Cables - Does it really matter?

[Blackbird]

I was thinking about purchasing upgraded cables for some of my systems.

I had heard good things about "Monster" brand cables, so I went to take a look at what they offer. After seeing their prices, I choked! A standard 6 foot HDMI cable was around 50 dollars! Another store I went to recently had them for as much as 70 dollars!

Meanwhile, I can go to NewEgg and get a generic HDMI cable for about 5 bucks.

Is there any meaningful difference between any two given cables of the same type, or are there just some ridiculously overpriced cables out there? Comparing an HDMI to another HDMI cable, or a component cable to another component cable, would there be a significant difference in quality between brands? I mean, a cable is just a cable, right? You can upgrade to a better type of cable, but among the same type, I always thought they were more or less the same.

[Necronopticous]

There is certainly a difference in quality. Whether or not there is a difference in utility is debatable. I'm certainly in the camp of not.

I think some people will immediately assume the best option is the most expensive option. I think companies like Monster know this, and have built a business out of exploiting it.

[rugdoctor]

I only get the branded stuff at liquidation prices...

Examples:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-ph ... 428470.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Gaming/Xbox-36 ... 812606.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-ph ... 501143.htm

Cables are really only of concern if you are running anything over 3 meters and/or using analog signals afaik...

As long as the cable is properly grounded is all that matters to me.

[Zapf]

Does running ac power next to dc power pose a problem? I ocd'd the fuck out of the back of my shelf and tried to route video/power away from each other. Unfortunately the n64 has that goofy ac adapter when the actual ac/dc conversion is done at the console end of the whole thing instead of near the outlet.

[Blackbird]

So it sounds like the general consensus is - "Get quality cables if you can, but don't pay too much for them."

Sounds like a little shopping around is in order. Cursory examination of the bay shows that even high-end cables can be had for significantly less - much closer to the generic cable price. Looks like a winner.

Edit: Then again, a lot of this might be bootleg -_-... 1 dollar products for something that retails for 80 dollars, coming from Hong Kong? Yeeaaaahhh...

[neorichieb1971]

a $5 cable will likely have more workmanship issues than a monster one.

The thing is with HDMI is that it will either work or it will not. There isn't really much scope in gradients of quality (up to about 12 feet). I have however noticed that over long runs you get twinkle little stars on the screen with low quality cables. But over short distances any brand/unbranded cable should do.



So in a nutshell.. if you get a black screen (HDCP compliant wise) its a low quality cable that doesn't work. If you get a picture thats clear of any interference its not going to look better with monster.

[Zapf]

If you're in the US, you might want to look into monoprice. Most av forum goers I know swear by them, and I've bought many ethernet, usb and hdmi cables from them. I only do 6 feet at most for the hdmi, and you can get ferrite cores on pretty much everything they sell.

Analog-wise, I think I also bought a vga + 3.5mm stereo cable from them, and it has been working great so far. I think they sell a few console cables, I've not tried any other than the wii component one though.

[Damocles]

Ever cut open a Monster cable? They're friggin jokes.

[Blackbird]

Can't say I have. I'm not into the habit of cutting open my electronics... I need them to be functional, haha.

[gray117]

It depends on the type of signal.

For something digital like hdmi it really won't matter - go cheap as long as it's not falling apart.

For analog audio/video/vga nicely shielded cables will help absolutely - especially if cables run by several power cables [slight magnetic fields] and/or you've got equipment that is a bit sensitive or picky about levels.

Many generic cables are perfectly shielded for most setups - but many more are not. Hence premium brands/stores overcharging for their [supposed] reliability.

Practical example - if you can see the difference between you vga and dvi/hdmi connections - the chances are a better shielded vga cable will make them equal... If you use such vga's as pass throughs in a setup you may consider then upgrading those.

If you only ever buy one or 2 cables it really won't matter that you get overcharged occasionally to save some hassle. Chances are however you're the type of person who has a lot of $/£ worth of cables at which point I'd stay away from 'premium' brands. Just buy from a place that accepts returns and don't buy the very absolute cheapest.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I use Monster RCA composite video cable with an optional TurboBooster on the ol' TG-16 console setup and it's noticeable to a discerning eye with a bit of more extra detail compared to using cheap-ass low-grade A/V cables.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Ex-Cyber]

The spaghetti-thin crap packed in with $30 DVD players is genuinely bad, but Monster Cable is basically flushing money down the toilet for the sake of "style"/brand. At the lengths used behind a TV, pretty much any RG59 RCA cable not assembled by a toddler will run circles around any signal that a TV set actually accepts over RCA connectors.

For HDMI, the only thing that really matters is which revision of the spec the cable meets, whether it is "standard" or "high-speed", and whether it is "with Ethernet" (if you need that sort of thing) . AFAIK, the last revision to really bump the cable requirements is HDMI 1.3, though there are some cables advertised as "HDMI 1.4".

