Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

I've never thought that Monster Cables were all that hot. I've used them, and Whirlwind, Spectraflex, George L's, Musician's Friend, and I'm sure a lot of other brands as well. Of the bunch, I thought the George L's were the most transparent sounding but not very sturdy. Of the rest, I couldn't tell much difference.

If they're about 50pF/foot, as the average cable is, you of course won't. Capacitance affects sound; ad copy doesn't.

Nowadays, if I find myself needing a cord, I make one. I go and buy some high quality shielded cable and two ends. I get an excellent sounding cable that I can service if need be.

With Mogami W2524 at $0.75/foot and Neutrik ends at under $3 each, you can make a better cable than you can typically even find in a store (and superior to anything Monster even makes) for a lot less.

Who wants to drive across town to haggle with some nitwit new hire at Guitar Center to replace a cable for free when you can rewire the end in a couple of minutes without leaving home, in the unlikely event it ever needs to be done?

I just don't see the point. :scratchch

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

I have Klotz patches. Those work fine from what I can tell... ok they're just patches really.

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

Don't mix up speaker cables with instrument cables. Any dork can hear a difference between a crappy guitar cable and a good one.

Not if it's not defective.

If the shielding is adequate to the environment, the connections are good and the net capacitance is the same in a Hi-Z passive guitar circuit, they'll sound the same.

Speaker cable is more likely to audibly matter as its DCR can significantly contribute to the impedance of the speaker in a Low-Z circuit. All other things being equal, thin, small gauge wire will not work as well as the same length of pro 12-gauge cabling in, say, a longer run to a 4-Ohm cab.

If you doubt this, ask an EE.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

Uhm... I know my stuff pretty well thanks.
It sums up pretty easily:
guitar -> amp: weak signal, prone to interference
amp -> cab: powerful signal, would have to wire it up through the middle of a generator or something to get audible interference

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

Uhm... I know my stuff pretty well thanks.

That remains to be seen.

It sums up pretty easily:
guitar -> amp: weak signal, prone to interference
amp -> cab: powerful signal, would have to wire it up through the middle of a generator or something to get audible interference

Interference is not the primary issue, and certainly has nothing whatsoever to do with the magical "tone" that these cables promise.

Shielding only has to be adequate for the environment. Granted, something like the awful old barely-shielded coil cords from the '60s were really hideous in this regard in interference-rich environments, but almost every cable I've seen in the past couple of decades has more than adequate shielding for the typical recording studio, and usually fine for most (but not all) live settings.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

That remains to be seen.

Believe it or not, I've got some audiotech education and I also learned quite a bunch of e-tech stuff since I was in what would translate into a technical highschool with focus on multimedia technology. So I got at least the audio side covered.

Interference is not the primary issue, and certainly has nothing whatsoever to do with the magical "tone" that these cables promise.

I wasn't saying it was the primary issue, I only stated it along. Still, many cables have crappy shielding anyway. And in any "modern" environment, shielding is most important. Basically any electric device you have "pollutes" the air with stuff your cable will pick up... or shield against. Even the power grid itself.
The real weak point still is signal strength.
Have you ever wondered why electricity goes over those huge lines and isn't converted to your grid voltage at the power plant right away? It's basically the same problem... loss.
Signal will get lost over the length of the cable no matter what and your guitar output power is quite affixed aswell. BUT a good cable will minimize the loss at least in the specific frequency bandwidth it was designed for. (comparable to Cat 3-4-5 with network cables... the higher ones are designed to be able to transport higher frequencies).
That's what makes tonal "coloration" by the cable possible... although it's of course a tradeoff since it means cable designers focus on specific frequencies while others will have higher losses. Funny thing is people often hear those super low loss cables as being too shrill since they are used to lose signal especially in the high frequency spectrum.

In the end, tech is tech and what you hear is what you hear. Even if it was just completely subjective... if it sounds better to you, use it. If not, don't bother. And remember, the best tone killer are huge pedalsboards with many plugs... but I could write a whole nother thread on that.
I'm off now, good night.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

FWIW I've never had to show a reciept when exchanging Monster cables at Guitar Center

fyi, I asked my guy at Guitar Center, and he basically said the same thing. No receipt required to exchange.

That was my understanding as well. When everyone started talking about how they were holding onto their receipts, I got a little nervous.

- Keith

 

[Hellion]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

If they're about 50pF/foot, as the average cable is, you of course won't. Capacitance affects sound; ad copy doesn't.


With Mogami W2524 at $0.75/foot and Neutrik ends at under $3 each, you can make a better cable than you can typically even find in a store (and superior to anything Monster even makes) for a lot less.

Who wants to drive across town to haggle with some nitwit new hire at Guitar Center to replace a cable for free when you can rewire the end in a couple of minutes without leaving home, in the unlikely event it ever needs to be done?

I just don't see the point. :scratchch

Which is why I normally go wireless now.... I just can't tell the difference, or at least, enough of one to make me go looking for cables or even make one.