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what are the good brands? here is what i found from musiciansfriend and sweetwater.

monster
livewire
hosa
pro co
planet waves
Audio-Technica
mogami gold
hosa

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BobRogers Thu, 07/02/2009 - 19:11

I'll put in another plug for Jeremy Cucco. I'm very happy with the cables and snakes I've gotten from him. Anytime I have a big order or something nonstandard I'm going with him.

Of the ones commercially available: I avoid Hosa. Cheap molded connectors - ok until they aren't ok - then they are garbage. I've been happy with the ProCo from Sweetwater. When I'm looking for one or two descent quality standard off-the-shelf cables and want it delivered the day after tomorrow, that's what I buy.

I'm not a big believer in really expensive cables. Cables (at least under, say, 30 ft.) sound very, very much the same until they break. (I'm excluding the really cheap cables with terrible shielding here.) Cables like Monster seem very well made, but not really that much better. If you are buying two or three cables it's not that much money and may help you sleep better. But to cable a whole studio?

soapfloats Thu, 07/02/2009 - 23:31

You're right on Bob.

I have most of the cables you mentioned, and the only benefit I've found is that some brands offer a lifetime guarantee (replacement).

I know when I'm ready to upgrade my setup, I'll be getting a 24ch snake and some other cables for my rack from Cucco & Co.
Bad enough that we waste your time here, but now we've got you slaving to make us cables as well, Jeremy! :wink:

natural Tue, 07/14/2009 - 10:09

It might depend on what you're doing with the cables.

If you need to solder the ends to very tiny connectors like Dsubs, Elco etc then I go with Mogami when possible. The wire is easy to work with,it goes where you want it, very flexible and not bulky so it doesn't get in your way when you need to bunch 24 into a cramped space. Very much like cooked spaghetti.

Proco on the other hand is a very sturdy wire, good for live applications or studio applications where the wire is exposed. (mike cables, trunk lines etc) where each wire needs to go to a separate jack or plug. Very Al Dente spaghetti.

Time for lunch