Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

My point to all this rambling being that differences in cable tones are so subtle that it's mostly in our heads. Musicians tend to have a hard "right" and hard "wrong" conclusion on things and aren't happy until those criteria are thought to be met.

No. There is a definite difference in tone with different cables. Believe me, I would have rather not heard a difference between cables or heard the cheap ones as being better. It would have saved me a couple hundred dollars.

 

[mantis]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

But What if cheap cables sound awesome????















I don't use them anymore, but what if?

tone is very important to me. Its everything , if my tone is off , I can't play well as I'm annoyed and actually just want to stop playing.
IF cheap cables sounded right or better , I would use them but be nervous if I was playing live.

 

[mantis]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

Can any of you seriously hear a difference between cables???

Have you ever tried? I'm gonna do a pretty good shootout coming to see if there is a difference between brands and quality at different price points.

 

[mantis]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

Cables will mainly have an affect on the highs transmitted, not the bass or mids. If those cables, at only 10', sound..."really bass-heavy but punchy, and the mids are full", then you're using a cable that has SIGNIFICANTLY altered your tone by removing a massive amount of treble!

A few years ago I did a sound comparison test with over a dozen (closer to 20) different cables. The difference in cables only 10' long was difficult to hear (I'm not talking about using fancy electronics to measure capacitence, wavelength/frequency, amplitude, etc), just human ears. As the cable length increased, the differences in cables was more noticeable (obviously), and at 20-30' was unmistakenably evident. Several 25' vintage cloth covered cables (don't recall the brands) were very good at transmitting the full spectrum of sound. But a 25' Fender Gold and 30' Mogami cable (in the $60-100 range) were the best. I couldn't hear any difference between the 30' Mogami and a good quality 3' patch cable, while some cheap 8-10' cables sounded muffled by comparison.

So, to answer your question..."Can any of you seriously hear a difference between cables", the answer is a resounding..."absolutely"!!!

This is exactly what I want to do. Thank you for posting this.

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

Cables will mainly have an affect on the highs transmitted, not the bass or mids. If those cables, at only 10', sound..."really bass-heavy but punchy, and the mids are full", then you're using a cable that has SIGNIFICANTLY altered your tone by removing a massive amount of treble!

A few years ago I did a sound comparison test with over a dozen (closer to 20) different cables. The difference in cables only 10' long was difficult to hear (I'm not talking about using fancy electronics to measure capacitence, wavelength/frequency, amplitude, etc), just human ears. As the cable length increased, the differences in cables was more noticeable (obviously), and at 20-30' was unmistakenably evident. Several 25' vintage cloth covered cables (don't recall the brands) were very good at transmitting the full spectrum of sound. But a 25' Fender Gold and 30' Mogami cable (in the $60-100 range) were the best. I couldn't hear any difference between the 30' Mogami and a good quality 3' patch cable, while some cheap 8-10' cables sounded muffled by comparison.

So, to answer your question..."Can any of you seriously hear a difference between cables", the answer is a resounding..."absolutely"!!!

I hear a difference but what does matter most is Mogami is most likely NOT to go "hot"... In the last year or so of many rehearsals and gigs I can only remember one mogami chord going hot. At that time I did not have the ability to check the chord but did replace it on stage and the sound went away. Trust Mogami and second would be high quality fender chords/cables.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

Put me on the side of the fence that thinks that cables can significantly affect your tone, mainly due to rolled off high end. As for what sounds better, that's in the ear of the beholder. For a long time, I preferred the rolled off sound that some of my older cables had.

The other variable that is often overlooked is microphonics. Handling noise on cables drives me nuts, particularly when playing with high gain. IMO, it's pretty cheesy when you move around and get noise through your amp from the cable. There's a ton of variability in this property with some cables being very noisy when handled and others being dead silent. Try rapping a loop of cable against a hard surface while plugged in with a good bit of distortion and you'll probably know what I mean.

 

[Jeff5]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

I don't know. What I do know is that I have neither the time or patience to sort through cable problems, especially since I use a rack system and also a pedal board. I don't use super high end cables, but they're good enough (Planet Waves and Monster) that I usually don't have to deal with it. Bottom line for me is that I don't want and issues, so I just fork over a little more money for better cables.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

Definitely hear a difference in longer cables on the high end between brands.
I have had issues with Monsters in particularly being microphonic with my Zinky. That is to the point you hear the cable moving across the floor through the speaker in the amp at high gain settings.
I find noise and durability to be a bigger factor for me than than just tone however in the selection of a cable for live use.

 

[Evil_Pun]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

I switched from Monster Rock cables to Bullet Coil cables and while the switch was for aesthetics I noticed a huge difference in my tone. For me the old Monsters seemed to be brighter and in your face while the bullet seems more mellowed out and in a better place, I think, for my guitar to sit tonally.

 

[mantis]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

Noise is something you don't want your cables to provide. They need to send the signal down the chain exactly as intended. That is my goal in my quest to discover if my Whirlwind cables are or need to be changed to something else.
I have a few now to test , plan on spending some time this weekend testing. 10ft and 15 ft cables.

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: Instrument cables , anyone notice any differences in tone?

I've tried quite a few of the medium high end (I consider true "high end" to be boutique cables with absurd pricing only acceptable to willing fanboys) such as Monster Rock/500, Planet Waves, George Ls Red, DiMarzio and Mogami Gold.

I can say without a doubt that George L's are the brightest of these, so if you feel your rig lacks that, the George L's can help. But I prefer the more aggressive, full-bodied tone of the Monsters most of all. The Mogamis are at the same level of excellence, but with flatter response, which is fine, but I like the slightly more crunk sound I get with Monsters. Planet Waves and Dimarzio are just slightly below Monster and Mogami to me.