Monster "Super Thin" HDMI Cables

[j_garcia]

Unless I'm mistaken, all HDMI cables should be measured by two simple measures:
What data bandwidth it can sustain and what over distance.
Ability of 100AWG cable to transport 10Gbps over 5" doesn't impress me much.
Lets test this "ultra-thin" (TM)(C)(R)(U) (etc...) cable in 50ft length to be able to do Full HDMI 1.3 spec and then talk about is it impressive or not so much.

Yes, but we are talking about a company that THX certifies speaker wire AFAIK, the ONLY company that does this and for no apparent reason.

 

[Nemo128]

If it's competitively priced and functional, I don't see a problem with it.

 

[agarwalro]

Genuine questions: Do video signals not need the kind of shielding we put on speaker cables? Does the higher signal frequency it less prone to interference from the cable acting like an antenna?

If the answers are no and yes respectively, then why do we have component and HDMI cables as thick as Boa Constrictors? Until now the fad was overshielded cables as thick as garden hoses, whether it was needed or not. Now is the new fad super thin cables with little or no shielding?

I wonder how easily will it rip out of the termination, given that the primary application cited is a high manipulation situation.

 

[j_garcia]

Genuine questions: Do video signals not need the kind of shielding we put on speaker cables? Does the higher signal frequency it less prone to interference from the cable acting like an antenna?

Speaker cables don't need shielding at all. Analog interconnects do benefit from it for video, not so sure about audio. For digital interconnects though, I can't say that shielding would be necessary but I am not an EE either.

 

[Nemo128]

Well, one big myth that "engineers" like to throw around is that "digital is digital" and "ones and zeros are ones and zeros."

This just isn't the truth. Any engineer worth his weight in calipers and diodes, and I don't claim to be a great one, knows that ones and zeroes are determined by voltage levels and thresholds. Interference can easily flip a "one" to a "zero" and vice versa in the real world. Even on paper it happens, and it certainly happens in lab testing environments.

Does it affect our systems? Honestly I'd have to measure it myself to say for certain. Will you ever notice a single bit in an audio and/or video stream being biased improperly? Absolutely positively not.

 

[redman_43]

If it's competitively priced and functional, I don't see a problem with it.

I totally agree.

There's nothing wrong with Monster Cable products, per se. All of our *****ing and moaning about Monster Cable seems to be related to their BS marketing and demo practices, and their bully legal tactics.

If this is priced right and does what an HDMI cable is supposed to do, this will be a winner. It's just a plus that it's a super thin cable.

Unfortunately, past experience tells me that it will likely be way overpriced and Monster Cable will claim that it will do miracles. However, if I stumble across one of these at 30%-50% of regular retail price, I might be tempted to buy it.

 

[j_garcia]

I can see it now "This cable will make everything 3D no matter what kind of TV you have without glasses. It will make your eyeballs sparkle."

I was able to get 40-50% off on MC products at one point, but that company closed its local stores. At full price, they are far too overpriced.

 

[Cheetah]

About $100 for a low gauge HDMI cable? Where do I sign up?

Really, I can't see a single reason to use this cable.

 

[roots4x]

Well, one big myth that "engineers" like to throw around is that "digital is digital" and "ones and zeros are ones and zeros."

This just isn't the truth. Any engineer worth his weight in calipers and diodes, and I don't claim to be a great one, knows that ones and zeroes are determined by voltage levels and thresholds. Interference can easily flip a "one" to a "zero" and vice versa in the real world. Even on paper it happens, and it certainly happens in lab testing environments.

Does it affect our systems? Honestly I'd have to measure it myself to say for certain. Will you ever notice a single bit in an audio and/or video stream being biased improperly? Absolutely positively not.

When "engineers" (computer engineer here) say that 1s are 1s and 0s are 0s, they mean it. Of course it's still an electrical signal coming through the cable that is susceptible to EMI, but the fact is that digital transmission over an electrical cable is the only way to transmit a perfect signal from one end to the other. Even with relatively low quality cables, even if there is noticeable and measurable signal degradation, it's relatively easy to transmit a perfect audio or video stream.

I mean, you have a 30 gauge HDMI cable at 50ft, there will probably be enough signal loss to prevent accurate transmission of the signal. It's not a matter of the bits "flipping." What'll happen is that the square wave (which has imperfections of its own like propagation times, etc) will stop looking like a square wave and start looking like random spikes. The great thing about digital data though is that it can allow for flow control, error checking and other sorts of signal integrity checking without disrupting the perfect signal. So basically, if you get a picture or sound through HDMI or optical, you're assuredly getting the HIGHEST possible quality you can get. THAT's the point, you will not get 95% or 90%, it's ALL or NOTHING (pretty much). THAT'S why some people say 1s are 1s and 0s are 0s. (it is possible to lose frames or see visible imperfections in video but that is something that will be very obvious and is an attempt to prevent a complete loss of signal)

Paying any more than $10 for a 10ft HDMI cable is overkill. Fact is a decently made digital cable (i.e. cheap) is MORE than suitable for even the most expensive home audio/video systems in terms of fidelity.

 

[Audioholics]

Some people are taking the "digital is digital" and "cheap cables are all you need" argument to the extreme. Just because Monster makes overpriced cables doesn't mean that only $10 cables are good... and it certainly doesn't mean that a cheap 50 foot HDMI cable is going to get you anything other than pissed off when you try to pass 1080p, especially at anything over 8-bit/channel.

Carrying the "overpriced cables suck" argument to the wrong extreme conclusions doesn't help anyone and in fact can cause people to waste their money on cables that don't work.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I'm not a fan of M in any way. Just because I don't like their business model doesn't mean they'll never eventually come out with a good or original item. We won't know until it's tested if it's a quality item or a shiny turd. If it is worthwhile and I need/want one, I'll wait until someone else comes out with something similar and buy it from them instead.

This is an audio site and like the article says, it is a new and, assuming it works, possibly innovative product. I don't have issue with it being covered and I didn't see any stamps of approvals in the article. (FTR, this isn't the first time an M product has been reviewed here). I'll wait for the test results before I start bashing it.

Jack