So much for hi-tech!
I agree with Dirk. If you want good connections solder them. If you can't do it yourself, pay someone else to do it. These solder free connectors use a pin to push into the wire and will conduct electricity from one end of the wire to the other but think about it from a physical realistic standpoint.....the tooth pushes through the jacket...contacting maybe 8 of the 19 strands in a 22awg cable....this eventually contacts the rest of the strands downstream due to proximity.....at the other end the same thing happens.
In a soldered connection all of the strands of the conductor contact each other equally on both ends.
Which one is better....you tell me. Do you want hi-tech or the one that does the job the best.
The Bell Labs/AT&T comparison is ludicrous. Phone lines and microphone channels are two differnet beasts. BNC connectors are almost exclusively crimp jobs requiring specialized tools.....so are many other connectors....XLR connectors have always been solder jobs....and still are, in the professional world, with the exception of lighting rigs and other
non critical points of failure. If you only have two or four channels to worry about why risk it?
Boojum, you use high quality equipment, microphones and recorder are all top notch correct?
Do you want a weak link in your chain?
I'm not saying the things are useless but I am saying they are not as good as soldered connections. I've worked on a crew and we didn't trust them for audio signals.
"I doubt very much that Neutrik would put a product out there which was not 100%. If there were any problem with it Neutrik would have noted that. Their reputation is too good, the best, to risk on a faulty product "
As far as your claim that Neutrik would not put out an inferior product and damage their good standing....I've had +/- 10% failure rate from Neutrik products in my cable business. There is a tolerance for manufacturing procedures and Neutrik is like anyone else...they do the best they can and it is NOT 100% success. They are in the business of selling connectors and if they think they see a market they will pursue it. I still use Neutrik exclusively FWIW.
Again I'm not personally attacking you or Neutrik....I just dont want anyone to take a shortcut at a critical place in their recording chain when someone could DIY a solution for the investment of a soldering iron and a few bucks worth of silver solder. To quote you.................YMMV
cheers