Cable Quality: A Thing of the Past

Posted Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 8:15 am by Dave Moyer

Bottom line: I’m a studio audio junkie. I spend my free time browsing through BSW and Sweetwater catalogs and looking at cool gear. I take any excuse I can get to try out a cool new mic, broadcast console or headphones. And because of this obsession, I seem to have become the “go-to” person for friends, family and even people I’ve never met before when it comes to putting together a broadcast or recording rig.

One of the most common questions people ask me is, “what kind of cables do you recommend?” Lots of people think of big companies like MONSTER Cable as the norm, and you shouldn’t expect anything less. However, that’s not really true anymore.

What I’m about to say may shock you: In my personal studio, I have the two top microphones in the broadcast industry (the Heil PR-40 and Electrovoice RE-20), as well as top of the line shock mounts and boom stands (Heil SM2, EV 309A both on Heil PL2Ts), and very high end processing boxes, mixers, and interfaces, all connected with… cables I got in a few 5 packs for $9.99 from Amazon, eBay, and a few other various sources along the way. And let me tell you: it sounds amazing.

In the old days of analog systems, there was a definite difference in sound quality based on cable quality. Now, however, things have gone digital. When audio goes into your soundcard, it’s converted to a digital signal. if you use a firewire or USB digital audio interface, or even a USB microphone, sound is converted to a digital signal before things even reach the computer. (I recommend this sort of setup because having things digital before you reach the computer tends to yield better quality audio). If your signal becomes digital anywhere along its path, which it should in almost all setups today, the kind of cable doesn’t matter.

When things are digital, cables have two standards of quality, and they’re incredibly easy to see. A cable works, or it doesn’t. Audio, video, or data either makes it through, or it doesn’t. And, no matter how expensive the cable it, you won’t notice any difference in quality whether you use a cheap purple XLR cable or a gold-plated Monster deluxe-o-rama… thing. There’s really no difference anymore, and it’s been a big money saver.

Hopefully this tip helps you save a few bucks next time you’re putting together a home theater, home studio, or even your home office.