Leads to connect Focustite Sapphire pro to anologue mixer

[leegodden]

Hi I have all my 8 focusrite outs going into a soundcraft anologue mixer so i can mix them. I'm just using some short length cheapish jack to jacks. Should I be using the most expensive leads availabe to do this or will the difference in quality be minimal?

thanks

Lee

 

[kip4]

To minimise noise I would where ever possible use a balanced connection (tip/ring/sleeve) rather than an unbalanced (tip /ring) one. Check your hardwares connections before ordering anything too.
I make my own leads too much less expensive.
Get a soldering iron some cable and connectors and learn yourself a new skill if you cant already.
then you can have made to measure cables and be able to repair them if needs be.

Can i ask why your sending your outs to the mixer again and not mixing in the box?

 

[Ethan Winer]

Should I be using the most expensive leads availabe to do this or will the difference in quality be minimal?

Kip has the right answer. Balanced connections are better than unbalanced, but expensive wires do not sound better than cheap wires unless something is broken. Expensive wires might be more reliable and last longer when flexed etc, but even that is not a given. In the hi-fi world of extremely expensive wires, often the really expensive stuff is audibly and measurably worse than $3 wires from the discount store.

--Ethan

 

[JohnMur]

Over short distances cable length is not an issue to worry about.

 

[leegodden]

Thanks for all your help guys, I'm sending my outs to the mixer again, because I have a nice analogue desk, it's a bit of a pain bouncing down to CD with PRO tools, but it gives me a chance to use some nice outboard compressors and effects units I have. Does anyone else use a setup similar to this?

Thanks

 

[Bobbsy]

Which Soundcraft mixer?

In any case, the answer about using balanced connections and leads if possible is good.

Don't be taken in by super expensive oxygen free gold plated unidirectional cables. That's just audiophool snake oil. It's not a question of a minimal difference in sound quality...it's down to NO difference.

When a pro studio is being built, they don't use boutique pre-made cables. Instead the cable is bought on reels, 500 or 1000 metres at a time and hundreds of connectors at a time. These are soldered on in situ--and I can guarantee that, while decent quality stuff is used for reliability, none of it has the sort of gimmicks you find in music shops.

 

[Ethan Winer]

It's not a question of a minimal difference in sound quality...it's down to NO difference.

This is a great point. It kills me when a magazine reviewer, trying to be skeptical but fair, says "unless you have a really great system, the difference is probably not worth it." No, there's no difference at all. Not even a little!

--Ethan