| CAT-5 cable for analog and digital audio?
A friend tells me that people are starting to use standard CAT-5 data cable for balanced analog and digital audio wiring, with excellent results.
I guess the idea is that with the tightly twisted pairs in communications cable, the shield is unneccessary. Many of the best audiophile cables are unshielded, and that's not even balanced audio. And phone wires run for miles in close proximity to high voltage power lines with very little audible hum, even when monitored through a good quality phone patch.
Of course, this would not work with phantom power, perhaps not with mic lines at all. But for line level, it's interesting. The cost savings would be significant. Maybe what's good for ethernet can be good for AES and analog audio as well. Comments?
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