My version of the cable shootout

[John_C]

I decided to satisfy my curiosity and do my own test: It's functionally the same as Greg's, although of course the equipment is different

Me -> Sloppy playing -> ESP LTD MH400 (not quite new strings, but not a great deal of play time) -> EMG 81 -> 4 different cables -> m-audio profire 2626 instrument input

here's the zip, x L.wav an x R.wav form a stereo pair
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/910836/cablwe/cabletest.zip

I wont say what i think about it until i have some responses, as 1) my opinion is biased by knowing which is which and 2) people might for some reason think i know what i'm talking about and copy my thoughts

 

[Red Phoenix]

There are much less differences in my ears compared to gregs test. Can't really pick out one which is the best.
Only guess that B has a very little bit less high fizzle on the palm mutes. But that could be imagination. Sounds more or less (except playing differences) all the same to me

 

[Zozobra]

I'd say B>A>C>D

With B and A really close, but B is a bit chunkier, without being muddy/unclear. C and D are pretty murky compared to A and B, I think. But it is much close than gregs test (where I thought A and B were near identical and C was the clear loser).

Given that a cable cant ADD anything to a sound, only take away, the 'best' by the logic of 'most transparent' is probably A; that extra top end that I at least think I'm hearing in it probably means that all the others are taking something away by comparison. In fact best-worst in those terms seems to be A B C D. But I liked B best.

 

[Fbarre]

I also prefer B and disliked D and C the most.

 

[AeternusEternus]

before results are revealed, ask yourself: are any of these sounds bad? does a cheap cable sound bad or different? what's the objective cable standard to which all other cables are compared? do you have to spend a certain amount or buy into a particular technology to get the best cable?

in greg's test, c was the most musical-sounding cable and would give you the most to work with in a mix. they were DIs, after all. c put more guitar through the speakers than a and b. a and b were, i think, a little cleaner and had a much smoother bottom-end because there wasn't as much low end to work with.

before we go and fix the economy with all of the cable purchases everyone wants to make now: nobody is doing anything wrong. nobody needs to retool their rigs. amplify all of the DIs you hear, because they all sound great. hopefully all of these tests show NOT that cables are inferior and superior to one another, but that they should be swapped like tubes for different sounds in different applications.

 

[John_C]

before results are revealed, ask yourself: are any of these sounds bad? does a cheap cable sound bad or different? what's the objective cable standard to which all other cables are compared? do you have to spend a certain amount or buy into a particular technology to get the best cable?

in greg's test, c was the most musical-sounding cable and would give you the most to work with in a mix. they were DIs, after all. c put more guitar through the speakers than a and b. a and b were, i think, a little cleaner and had a much smoother bottom-end because there wasn't as much low end to work with.

before we go and fix the economy with all of the cable purchases everyone wants to make now: nobody is doing anything wrong. nobody needs to retool their rigs. amplify all of the DIs you hear, because they all sound great. hopefully all of these tests show NOT that cables are inferior and superior to one another, but that they should be swapped like tubes for different sounds in different applications.

Personally, i'd prefer to have 1 great cable that was true to the source and then have the freedom to choose whether i want to roll off some high end later, as opposed to having a collection of cables to do the job. It's not like tubes that have complex and unique non-linear behaviour.

 

[colonel_claypoo]

thanks for the test.

I couldn't hear a difference between all four cables that I would attribute to the cable itself (contrary to greg's test).
If I thought something was a smidgeon different between the tracks then I think it's because no take is really the same.
for example, if one thinks B is louder at a certain frequency band than A or whatever, it could have been due to a tiny difference in the way the pick was held or the dynamics in the playing of that take.

That's why I tried to make a test with only one variable (the cabe) instead of two (cable, different takes) at which I failed miserably I think (see my description in lolzgreg's thread).

 

[AeternusEternus]

Personally, i'd prefer to have 1 great cable that was true to the source and then have the freedom to choose whether i want to roll off some high end later, as opposed to having a collection of cables to do the job. It's not like tubes that have complex and unique non-linear behaviour.

Describe that cable.

 

[John_C]

Describe that cable.

The one that's closest to a perfect conductor. Very low capacitance, self-inductance and resistance.

 

[AeternusEternus]

And what does that cable make your guitar sound like? How would you describe it in comparison to other inferior cables?

 

[Zozobra]

And what does that cable make your guitar sound like? How would you describe it in comparison to other inferior cables?

Better clables let more information through in the signal; more top end, stronger transients.

