2. cables
  3. 1363769103

Have cables become somewhat of a snake-oil topic.

I've invested many tens of thousands in high end 2-channel home audio gear and cables. I'm also a musician who has recorded and created mixes in many of the top recording studios in LA, NY and Nashville. These studios most often use the highest quality power treatment, tube condenser microphones, pre-amps, EQ modules, AD/DA converters, compressors, monitors, etc. Obviously, the goal in a recording studio is to capture the realism of the live studio performance for both vocals and instruments, and create a final mix-down that highlights the natural subtle nuances of the performances of each musician.

With that said, my 20 years of informal research inside these studios says that virtually NONE invest in high priced specially stranded balanced interconnects or speaker cables. Instead, various models of a particular Japanese cable is considered the studio "gold standard" and is WIDELY used in the top studios across the country. Now any good mixing engineer is at least AS interested as any audiophile, in all the audio characteristics and variables we discuss ad nauseum in these A-gon threads. So if recording pros are willing to spend hundreds of thousands on electronics and speakers, to capture the natural and neutral sound of a musician's studio performance, why is it that expensive cabling is seen as the snake oil equivalent in the recording industry. (Moreover, I could go one step further and ask why some home audio D/A converters far exceed the cost of the most sought after professional studio D/A converters?.......we'll leave that for another discussion.)

I DO NOT disagree that substituting a Nordost, Siltech, Cardas or various other high end brands into my personal studio rig do not make a difference. There are indeed audible differences between the brands in terms of bass extension, smoothness, imaging, graininess, etc. However, these DIFFERENCES are not necessarily equivalent to an IMPROVEMENT in capturing the natural/neutral details of a given performance.

(I intentionally will not address the mastering process since that has everything to do with radio and marketing execs commercial sales expectations, rather than a true to life presentation of the musical performances.)
jymc
mezmo
516 posts
 
Yea, I've picked up some Mogami Gold studio XLR wires not too long ago. ~$50 bucks. Try them, you may well not be dissapointed at all. And even if you are: $50.

Had a similar ephiphany. If most of what you listen to was recorded on these wires, how can using something else to reproduce it make it better? I'm sure there may be answers to that quesiton, but it's a awfully good question.
zenblaster
504 posts
 
I have never chased the last minutia of frequency reponse or detail, especially those that equate statistical prowess with pleasing sound. It can be very expensive.
My neighbor plugs his $4k speaker cables into a $15 rca jack at one end and a $20 5-way at the other. The amps and speakers are expensive and sound great but the amp still has a $15 plated rca and the expensive speakers still have a $20- 5-way. Systems are only as good as the weakest link and engineers are aware of this paradigm. I always notice a difference when I change from the different cables I have but it doesn't mean its better. I, an amateur audiophile, have managed to source cabling that sounds engaging and musical at very reasonable prices.
I bet those Magico or MBL speakers would sound crackin' good with Signal Cable speaker cables and Kimber PBJ rca's.
There just comes a point where the cost for miniscule advancements (changes for changes sake) becomes absurdley expensive.
I want to hear the music, not the fly farting over the cellists shoulder.
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,033 posts
 
I've invested many tens of thousands in ... cables

You are not alone. Your Dealers love you and will invite you to Barbecue ... I also know such a guy, his family don't say "Dad" to him, they call him "Cable" ... :-)

So if recording pros are willing to spend hundreds of thousands on electronics and speakers, to capture the natural and neutral sound of a musician's studio performance, why is it that expensive cabling is seen as the snake oil equivalent in the recording industry.

Professionals have no problem to spend money for something advanced with a serious calculation behind the Product, but they have a problem with the few hundred Percent Mark up in High End cables...
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,502 posts
 
Hi Jymc

I assume you mean Mogami gold standard cable? You make a valid point about the cables used in recording studios etc. I've always wondered that myself. If the pros use Mogami XLRs etc in the studios and in live events why use more expensive cable than Mogami in the home environment. Any time I've gone into a pro audio store for XLR cables they just love Mogami cables. They always tell me they are the top of line and sound the best in the instances they have used them. They look at me like I'm crazy if I mention more expensive audiophile brand XLR/speaker cables cables. For me I just stick with the budget audiophile XLRs (Speltz, Morrow, My Audio Cables) One day I may try Mogami XLRs on all my equipment when the time and funds are available.
jymc OP
27 posts
 
Schubert's point is why I explained I'd pass over the mastering process, since that is the step where the pop music industry strives to create a commercial mix that is pleasing (and salable) to the "$15 dollar ear bud" crowd. Furthermore, audiophiles are aware there is a huge difference between recording screaming guitars, electronic beat patterns and senthesized sounds from electronic keyboards, versus the recording of real acoustic instruments.

Please understand that I've spent many thousands on cabling for my home components and want to find a reason to justify the expense. Assume an engineer creates a brilliant mix in the studio, for let's say an acoustic guitarist and vocalist duo, capturing the finest details of the performance. What do you as an audiophile expect to hear? Placing silver speaker and interconnect cables into a system may well increase so called "performance characteristics you hear in the system", but the question then truly becomes whether those characteristics have been added to an otherwise perfect studio capture of the performance. This all becomes highly subjective and is contingent upon each audiophile's "learning history" of what different instruments are supposed to sound like I suppose.

Yes the standard in virtually every major studio I've ever stepped foot in is Mogami.
More to discover