analogs for speaker cable crazies in other fields

[lbundle]

Why has the cable craziness been restricted to audio people? I have never heard of USB cables which bring vibrancy out of your external hard drive. I don't think it has anything to do with analog/digital because the same scams are arising in HDMI cables.


Hmmm, I smell a business opportunity here.....

 

[Antus]

actually, cable quality are important for both analog and digital. although for digital, the "requirement" are not as strict as analog, but still very important.

example:
for Ethernet cable: CAT5, CAT5e, and CAT6 are all 8 cord twisted cable. but CAT5 are just not as fast as true CAT6 cable.

for USB cable: i have 6 USB cable from cheap no brand to belkin USB2 certified cable. when transfer small data (smaller than 1GB) all cable works just fine. However, when i do disk to disk copy with external 2.5 USB when USB cable will transfer both data and power for the HD, only the belkin works.

i am not saying someone should spend hundreds on cables. however, they do make a difference.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Why has the cable craziness been restricted to audio people? I have never heard of USB cables which bring vibrancy out of your external hard drive. I don't think it has anything to do with analog/digital because the same scams are arising in HDMI cables.


Hmmm, I smell a business opportunity here.....

It's probably because there is a core group of audio people who truly believe in the "cable fairy." I'm sure if "high-end" usb cables were marketed correctly to the same group, there would be takers.

Jack

 

[gliz]

coming from 10+ years in IT, ether the data gets there or it does not, PERIOD. I buy good cables for my HT or my PC. but spending huge amounts of $$ on these "uber" cables is just hype. In fact I think that Mr. Clint went to monster to test some HDMI cables, I head that on an AV Rant

 

[Joe Schmoe]

High end lamp cord: "Makes every bulb look more like natural sunlight".
High end spark plug wire: "Improves fuel efficiency".
High end telephone cable: "Brings you closer to your loved ones".
High end mouse cord: "The ultimate in cursor control".

 

[lbundle]

actually, cable quality are important for both analog and digital. although for digital, the "requirement" are not as strict as analog, but still very important.

No offence, but you seem to have missed the point. I didn't say anything about the cable quality. I know that cable quality is important.

But why do you not see the $10,000 liquid shrouded 5000 hour burned in cable be hawked for computers? Are computer people brighter? Would an audio cable-nut buy such a cable, or he somehow comes to his senses in front of the monitor?

 

[jhanley]

coming from 10+ years in IT, ether the data gets there or it does not, PERIOD. I buy good cables for my HT or my PC. but spending huge amounts of $$ on these "uber" cables is just hype. In fact I think that Mr. Clint went to monster to test some HDMI cables, I head that on an AV Rant

In my 40+ year in IT, I have seen many problems caused
by bad cables (from old bus/tag to fiber). You do not
need expensive cable, just cable that is well made and
meets its required specs. Loose ends sink data centers.

 

[Davemcc]

High end spark plug wire: "Improves fuel efficiency".

Actually...yes. Especially when using a high performance coil. Poor quality or poor condition spark plug wires can bleed off the energy of your for your spark discharge, resulting in poor combustion and poor mileage. It's a high voltage charge that can find alternate ways to ground with thin or damaged insulation on the wires.

I have actually experience a situation where changing the spark plugs did nothing to improve the performance of my car. Changing the wires caused an immediate night and day difference in performance.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Actually...yes. Especially when using a high performance coil. Poor quality or poor condition spark plug wires can bleed off the energy of your for your spark discharge, resulting in poor combustion and poor mileage. It's a high voltage charge that can find alternate ways to ground with thin or damaged insulation on the wires.

I have actually experience a situation where changing the spark plugs did nothing to improve the performance of my car. Changing the wires caused an immediate night and day difference in performance.

Um, okay. The intent was humorous, though, Mr. Literal!

 

[Midcow2]

Actually cable quality isn't important ...

No offence, but you seem to have missed the point. I didn't say anything about the cable quality. I know that cable quality is important. ....

