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I'm curious to see what people think of the Mogami cables, is it just marketing? Are cables all the same or is there a real difference in sound if you pay more?

I did see an article on fake cables..

I think they least expensive one should work..

Well they make a difference on a very high quality system, on most basic PA systems that karaoke use, you aren't going to be able to tell THAT much difference & the added expense isn't going to be worth it.

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Mogami, is it marketing or do they actually make a superior product? Actually to the best of my knowledge Mogami doesn't do a lot of marketing, they tend to let their product speak for itself. Mogami makes some extremely nice cable, particularly their quad core. Is the extra cost worth it? In my opinion no, the average user doesn't require a product with the specs that Mogami presents. There are several manufacturers that come in very close with a substantially lower price point, like Conair for example. I have included a link to one of my favorite cable suppliers just so you can read over a few specs and compare a few different competitors so you can weigh cost vs spec. I think you will find that although Mogami makes a great product they are also priced substantially higher than other manufacturers with comparable offerings.
http://www.redco.com/shopdisplaycategor ... Line+Cable

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye

Higher price but they are worth the extra money. I notice the difference in my sound but purchased them for durability and reliability. I have a pro sound guy (Brownell Sound) that I deal with that I trust completely and he says that they have carried them since they have been on the market and can't remember the last time they had to do a cable replacement with Mogami cables. That was good enough for me!!

As my other cables fail I will replace them with Mogami as well.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

I use all monster product if it fails they give you a new one. Just take it back to the store. They are a bit more but I think well worth the expense.

Almost missed the original question here. Are all mic cables equal? Of course not. I wish it was as easy as good, better, best, but in reality in the world of mic cables its probably more like Crap, Not As Crappy, Pretty Good, Good, Better, Best and Ridiculous. Even within the major cable manufactures like Beldon, Conair and Mogami several different qualities of cable is offered. Quality is determined by wire gage, wire purity, shielding, shielding material, core quantity, twisted and jacket material. I might have missed something but those are the features I look at when buying cable. I usually build my own cables (mostly because I have found some less then professional solder connections on premade cables in the past). For normal use I will usually use a 22 to 24 gage oxygen free cable with a 90 to 95% braided copper shield. On the Crap to Ridiculous scale I would rate it at about a Good. I did notice that ProCo has Ameriquad cables out at a reasonable price. A twisted quad core cable has definite advantages and would come out somewhere around a high better or a low best. The bottom line is, unless your so concerned about your sound that you are using a Midas mixer or at least a mid level Allen & Heath or Soundcraft you probably shouldn't worry about getting into the Best or Ridiculous mic cables for a Karaoke situation. Just stay away from the bottom three levels and all will be fine (you've seen them on Ebay, 10 cables for 50 bucks). A Good to Better Cable should cost between 25 and 40 dollars for a 20 to 30 footer.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--PRCAQ If you go to the "DOCS" section on this page there is a fairly informative explanation of Mic Cables.

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye

Lots of theories and myths concerning cable. Besides the advice above…

I would buy something that’s guaranteed for life,

bought locally so they’re easy to return,

and have extras on hand.

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Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

All cables are not created equal, to be sure, but in my opinion -- and the opinion of many -- it has nothing to do with sound. Zero ohms is zero ohms, and capacitance on a mic cable is of little to no import.

To me how good a cable is relates to its connectors, strain relief, connection reliability, and pliability. I like the "best" grade Live Wire cables just fine. They are extremely pliable, lay flat with no kinking, use Neutrik connectors and have (so far) excellent reliability. The crap cables you get free with mics failed for me all the time, and I just give them away now.

Part of sound is consistency, and if a cable doesn't make connection it is worse sound. But I don't believe it is going to be richer or fuller or anything like that. Zero ohms is zero ohms.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

As s former engineer of tv broadcast we used Beldin 8451U with a 75 ohm 1% resistor termination.. It was 600 ohm balanced. As a kj I can use the shacks mic cables and at crowd volume and rocking I defy you to tell the difference...

I can replace all your cables at about $2 a foot and maybe increase your sound quality maybe 5% or less..

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Thanks guy's for your input I recently discovered the Mogami cables and I'm so glad I did, it's a bit costly having to replace my existing high end studio cables but honestly, it's worth every penny spent so far I'm now a HUGE fan of the Mogami cables based on my recent experienced and the last thing I wish to do, is trying to convince anyone that cables do make a difference, it's a fact that it does and it's really a debate I do not wish to start with anyone. If someone says numbers are simply numbers and if the numbers are the same, well, there's no difference OK, all speakers with the same stats sounds the same, all tv's with the same stats look the same, all cars with the same stats are performing the same... Of course, it's an opinion that I can't share

An interesting article here about cables:
http://www.merchantcircle.com/blogs/INT ... ce-/112602

Audio Cables - Fact & Fiction Revealed
An Interview with Gene DellaSala from Audioholics.com on Audio Cables

Q:
Can cables make an audible difference?

