Is this worth paying extra for?

M

mustangranch99

Active member
I have to buy an XLR cable for recording two things: 1. In a studio for voiceovers and 2. For recording on set film audio.

However, I don't know which of these to get. Both are very highly reviewed and both have VERY different price points.

The cables in question:

Mogami Gold Studio 15 Microphone Cable Quad Conductor
http://www.amazon.com/Mogami-Gold-St.../dp/B0002E1P30

GLS Audio 25 foot Mic Cable
http://www.amazon.com/GLS-Audio-Cabl.../dp/B003JJQMD8

Is one really worth 3X the other one in terms of quality? Would either of them be appropriate for BOTH studio and on set film work?

Thank you for reading.
 
No, expensive XLR cables are not a sensible use of your $$$.
If I didn't make my own cables, I would go to http://www.redco.com/and order cable(s) with my choice of connectors and wire.
To be sure, there are trash-grade cable and connectors, but you won't find any of those from Redco.
 
Agreed. The GLS will be fine. But no doubt, Mogami is great stuff and there is a premium paid for its quality and reputation, along with a claimed lifetime warranty.
 
Wether there are any audible differences between cables is an old debate, which some wholeheartedly believe in, and some doesn't. The former say there must be because they can supposedly hear it, and the latter that they don't, and as far as I know no difference have been detected in measurement tests (if you're interested, look it up on head-fi.org).

The physical differences are more important - thickness and weight, durability, if it stiffens in cold etc.
 
I concur with the above. I prefer Canare... but have cheaper cables for hazardous duty missions.
 
I was hired by a guy once to hook up some new speaker cables that some salesman convinced him would make his stereo sound great. He replaced 12 gauge standard speaker cable with this other stuff that as far as I can tell was also 12 gauge speaker wire with a fancy name. The new cable cost him over $150 and he was sure they made all the difference. He paid me to connect them because he was wiring challenged, and he had the runs supported on upside down styrofoam cups because "close proximity to the carpet would color the sound".

It was kind of sad because he was not a rich guy, just gullible.
 
He most likely had one of the those 'magic' CD pens to stripe the disc edges. There's all kinds of magic A/V stuff about. BTW, I hang my XLRs cables strait up after use to drain excess audio content.
 
Well the GLS uses cheap Neutrik knock off connectors, while the Mogami uses real Neutrik connectors which are of a much higher build quality, and offers a lifetime warranty. I usually spool my own cables, and use Neutrik connectors. Both Mogami and Canare make a good high quality cable.
 
The best cables I have were built by a member of this group MatinSL. unfortunately the economy has picked up and he doesn't need the extra income (or doesn't have the time) anymore. I forget the cable he used but it's much more flexible than the usual and coils beautiful.

I may have to buy some and make up a couple of 50'.

I have everything from custom built high quality to cheap Guitar center cables. I honestly have never heard a sound difference. Connector quality is a lot more important with really heavy use, as the cheap ones tend to get flaky sooner. One thing that is nice with the better cables is that the wires are soldered to the connectors. Cheap cables almost universally have the wires crimped and that is a place where problems are likely to develop as the cable ages and the connection oxidises. I have built many a cable so if they start to go wiggy I will just replace the connector with a better model.

BUT I do FX and studio stuff 99% of the time and I always have backups and spares. If I was doing production constantly I would make sure my primary cables were of a better grade. And actually I'm almost always using the cheap cables in a studio situation. My field cables are the custom built ones.
 
I started out as a musician a looooong time ago. I spent a little extra (at the time) and bought ProCo when they first came out 30+ years ago. They seemed to last forever, even when using them hard 320+ one-night-stand gigs a year. I now use ProCo in my studio out of inertia and still cannot complain.
 
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