Monoprice - don't believe (all) the hype!!!

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:30 pm

digitaldrummer wrote:I also bought some Amphenol TRS and XLR jacks there - cheaper than Neutrik so I was not sure what to expect but I was really happy with them. soldered very easily, easy to grip, and no fit problems so far.

I recently bought a cable that had Amphenol connectors and it's as good as the cables I have with Neutriks, and I like both better than the one Monster cable I have. XLR, that is - I like my Monster 1/4" cables quite a bit.

That being said, the ones from GLS Audio are on par with the Amphenols, easily.

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:29 am

Just received a couple monoprice trs>xlr cables, they look great. Haven't tested or used them yet...

silentsky · Post by **silentsky** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:49 am

Jim Williams wrote:
Electricide wrote:any chance the monoprice cables have the ground tied to the XLR jack housing?
That's generally not a good idea. Some gear has chassis grounds isolated from audio (pin 1) ground. XLR's have a chassis case ground seperate from pin 1 for good reason. They will become grounded if connected to any mic body or any XLR input, unless the designer forgot these things.

I decided to order a few of these cables and just received them. I tested one of them and also could hear some crackly handling noise when I would move the cable. I opened one up and sure enough, the XLR housing is tied to pin 1. I clipped the wires that were making those connections, and now I'm happy to report the cable is noise free. Thanks for the info.

Electricide · Post by **Electricide** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 10:02 am

huzzah!

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 10:31 am

I just opened a monoprice cable and the ground isn't tied to the case.

silentsky · Post by **silentsky** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 10:35 am

blungo2 wrote:I just opened a monoprice cable and the ground isn't tied to the case.

Interesting. It may only be that way in certain production runs. How old are your cables? I know that some owners have reported no noise problems at all, so maybe this explains why.

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:46 pm

About a month old.
They're XLR to TRS though. I have some XLR to XLR on the way, I'll check them when they arrive.

silentsky · Post by **silentsky** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:45 pm

Gotcha. My cables are XLR to XLR.

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:28 pm

I was wrong!

There is a tiny little wire running from the shield to the casing. I looked at it too quickly and from the wrong angle this morning.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 4:10 pm

blungo2 wrote: I looked at it too quickly and from the wrong angle this morning.

(Restrains self from making a "my girlfriend" joke.)

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 8:02 am

digitaldrummer · Post by **digitaldrummer** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 9:14 am

I've got one of these (crappy) Monster cables (that someone gave me so I cant really complain...)

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessor ... hone-cable

and it has the same thing. I checked it with an ohmmeter and the connector is tied. But unfortunately the molded connector makes it near impossible to fix unless I just cut off the XLR and solder a new one on. I noticed the problem with a couple different ribbon mics -- horrible hum. With dynamics it seems to be OK so I will just throw this in my "gig" box since live I'm using a few dynamics on the drums and it will probably be OK.

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:46 am

digitaldrummer wrote:I've got one of these (crappy) Monster cables (that someone gave me so I cant really complain...)

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessor ... hone-cable

and it has the same thing. I checked it with an ohmmeter and the connector is tied. But unfortunately the molded connector makes it near impossible to fix unless I just cut off the XLR and solder a new one on. I noticed the problem with a couple different ribbon mics -- horrible hum. With dynamics it seems to be OK so I will just throw this in my "gig" box since live I'm using a few dynamics on the drums and it will probably be OK.

Molded connectors are the bane of my existence. Now one of the biggest things I look for in a good cable is that the connector is able to be dissembled. Not too hard to find with XLRs but I have too many guitar cables that are molded. So annoying since they'd be so easy to fix otherwise.

digitaldrummer · Post by **digitaldrummer** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 12:46 pm

I like the Amphenol XLR and TS/TRS connectors that PartsExpress sells. they are less $$ than the equivalent Neutriks, easy to solder, and seem to hold up OK so far.

Mike

raweber · Post by **raweber** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 4:37 pm

I picked up some of the monoprice xlr cables and one set of headphones based on the TapeOp reviews. I've been satisfied with the headphones, and the cables worked just fine the first several times I used them. I don't record often - less than once per month.

The most recent session I noticed that one of the cables was crackling, as mentioned above. I disassembled the jacks, assuming I had a bad connection. Everything looked fine, and since I know little to nothing about electronics, I chalked it up to bad jacks which at some unspecified point in the future I would cut off and replace with something decent.

This thread alerted me to the pin 1 to chassis issue and I took a look at my disassembled jack and, sure enough, there's a little wire soldered between pin 1 and the chassis. I snipped it at both ends with a wire cutter, plugged it into my mixer and, viola, no more crackle.

Thanks TOMB!

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