'Expensive ' cables - Worth it ?

Brizzles

Brizzles

Brizzles

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Clevedon , Bristol
Hi.

I've got a Creek headphone amp, on the way to me.

This will connect to an X-Fi Extreme Gamer Fatality pro soundcard.

Is there a 'real' difference between a standard (£2 ? ) 3.5mm jack to jack lead that i have already, over a gold plated [ insert marketing spec here ] £10+ cable ?

I've seen cables in the £100s', which i can appreciate for high end £k's audio set-ups.

But for simply gaming, is it worth it ?

Cheers.
 
Well I got a £10 interconnect for my PC to amp rather than a 50p one. I haven't compared them yet, but for the durability of the cable (it'll probably last forever) it's worth it.

You're opening a massive can of worms though. Perhaps you should try a sub £20 one and see if you can tell the difference. I don't see much point spending more than that.
 
Not likely. A good while back I used to run 10m of cheap of as you like phono cable from computer to the stereo, sounded fine to me. Also replaced a cheap 3.5mm to phono cable that I use to connect my netbook to stereo with a higher quality one, mainly for a kink free cable. The sound was no different to the cheap one. It only makes a difference if the quality cable has shielding and the cable length is very long passing cables where interference may be an issue.
 
As said it depends on the rest of your system. For gaming on the computer, a cheap cable will suffice, certainly not one that costs hundreds.

If you are going to go that extremes you need to do other things like having a quality feedback mic and setting the levels on your speakers/headphones etc.

A friend of mine had a high end hifi set up years ago which cost him about £10k for the speakers, amp and cd player. He spent a fortune of speaker cable and connecting cables which I can understand.

Hifi buffs in sound testing rooms with quality equipment will testify that the cables do make a difference in sound.

In real life gaming, doubt it can be heard.
 
mrdbristol said:
I've seen cables in the £100s, which i can appreciate for high end £ks audio set-ups.

But for simply gaming, is it worth it ?

Cheers.
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That's just a huge misconception peddled by places like "what hifi" who have deals with the likes of "Monster".

As long as the cable is of sufficient gauge, then you won't hear any differences.

It's just a way to part a fool from his money with ease.
 
Cheers for the replies, appreciated :)

Kinda confirmed what i thought, that at this level it would make no or little difference as long as the cable is of reasonable quality.

Thanks again.
 
I'm going to be looking at buying an s/pdif cable to connect from my xonar to a new Beresford Caiman that i have on the way. I've look at one site and some of the prices go into the £1000's. It's insane!
 
Most people probably won't notice the difference between like for like (class wise) but if the cable is made of something so thin that it looks like it will snap then indeed you may notice slight differences in a better cable.

My interconnect from the STX to the amp is a Tech+Link WiresCR 2.5 metre job and it's pretty fat, it is heavy and is strong too so I know it will last years of ebing kicked around under the desk and even at high volumes won't fade or become limp like cheaper, thinner cables have done in the past.

av_wirescr.jpg


It cost £15 but is well worth it even if it's for the built quality alone.

I never understood why digital (SPDiF) cables are so expensive sometimes, analogue? fine, a better quality cable will give less interference and a cleaner signal but a digital cable is pure! The only degradation will be over a really long cable where the signal starts to break apart - but we're talking really long cables here :p
 
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I remember covering something similar to this in my sound engineering B-tec many years ago... (something I wish I had stuck with...)

we had some Mundorf 99% gold speaker wire which cost some ridiculous amount per meter, and we had a meter of fifty pence table lamp wire which had a lower impedance and just out performed it in every way.
 
Neverwhere said:
I remember covering something similar to this in my sound engineering B-tec many years ago... (something I wish I had stuck with...)

we had some Mundorf 99% gold speaker wire which cost some ridiculous amount per meter, and we had a meter of fifty pence table lamp wire which had a lower impedance and just out performed it in every way.
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But would it outperform it after a year of daily use?

I would think not due to oxidation and fatigue from wear and tear which the expensive cable won't suffer from!
 
My old speaker cables were thinish in clear sheathing, I had a few pairs at the time and over the year I used them they yellowed and browned, they would also get soft/warm when used at high volume.

The thicker cables I replaced them with never got warm however.
 
mrk said:
But would it outperform it after a year of daily use?

I would think not due to oxidation and fatigue from wear and tear which the expensive cable won't suffer from!
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well the degradation shouldn't be too bad as its seethed and both exposed ends are in inserts, I would have though it would be quite a few years before there was any noticeable performance drop. and when there is, off down your market you pop and spent another pound on some lamp wire.


Its always good to laugh at folks with too much money and no practical sense. :D
 
kylew said:
You're getting ripped off, £10 for that!
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thought that was quite cheap tbh ,compared to the cost of my amp and ultrasones:) maybe i wont notice a differance i suppose its just knowing that the sound isnt being compromised by a bad cable
 
kylew said:
That's just a huge misconception peddled by places like "what hifi" who have deals with the likes of "Monster".

As long as the cable is of sufficient gauge, then you won't hear any differences.

It's just a way to part a fool from his money with ease.
Click to expand...

Yours is a common misconception made by users who have never listened to good high end gear before.

BTW Monster aren't high end cables :o

For gaming forget about it, grab anything well made.
 
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