications for Mogami Cable sku Gold Inst Silent R (10, 18 or 25 ft) .
This always comes up. Over years, I've bought cables not in the ball park with what I mentioned above, and always, always, always they go bad in the middle of a set or recording and bit me right square in the ass. You can bet any amount of money that cheap cables with iffy connectors or solder jobs will always make their quality level known at the most unfortunate moments. You can take that to the bank.
Just ask yourself what do the giant professional tour sound companies use, serious recording studios use, or broadcast? It ain't the $5 cables out of the bucket at GC ! They simply can NOT afford to stop a stadium show or a broadcast TV event for a bum cable.
And neither can YOU.
I also find that unless something accidental happens, really good cables last forever. Strain relieved, silent cable, no handling noise, solid solder joints, all this goes a long way if you're just careful with them.
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For 1/4” or XLR cables my minimum is Belden cable and Switchcraft plugs. I have some that have seen over 30 years of gig duty that are still fine.
For Speakons, Neutrik connectors and Belden cable is my minimum.
If you have the $$$, Mogami and Canare are reliable cable suppliers. I don’t know if they actually sound any better than Belden.
For Speakons, Neutrik connectors and Belden cable is my minimum.
If you have the $$$, Mogami and Canare are reliable cable suppliers. I don’t know if they actually sound any better than Belden.
The "tour grade" models look decent and use Neutrik connectors. The "super flex" not using Neutrik connectors, cable looks????
I would guess the Monster XLR's had pin 1 tied to the outer shell. What that does is at the mixer and the source it ties the audio ground to the chassis equipment ground, most of the time not a big deal other times it's a big issue!!
Same. Got two 10-ft straight-to-right-angle rubber coated cables for $28 for practice, no issues. (You can currently get a 2-pack of 18.6-ft cables for the same price.)
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Same here, I have around 200 mic cables, some are 30 years old, made them all and all are working, the few that have been cut or damaged get made into two shorter cables. All told mic, speaker, snake, insert, patch, ect. cables I've made 95% of them.
Anyone making cables that use conductive plastic shielding over the insulation of the wires it's best to trim that off at the connectors, it's thin and with a slight scoring it will slip off.
I use good stuff when I’m playing but I have a few cheap cables in the backup bag. Mostly because those usually get loaned out to another band member at a gig and everyone forgets. If it’s a cheap cable, who cares?
Interesting. That theory makes sense. I'd test with a meter, except that Monster plasticed clean over the cable to plug interfaces rendering them not serviceable. Edit: I suppose the shell includes the metal part of the plug. So I guess I'll go check that out in the morning.
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The only thing I've ever left behind at any gig was a very expensive cable. If it has to leave the house it's Thomann own brand all the way for me now.
Check with a meter between pin 1 and any exposed part of the XLR shell, find a section on the shell that is bare metal.
I've ran into it enough that I made a plug in tester to check for pin1 to shell connections for a quick test of grounding noise issues at service calls, I'll the cables and wall plate connections.
Considering the per foot cost of Mogami or Canare mic cable is about 60 cents a foot and $8 for two XLR connectors time not included you can make a solid 20 foot mic cable for $20, off the shelf legit 20 foot mic cables are going to be at least double that. Classic Belden 8412 mic cable is going for $2 plus a foot.
The bulk of my mic cables are Canare L2T2S, others are using Whirlwinds version of 8412 or Rapco Mic5 cable, their version of 8412.what
The super studio what ever marketed mic cables that are $150...or more for a 20 footer is BS, put the money saved into other equipment mics, ect.
I just bought some speakon cables - one cheap one, one quality one. Figured I’d compare and see if the more expensive quality cable was worth the extra cost. So I bought one Monoprice cable, and one cheap cable. 
Yeah, the Monoprice was my expensive cable! Hahaha And they showed up today - the Monoprice cable is heavy. The other cable is not as heavy, and not as thick. Both were advertised as 12awg. Some reviews of other cheap cables warned that they were closer to 18awg. I’m not about to cut the ends off my cables, but the Monoprice review showed a pic and they were 12awg wire.
The connectors for both cables felt kinda cheap. They have slider buttons to unlock the cable. My old speakons had a ring you pulled then twisted, not a slider button. I really gotta find my old speakon cables…
Yeah, the Monoprice was my expensive cable! Hahaha And they showed up today - the Monoprice cable is heavy. The other cable is not as heavy, and not as thick. Both were advertised as 12awg. Some reviews of other cheap cables warned that they were closer to 18awg. I’m not about to cut the ends off my cables, but the Monoprice review showed a pic and they were 12awg wire.
The connectors for both cables felt kinda cheap. They have slider buttons to unlock the cable. My old speakons had a ring you pulled then twisted, not a slider button. I really gotta find my old speakon cables…
I just looked on the Monoprice site, yea those are knock offs and not great reviews, on their site they say "They feature black and blue colored plastic NL4FC female connectors" same Monoprice cables on Amazon call them "Speakon Type NL4FC" crafty wording. The ones I found at a first quick glance look like a Speakon till looking closer, Any "Speakon" that has the hexagon shape blue end is a knock off.I just bought some speakon cables - one cheap one, one quality one. Figured I’d compare and see if the more expensive quality cable was worth the extra cost. So I bought one Monoprice cable, and one cheap cable.
Yeah, the Monoprice was my expensive cable! Hahaha And they showed up today - the Monoprice cable is heavy. The other cable is not as heavy, and not as thick. Both were advertised as 12awg. Some reviews of other cheap cables warned that they were closer to 18awg. I’m not about to cut the ends off my cables, but the Monoprice review showed a pic and they were 12awg wire.
The connectors for both cables felt kinda cheap. They have slider buttons to unlock the cable. My old speakons had a ring you pulled then twisted, not a slider button. I really gotta find my old speakon cables…
Thick jacket insulation does not always indicate what's inside!
Sounds like you had some older NL2 Speakons that did have the gray outer locking ring.
Best bet is spend $12 on two legit Speakons, cut off the Monoprice connectors and replace them.
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