mic cables.... does it really matter or is at all just hype?

pskjr · Post by **pskjr** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:23 pm

in planning for my studio i have been set on getting all Mogami Gold series quad cabling. but the more i think about it, the more i say "can it really matter that much?"
i know a $60 mic cable is obviously going to be better then a $20 Pro Co cable, but is it really $40 better? Are the Mogami Gold series really that much better than the Mogami Silver series? i know when you're talking about one mic cable a $40 difference isn't too much, but when you're talking about buying in bulk, well cost can become an issue. obviously mic cables are not something to be overlooked, and are a very important part of the signal chain that will make it's way into my DAW, but i'm just not sure if dropping at least $1500 on Mogami cables is totally worth it. i haven't researched mic cables very much because i've been so busy researching different mics and pres, so any input on this topic? should i spend the extra money and go for the Mogami Gold, or is there an alternate route i should go? is the sacrifice in quality not nearly as bad as spending all the extra money to get higher quality cabling?

rwc · Post by **rwc** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:37 pm

everything matters.

the practical answer:

wire with good shielding that's low gauge is what I like to use because I know it won't break or have noise issues the way the cheap junk does. I found 500ft of 18 awg wire where the + and the - wires were 18 awg each with strong shield, it was some stage stuff in a closet, and I've been using it for 2 years now with gold plated neutrik connectors. They're great.

Cheaper wires go bad easier or cause static/noise when you're in a busy session, that's the real reason to get good cable IMO.

As for sound quality, I'd worry about everything else.

pskjr · Post by **pskjr** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:55 pm

gotcha. i knew it mattered, just wasnt sure how drastically. i know build quality is highly weighed into the price of cables. i was thinking of just buying a good amount of bulk cable from Mogami and buying neutrik connectors and just assembling myself. probably be cheaper that way.

themagicmanmdt · Post by **themagicmanmdt** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:27 pm

ah, there's a legendary story that circulates here in Chicago - about taking a top of the line expensive mogami instrument cable , and measuring it's worth versus a lamp cord - and the lamp cord had a lower resistance and lower capacitance (the crucial values) -

smaller gague, with a good shield, and good connectors on each side.

build them yourself! comes out to be only $65 a foot, and snakes are pretty cheap - all it takes is soldering wire!

Check out Gepco - amazing cable. www.gepco.com -

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:40 pm

Any decent quality cable is 99.99% as good as any snake oil cable. Get good durable cables, such as the basic ones from ProCo or Whirlwind, and blow your extra dough on microphones, monitors, and acoustic treatment.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:54 pm

I would say there is a bigger difference between the budget special mic cables and the proco $19.99 mic cable. than there would be between the Pro Co and your mogami gold.
I have a little rule with muself. Anything with "pro" or "gold" in the name is crap. Obvious exceptions are proco, they do make decent stuff, and progold from Caig.

I use Canare starquad on all the cable I make. I own a few proco cables also. Stuff I grabbed when I find I was a few cables short at someone elses place.

But all that Blue, Zaolla, Monster crap. I'd rather get a $20-30 mic cable and spend the other money on something more useful. If I buy 3 $20 cables instead of 3 $120 cables than I can afford to buy another 421 on ebay!

pskjr · Post by **pskjr** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:49 pm

that is extremely true. i have actually read some things about Mogami and Monster and other top brand names going up against the cheaper stuff, and 99% of the time the cheaper stuff had almost no difference.

the way my studio will be set up is just one room, length of 30'. i was just going to get a decent amount of bulk cable and make about 12 (qty) 40-50' mic cables, plug em into the back of the pres, and run em across the room, giving me a little slack. do you think it would be better to get a snake though, and go with shorter mic cables? the gepco cable looks nice, i'm emailing them now for a quote on the xband mic cables. now what about connectors? neutrik? switchcraft? other?

mattwhritenour · Post by **mattwhritenour** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:54 pm

calaverasgrandes wrote:I would say there is a bigger difference between the budget special mic cables and the proco $19.99 mic cable. than there would be between the Pro Co and your mogami gold.
I have a little rule with muself. Anything with "pro" or "gold" in the name is crap. Obvious exceptions are proco, they do make decent stuff, and progold from Caig.

I use Canare starquad on all the cable I make. I own a few proco cables also. Stuff I grabbed when I find I was a few cables short at someone elses place.

But all that Blue, Zaolla, Monster crap. I'd rather get a $20-30 mic cable and spend the other money on something more useful. If I buy 3 $20 cables instead of 3 $120 cables than I can afford to buy another 421 on ebay!

I agree completely with this, I bought Canare Star Quad for all my mic cables and never looked back, and they work great!

pskjr · Post by **pskjr** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 6:07 pm

well i found a site that has 200m (656ft) of the Canare Star Quad cable for $350. I'm sold on that. And they also have snakes that can be wired with Canare Star Quad as well, so I'll probably just go with that. Thanks for all the help guys.

Still not sure what to do about connectors yet though? any advice?

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:57 pm

I use neutrik connectors.
You can get a better deal on teh reel of cable
EG marketek;
http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct. ... agesize=20
they are a good place to pick up connectors. Their connectorized cables arent too much more than doing it yourself, so if you aint too handy at soldering...

qball · Post by **qball** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:08 pm

pskjr wrote:gotcha. i knew it mattered, just wasnt sure how drastically. i know build quality is highly weighed into the price of cables. i was thinking of just buying a good amount of bulk cable from Mogami and buying neutrik connectors and just assembling myself. probably be cheaper that way.

That's what I did. Another option is to have them made by Hotwired Cables.

I say that the quality of the signal is only as good as the weakest link in the signal chain.

rwc · Post by **rwc** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:02 am

I had a proco snake once that was pathetic. If you took the shielding off the wires would literally fall back into the shield. The copper was as thin as hair and half as durable. I cringe thinking of proco wire.

Waltz Mastering · Post by **Waltz Mastering** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:00 am

I think mogami makes a couple versions $25 and $60.

Buy (4) $60 mogami that you use for all your overdubs and buy the inexpensive mogami for the rest, for when you cut basics...or make all high quality custom yourself..Nuetrik, Canare, Mogami.

I think cable quality definitely makes a difference, and if you plan on maintaining a good signal chain, it probably starts at the source.

TW

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:00 am

qball wrote:I say that the quality of the signal is only as good as the weakest link in the signal chain.

For just about all of us that's the skill of the performer.

Being less snarky, it's the acoustics of the space, the microphones, and the monitoring at the mix station. Avoid the cheapest-made cables and you'll be fine.

timcoalman · Post by **timcoalman** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:38 am

OT -

In reading the posts it reminded me of at least one time having a bad microphone cable was an asset - Ben Burtt made part of the lightsaber sound in Star Wars when he moved a cable by a tv set - if it had been better shielded we might have all grown up with a different iconic sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0WJ-8B6aUM

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mic cables.... does it really matter or is at all just hype?

mic cables.... does it really matter or is at all just hype?

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