Thant is what Joe was sarcastically saying.

However as PT Barnum used to say "a sucker is born every minute"

Electrons move along a wire; it is a given physical property. They don't know how expensive the cable is you are connecting so they are all the same.

There is shome shielding of EMF and some minor quality differences in cable connectors, but beyond thta cables and copper wire in general is a commodity product.

Anything larger gauge than 14 is a waste of money.

But hey if you want to buy Florida swamp land or buy expensive cables or burn 100 dollar bills for matches it's your money and your decision.

 

[gliz]

In my 40+ year in IT, I have seen many problems caused
by bad cables (from old bus/tag to fiber). You do not
need expensive cable, just cable that is well made and
meets its required specs. Loose ends sink data centers.

TOCHE, point very well taken, but bad cables are one thing, there are no "over the top super expensive, make your data better" cables in the PC world

 

[Davemcc]

Um, okay. The intent was humorous, though, Mr. Literal!

I know it was humorous. I just thought I'd share that interesting info. I just hope Monster never gets into the spark plug wire business. $180 per wire x 8 cylinders =

 

[10010011]

It's probably because there is a core group of audio people who truly believe in the "cable fairy." I'm sure if "high-end" usb cables were marketed correctly to the same group, there would be takers.

Jack

Take a look here Computer Audio Asylum

 

[Pyrrho]

Why has the cable craziness been restricted to audio people? I have never heard of USB cables which bring vibrancy out of your external hard drive. I don't think it has anything to do with analog/digital because the same scams are arising in HDMI cables.


Hmmm, I smell a business opportunity here.....

It isn't the great business opportunity you might think (if it were, don't you think others would already be tapping the market?). The reason BS works with audio but not as well with things like your hard drive is that the testing is easier with your hard drive. If your hard drive gets the signal, you pretty much know the file is there. But with audio, the claim is that it sounds "better", not that the sound doesn't get there. And since people are extremely suggestible (it is human nature), they often get suckered into the audio foolishness. The fact that people are subject to the powers of suggestion is well illustrated with cases of people claiming to change a wire (or whatever else that the listener believes will make a difference), without actually changing anything, and then the listener often swears they hear a difference. Again, that is with ABSOLUTELY NO CHANGE in the setup, just the claim of a change.

Again, with the hard drive, either it gets the file uncorrupted or it doesn't. That is pretty much the end of the story. And if one is paranoid about the data integrity, there are programs that can check for any alterations in the file, so one can know that it either is or is not exactly the same as before it was sent via whatever cable was used.

 

[Seth=L]

As long as a cable is shielded adequately and doesn't have an imposing load (even the cheapest of cables are like this) they won't sound any different from any other properly designed and manufactured cable. As long as speaker wire is of a proper gauge and doesn't have an imposing load (even lamp cord will work) it will not sound any different from properly designed and manfactured speaker wire.

This isn't to say cable and speaker wire "quality" isn't important, but as long as it meets the standards above it will function just as any other cable or speaker wire should (making no mark on the sound at all). Quality cables and speaker wire can be had for very cheap.

 

[fmw]

Go check out the electric guitarists. They don't go as overboard as audiophiles but many will claim a $150 cable "sounds" better than a $15 one.

 

[lbundle]

Interesting review on high end USB cable

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/node/207

 

[mtrycrafts]

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/node/207

Yes. the same silliness as all their other cables

 

[lbundle]

Yes. the same silliness as all their other cables

precisely!

 

[m_vanmeter]

back to the original intent of the question....

a parallel in the clothing industry to outrageous pricing and conspicuous consumption.....please note the price each for these shirts

http://www.jlpowellusa.com/product/37-Shirts/428-J-L-Powell-Fine-Gauge-Cotton-Polo.html

it's a damn polo shirt, I don't care if someone picked each separate cotton fiber out of the seed pod, it's still a polo shirt.

Fools and their money.................