Which of these two HDMI cables would you choose and why?

[ellisr63]

I also

The above unit and the 12 Meter Ruipro cable arrived yesterday.

The specs on the that voltage inserter above are 1000 ma at 5 volts. That should be plenty and nothing stressed. I think that is preferable to drawing power from an HDMI that it is not designed to provide. I think this is the robust solution.

The way things are going we are at least a couple of months away from any testing, probably nearer three from studio completion. We shall all have to wait patiently for results.

I have the RUIPRO, but mine is 75' if I recall correctly. Awesome cable!

 

[Otto Plyot]

Yep. The specs for HDMI 1.4 and 2.1 state that the HDMI connector provides a pin allowing the source to supply +5.0 Volts to the cable and sink and that all HDMI sources shall be able to supply a minimum of 55mA to the +5V power pin. The sink shall not draw more than 50mA of current from the +5V pin and when the sink is powered on, it can draw no more than 10mA of current from the +5V pin. The +5V power signal from the HDMI source has an over-current protection maximum of no more than 0.5A.

 

[TLS Guy]

I should complete this thread.

The Ruipro cable and the power inserter have worked perfectly for me. There have been zero issues. That was the correct choice in my opinion.

 

[Otto Plyot]

I should complete this thread.

The Ruipro cable and the power inserter have worked perfectly for me. There have been zero issues. That was the correct choice in my opinion.

Thanks for posting back. It appears that for some, especially with long runs going to pj's, installing a power inserter is just the boost that is needed for reliability.

 

[Otto Pylot]

Thanks for posting back. It appears that for some, especially with long runs going to pj's, installing a power inserter is just the boost that is needed for reliability.

I had to change my login info so I'm replying back to my post so I can start re-building my posts. My login name was spelled wrong so now I have to start all over. That and the fact that I forgot my pw and am unable to retrieve it back. Audioholics support is non-existent.

 

[phillipsjo]

Hello everyone and special thanks for your comments. I have a Denon AVR5200W and it has been working just fine EXCEPT, I used a Monoprice Redmere HDMI Cable as I started using a projector for my main viewing (and the distance was greater than 45 ft. This worked fine for 5 months until, while watching a show one night in September 2020, the HDMI signal was lost (just immediately gone). Typical blue screen with "HDMI 1 no signal". I then plugged my computer directly into the projector (with a different HDMI cable) and the projector was working just fine. I had an alternate HDMI cable that I directly wired from the Denon AVR to the projector and again typical blue screen with "HDMI 1 no signal". I changed to the alternate HDMI port on the AVR and again "no signal". I took the Denon receiver to a certified technician and explained what happened. (I had used him prior to that for other items and he is very thorough and a great technician). He called me later in the afternoon and said that powered Redmere cable had fried the digital board and all the HDMI outs and ins (he said he had not seen that before, but had seen "powered HDMI cables fry one HDMI port"). He ordered and replaced the board and now I have purchased the C2G 42223 HDMI Voltage Inserter as per excellent suggestion from TLS Guy suggested and purchased a Ruipro cable.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hello everyone and special thanks for your comments. I have a Denon AVR5200W and it has been working just fine EXCEPT, I used a Monoprice Redmere HDMI Cable as I started using a projector for my main viewing (and the distance was greater than 45 ft. This worked fine for 5 months until, while watching a show one night in September 2020, the HDMI signal was lost (just immediately gone). Typical blue screen with "HDMI 1 no signal". I then plugged my computer directly into the projector (with a different HDMI cable) and the projector was working just fine. I had an alternate HDMI cable that I directly wired from the Denon AVR to the projector and again typical blue screen with "HDMI 1 no signal". I changed to the alternate HDMI port on the AVR and again "no signal". I took the Denon receiver to a certified technician and explained what happened. (I had used him prior to that for other items and he is very thorough and a great technician). He called me later in the afternoon and said that powered Redmere cable had fried the digital board and all the HDMI outs and ins (he said he had not seen that before, but had seen "powered HDMI cables fry one HDMI port"). He ordered and replaced the board and now I have purchased the C2G 42223 HDMI Voltage Inserter as per excellent suggestion from TLS Guy suggested and purchased a Ruipro cable.

