The Truth about (speaker) cables
- Thread starter leonard smalls
- Start date
this is fairly subjective isn't it:
"Buy good cable, but don't waste money on 'fairy dust'."
it also says that exotic cables can make a difference to certain speakers.
so have we really learned anything new? terms that they've used really are quite subjective
"Buy good cable, but don't waste money on 'fairy dust'."
it also says that exotic cables can make a difference to certain speakers.
so have we really learned anything new? terms that they've used really are quite subjective
leonard smalls
GufmeisterGeneral
What it gives is the Pro Audio take on hifi cables...
When I was a sound recordist all the other guys would poke fun at hifi gear - and what's more, the average cost of cabling an entire studio is probably less than just the i/cs on a high end system!
S'funny that the place where stuff is recorded often has worse/cheaper gear than yer average audiophool - my system now is more musical than any I used as a ProSound person, and also more revealing.
Strange business indeed.
When I was a sound recordist all the other guys would poke fun at hifi gear - and what's more, the average cost of cabling an entire studio is probably less than just the i/cs on a high end system!
S'funny that the place where stuff is recorded often has worse/cheaper gear than yer average audiophool - my system now is more musical than any I used as a ProSound person, and also more revealing.
Strange business indeed.
Another article worth a read is
"The Naked Truth about speakers cables"
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/spkcbl_e.html
"The Naked Truth about speakers cables"
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/spkcbl_e.html
After buying a pair of PMC speakers, I asked them which cable they reommended. I was told that they use van damme in their studio installations. Its costs a couple of quid a metre. They also use van damme microphone cable as interconnects again very cheap although I can't remember the cost.
Rod
Rod
theres been a couple of issues of 'directions', RA's propaganda (sorry, i mean seasonal magazine) where he, and Ray Kimber go along and kit out some studios... may be worthwhile digging a copy out to see how much was actually spent...
Re shunyaya Hydra, is there a logical reason why I seem to set the volume
higher with these in place ?
I have about 5 CD's that I,ve played too death since getting the AA's
now I,ve tried computer lead> Kimber>BCD>Audiance and the volume has always set at -30DB/-32, install Hytra/ python and -26DB seems the most comfortable level
I too thought narr I,m imagineing it so swopped the Shunyata stuff for the Audiance and supprise I have to turn down the volume again
No doubt Cable sceptic's are saying "loada bollocks", well Its a fact and I,d
love a plauseable explaination if poss
higher with these in place ?
I have about 5 CD's that I,ve played too death since getting the AA's
now I,ve tried computer lead> Kimber>BCD>Audiance and the volume has always set at -30DB/-32, install Hytra/ python and -26DB seems the most comfortable level
I too thought narr I,m imagineing it so swopped the Shunyata stuff for the Audiance and supprise I have to turn down the volume again
No doubt Cable sceptic's are saying "loada bollocks", well Its a fact and I,d
love a plauseable explaination if poss
bottleneck
talks a load of rubbish
Maybe they are attenuating the signal Ya-Boo.
Hex Spurt said:
I have recently installed a new CD player in my system (Reimyo CDP-777) and the JVC Extended-K2 processing that it implements in the transport/DAC has allowed me to extract far more from my CD collection than ever before!
Out of curiosity, I purchased a few JVC XRCD mastered discs and clearly the care and attention paid in the recording process pays dividends in the listening experience. See:-
http://www.xrcd.net/Shopping/process.asp
By far and away the best 'special' CD I have tried so far is the Analogue Productions Gold Limited Edition of 'Breaking Silence' by Janis Ian (highly recommended!). The sleeve notes mention mastering with tube electronics by Doug Sax so I guess when the studios make the extra effort with mastering processes, electronics and cabling, it does make a substantial difference to the recording and playback through a hi-fi system.
If anyone is interested, a good website for obtaining high quality imported audiophile recordings is www.acousticsounds.com and it is far cheaper to buy online than pay the prices Vivante charge in the UK.
Recent experimentation with Chord Signature, Cardas Golden Cross and some custom pure silver speaker cables leaves me in no doubt that speaker cables can sound significantly different!
michaelab
desafinado
Nice. By all accounts an excellent player. I've only heard it once in an unfamiliar system and only for a short time - not enough to form a judgement unfortunately. But £9.5K for a CD player.....ouch! :yikes:Snoopdog said:
Michael.
leonard smalls
GufmeisterGeneral
A very wise move, EAR make some fine studio gear - though having compared theirs to an SSL desk there was very little difference in final mix quality..Snoopdog said:
Still, if you listen to Rick Rubin's production on the Chilli's BloodSugarSexMagic you can hear that full valve-y sound - one of my favourite test records.
I'll bet, though, that just about any studio that fits a £500k desk (like the EAR or SolidStateLogic) will just use bog-standard Canford GPO leads in their patch bays!
Thanks Michael, but like everything else in life, what kit can be obtained for does not necessarily reflect the inflated RRP's that are published! 
Leonard,
This is an extract from the sleeve notes on the 'Breaking Silence' Gold CD:-
"Tracks were recorded at Nightingale Studio on a Studer 820, 24-track machine, 30 IPS, non-dolby at the elevation of +6/250 nu using Ampex 499 tape.
