Any other suggestions? for xlr cables?

Get a roll of Beldon 1800f, a boat load of Neutrik XLR's and a soldering gun, can't miss.

1800f is 110ohm digital cable and I use all 110ohm stuff for my analog audio needs. I just finished wiring a whole 48 point patch bay and enough cables for a whole studio for around $800..... it is worth the investment in time.

or get a crap load off canare, and XLR's from these guys http://www.redco.com/
oh and a soldering gun, you can't miss.
p.s. nothing against beldon.

I always prefered Belden to Beldon.

Canare is good too.

Mogami is reported to be good.

I usually get the Neutrik XLR connectors if I am building them. Use the Switchcraft if there is a possibility of getting run over by an amp rack or used to swing an SM57 like a bolo....



-tINY

I always use Neutrik except for my pedal board because Switchcraft had better angled ends to save space.

I prefer Canare for single cables, and Mogami for snakes. I've always used those, so maybe I'm partial. Not to experienced with Belden, but I know it's good stuff.

is it just me or is mogami better than the overpriced monster that is monster. when i first started connecting units together i went with the monster hype and that raped my budget more than it should have. just something i thought id add to yer question

Yep

I wouldnt use Monster cable if it was given to me. When I tried one I was very disapointed. Looks great but thats it. I like Belden,Planet Waves,Canare... thumbsup

Yes, I get all my stuff from Chris at Redco. The price is pretty good and Chris is a GREAT guy. I can't say that enough. New site too, looks really good.

Canare is good stuff, I like 1800f because it is very easy to work with and the 110 ohm cable is very good.

To each his or her own just remember that friends don't let friends pass audio down Monster....

fuuck

Wow that redco website should really help out with my cable budget.I was looking at almost $400 just for 8 mic cables now i can do it for a fraction of the price.

If you can afford the 1000 series monster cables. They are very good.
Definitely heard the difference. I use also canare, gotham, and mogami.

They are bit overpriced. But the lifetime guarantee is awesome. I just send them back any bad cable. And get a new one delivered. Everytime.

Peace

I always liked Horizon cables. US Made, and lifetime warranty.

just a side-note. I remember reading a website that was all about Monster and their busy legal dept. suing other companies and I believe even a non-profit that were using a variant of the WORD monster in their name or slogan.
Had to mention it. Something to consider when deciding who to spend money with.

Funny this thread just came up now since I happened to be a part of an instrument cable and speaker cable shoot-out just the other day at my friend's studio.

Without going into a whole big long boring account of the entire test, the Mogami cables were noticeably "better" than everything else tested. I couldn't believe it. "Better" meaning noticeably more dynamics and noticeably improved frequency response / detail. I was in shock, I wouldn't have believed it if I did not see and hear it first hand. When we started the test I told my friend that I predicted we would not hear any difference at all between the assorted high-end cables... but I was dead wrong.

The Mogami instrument cable specifically that performed the best was their "Platinum" cable, supposedly very expensive... I guess, like always, you get what you pay for. They also have a "Gold" cable that is less $$$, not much under the platinum in terms of performance, and still outperformed all other cables.

I don't know if I should mention the other brands of cables in this test for fear of starting some kind of "war" here, but... there were some other very respected brand cables in this test.... and some of them DID perform well, but nothing surpassed the Mogamis.

All I can say is, after seeing / hearing this comparison test the other day with my own eyes / ears, I would not consider using any other cable other than Mogami at this point unless something "better" actually comes along. But since we tested just about every top name already, I don't know what else out there might actually be better.

The Mogami's just sounded so incredibly "real", incredible depth, clarity, detail and dynamics... extremely pure and "truthful". All other cables sounded a bit more "compressed", slightly less freq response and detail, etc... my friend and I both did a "blind" listening test and our assessments were identical. Actually, we disagreed slightly about some of the other cables in the test, but we both chose the Mogami Platinum as the "best" (most preferred) and Mogami Gold as second best... these both stood out the most from the pack in blindfold listening... the rest were more related to each other and just not as impressive.