Thanks for that report. This happening once is enough. This is exactly what I was worried about, and why I looked for and bought a voltage inserter to power my Ruipro cables. So that is the issue, HDMI ports either need to be designed and specified to power these cables. Alternatively powered cables need a voltage inserter in the box.

Now the recommendation is clear. If you use a powered cable, then purchase a voltage inserter. The benefits of hybrid cables are immense. They are fantastic performers over long distances.

A voltage inserter is only a small fraction of the cost of an HDMI board. Don't learn the hard way!

 

[highfigh]

I had to change my login info so I'm replying back to my post so I can start re-building my posts. My login name was spelled wrong so now I have to start all over. That and the fact that I forgot my pw and am unable to retrieve it back. Audioholics support is non-existent.

Did you search the member list and look for the other spelling? That should have allowed you to click the 'Forgot Password' button and get a new one.

 

[highfigh]

Thanks for that report. This happening once is enough. This is exactly what I was worried about, and why I looked for and bought a voltage inserter to power my Ruipro cables. So that is the issue, HDMI ports either need to be designed and specified to power these cables. Alternatively powered cables need a voltage inserter in the box.

Now the recommendation is clear. If you use a powered cable, then purchase a voltage inserter. The benefits of hybrid cables are immense. They are fantastic performers over long distances.

A voltage inserter is only a small fraction of the cost of an HDMI board. Don't learn the hard way!

That small 'acceptable voltage' window that was designed into HDMI is one of the reasons I hate it. Then, there's the ridiculously weak plug and jack- if only someone had told them "Gravity pulls downward, stupid!", some of the problems would never occur.

 

[highfigh]

Hello everyone and special thanks for your comments. I have a Denon AVR5200W and it has been working just fine EXCEPT, I used a Monoprice Redmere HDMI Cable as I started using a projector for my main viewing (and the distance was greater than 45 ft. This worked fine for 5 months until, while watching a show one night in September 2020, the HDMI signal was lost (just immediately gone). Typical blue screen with "HDMI 1 no signal". I then plugged my computer directly into the projector (with a different HDMI cable) and the projector was working just fine. I had an alternate HDMI cable that I directly wired from the Denon AVR to the projector and again typical blue screen with "HDMI 1 no signal". I changed to the alternate HDMI port on the AVR and again "no signal". I took the Denon receiver to a certified technician and explained what happened. (I had used him prior to that for other items and he is very thorough and a great technician). He called me later in the afternoon and said that powered Redmere cable had fried the digital board and all the HDMI outs and ins (he said he had not seen that before, but had seen "powered HDMI cables fry one HDMI port"). He ordered and replaced the board and now I have purchased the C2G 42223 HDMI Voltage Inserter as per excellent suggestion from TLS Guy suggested and purchased a Ruipro cable.

How old is that Redmere cable? A few years ago, an update caused Redmere to not work and if yours is old enough, that may apply. I got calls from someone with a home that's almost three hours from here and they had sound, but no video. Great. First time, unplugging it helped, next time, it didn't. When I went to buy the replacement cable, I was told about the issue, so I didn't use an active cable and it has worked since because it's not terribly long. Then, the company that sells the bad one wouldn't cover it under their three year warranty, even though most warranties start when the part is sold to the end user, not when the dealer buys it from the distributor. Key Digital thinks it's the latter, so I will never buy their crap again especially after the tech support guy's idea that I could cut the ends off, terminate them with an RJ45 and use one of their HDMI extenders that sell for $300. Right. I should tell the customer that he'll have to pay another $300+ for something that "should" work when the first POS didn't.

Unfortunately, HDMI is like a mountainside that we're forced to run down, while wearing a blindfold. We know trouble will come, just not when or where.

 

[Otto Pylot]

Did you search the member list and look for the other spelling? That should have allowed you to click the 'Forgot Password' button and get a new one.