Included among the mics used on the recording dates were:
Nuemann M-49, AKG C-12, Telefunken 251, Sheffield C-9 and a custom-built tube direct box on the bass. Janis' vocal was recorded using a Telefunken U-47 and a Mastering Lab mic preamp, linked with series-one Monster Cable direct to the back of the multi-track machine with no EQ or Limiting.
The album was mixed at Bill Schnee Studio to an Ampex ATR 1/2" machine at 30 IPS, non-dolby at the elevation of +3/250 nu on Ampex 499 tape. The reverb on the album was an EMT tube plate used along with natural room sounds captured in the recording. During the mixing of the album "Some People's Lives" was recorded direct to two-track using the same vocal chain as above and Telefunken 251's on the piano. Take number two was used as the album cut.
The album was mixed using Mastering Lab modified Tannoy SGM-10's powered by Sherwood Sax, mono-block tube amps.
This CD has been remastered using the 20+16 Ultra Matrix Processing, a mastering technique that enables us to extract more information from the analog tapes to be encoded and transfered to the CD master. Essentially ist is a means of "folding down" 20 bits of digital information into the 16 bit CD medium using Sheffield's own 20 bit analog to digital converter and an Apogee UV22 processor. This combination creates the truest and most accurate CD master from the original analog recording and is the finest analog-to-digital transfer process currently available."
A bit long-winded (the techno-babble probably means more to those from a studio technical background) and clearly a 'labour of love', but the care taken is definitely evident in the listening experience with this particular album
Steve
Leonard,
This is an extract from the sleeve notes on the 'Breaking Silence' Gold CD:-
"Tracks were recorded at Nightingale Studio on a Studer 820, 24-track machine, 30 IPS, non-dolby at the elevation of +6/250 nu using Ampex 499 tape.
Included among the mics used on the recording dates were:
Nuemann M-49, AKG C-12, Telefunken 251, Sheffield C-9 and a custom-built tube direct box on the bass. Janis' vocal was recorded using a Telefunken U-47 and a Mastering Lab mic preamp, linked with series-one Monster Cable direct to the back of the multi-track machine with no EQ or Limiting.
The album was mixed at Bill Schnee Studio to an Ampex ATR 1/2" machine at 30 IPS, non-dolby at the elevation of +3/250 nu on Ampex 499 tape. The reverb on the album was an EMT tube plate used along with natural room sounds captured in the recording. During the mixing of the album "Some People's Lives" was recorded direct to two-track using the same vocal chain as above and Telefunken 251's on the piano. Take number two was used as the album cut.
The album was mixed using Mastering Lab modified Tannoy SGM-10's powered by Sherwood Sax, mono-block tube amps.
This CD has been remastered using the 20+16 Ultra Matrix Processing, a mastering technique that enables us to extract more information from the analog tapes to be encoded and transfered to the CD master. Essentially ist is a means of "folding down" 20 bits of digital information into the 16 bit CD medium using Sheffield's own 20 bit analog to digital converter and an Apogee UV22 processor. This combination creates the truest and most accurate CD master from the original analog recording and is the finest analog-to-digital transfer process currently available."
A bit long-winded (the techno-babble probably means more to those from a studio technical background) and clearly a 'labour of love', but the care taken is definitely evident in the listening experience with this particular album
Steve
bottleneck
talks a load of rubbish
Janis' vocal was recorded using a Telefunken U-47 and a Mastering Lab mic preamp, linked with series-one Monster Cable
Snoop, I believe monster cable is cheap as chips. I used to have some, it was just a few quid a metre. They probably do dearer stuff, but its a cheap brand as far as I know.
Snoop, I believe monster cable is cheap as chips. I used to have some, it was just a few quid a metre. They probably do dearer stuff, but its a cheap brand as far as I know.
I don't have any personal knowledge of the Monster series-one cable, but it's like the majority of cable manufacturers (Cardas, Kimber, Nordost etc.) who have a budget range as well as the exotic!
Perhaps those who are better aquainted with the recording studio can comment on how this particular Monster cable is rated from a professional viewpoint.
The point of my example with the 'Breaking Silence' album was to illustrate that when the studio takes care in the recording process then the results are generally better.
Perhaps those who are better aquainted with the recording studio can comment on how this particular Monster cable is rated from a professional viewpoint.
The point of my example with the 'Breaking Silence' album was to illustrate that when the studio takes care in the recording process then the results are generally better.
leonard smalls
GufmeisterGeneral
That's High End - about 30p more each!!!joel said:No way. They would surely be using Mogami or Canare
It's expensive in a studio setting, though still only a few quid a metre - I use Monster speaker cable, which was about £25 in 1985 - their range isn't quite so stellar, price-wise as yer Siltech or Nordost..Snoopdog said:
And it's no wonder that Janis Ian album sounds good - classic valve mics for a lovely full sound, then recorded on the Rolls Royce of tape machines, a Studer 2".. And valve monitoring as well - when I was in BBC sound dubbing we briefly experimented with Trilogy valve amps, but stuck with the good old Quad 405s in the end (better the devil you know'n'all)
Doesn't mention what desk they used - whether it was a modern "virtual" one, or an old fashioned Neve type.. I'd go for the old one every time..
But I bet all their patch cords, and the miles of under-floor wiring, were 30p/m Canford (or Canare if they're pushing the boat out..)
One of the best TV/film dubbing studios I know also uses Tannoy dual concentrics - though strangely they're acro-ed to the ceiling!
