Monster Cables And Bollocks

gaffa

gaffa

Recalcitrant Member
I've just spent the last three hours reading all about monster cables on their web-site, and I have _never_ read such a load of bollocks in my entire life.

They have ~10 patents on various cable "technologies" (and I use that word in the absolute loosest sense), including one called Magnetic Flux Tube, which reminded me of the Back To The Future's Flux Capacitor (ahhhh... 1.21 gigawatts).

I have no probs with buying decent cables - a good cable has a number of benefits, including lower noise reduction, flexibility and they are generally well made, but the amount of "marketing" on this site was incredible.

I do not own a monster cable personally, so I was wondering, how much of a difference can these cables actually make?

I can't find any sort of technical specs on these cables, so I'm wondering if it's all a huge marketing ploy. I also read through about 20 technical papers on the Belden site, and they at least know what they're talking about.

Sorry about my ranting, but I get incensed by this sort of "cover in trademarked jargon" marketing.

Is there a difference b/w Monster cables and those from Belden, Canare etc.? (Apart from the price) Can anybody actually 'hear' the difference b/w these brands on cable?

- gaffa
 
I know what you mean, gaffa. Wading through all the marketing B.S and trying to figure out what is relevant and what just looks pretty on paper can be a chore.
I can tell you this from personal experience. I have a bunch of Monster cables in my rig and also several others, ProCo, Whirlwind, etc. The difference is audible on the long cables, like 12 ft. or more. On the short cables, like 1 or 2 meters, I can't hear a difference between the average quality cable and Monster.
When I make my own cables, I use Belden cable with SwitchCraft ends. These seem to sound as good as any of the others.
 
Hear!Hear! Loudnaybor's answer is right on the money. My experience has also been don't go too cheap, but sound differences are negligable on short runs if "decent" cable is used!
Of course, your ears may vary,
BWindsor
 
One other point that probably needs to be made though...
When you're dealing with a recording situation where you have a lot of inter-connected equipment, there's always a potential for unwanted sound coloration and signal loss. It's kind of nice to be able to remove the cabling from that equation. It's sometimes worth the extra money, IMHO, to be confident that the crap sound you're getting isn't due to the cable.
 
Yo Cable-People:

Yea, verily, we all have yards of cables surrounding us. I had to buy a condo because I'd walk into my old apartment and cables would grab my legs and they would try to grab the legs of my girlfriend too -- however, I always carried my wire cutters!!

I have a monster mid-priced cable which was promoted as a "keyboard" cable; it works quite well. Any noticeable difference between the Monster and a Pro-Co -- yes.

I also bought a MOnster cable for my mic. It, too, produces a better product than other XLR cables but not quite as noticeable as the keyboard cable.

I'm sure there are other cables out there and Belden is a good product; so, go for good cables and that should help you eliminate some of the "crap."

Green Hornet
 
It's nice to know that they're not fooling anybody. I also make my own cables (and amps, speaker bins), cos they end up cheaper, and if I do a decent soldering job, last just as long.

I just had to post cos I've never seen BS to that extent on any other site :)

- gaffa
 
I have yet to hear any difference between the $15 Guitar Satan XLR-XLR mic cable and the XLR-XLR Monster cable at 3 times this price. But they look cool... :)
I'm not saying there is no difference, just that I haven't yet heard it.
 
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....Well, I wish I could not hear the difference between a Monster Studio Pro 1000 mic cable and a Horizon. Would make my pocket book much heavier.... :)

I really don't know what to tell you guys about this without suggesting that your monitor system is not up to snuff. If you can't hear the difference, your sound is impeded somewhere in the chain. Since I don't know what you all are using, I have no reference.

Just did a vocal session yesterday using my new "bullock" Monster Studio Pro 1000. WOW!!!

Where I used to have a lot of problems with peaks in the signal, it provided a smooth response. Where the tone used to get really harsh in the 4-7KHz region, it is smooth now. Where I always had problems with the vocal seeming to drop out of the mix when the singer dropped volume, now it is still present, just quieter.

I upgraded to Studio Pro 1000 a while back for my whole monitoring circuit. What a difference that made!!! Quieter, more high end detail, more resonant low end. I was hearing much deeper into the mix. Reverb trails I didn't notice before where very evident. It really changed what I was doing with mixes, to the betterment of course.

Don't know what to say guys. Believe what you want. All that "hype" on Monsters site may be annoying, but to my ears, it is not "hype", but rather "the sonic truth".

You will be hard pressed to find a producer and or engineer anywhere that would disagree with their claims. It IS superior cable. It DOES provide a better signal to the preamp and throughout the signal chain when used. They DO have many unique patents.

But hey, use what you want.... :)

Ed
 
Rec Eng, if I remember rightly, you stand on cable that's underfoot.

When I started out, the guy that sold me my Shures sold me a couple of standard cables as well. Later on, I compared them to Monster cables (the cheapest 100 line) and the audible (and visible/waveform) difference was so amazing that I've been up for expensive Monster/Mogame/whatever cable ever since... just as soon as the pocket catches up to the price tag, anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top