No I didn't but I think all is well now. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Otto Pylot]

Thanks for that report. This happening once is enough. This is exactly what I was worried about, and why I looked for and bought a voltage inserter to power my Ruipro cables. So that is the issue, HDMI ports either need to be designed and specified to power these cables. Alternatively powered cables need a voltage inserter in the box.

Now the recommendation is clear. If you use a powered cable, then purchase a voltage inserter. The benefits of hybrid cables are immense. They are fantastic performers over long distances.

A voltage inserter is only a small fraction of the cost of an HDMI board. Don't learn the hard way!

I'm not quite sure if an active cable can actually damage an HDMI port. Redmere is the old active technology for copper-only cables, Spectra7 bought them out so the "new and improved" active chipsets are now Spectra7, but I guess anything is possible. Active cables are designed to draw 50mA of power, which is not a lot, but I suppose if the active connector faults it could damage the connected port.

Ruipro includes a voltage inserter (5v/500mA) with their 8k hybrid fiber cables in case they are needed. They have about a 17" USB cable which gives you some length to connect to a USB port on your device or a wall adapter. I've used a 1' USB 3.0 cable extender because my USB ports are on the front of my devices so I needed the extra length to connect the voltage inserter from the front to the back where the HDMI ports are. Works just fine even tho I didn't see any difference with or without the VI, but I didn't have any issues so it was more of an exercise in concept than anything else. The only disadvantage of using a VI is that some have reported a slight loss of video fidelity because you are introducing a "break" in the HDMI chain with the addition of the inserter but I never saw any difference so YMMV on that.

 

[TLS Guy]

I'm not quite sure if an active cable can actually damage an HDMI port. Redmere is the old active technology for copper-only cables, Spectra7 bought them out so the "new and improved" active chipsets are now Spectra7, but I guess anything is possible. Active cables are designed to draw 50mA of power, which is not a lot, but I suppose if the active connector faults it could damage the connected port.

Ruipro includes a voltage inserter (5v/500mA) with their 8k hybrid fiber cables in case they are needed. They have about a 17" USB cable which gives you some length to connect to a USB port on your device or a wall adapter. I've used a 1' USB 3.0 cable extender because my USB ports are on the front of my devices so I needed the extra length to connect the voltage inserter from the front to the back where the HDMI ports are. Works just fine even tho I didn't see any difference with or without the VI, but I didn't have any issues so it was more of an exercise in concept than anything else. The only disadvantage of using a VI is that some have reported a slight loss of video fidelity because you are introducing a "break" in the HDMI chain with the addition of the inserter but I never saw any difference so YMMV on that.

I did a careful test. The inserter cases zero loss of picture quality. A voltage inserter is very cheap insurance. I strongly recommend a voltage inserter ALWAYS be used to power any type of active HDMI cable.

 

[Otto Pylot]

I did a careful test. The inserter cases zero loss of picture quality. A voltage inserter is very cheap insurance. I strongly recommend a voltage inserter ALWAYS be used to power any type of active HDMI cable.

Yeah, like I said, some said that there may be a slight loss of pq but I never saw any in my testing as well.

I have a bunch of voltage inserters that Ruipro sent me for testing their 4k/8k (Gen 1) cables but my cable runs are only about 10' so it sounds like longer runs would benefit from the VI's. I don't need to use hybrid fiber cabling for my systems, and it is a bit of an expensive overkill, but the testing I did for them was to demonstrate that there wasn't any issues with hybrid fiber cables and short runs in case there was a question. I just left the cables in place and they've been fine for almost a year now (without the VI's). I will be testing the Zeskit, passive, Ultra High Speed HDMI cables next month for them as well but my guess is that there won't be any issues or differences between them and the Ruipro4k cables. I don't have any HDMI 2.1 devices yet but the idea is to demonstrate that the Zeskit cables work just fine for HDMI 2.0 devices so that when one does move up, if they choose to do so, to HDMI 2.1, cables are already in place that should work fine being as they are passive.