Again, don't want to start any feuds, but was there a high-end Monster cable in this test? Maybe. I'll leave it at that. I'm a Mogami fan now.

Never tried their instrument cables. Well, we make our own instrument cables with Mogami wire. I think all the cabling in Mogami is slightly different. Some guys here swear by using AES mogami digital cabling for their analog needs because the top end is more open ( but I hear lack of bass which I don't like) and more prevalent than using their analog cable. All I know is good cable is good cable. And you do get what you pay for.

I use mogami for my line level interconnects, canare, and soon may try the AES digital cable from these manufactures. I also have Monster 1000 series cabling. Which I also like very much. Glad that I got the 40% discount. I honestly wouldn't spend retail prices on them. Its just ridiculous. The overhead.

Belden is another brand that I respect. Good cable.

DN

I am a Canare user for live instruments and their stuff naturally trickled into my recording set-up. I just find someone on the net who sells it and solders up the connectors I like (Neutrik something or other). No issues. Cable-wise, I think it's slightly better shielded than Mogami, yes? I can't hear a difference and Buddha bless those that can, but I thik the difference is not worth getting anyone's boxers in a bunch over. Canare is a little more floppy which is just convenient.

I like Monster cable just fine -but the Monster connectors failed on me a lot when I used it for live sound and speakers. Pretty looking connectors that fail a lot. They would replace it for free, but huge pain. So I never opted for them at the recording set-up - more of a defiance thing as I could have it wired up with any connector I want if I buy from someone who does it what way.

I just realized this thread is ancient. To the OP - hope that helps!!!

I have heard bigest improvement switching to solid core cables as Evidence Audio.

I introduced it to all my friends and they are now happy owners using it as first choice for Mic or guitar cable!






Please, ignore this links below, i can't get rid of it.

This is specifically why I do not even consider Monster cable. From my reading they have sued just about anyone who can spell Monster (tm).

When a company thinks they own a word.....

Some background here and there: Monster Cable Products - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

--Ethan

These results fall in line exactly with what I have experienced as I have recently been rewiring and battling this issue myself

If OP has an aversion to building, Monoprice has good quality for much cheaper than comparable pre-assembled cables from GC or others.

Pretty crazy assortment of types and a pretty decent quantity discount.

I wouldn't spend a fortune on cables. Your best bet would be to go the DIY route like pan60 showed. It's pretty easy to do and will save you $$$

I purchased some hand made cables from Mercenary Audio that blew away my Mogamis and the monster cables that I own. I actually heard the difference and it was nuts, and the cost was on the same tier as the mogami. Give Adam a call at Mercenary and he will set you up.

Best,
Scott

Most people here are nuts. The OP asked about mic cables 5 years ago. Now everyone pipes up about how great their favorite brand is with no information about what cheap guitar they are putting on one end and what high-gain amp is on the other...



-tINY

I have a lot of Horizon Studio One cables in my studio. I bought 500' of the cable and 100 switchcraft 280's. I ran out of the cable a while back, but I still have a lot of jacks. Now I get my cable from http://best-tronics.com/guitar-cable/about.aspx I am a dealer. They will make any cable and are very cost effective.
VP

I'm a mogami man myself. It's the brand I arrived at and settled on through peforming live most of my life (guitar).

But they are not that much cheaper (if at all) than Monster - at least from what I remember. Could be wrong.

But after A/B'ing them against many other brands over the years... they consistently won by a noticable margin. In tone quality the difference is noticable but the interference noise reduction in my rig is astounding. I have a full pedal board and a mesa boogie F-50 which is not the quietest amp around... and with Mogami's it really eliminates a lot of junk noise in the signal chain. Not much else to say.

Not to state the obvious - but do not be suckered into buying expensive monster digital cables, it's really only analog cables where build quality matters.

Really? I trust the strain relief on the Neutrik connectors far more than the squirrelly Switchcraft method. I could lasso with a Neutrik XLR cable and never break my joints!

Christ, with these cable threads.

Good quality cable, good connectors and good soldering technique. After that, it's all the SAME!

For crying out loud.

I bought mogami and I'm pleased...I have monster too but I prefer mogami...

And do they listen ?