When can you hear cable quality

[Mincer]

I don't think I can hear it, but I would select a cable for 'most likely to not break, or if it does, which one has a lifetime warranty'.

[devastone]

Then again, I also used to run instrument cable instead of speaker cable to power my cabs because I didn't know any better, and also didn't hear a quality difference. Also, 99% of my gear has always been budget, so maybe I just always sound terrible and that's the reason the Music Industry hasn't approached me to provide wealth in return for my talent, no questions asked.

You won't hear a difference running an instrument cable as a speaker cable, not until you run enough power through it that it fries and the sound stops, instrument cables aren't made to handle that much current.

Monster cable honestly isn't all it's cracked up to be, they just do a good job with hype. The brand of cable that I have noticed the most difference with is George L's, as PFD mentioned, it seems clearer and has more high end, and as mentioned, in most situations it's hard to hear the difference. Playing distorted, a little treble rolloff can be a good thing, Jimi used high capacitance coiled cables back in the day and I think that probably helped his tone.

[alex1fly]

When you have a drummer bashing cymbals next to your ear compared to a quiet room, that’s where I can hear a difference.

As long as you don't do this for too long right

[Gtrjunior]

About 5 years ago I built a pedalboard for my Splawn. And I soldered all of the cable myself. I bought bulk cable and decent enough ends and wires up a few cables. I decided to try it out and plugged in the guitar and I capsule immediately hear something was wrong. Like a blanket over the tone so to speak. I thought maybe it was my soldering son I went back and reflowed some cables but it still sounded bad.
Prior to that I was just using the cheap planet waves cables and never had any issue.
So I decided to order a different brand of cable that had the same capacitance as the PW and immediately it sounded good.

The cable I didn’t like was Canare which according to what I read online is a highly regarded brand. It just didn’t sound good in my application.

As far as “when” would I hear a difference. That answer is went wouldn’t I have heard it. It was night and day. Prior to this I had never been able to truly hear a difference in any store bought cable.

[LLL]

Take a regular music store guitar cable and alternate between that and a George L's cable while playing at any volume, anywhere.

The George L's are clearer/brighter... because they are lower capacitance than typical.

[Cynical]

If you're hearing a difference in cables, you need to rethink your pedalboard and put at least one more buffer (or buffered-bypass pedal) on it. Yes, different cables have different capacitance, but with runs below about 8 feet, the difference is totally inaudible. Anything longer than 8 feet should have a buffer driving it, which in turn makes the capacitance no longer matter.

[Gtrjunior]

If you're hearing a difference in cables, you need to rethink your pedalboard and put at least one more buffer (or buffered-bypass pedal) on it. Yes, different cables have different capacitance, but with runs below about 8 feet, the difference is totally inaudible. Anything longer than 8 feet should have a buffer driving it, which in turn makes the capacitance no longer matter.

I thought the same thing until I bought my board. It incorporates a Musicomlab switcher that has 2 buffers built in. One is always on the other is switchable.
It didn’t matter how I set it, the difference was there and very noticeable.
Even with short patch cables.

[GuitarStv]

If you're hearing a difference in cables, you need to rethink your pedalboard and put at least one more buffer (or buffered-bypass pedal) on it. Yes, different cables have different capacitance, but with runs below about 8 feet, the difference is totally inaudible. Anything longer than 8 feet should have a buffer driving it, which in turn makes the capacitance no longer matter.

Buffers can really suck if you use a fuzz face.

[Cynical]

Buffers can really suck if you use a fuzz face.

Just put it first in your chain and stand within 8 feet of it at all times, problem solved!

[PFDarkside]

As long as you don't do this for too long right

Earplugs always. And again, if it’s recorded, awesome. If not, I won’t be able to hear it.

[Coma]

LIterally the only time in 20 or so years I've ever noticed any difference is with a cheap 9 meter Thomann cable In my home rig, and I'm guessing that's more to do with cable length than quality. I don't buy any of the "superior cable bacuse XYZ and gold plated connectors" voodoo. Where money does matter is build quality, but that's about it.

[Ascension]

I have a Monster cable that is so micro-phonic you can hear it moving across the floor. Drop it and you hear a THUCK through the speakers. With a dynamic high gain amp cables can make a HUGE difference in tone and noise!

[Ewizard]

For most store-bought cables, you would be hard-pressed to really tell much difference in a live situation. Where I find it to be more obvious is when you roll the volume down. If you work the volume control a lot, the difference in cables becomes a little more apparent. I have a couple of cables that sound very different when plugged in even straight from the guitar to the amp with the volume all the way up, most of them sound the same though. My favorite cables are some from the '90s that I got from a Sam Goody. Live Wire or something like that. They were cheap 25' cables and still to this day are the best sounding ones I own.

[BluesMan335]

For most store-bought cables, you would be hard-pressed to really tell much difference in a live situation. Where I find it to be more obvious is when you roll the volume down. If you work the volume control a lot, the difference in cables becomes a little more apparent.

Would having a treble bleed in the guitar make a difference?

[JB_From_Hell]

If I A/B my cables at home, I can hear a little more presence from my old DiMarzio than the rest. I can also more clearly hear the Planet Waves mid tier cable (with the fat molded ends) is darker than the rest.

Jamming with someone, where I’m paying more attention to playing than the tone, I don’t notice any difference.