Mic cable silver or gold for recording?

[treymonfauntre]

i use mogami silver cables for guitar and i can't complain at all.

 

[LeeRosario]

I never thought I would quote a sweetwater catalog but...



"Your studio is only as good as your weakest link"- Some douchebag sales rep that had that one genious thing to say.


So why stop at gold or silver, why not platnum? It'll attract those high ballas.


So yeah, so much emphasis is put on high quality parts that people seem to miss out on the bigger picture. You can put a v-10 in a yugo with problems, but now that just makes it a v-10 yugo with problems. However, I can say that shielded cables do go a long way. (I've filled my 'useful to others' quota for the day)

 

[BigRay]

So where are you getting this silver/teflon cable in bulk???

http://www.alliedelec.com/

http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=686

http://www.google.com/search?as_q="...as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=images

http://www.apexelectronic.com/

 

[Gilliland]

Im not much of a tech guy and get bored easy with data sheets and dissertations. I use my ears for every decision I make. Like I said above, I encourage you to check it out. I am absolutely sure I could pick out the silver cable as opposed to the star quad.

That's fine - if it sounds better to you, then by all means use it. There's no harm in that whatsoever. And, as Jim Williams pointed out, if there is an audible difference, the dialectric is likely to be where the difference lies. It is certainly possible for cables to cause sonic differences, but I wouldn't be too quick to attribute those differences to the conductor material.

In any event, I don't put much stock in these kinds of anecdotal reports, especially when there is no basis in science for the reported differences. If you want to convince yourself, all you have to do is listen. If you want to convince others, you need to eliminate the subjectivity from your report. The only way to do that is via a blind test.

 

[mshilarious]

The only way to do that is via a blind test.

See, I don't know about that. I test things in my studio all the time; I don't do it blindly; I use analysis tools and repeatable programs. There was some discussion in the thread on Klaus Heyne's board about using MIDI pianos or organs, and that is definitely one approach. I use even simpler methods; white noise or the canned programs on my digital keyboard.

With that methodology, I can't necessary tell what is better, but I can tell what is different. If the files don't come pretty darn close to nulling, there is a difference.

From there, it should be possible to study what caused that difference. If it can't be explained by ohms, henries, and farads, then we need a new science, but it's still a science, because it is observable and repeatable. After all, how do the cable companies know what to design? Are they just alchemists? (don't answer that )

That still doesn't tell me which one sounds better. But once I know that is it no trick, no placebo effect, it's easy enough to proceed anecdotally.

Even so, I don't trust my ears, because they lie. I know this is heresy around these parts, but it's true. How many times have you woken up to the mix the morning after and wondered what the hell you were thinking--or hearing--or drinking ? If only it were possible to mix to a graph, because the graph showed the exact same thing last night as it does this morning.

But we can't, music is subjective, so we must use a subjective tool: ears. But when ears and objective measurement agree, that is a powerful conclusion.

 

[ez_willis]

So where are you getting this silver/teflon cable in bulk???

Do me a favor and gather all the materials and do the stupid comparison for me. Way more work than I care to partake in.

Even if it makes a difference you wouldn't be able to notice it on anything that I record.

 

[ez_willis]

, I don't trust my ears, because they lie.

Mine too, everytime they tell I'm done mixing a song.

 

[Gilliland]

Are they just alchemists? (don't answer that )

I don't have to answer that - you already KNOW the answer!

As for the rest of your post, I generally agree with you. There are some ways to clearly demonstrate that a difference exists using analytical tools. The important thing is that you recognize that your ears and your perceptions can deceive you. But that's the virtue of blind testing - it can eliminate that deception and make your ears a much more objective tool for analysis.

 

[legionserial]

Mine too, everytime they tell I'm done mixing a song.

God I'm so feeling that right now...

I'm more interested in improving my sucky abilities than worrying about what cable I use. If I had a cable thats fucked I put it in a box for butchering, but as far as I'm concerned, if sound goes through it, it doesn't hum like a bitch, and doesn't crackle when I wiggle it, then I don't give a shit. Hell, I'm recording and mixing in my untreated living room, with about 1 years experience of doing what I'm doing. Shit, there's stuff in my music that sucks more than a dodgy cable lol...