sonusman
Banned
About a year and a half ago, I posted hi-res mp3's encoded with a Fraunhofer encoder comparing SP1000 to about 6 other brands. Unfortuneately, this didn't include the "standard" brands most hi end studios use, such as Mogami, Gepco, Canare, etc....But, it did put it against Horizon, Whirlwind...stuff like that.
As I recall, the only people who didn't hear a difference where using VERY low end monitoring systems.
I don't have these .wav files anymore, but very soon (shit, I keep saying this, but I WILL do this test very soon.....
) I will be offering a CD of .wav files comparing about 25 different mic cables. All will be recorded using the same signal path, with the ONLY difference being the mic to preamp cable. You will be shocked just how much of a difference you will hear from brand to brand.
I cannot attest to most peoples hearing, nor can I attest to their complete monitoring path being balanced and accurate, but, I use a very "average" monitoring system, and these differences are appearent. I have brought people in for a "sort of" blind listening test with the old test, and without exception, everyone liked the better cables sound.
regebro's statements about there being no difference in short runs of cable are untrue. I cannot help that some subscribe to some weird "conspiracy" thing when some manufactures talk about why their product is indeed better. I will not try to speculate here......
The proof will be in the pudding. When I offer this CD comparing mic cables, I will wager right now that at least 50% of the people will state that Monster SP 1000 was their favorite sounding wire. I will make a side bet that Mogami Quad gobbles up a large percentage of the other 50%. Belden will make a good showing. Canare will plummet to the bottom of the "good wire" list.
Too bad that Hosa doesn't make a mic cable that I know of, it would be fun to throw that in on the test.
I have thought about throwing in some guitar cable tests too. With a guitar straight to a preamp, again, SP1000 is simply great sounding wire. The studio I work at doesn't LIKE to spend any more money than we have to on equipment, and we test run EVERY product we buy either before we purchase, or right after. If it don't show us a "good investment" improvement, we have little incentive to buy it. It is as simple as that. Mostly, any new piece of gear we get is "under the gun" to prove itself. Me and the owner of the studio have both made bad purchases in the past, and we learned the hard way about letting hype guide real world decisions. The "for hire" studio market is too competitive for us to be wasting money on stuff that doesn't offer an improvement in sound. We have spent over $1500 on Monster cable because it just plainly sounded superior to other cable. Do you think that when we are faced with either a $200 or $1500 purchase that we are not going to try to convince ourselves that we don't need the more expensive stuff? That don't make ANY business sense what so ever!!! For that kind of price difference, we could buy another hi-end preamp, or two "decent" quality preamps, or a really good mic, or a used top notch comp/limiter!!! We NEED all that stuff too, but felt that the wire was always going to be needed, and it indeed showed that is was offering a better sound.
Take all that for what it is worth to you. Just remember that "for hire" studios don't just throw their money around at stuff because it is expensive! Expensive gear HAS to show a significant improvement in the sound to make it through those doors because many studios are just hanging on right now, and frivilous purchases are not part of a good buniness plan.
Ed
As I recall, the only people who didn't hear a difference where using VERY low end monitoring systems.
I don't have these .wav files anymore, but very soon (shit, I keep saying this, but I WILL do this test very soon.....
) I will be offering a CD of .wav files comparing about 25 different mic cables. All will be recorded using the same signal path, with the ONLY difference being the mic to preamp cable. You will be shocked just how much of a difference you will hear from brand to brand.I cannot attest to most peoples hearing, nor can I attest to their complete monitoring path being balanced and accurate, but, I use a very "average" monitoring system, and these differences are appearent. I have brought people in for a "sort of" blind listening test with the old test, and without exception, everyone liked the better cables sound.
regebro's statements about there being no difference in short runs of cable are untrue. I cannot help that some subscribe to some weird "conspiracy" thing when some manufactures talk about why their product is indeed better. I will not try to speculate here......
The proof will be in the pudding. When I offer this CD comparing mic cables, I will wager right now that at least 50% of the people will state that Monster SP 1000 was their favorite sounding wire. I will make a side bet that Mogami Quad gobbles up a large percentage of the other 50%. Belden will make a good showing. Canare will plummet to the bottom of the "good wire" list.
Too bad that Hosa doesn't make a mic cable that I know of, it would be fun to throw that in on the test.
I have thought about throwing in some guitar cable tests too. With a guitar straight to a preamp, again, SP1000 is simply great sounding wire. The studio I work at doesn't LIKE to spend any more money than we have to on equipment, and we test run EVERY product we buy either before we purchase, or right after. If it don't show us a "good investment" improvement, we have little incentive to buy it. It is as simple as that. Mostly, any new piece of gear we get is "under the gun" to prove itself. Me and the owner of the studio have both made bad purchases in the past, and we learned the hard way about letting hype guide real world decisions. The "for hire" studio market is too competitive for us to be wasting money on stuff that doesn't offer an improvement in sound. We have spent over $1500 on Monster cable because it just plainly sounded superior to other cable. Do you think that when we are faced with either a $200 or $1500 purchase that we are not going to try to convince ourselves that we don't need the more expensive stuff? That don't make ANY business sense what so ever!!! For that kind of price difference, we could buy another hi-end preamp, or two "decent" quality preamps, or a really good mic, or a used top notch comp/limiter!!! We NEED all that stuff too, but felt that the wire was always going to be needed, and it indeed showed that is was offering a better sound.
Take all that for what it is worth to you. Just remember that "for hire" studios don't just throw their money around at stuff because it is expensive! Expensive gear HAS to show a significant improvement in the sound to make it through those doors because many studios are just hanging on right now, and frivilous purchases are not part of a good buniness plan.
Ed
It is more to make available a meaningful comparison of mic cables used in a "real life" situation, which is HOW the person is going to use them eventually. I will be using a very average mic, preamp, and decent A/D converter. All real world components that you would find even in "project" type studios. The problem I have with "scientific" testing is that something like a Mackie preamp will show up well in it, yet, to the average person comparing one to any number of other preamps in real world use, they don't work out so well. I don't know why that is, it just is. 