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Pro Cables vs. Audio Cables....Are We Being Duped?

Like probably most of you audiophiles out there, I have a few friends who are musicians. I told one of these friends that I was looking for a long (25+ ft.) pair of balanced interconnect cables. He suggested that I consider looking into some nice studio/mike cables, as all studio cables are of balanced design.

He further stated that most audio interconnects are a ripoff when compared to similar studio cables. To illustrate his point, we looked at comprable lengths of balanced cables from Monster Cable and the Studio versions were a couple of hundred dollars less. While it was hard to tell if the cables were truly apples vs. apples; the construction and description of each cable appeared to be extraordinarly similar.

While the thought of using "mike cables" in my home audio system makes me shudder, I certainly would not be opposed to saving a few hundred bucks either.

Do any of you have any experience comparing studio vs. balanced audio cables? Is there anything in the construction or design of home cables that makes them superior to studio cables in a home system (and therefore worth paying more for)? If any of you can shed some light on this, I would truly appreciate it.
daddyo
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
That's why I love Phoenix Gold by Carver Pro interconnects. High quality pro audio cabling and mil-spec connectors at reasonable prices.
fineberg
151 posts
 
Some of the posts seem to assume that there is only one level of pro cable which is not really true. However, it is very clear that studios needing tons of cables cannot afford to spend $500 per meter. Generally a cable like the Canare StarQuad is regarded as a high-end studio cable. One of the biggest differences with consumer cables is the plating of the contacts. Pro studios plug and unplug so much that they need contacts without soft metals like gold or silver. These connectors are often noticably inferior to high-end home audio cables.
For the cable runs themselves one must remember that the whole point to balance audio is that cable quality and length is less important. The biggest differences are in RF/EMI rejection. I think in a fully balanced setup a good pro cable like StarQuad mated with high-end connectors would be very similar to mega-bucks cables. In a certain sense this is the whole poit of going balanced.
joeldoss
94 posts
 
It seems to me that the studio recording engineers would use the best available cabling for recording purposes. Why do we spend 10x as much for playback cables?
sean
6,231 posts
 
Most "Pro" cables are more concerned with longevity and standing up to abuse rather than the actual materials used. Copper is copper, shielding is shielding, etc... to MOST people in the Pro Sound industry. As such, the dielectrics on most "Pro" cables are VERY different from "audiophile grade" cables, wire geometry may be different, the grade of copper or silver may be different, etc... As such, the "audiophile" cables SHOULD cost more but not THAT much more.

Please don't take this the wrong way. I am NOT defending the "wire bandits" in ANY way, shape or form. Most "wire companies" take off the shelf components from REAL wire & cable manufacturers, have their names put on them and then use some "fancy" connectors on them. That is why i am a BIG proponent of DIY cable designs. Unless a design uses a LOT of very precise configuring or braiding, you can probably build better cables than what you can buy for 10 times the price. Sean
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danner
202 posts
 
Except for the run from a mic or di to mic preamp (where an exceptional cable might be worthwhile), everything else in a recording studio is running at +4dbM (pro level) rather than -10dbV (home level). -- Quite a difference.
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