Pro balanced xlr vs hifi branded?

[Moppit]

Oh no, not another cable thread I hear you say?

Well, not sure if collectively we've covered studio pro xlrs vs the much higher priced hifi versions?

A 2m pro version can be had for less than £20. The branded hifi versions are 5 x the price. Seriously!! Anyone noticed a difference? Surely for studios they would expect the same levels of transparency, shielding etc. I've never had kit with the option before but now need something between pre and power amp. Any thoughts much appreciated...

 

[Purité Audio]

Cables are a scam, fit for purpose pro cables I use Mogami, mostly because I like the name.
Keith

 

[Amber Audio]

Not noticed a difference between Hi-Fi and Pro personally but I've never bought anything super expensive, I buy from Pro shops online - Klotz/Sommer/Mogami/Van Damme cable and Nakamichi/Deltron/Neutrik plugs. I was actually looking on eBay today for something exotic to have a play with that I can shift on easy enough - Poland and Japan have some interesting stuff, lockdown/shielding is costing me dear - too much spare time.

I have started a kit swap and will be using XLR rather than RCA moving forward, I've ordered the first lot of cables from Studio Care, these cos I want black plugs - Klotz MC5000 cable and Neutrik XLR plugs - £41 all in for a 3M pair
https://studiocare.com/products/stu...rik-gold-contact-xlr-s?variant=31467176263726

These shops are often recommended for reasonably priced Hi-Fi cables:

Studio Spares
Mark Grant
Blue Jeans
Flashback​

Gus

 

[Darren L]

Oh no, not another cable thread I hear you say?

Well, not sure if collectively we've covered studio pro xlrs vs the much higher priced hifi versions?

A 2m pro version can be had for less than £20. The branded hifi versions are 5 x the price. Seriously!! Anyone noticed a difference? Surely for studios they would expect the same levels of transparency, shielding etc. I've never had kit with the option before but now need something between pre and power amp. Any thoughts much appreciated...

My only thought is that I recently saw pics of a studio wired with Siltech cables, evidently not all studios are the same, similar to yourself I have only ever used or owned equipment with RCA connections.

 

[rbrown]

My XlRs all came from a guitar shop in Exeter. I think all 4 came in at less than £30. They’re fine and I have no idea whether they can be bettered.

 

[AndyU]

Another couple of good cable suppliers are

Www.designacable.com and https://www.canford.co.uk/

Canford are a BBC supplier, they sell just about everything, including acoustic tables and script lecterns for studios. You can waste a good five minutes poking around their vast catalogue.

 

[essgee]

+1 for designacable, very good value indeed. Why put your money into certain cable sellers pockets when that money can be used for far better use (other kit or buying more music).

 

[thegreathopper]

I use Van damme star quad the same as they use at Air and British Grove, Works for Mark Knopfler and my hifi.

 

[darrenyeats]

Gotham GAC 4/1 here.

 

[adamdea]

There are some advantages to star quad configuration and a minor but almost certainly irrelevant disadvantage in capacitance. Since optimum noise rejection turns on engineering it’s best to avoid hifi cable manufacturers who are far more likely to balls it up. All explained (and shown in the film) here.
https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/ap...-the-importance-of-star-quad-microphone-cable

 

[Gavinder007]

I'm so glad this thread started as I've been wondering the same thing. I have a pair of 3m Adam Hall K5DMF0300 5 star series cables which cost me nothing as an added bonus. Have no idea how they compare to others.

 

[Moppit]

Designacable look to be a bargain. Custom colours, choice of premium cables and plugs at very reasonable prices...

Why are phonos such a rip off elsewhere?

 

[TheDecameron]

Another couple of good cable suppliers are

Www.designacable.com and https://www.canford.co.uk/

Canford are a BBC supplier, they sell just about everything, including acoustic tables and script lecterns for studios. You can waste a good five minutes poking around their vast catalogue.

Yup, if they’re good enough for the BBC, I’m more than happy too.

 

[Alex S]

If it’s good enough for the BBC it’s definitely not good enough for me.

 

[paulfromcamden]

I'm so glad this thread started as I've been wondering the same thing. I have a pair of 3m Adam Hall K5DMF0300 5 star series cables which cost me nothing as an added bonus. Have no idea how they compare to others.

Adam Hall are a budget pro audio brand. It looks like these have proper Neutrik connectors so I'd imagine they're perfectly fine!

 

[Darren]

Umm.... I think we have the same dac. So similar good taste right? I use all Van den Hul cables. They sound better (in my system) than basic 'pro' stuff, but cost more too. Its not a huge difference but its consistently there and I find these small things add up to a better, more satisfying sound. Maybe get one of each and see. If you cant hear a difference, then there isn't one. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

[Operajulian]

Another couple of good cable suppliers are

Www.designacable.com and https://www.canford.co.uk/

Canford are a BBC supplier, they sell just about everything, including acoustic tables and script lecterns for studios. You can waste a good five minutes poking around their vast catalogue.

Back in the day when I did work with PA Systems and Discos - Canford Audio were ( and still are ) the bees knees.
Neutrik version of canons are fab !

For hifi - no nonsense - cables I use Dave at Flashback. Great services and can / will make special orders.

Happy listening.
Julian

 

[ryder]

Oh no, not another cable thread I hear you say?

Well, not sure if collectively we've covered studio pro xlrs vs the much higher priced hifi versions?

A 2m pro version can be had for less than £20. The branded hifi versions are 5 x the price. Seriously!! Anyone noticed a difference? Surely for studios they would expect the same levels of transparency, shielding etc. I've never had kit with the option before but now need something between pre and power amp. Any thoughts much appreciated...

Depends on which branded. Some cost 50X more. I've never compared since I bought used but customers of an Acrolink dealer who does demo have heard differences between the different level of XLR cables.

 

[RXH2]

Another vote for Designacable.
Back in my early days of hi-fi I spent the 'recommended' 10% on cables, e.g £50 Van den Hul lead between my CD player and £500 amp.
Last year I bought s/h ATC40As and cannot afford hundreds of pounds for leads and the £50 mogami/neutrik ones I bought sound great to me..when you get to 5m long, even the cheapest Chord Shawline ones are £650 and I doubt my old ears would be good enough to hear the small percentage improvements they may bring.

 

[Gavinder007]

Had a great dem last week of ATC's and even the dealer said don't worry about XLR cables. We didn't get round to discussing them but I believe they use a pro audio pair.