[StarCreator]

Most of this has already been said in bits and pieces, but it's worth repeating.

The only thing that truly matters when choosing HDMI cable is the specification - as mentioned above, a cable meeting the HDMI 1.3 High Speed specification will allow for all currently-implemented HDMI resolutions and features, save for the Ethernet channel (which doesn't have a whole lot of hardware support from what I've seen anyway). It's a digital signal, so if it doesn't work, it'll manifest very obvious problems like missing pixels (usually shows up as a strange white "snow") and audio dropouts. At the typical 6ft or shorter runs this isn't a problem, though the PS3 and Samsung BD players seem particularly picky about what kind of cable you feed it - I wish Monoprice would sell HDMI High-Speed cables without ferrite cores because on a digital signal they're creating more problems than they solve.

On other connection types, the quality of the cable really does matter, but mainly for the amount of protection against interference they provide. Monster is very, very overpriced for the actual difference in performance they provide, and pretty much make their living on the perceived value of their name. Your mileage may vary as it depends very much on the environment, but I've never had significant interference issues using the basic throwaway cables provided with set-top boxes and game consoles. I have run into issues with third party cables for game consoles (especially Xbox 360 VGA adapters), but this can simply be attributed to them not being well-made at all. Again, your environment will definitely influence what does and doesn't make a difference.

[Blackbird]

Thank you everyone for your input - I'm still learning about hardware, so this has been enlightening =). I'm definitely encouraged to find a good quality product, if I can find one at the right price.

Monoprice seems inexpensive and good, but what are these problems you mentioned with the ferrite cores, StarCreator?

[Barrakketh]

I wish Monoprice would sell HDMI High-Speed cables without ferrite cores

What?

[Estebang]

Unless your cables will be stretching across the span of a really long room, there's absolutely no harm in going with the cheapest options.

[StarCreator]

I wish Monoprice would sell HDMI High-Speed cables without ferrite cores

What?

Oh, forgot about those. I don't buy HDMI cables thicker than 28 AWG for short runs though. Way heavier than they need to be.

Monoprice seems inexpensive and good, but what are these problems you mentioned with the ferrite cores, StarCreator?

I've run into two devices - a Samsung BD Player and my PS3 - that experienced the aforementioned video "snow" and audio dropouts using a 6 ft cable from Monoprice when running at 1080p x 60p. Other devices using the same cable functioned with absolutely no issue, and using a different cable at the same gauge but no ferrite core allowed both the BD Player and PS3 to work without issue.

At this point, I'm leaning towards cmple.com as my new HDMI cable supplier - I haven't tried their shorter/thinner gauge cables yet, but the 26AWG 25' cables I got from them for a cross-room run work great.

[antron]

Unless your cables will be stretching across the span of a really long room, there's absolutely no harm in going with the cheapest options.

not true in my experience. a $10 six footer from monoprice gave me snow with my PS3, and another one lost audio with my 360 (lowering resolution to 1080i fixed this in both cases, but screw that)

[BuckoA51]

Nobody posted this yet? http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... ry-vs-hdmi

Or, for that matter, this? http://networkboy.net/hdjitter.shtml

In short, seems like going for anything but the most cheap, crappy HDMI cable is acceptable especially at short distances.

What Hi-Fi dispute this, but I wouldn't exactly call them a reputable source.

[dieKatze88]

Just saying this out loud:

For the most part, a 5 dollar 6ft HDMI cable is a 5 dollar 6ft HDMI cable. I typically buy them from whoever I'm placing the order with that day, and save on the shipping. I've bought them from Newegg, Amazon, Microbarn (They had 1ft MicroUSB cables I had to have, shame they no longer stock them they were great quality)

I've also gotten FiOS techs and Cablevision techs to leave 3 or 4 at my house, and that includes the high quality 25ft runs Verizon has for Home Theater installs.

[Damocles]

Can't say I have. I'm not into the habit of cutting open my electronics... I need them to be functional, haha.

Try it some time. If they're anything like the Monster cables of a few years back, they're no thicker and no better shielded than the cheapies.


This thread reminded me of a nice little article I saw a few years back. Basically there was a blind test performed that compared supposed high-end cables, generic cables, and custom cables made from old parallel port printer cables. As it turns out, the hacked up printer cables won. I wish I could still find that...

[Zapf]

I remember something similar for audio, except it was a straightened coat hanger for the lowest end.

http://consumerist.com/2008/03/do-coat- ... ables.html

[neorichieb1971]

There is a vast difference in speaker cables audio quality. But not alot with the interconnects.

I used various speaker cables in the past starting from the thinnest to the thickest I could find and the sound quality delivered changed pitch as I got bigger. In fact, with the biggest cables the sound went tinny. I think I read 80 strands of copper is the perfect balance but not entirely sure my memory isn't what it used to be.

If you get copper cables and they are designed for speakers thats usually good enough.