What's your favorite brand of cables/patch cables?

[brassplyer]

For example two 1/4" to one stereo 1/8", etc. Is there a brand you find to be consistently reliable? *Not* Monster cable.

Stuff like this.

Thanks.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

I recently spent £450+ on cables, and they were basic Stagg cables. But, as they will not be moved or plugged in and out much, they will probably do just fine.
Even the little patch bay cables were el cheapo.
I went mad more than 15 years ago and bought a whole load of balanced XLR cables, some still in their packets. I don't remember the brand,
but they are thick and chunky. Only a couple have failed in that time.
If you're only buying one little cable, you can kid yourself that paying through the nose is worth it, but when you buy big, that attitude is going to hurt the wallet.
It is better to buy cheap, and replace any duff cables.

 

[rob aylestone]

what would that splitter cable be for? They look like 3.5mm to me, I’ve never seen a half inch jack?

Seriously though, odd patch cables are best made in ¼” sizes, but the smaller ones physically limit the use of thicker cable and are inherently weak because while a proper cable clamp is easy on the bigger size connector, 3.5mm size invariably gets yanked out by the cable.

moulded, cheap connectored mass produced cables are my choice for anything 3.5mm. In my broadcasting days, ¼” patch cables were expensive and tough. More than we pay now for a cheap patch bay! For me now, cables are simply disposable. At some point they will break. Open a new packet and move on. I buy unbranded patchbay cables in cheap sets on ebay, Amazon, AliExpress and they’re fine …… until they fail, then you chuck them.

flexible, thin cables are never tough unless they are mega expensive. Look at the cost of a posh patchbay 600mm patch cable.

 

[brassplyer]

what would that splitter cable be for? They look like 3.5mm to me, I’ve never seen a half inch jack?

Seriously though, odd patch cables are best made in ¼” sizes, but the smaller ones physically limit the use of thicker cable and are inherently weak because while a proper cable clamp is easy on the bigger size connector, 3.5mm size invariably gets yanked out by the cable.

moulded, cheap connectored mass produced cables are my choice for anything 3.5mm. In my broadcasting days, ¼” patch cables were expensive and tough. More than we pay now for a cheap patch bay! For me now, cables are simply disposable. At some point they will break. Open a new packet and move on. I buy unbranded patchbay cables in cheap sets on ebay, Amazon, AliExpress and they’re fine …… until they fail, then you chuck them.

flexible, thin cables are never tough unless they are mega expensive. Look at the cost of a posh patchbay 600mm patch cable.

Yeah I meant 1/4". *smack head*

Thanks for the input.

 

[TalismanRich]

What you are showing is a special cable that lets you run a mic/headphone setup to a combo plug like would be seen with a headset. It's not a 2 mono plugs to a stereo plug.

I've got everything from cheapo mic cables from Guitar Center that cost me about $10 for 20ft cables, Pig Hog headphone extensions, Hosa cables, to Mogami guitar cables with Silent Tip plugs. I don't hear any difference in the cable, but it's good to have a robust connector that can be resoldered if there is a possibility of the cable being yanked out (who hasn't stepped on their guitar cable?). In all the years of fooling with audio, the only real issues I have have been with molded plugs. I can only remember one time that a cable actually went bad, not the connector.

If I needed lots of special cables, I would just buy bulk cable and a bunch of connectors and start soldering.

 

[brassplyer]

What you are showing is a special cable that lets you run a mic/headphone setup to a combo plug like would be seen with a headset. It's not a 2 mono plugs to a stereo plug.

I've got everything from cheapo mic cables from Guitar Center that cost me about $10 for 20ft cables, Pig Hog headphone extensions, Hosa cables, to Mogami guitar cables with Silent Tip plugs. I don't hear any difference in the cable, but it's good to have a robust connector that can be resoldered if there is a possibility of the cable being yanked out (who hasn't stepped on their guitar cable?). In all the years of fooling with audio, the only real issues I have have been with molded plugs. I can only remember one time that a cable actually went bad, not the connector.

If I needed lots of special cables, I would just buy bulk cable and a bunch of connectors and start soldering.

Don't know what you're talking about. *cough*

Yeah I just picked an image to have a picture. I've now changed it to a dual 1/4" to stereo TRS 1/8" cable. *HAPPY NOW??*

Thanks.

 

[spantini]

Consistently reliable may just be a matter of luck in my case. I always go for the store brand cables - least expensive. I can't recall getting a bad one. The only ones I have ever had go bad were the old coiled phone cables with no reinforcement at the ends.