Lesser cables cut stuff out.

Cables change the sound by what they remove/attenuate only; the 'best' cables remove the least.

What your favourite cable would be is another matter, but the man answered how the cable would be different pretty clearly, he just did it in the main (empirical, quanifiable) variables that influence what and how a cable takes information out of the signal - he wants the one that lets the most through (and so do I, most of the time: much easier to take out than add, no?).

 

[John_C]

And what does that cable make your guitar sound like? How would you describe it in comparison to other inferior cables?

Clearer. More high end and tighter bass (i didn't necessarily expect the tighter bass, although i do know that some capacitors are known for being "slow" at low frequencies so maybe it's to do with that)

Basically, for me, the ultimate cable is something that is long enough for the task but sounds like there's no cable there at all (the reference point being a very short wire or a direct plug)

Bad cables cause more signal loss than good cables, good cables allow you to have longer cables while maintaining transparency.

 

[AeternusEternus]

What your favourite cable would be is another matter.

No, that is the entire matter. And I'm pretty sure everyone here has been fooled with sensationalist advertisement for blind shootouts that WILL STUN YOU AND BLOW YOU AWAY!!!! when really everyone's cables are completely fine.

Clearer. More high end and tighter bass.

Alright, upgrade your cables, man. I'd be willing to wager, though, that no amount of money will get you the sound you're looking for. What you're looking for comes from the fingers and a much more colored cable than everyone is looking for right now.

 

[Scottxx]

My ears hear that the C and D, D better, capture little more frequencies than the others.

 

[006]

And I'm pretty sure everyone here has been fooled with sensationalist advertisement for blind shootouts that WILL STUN YOU AND BLOW YOU AWAY!!!! when really everyone's cables are completely fine.

Greg's thread was just showing the difference in the cables he has. The results did warrant the title of his thread. The difference WAS incredible. A and B sounded completely different than C. That's not arguable. Whether or not the sound was better is entirely subjective, of course.

You seem to be taking it personal for some reason and I don't understand that at all.

 

[AeternusEternus]

Because nobody needs new cables to replace their old ones, every single sample in all of the shootouts sound awesome. What's not to like about any of them? You're right, A and B DID sound different than C, and whether the sound is better in any of them is anyone's call. They're all great takes, though, no matter which cable. That's what I've been saying. You're entitled to buy whatever cable you want, they're all gonna work just fine. The REAL clarity and tone comes from the player and the instrument. Cables matter, but they matter WAY more in engineering than in guitar playing, and these tests are EXCLUSIVELY in the context of guitar playing. That's easy to misread and to think that the more crystal clear the cable the better it is, which isn't entirely true. The more clear a cable is, the more clear it is. Doesn't make it more correct than anything else.

They're all swappable, they're all candy. What do your taste buds want today? If you gotta buy new cables anyway, and you know you need the clarity that Lava offers, do it, yo.

Edit summary: I don't have a brand loyalty or anything, I just have a loyalty to people not misleading themselves into thinking their setups are inadequate because they saw that some dude with brand new expensive cables tested those to be more clear than his one-year-old Monster cable.

 

[006]

For the record, I agree with you. I don't think the more clear and brighter cables would be useful for the position of guitar>di or guitar>amp. I would imagine they would be way too bright. I'm not gonna run out and buy some expensive as shit cables just because of Greg's test, but I was still amazed at the difference nonetheless.

 

[Fama]

You seem to be taking it personal for some reason and I don't understand that at all.

I do.

(replying to someone suggesting he should do another one with the monster and a the better XLR)

basically if you do the monster plus good xlr cables you'll not mislead people into thinking that monster cables suck

they sound good what the fuck is even happening in this thread

(emphasis is mine)

Not very surprisingly, he was the only one who voted for C, and I think that was after the results were released too.

Now, he does have a point there - when I checked Greg's DI files, I found that C was much closer to the other ones after you run them through an amp sim. Also, the reason we use tubescreamers to boost amps is the mid hump - I remember (from the TS FAQ) that it has something to do with middle frequencies distorting more pleasingly compared to low/high frequencies.

However, I really think he's sort of ruined his approach by clearly being Monster-cable biased.

(of course, if the fault WAS all the cheap XLR cable, then he might have a good point, but yeah)

Edit: Of course this is just my take on the issue, and I could very well be wrong (text really sort of sucks for communication).

 

[Fbarre]

Results?

 

[AeternusEternus]

im sorry, are you saying im biased towards monster?