Are most 3.5mm cables protected?

[freeman45]

I'm shopping for 3.5mm audio cables. About 30 feet long.

Some brands mention that they're wrapped in alu foil, for protection. And some brands don't mention it.

Is it safe to assume that most wires are protected, even if it's not mentioned?


And, is protection always needed?

 

[freeman45]

hmmmm I just stumbled upon this stuff for a couple dollars more.

Is this meshed wire better than regular wire that doesn't advertise any sort of protection?

"This is a good quality cable with thick Digital Fully Shielded High Definition OFC (Oxygen Free Copper) cable suitab"

Is that just a BS line to trick noobs like me, or does it sound legit?

 

[shadyJ]

There is a ton of BS in the audio cable business, but shielding is beneficial, especially for long runs. Oxygen free is a good thing, as oxygen causes copper to corrode. I would think most cables would be free of oxygen, so I don't know why that would be advertised as a feature or what they really mean by that.

 

[ImcLoud]

Heres what you are going to run into with a "good " 3.5mm cables, the ends are weak, I use adapter cables in a few of my systems, its a fast easy way to hook in an ipod, laptop, phone, ect and Im not sure what configuration you need but the best one I ever bought was a 3.5mm to stereo rca from choseal... New Choseal Q 563A 5M Gold Plated 3 5mm Male to Male Stereo Plug Audio Cable | eBay Im not sure if that is long enough but I like it better than the ones I got from monoprice... Choseal ships from outside the country but Ill be honest for the price even though cable is cable of course, it is impressive looking stuff.. you can get these for around $99 shipped and I have a set, Ill be honest its an impressive set of speaker cables, they look like they are really expensive, and if you have adecent 2 ch setup with exposed wires why not have it look really nice... Choseal lb 5109 8 2ft OCC 6N Speaker Loudspeaker Cable 2 5M OD19 Banana Plug | eBay I do prefer to make my own cables, but its a nice set for what they cost.. they sell a series down from them for about half the price that I like better than the emotivas..