HDMI Cables
- Thread starter arfur
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There is *some* difference. Whether or not you can actually hear/see it is another matter entirely 
HDMI is digital, if the same bits going in are the same coming out the other end then it doesn't matter if it cost 1p or £1bn.
For education on the audio front, some people (the entire What Hi-Fi staff for instance) need to read hydrogenaudio.org
HDMI is digital, if the same bits going in are the same coming out the other end then it doesn't matter if it cost 1p or £1bn.
For education on the audio front, some people (the entire What Hi-Fi staff for instance) need to read hydrogenaudio.org
speaker cable is analogue, therefore there is a difference in quality ....whether it's worth paying £300 per metre is another matter altogether.
same goes for SCART cable, there is a visible difference in the quality you get between nasty bundled scart cable and high end designs.
HDMI and any digital cable are an altogether different kettle of fish, you may as well substitute your bog roll for the money you're using to buy that QED HDMI OMGZITZROCKZORRZZZZ cable coz you're being mugged off royally.
Associate
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to cut to the chase,
Your take-away from all this should be the following:
* At lengths less than 4 meters you can just about use silly string (OK, not really) and get HDMI to pass at any current resolution. At less than 3 meters you'll even extend that to 12-bit color and possibly the next crazy idea HDMI Licensing decides to throw at consumers. Don't spend a lot on these cables and if you want to save money you won't let anyone at a big box store talk you into buying from them.
* At long lengths (over 10 meters) you really need to pay attention to the manufacturer if you don't want to risk running into potential problems with 1080p and future formats such as Deep Color. With that said, just about any cable at or under 10 meters will pass 720p/1080i and nearly everyone will pass 1080p at 8-bit color as well.
hiya, i went out yesterday got me girlfriend a cheapo surround system from a big electrical retailer... i needed an hdmi for it was tring to get me to spend £30 on an hdmi....i ended up saying to him m8 dont try and con me with all that rubbish about hdmi he went a bright shade of red for some reason lol
anyway i tried a few places to get a cheapo cable all well known high street stores the cheapest cable i could find was around £30 pounds
i asked in each 1 why dont u sell the cheap ones is it because ppl are finding out they are just as good and its affecting sales so selling cheap 1`s is not profitable now each reply was a red faced smile.....
edit... i used me 1 of me ps3 till i can find some chepo 1 somewhere
anyway i tried a few places to get a cheapo cable all well known high street stores the cheapest cable i could find was around £30 pounds
i asked in each 1 why dont u sell the cheap ones is it because ppl are finding out they are just as good and its affecting sales so selling cheap 1`s is not profitable now each reply was a red faced smile.....
edit... i used me 1 of me ps3 till i can find some chepo 1 somewhere
I still believe there is a slight difference in how hard the digital correction works in the amp/tv/etc when using different quality cables
Probably isnt worth buying the more rediculously priced hdmi cables for cheap to moderate set-ups - but if yur paying £2000 for a plasma tv, £1000 for a decent amp and another £1000 on sub/speakers, why not pay £200 for 3 hdmi leads of reasonable quality.
For a setup that costs a total of £1000 or less, then just get the cheapest you can get
Probably isnt worth buying the more rediculously priced hdmi cables for cheap to moderate set-ups - but if yur paying £2000 for a plasma tv, £1000 for a decent amp and another £1000 on sub/speakers, why not pay £200 for 3 hdmi leads of reasonable quality.
For a setup that costs a total of £1000 or less, then just get the cheapest you can get
lol
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When all the data gets dealt with by the TV there is NO difference whatsoever.
Would you buy a £200 usb lead because that works essentially the same way.
Do your pictures become a bit better when you transfer them from your camera to your pc. NOPEE because it's digital. exact copy.
So becuase you spend a lot on your setup it's ok to waste money? Why not just burn a few £20 notes it would be the same thing.
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My setup, not trying to be eee-peeeenie=
Tv price = £2.5k Kuro
Amp = £1.4k Lyngdorf (£600 2nd hand)
Speakers = £1.2k ATC scm12 (£500 2nd hand with free welded stands)
HDMI Leads = Free with PS3, and £2.99 eLay.
Thus I should have spent many hundreds on cables, and are really losing out
I saved my money and put it towards a PS3 and films/games, things which actually make one hell of a visual difference. Or I could have bought some fancy looking cables with a company name stamped on them
thanks for assisting me in a successful transfer of hot tea to cold keyboard via nasal passageways
git
May I suggest the £1k nordost power cabled vacuum cleaner to soak up the spilt liquid, but watch out as the massive increase offered by the nordost might cause it to suck up items like pcs, chairs, and small children
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I fear you have succumbed to the What Hi-Fi brigade.
