Maybe we should start a great big cable drama thread. We haven't had one in a while!
In my many years here at TS, I've never heard a published cable comp that documented a sonic difference due to cables.
I'm not saying cables don't make a difference - far from it. Just that a Lot of assumptions are made. We seem to take a lot of things for granted in cables. Such as the preference for star quad over two or three conductor.
And, oh, btw. Some people use the wrong flux. Or they don't take the time to clean the flux off after soldering. So their solder connections corrode. I'm not saying that about anyone specifically, or even implying it. Just that cleaning flux from connections is a PIA and it tends to expose us to harmful chemicals. It is the part of cable making that I dislike the most. Good solder joints are also important. How hard can it be to solder a wire to a terminal? Well.....
So on the Gotham cable..... Has anyone confirmed that there is a sound improvement? Or is this chasing specs? Has anyone actually verified the specs by measuring the cable? What aspect of the mechanical construction results in a lower capacitance? Are your runs so long that capacitance is a major consideration?
Does it justify the higher price (2X - 3X?)? The shield is a double layer twist, which has great coverage. One concern with that approach vs. a braid is whether the shield opens up due to wear or a situation beyond your control. Ideally, our cables get less wear than most on stage cables. Though many of us do record on stage. Of the cables commonly in use, 1804a has the least shield coverage. Some of the silver-teflon MIL cables may also suffer from poor shield coverage.
The Gotham specs seem to obfuscate things a bit. They made some odd choices in units. Like how they specify the size of the conductor.
So what is our priority in cables? For me, it is audio quality and some amount of durability (I don't want to worry that hidden damage is compromising my recordings). Another major consideration is ease of setup and tear down. I want to minimize my setup time, especially on a ladder up in the rafters, and especially up on stage. The teflon jacketed cables can either be extremely difficult to handle, or they can be wonderful - I've worked with both. A friend had an early pair that were terrible - they had a tremendous memory and wanted to coil like a spring. My primary pair are wonderful, and every time I coil them I think of how much I love them compared to my canare and mogami cables.
At this time, I have some great test equipment that would be useful for comparing some cable behaviors. Mainly frequency response and RF noise. While I tend to emphasis subjective listening performance above all else, there is a lot to be said for eliminating cables that have poor frequency response, etc. Though doing these tests balanced is much more tricky. Ultimately, I don't really have any time for this now - my active mic products are the priority (though I am really curious).
Beware of counterfeit cable and counterfeit connectors.
Topic: Best XLR cables recommendations? (Read 28390 times)