Quality of cables

W

Will25

New member
Hi, I'm gunna transfer 8 tracks from my tascam 488 to my laptop - I only have a couple of 1/4 inch cables so I was going to stock up on some more. Will there be a significant, noticeable difference in quality between lower end and higher end cables? Was thinking of £4.99 ones but if they;re going to sound awful...

thanks :D
 
What I look for is thicker insulation and gold tips. I don't buy cheap ones any more. The good ones last forever.

So just get the best you can afford.
 
Before you go buying a bunch of cables - what exactly are you plugging into? Unless you've got an audio interface, most likely your laptop only has a mic in , maybe a stereo line in 1/8" jack. I would guess your Tascam has 1/4" phono outputs, but maybe 1/4" TS phone jacks, too?
 
Cheers guys. I have an 8 input interface which can either take 1/4 or XLR...I have to use a couple of adapters on the tascam (on the line/monitor outputs, yeah) but basically I need some more 1/4s to get 8 tracks out simultaneously, I only have two at the moment...
 
The cables won't sound bad. Now if the connectors are badly made they might be staticy or intermittent. Good cables are well made and last.
 
A good quality cable will generally cost more than a poor quality one. But don't get sucked in by cable marketing hype and extraordinary claims.

It can be worth paying the bit extra for name-brand cable (eg Canare or Belden) and quality connectors (eg Neutrik). This is more about long term reliability and meeting specifications, rather than audible differences. Guitar leads are perhaps a different matter, because the guitar sound is influenced by the cable's capacitance even over short-ish runs.

Furthermore, it's not too hard to build your own, and then you know exactly what you are getting.

Paul
 
The biggest difference in cables is how long the connectors last and the handling quality when you're coiling them (more important for mic cables than this job). Unless a cable is REALLY bad, there won't be any difference in sound quality--just how often you have to replace them.

For that reason, it's worth spending the money on something with decent connectors (Neutrik for example) and nicely flexible insulation. It's worth it in the long run--but don't be taken in by pointless audiophile nonsense trying to sell you a $100 cable when a $15 one is probably better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top