The only thing that I would be concerned about when spending that much on kit are HDMI leads with a good build quality. There's plenty of cheaper cables that offer good quality build.
As already mentioned, a cable over 7-10m should be of a larger gauge and will therefore cost more.
Agree with you wolvers
You could spend more on a lead, but I'm a firm believer in buying a number of replacement leads instead. A single lead could suffer fatigue with constant disconnecting/connecting, or could be eaten by a mouse and his cousin, but a spare lead will always save the day (unless mouse eats spare cables).
But for something like truncating a cable in a wall during a DIY build, I would definately use a better quality cable, and still put a spare one in. Mark grant cables, or blue jeans cables are my pics for quality and not silly markups.
You could spend more on a lead, but I'm a firm believer in buying a number of replacement leads instead. A single lead could suffer fatigue with constant disconnecting/connecting, or could be eaten by a mouse and his cousin, but a spare lead will always save the day (unless mouse eats spare cables).
But for something like truncating a cable in a wall during a DIY build, I would definately use a better quality cable, and still put a spare one in. Mark grant cables, or blue jeans cables are my pics for quality and not silly markups.
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I tend to use Plexus cables. Cheap, reasonably well made as far as I can see, rated to HDMI 1.3 and don't cost a bomb. There might be very slight differences in quality, but as long as the cable is able to carry the sound standards and 1080p without artifacts Im not entirely bothered. That said if I needed a very long cable I'd look at stronger brands for peace of mind, but even then thats purely why.
Belkin for one are terrible for quoting terrible things for there HDMI, I mean better cables for better quality audio?? When it's digital you're not getting simple analogue audio interferance! Never sold them beyond the basics when I was a salesman, even had a rather heated argument on the rep about it. He backed down when he realised I meant cheap 1.3 certified cables were as much of a match, not some cheap poorly made cables.
Belkin for one are terrible for quoting terrible things for there HDMI, I mean better cables for better quality audio?? When it's digital you're not getting simple analogue audio interferance! Never sold them beyond the basics when I was a salesman, even had a rather heated argument on the rep about it. He backed down when he realised I meant cheap 1.3 certified cables were as much of a match, not some cheap poorly made cables.
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Soldato
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You must live in a different world to me chief - it's more like spending £10,000,000 on a server and wiring it up with.. standard cable.
I'm not saying they don't make any difference - obviously driving a massive pair of speakers with a 50w amp, you'll soon run into distortion at any reasonable levels. Since high end speakers generally need more power, you'll need to spend a fair whack on an amp that will power them to decent levels without distortion. I'm just dubious of the claims that "amp A sounds warm and amp B sounds bright" etc. and the idea that amps have different characters, when controlled tests have demonstrated that people cannot tell amp A from B.
Your point about Jolie/Aniston is a lovely thought but it's not very scientific either, what kind of experience are we talking about here? They might just be snogging, on the other hand they could be...<snip>
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I think you can find them in your local supermarket for about a fiver.
The missus bought Plexus ones when she got a new TV and the connectors fit nice and snug which I guess is the main thing.
I have a 9th gen Kuro and a good Onkyo amp in the next room and swapped cheap cables with slightly more expensive ones and plainly seen/heard the difference
dont really give a **** if anyone believes me, in the bedroom with an old Samsung LCD the different cables make much less of a difference
dont really give a **** if anyone believes me, in the bedroom with an old Samsung LCD the different cables make much less of a difference
You quoted photshop as being me
I certainly haven't compared that many amps side by side, but there are differences, otherwise a cheap NAD with enough power would rival a bryston or something gorgeous like a Karan.
But then again there are different techs, class A all the way to D then of course tubes being totally different in their distortion.
Can't say much else as Im back onto the kissing and .........
Less hi-fi talk now off to the babes thread
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You quoted photshop as being me
I certainly haven't compared that many amps side by side, but there are differences, otherwise a cheap NAD with enough power would rival a bryston or something gorgeous like a Karan.
But then again there are different techs, class A all the way to D then of course tubes being totally different in their distortion.
Can't say much else as Im back onto the kissing and .........
Ooops - Epic fail trying to do multiple quotes.
Valve amps - don't get me started on them.
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no hdmi cable ive used has ever made any difference with anything i have ever connected them with. on my own tv/amp/pc/consoles/laptop, or anything else ive had the luck to mess around with. i cant really say it any more straight forward than that. £10 hdmi cables are all ive ever needed to use, and those are 10 meters in length, not some piddly short run of cable.
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^^^ If your on about HDMI cables, we don't believe you because it's impossible for there to be a difference in visual/audio quality. Just doesn't happen. If there was a difference the diffference would be massive sparklies everywhere and horrendus picture breakup.
Instead of been stubborn why don't you have a read how the connection actually works. Maybe then you will realise why it's impossible for there to be any sort of difference also.