Monster Studio Pro 1000 Instrument Cable

[pchorman]

Does anyone bother with this ridiculously expensive cable? ($100 for a 12-foot run)

It's also fatter than the average chord and apparently much less flexible. Does anyone here recommend them, or discourage them in favor of other high-end cables?

thanks

 

[DaveC]

Maybe my ears are fried or something but I cannot hear a difference. I really wanted to hear a difference, talked myself into hearing a difference for a while, but in the end ..... no difference. The cable was a gift so no great loss cause man it is expensive, sheesh.

It is a great heavy duty cable and I use it regularly, but you better keep it twist free which is a drag the way I move around. The twist in these things is about 5 horsepower when unraveled,, so keep em straight (so to speak) or you could loose an eye.

Don't flame me people, I know some folks swear by them and I respect that !!! People have different degrees of hearing. I don't think I'm that keen.

Dave C
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/39/david_caruso.html

 

[virtual.ray]

My take is that Monster's 100 series is good value,better than most of the others you'll be able to get at the same price,but unless you find them on sale,the 500 series and 1000 series don't justify the extra cost.

 

[bongolation]

Here, read this:

http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/cords/index.html

 

[Treeline]

Great article!!

 

[pchorman]

yes it is a good article. It leaves me wondering whether the particular cable I asked about has higher capacitance due to its fatness, contrary to what the mfr would like one to believe. Or does it have lower cap due to improved design? We'll never know, because with all the marketing they do, Monster won't advertise the characteristic impedance of their cable, any of them.

Same for Fender's Pro-Tone line.

 

[BBB]

That reminds me of when a good intentioned salesguy convinced my mother to buy monster cable with RCA jacks for the 6" between her CD player and her receiver. The cable was outrageously priced. Of course I promptly had her return the cable and use the cable that came with the CD player.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Excellent article -- but the author totally forgot about using a green marker to line the connector tips.... TOTALLY improves the sound!!!




Bruce

 

[Treeline]

I thought that only worked on TDK CD-Rs.




This thread reminds me of the MonstercableWars we had about a year ago, with what started as an innocent query, got out of hand, and then started getting so bad it was funny. I remember weighing in with a comment that I had gotten a great deal on some transmission line leftover from the Vermont Yankee nuclear facility. Would it work as speaker wire? (I thought it was a joke...)

 

[bongolation]

This thread reminds me of the MonstercableWars we had about a year ago, with what started as an innocent query, got out of hand, and then started getting so bad it was funny.

How did it eventually resolve itself?

I'm all for well-made, rugged cords, but I am unconvinced by the sonic placebo effect.

I'd say the majority of trick gear relies on it.

One of my favorites is how solid guitar bodies made of more than one piece of wood degrade the sustain when it's an economy measure, but increase it when it's an expensive feature. How one _holds_ the guitar will effect it more than that!

 

[Treeline]

Those threads never really resolve... they just stop getting posts. I always figured that a fair dose of common sense could work with the monster cable theory: Good quality is better than el cheapo, and beyond that, homework helps more than hype. And so it goes with brand loyalists and brand bashers. Cheap gear is marketed to a group who would otherwise have NO gear. Not bad for what it is.

But it does get bad when I think I'm buying performance and I'm buying hype instead, and maybe worse when I get into those positions because I just assumed I knew something. There's no substitute for experience; the next best thing is learning from others. Viva le HomeRec!

 

[bongolation]

I dunno. Now the thing is for cheapo cords to mimic expensive cords. The batch of 20' cheapies I've recently accumulated all fit the cosmetic description of the GuitarNuts article, what with about 8" of that damned shrinktube sticking out and snagging everything. I'm thinking about finding some 90° plugs and making two useable 10'ers out of each one.

My current favorite cord is the Fender that came with my most recent US Telecaster, an 8'er made out of "Whirlwind Acoustisonic +7 Hi-Z Capacitance Corrected" cable.

Who knows if this is really "corrected" for anything, but doesn't that just SOUND wonderful?

 

[Treeline]

Forget the label. If the cord sounds good, keep it. If not, trash it, but first cut off the jacks and throw 'em into a box. Ya never know...

 

[Krystof01]

I've started making my own now. I buy a reel of quality instrument/microphone cable and seperate jacks (usually gold plated). It works out a lot cheaper and isn't that much work; just a little soldering.

 

[pchorman]

So the bottom line is: no one who has read this post uses or even recommends this stuff, and only one person responded who has even tried it, with zero audible difference.

Great. No wonder why stores like Mars and GC don't bother stocking this crap.

I've only tried their 500 series, the supposed "Rock" cable line, as mentioned in an ancient post, and I heard more noise from cable movement out of that than a 20 year old Conquest Sound cable that still serves me.

 

[Gargamel]

Green Marker on the tip ?????????? Bruce?

 

[Emeric]

I'm partial to the Monster stuff.

I especially like the Monster Pop 505, plug it in and instant transformation, pop songs all day and night and you even feel good about it!

The Monster Jazz 335 series is cool too, very cool.. those jazz riffs will be flying out of ya with this cable, for the metheny stuff check out the Monster Fusion cable.

And the Monster Acid 101, ....

My personal fav is the Monster Depression. Plug one of these in and write sad sad songs all day long, minor keys, minor melodies, minor topics.

 

[Treeline]

You better stay away form the Monster Paranoid Schizoid Pan Piper series, then.

 

[pchorman]

no no, you guys obviously don't get it. Using the Monster Rock cable doesn't magically make your fingers start pulling off hard-core riffs and leads and stuff, silly! It transforms the sound of your instrument, whatever you plug the Monster cable into, to a whole Rock ensemble - percussion, rhythm section, everything. At least that's what it says on the box.

 

[David]

So the bottom line is: no one who has read this post uses or even recommends this stuff, and only one person responded who has even tried it, with zero audible difference.

Great. No wonder why stores like Mars and GC don't bother stocking this crap.

I've only tried their 500 series, the supposed "Rock" cable line, as mentioned in an ancient post, and I heard more noise from cable movement out of that than a 20 year old Conquest Sound cable that still serves me.

Same here pchorman...I bought a 500 series about a year and a half ago. Used it maybe a year before the little tip on one of the jacks came off. My bass player also got one about the time as I did...he gave his away couple months ago (the noise from cable movement..like you said). Worst 50 bucks I ever spent!