I've played guitar for many years. Played the bars, been in garage bands---all that stuff. Now I have a small recording studio at my home and just make recordings for myself as a hobby. I'm too old to burn the candle at both ends and I'm too young to be the local blues guy with a standing gig every weekend at 1 or 2 clubs.
I never had significant issues with my cables over the years. They last awhile then you either repair 'em or toss 'em and buy new ones. Since all my music is studio recorded, I decided to see for myself if cables really made an audible difference. In a bar or a garage, I didn't think it really mattered. I decided to try the Silver Series Mogami cable which would be one step up from the usual cables. It was only $15 for a 12 ft cable so I got 2.
The first thing I did was to A/B the Mogami with a tweed Fender Vintage Voltage, Hosa, Horizon , Musician's Gear and Monster Cable. The results were that the Mogami definitely is quieter and seems to transfer the signal so that I could hear a nicer frequency range with crisper highs. I didn't really notice a remarkable difference in the mids and lows when compared to the Fender or Monster S-100 and I want to say that the difference I heard was not huge. It is subtle and I had to concentrate to pick out the difference. I think they are well-built and will last, plus, there's a lifetime warranty.
Also, one of the Mogami cables didn't work but Music123 sent a replacement fast ! It was a bit disappointing to get a broken cable and I questioned their quality control but as long as Mogami and Music123 stand behind it, I know defects may ocasionally crop up so I don't worry.
While a very small difference could be heard, for this price range, Mogami beats all however, the Fender was very close and Monster (which costs almost twice as much) seemed equal. What this tells me is that maybe a bigger investment in cables will yield a bigger difference in sound quality. This will be especially apparent in my recording situation and I will move up another step or two for my future cables.
A small jump in price level yielded an improvement in sound quality and I feel that buying a higher end cable will produce an even bigger, more noticeable quality. The Mogami Silver Series has gold connectors. All the rest had the standard chrome connectors. The wire thicknesses are all about the same except for the Fender which might be due to the tweed covering making it thicker, I don't know. The thinner cables are easier to roll up-not a huge deal. The build quality on all was pretty good so it really just comes down to sound. I would never have thought spending a bunch of cash on a cable would get me a significant improvement in sound but now I am convinced that high end cables are worth the investment and I plan to buy some from Mogami and Monster. I will buy comparably priced cables & A/B them. This could make a big difference when chaining 5 or 6 effect pedals together though I hate to spend $15 for 6" cables. Also patch bay to mixer cables should be of the highest quality I can afford. It will get very pricey but buying a couple at a time will be less painful and it needs to be done to get the better frequency response and less noise. It's the only way to make a truly great recording. Next up, I'll maybe try Mogami Gold and Monster Studio Link. It's not the top end for either company but I'm just a poor ham and egger trying to have some fun and make a recording I'm proud of. I will probably experiment with some other highly regarded cables too. I'm still a bit skeptical about cables that are "Optimized for rock, jazz,bass" etc, and they all throw out terms like "oxygen free" & "time correct". All I know is what I hear but I think all this terminology & technology might mean something. I recommend that everyone try using a cable 1 or 2 steps above their usual and hear for yourself.
SamX rated this unit
on
2009-06-19.
