Topic: Audio Snake Oil

[Gutbucket]

Posted the EMT plate as a counter-example of a truly useful, well-engineered, understood, intelligently applied "resonant audio enhancement device".  I probably should have noted that more clearly though.  I was going to include a photo of a tuned diaphragm absorber or helmholtz acoustic bass trap in the same post, as installed in a studio control room, as another counter-example of these principles, intelligently and measurably applied), but they don't look like much more than a flat panel or a slot in the wall.

[jlykos]

can someone recommend some non-snake oil quality XLR cables?

Moon Audio. http://www.moon-audio.com/. Expensive but definitely the best interconnects that I have ever heard.

[df]

I said NOT ($500) snake oil cables.

[mfrench]

Canare L4E6S starquad cable stock, Neutrik ends, and a hot soldering iron.

[voltronic]

For things our cable makers here don't do, I have had great results with these guys:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

[jlykos]

I said NOT ($500) snake oil cables.

Just because something is expensive does not make it snake oil. You said snake oil. You did not say anything about price. Some home stereo systems can resolve details between different types of cables and it doesn't take a stereo that costs a fortune to be able to do so.

[voltronic]

$22,000 for a 2-meter pair of speaker cables or interconnects.  The idiots buying these could be donating to cancer research or helping to bring a clean water supply to a third-world country. 

Instead, they have beautiful upholstery around some copper wires. 

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue75/sc_beethoven.htm
http://6moons.com/audioreviews2/skogrand/1.html

[capnhook]

$22,000 for a 2-meter pair of speaker cables or interconnects.  The idiots buying these could be donating to cancer research or helping to bring a clean water supply to a third-world country. 

Instead, they have beautiful upholstery around some copper wires. 

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue75/sc_beethoven.htm
http://6moons.com/audioreviews2/skogrand/1.html

The review sample as requested arrived with fitted spades; these spades are custom ordered by Knut and further customized in house to fit the SC Beethoven's cable build and wire framework.


Marvelous, eh?

[Chilly Brioschi]

can someone recommend some non-snake oil quality XLR cables?

Moon Audio. http://www.moon-audio.com/. Expensive but definitely the best interconnects that I have ever heard.

$75 USB Cables   lulz!       

Digital is not affected by cable except if not delivering the bits on time.
All else is hooey.   
I have nothing to gain by saying this, so take it as you wish.

[mfrench]

And what do you do if the bits are not being delivered on time?

[hoppedup]

http://www.moon-audio.com/silver-dragon-lightning-cable-for-apple-idevices-1-5-meter.html

$205 lightning cable for your Apple devices.

The absurdity, it boggles the mind:

The Silver Dragon USB is the most resolute USB cable on the market today so stop paying for over inflated cables and give it a try. Be prepared to be amazed at the clear sound improvement it will make when transferring your digital audio from your Apple™ iDevice.

ETA: All of you people here on ts have been telling me for years that mics, preamp and recorder were the most important pieces of the gear chain. Now I know that all I need is a quality USB cable for transfer. Thanks a lot guys.

[mfrench]

I use whatever came with the gear (if supplied) at a total cost of nothing. If the gear didn't come with a cable, then I use one that came with something else.
I've only ever purchased one USB cable, for an instance where the two ends of the cable were different. Thats kind of aggravating.

And what do you do if the bits are not being delivered on time?

The required physical and electrical characteristics for proper transmission are fully specified in the USB standard.  Either a cable meets that or it doesn't:

http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/usb20_docs/

See chapters 6 and 7 of usb_20.pdf.

Possible problems are improper characteristic impedance on the signal pair, excess resistance on the power & ground wires causing excess voltage drop, length greater than allowed under the standard (possibly causing timing among other problems), excess capacitance causing greater than allowable loss, and improper shielding.

[noahbickart]

I don't know.

I took a chance on the $300 USB cable, and decided to hook it up to my keyboard.

I'm noticing that my adjectives and nouns agree in a slightly more precise way. My metaphors are more profound. My spelling is vastly improved. The black of the letters is blacker. It just seems like my writing flows better.

You can say that digital is all the same. But my brain tell me that this cable can make any word processor better!!!

[Gutbucket]

And what do you do if the bits are not being delivered on time?

Buffer and re-clock the data in the following device.

[MakersMarc]

I'm still pissed I let Nutter talk me into 300 dollar Audio magic cables in 2000. Just bullshit for what we do. Mics and pre and a recorder with a nice ad stage.