A:
Most definitely, but usually not for the reasons that many exotic cable vendors would have you believe. And the “difference” may or may not be a good thing. We refer to companies that produce high glossy cables constructed of elaborate metals and/or wrappings supported by fancy marketing to justify high prices as Exotic Cable vendors. We have seen many exotic speaker cables that actually acted like a tone control rolling off high frequency response due to excessive resistance and inductance, while we have seen other cables make a system sound bright because of their excessive capacitance causing the amplifier to peak its high frequency response. Be cautious about exotic cable vendors that do not specify cable metrics or downplay the importance of measurements.

Q:
What is the purpose of an audio cable?

A:
That’s a good question and certainly often a misunderstood one due to the bombardment of misinformation in the audio industry. The basic purpose of a cable is to transfer the signal from point A to point B unadulterated. At audio frequencies the goal is to minimize losses by controlling the amount of Resistance, Inductance and Capacitance. For speaker cables, we have found the primary concerns for optimal signal transfer is to minimize resistance, followed by inductance, while also keeping capacitance in check to eliminate the possibilities of amplifier oscillation or frequency peaking. For line level analog interconnects it’s a good idea to use cables that are low in capacitance and are well shielded to eliminate interference and external noise sources from mitigating into the signal. For video, good shielding and maintaining the proper characteristic impedance is vital. For more details on cable basics, I encourage your readership to review our Cable Budget Guidelines article.

Q:
Should I buy expensive cables?

A:
Provided that the cables are properly designed and meet your specific requirements I see no reason why you shouldn’t invest in quality, not necessarily expensive cables. However, many of the lavishly priced exotic cables are not designed well and more often the case than not, cheaper cables, which are usually not covered in bogus marketing literature, offer better performance and certainly better value.

Q:
How much should I invest in cables?

A:
We generally recommend about 5-7% of total system cost. Anything more would be better spent on higher performance electronics, speakers, room treatments or software.

Q:
Why do some cables cost so much?

A:
In my opinion, there are several reasons actually.

1) In HiFi, if a product doesn’t carry a very high price, it won’t be taken seriously by many audiophiles.

2) Many of the exotics are niche products that sell in low quantities to a limited market, thus in order to be profitable must carry a high price tag to pay for company overhead and marketing expenses.

3) Some of the exotic cables do involve higher material costs. While this may not improve the electrical or audible characteristics of the cables, it does usually improve their cosmetics and product appeal.

Q:
Who really makes cables, and who just puts their logo on them?

A:
Very few cable vendors, especially the exotic brands, manufacturer their own cables. Most of them buy large reels of wire from China and either repackage them locally or have them labeled with their Logo overseas. In fact we usually receive 2-3 emails/week from overseas vendors wanting to manufacturer and brand Audioholics.com cables for us. What do you think, good idea ?

Q:
Why is there so much confusion about cables?

A:
I suspect misinformation and low consumer awareness are the key reasons. Of course glowing subjective reviews and endorsements in audio publications don’t help this either. Many exotic cable vendors know the average consumer/audiophile has little or no background in electronics, yet they somehow have to justify why their products cost so much and why the consumer/audiophile needs them. So with that, the exotic cable vendor concocts marketing literature, usually in the form of a story, based on half engineering truths or misapplied engineering principles to lure you in. They often reject the proven fundamental truths that govern these principles and claim established associated theories cannot be verified through measurements or engineering certainties, but instead only through hearing. What they fail to provide however is repeatable statistical data and correlation that their cables do sound “better” for the reasons they tout. They often go one step further and claim it can take weeks for the consumer to hear the benefits of their cables since they require a break in period. In reality cable break in is another misnomer, which I suspect is used to convince the customer to keep the cables beyond the retailers return policy. In addition, statistically, the longer the customer keeps a product the less likely they are to return it.

Q:
Are there any industry cable standards?

A:
Unfortunately no. Organizations such as the FTC do not regulate cable vendor claims and most cable vendors are slick with their claims by how they phrase them by using terms like (can, may, in our opinion, etc). Their claim about solving a problem that really doesn’t exist is mostly nebulous. For example, if the vendor claims their cables resolve “Strand Jumping” ten times better than ordinary 12AWG Zip Cord, then since this problem really doesn’t exist, ten times zero is still zero.

Rest assured that Audioholics.com will always serve the consumers as the voice of reasons about cables and will question illegitimate claims made by any cable vendor when they surface on our radar screens. We are working to establish standards for the audio industry on cables as you will soon see in up and coming articles.

Q:
Why aren’t hardware vendors who design the electronics more vocal about cables?

A:
This is a rather complicated subject that I will try to answer as eloquently as possible without offending anyone. Many of the reputable hardware vendors I have spoken with feel exactly as I do about cables, at least privately. I suspect they aren’t publicly vocal about it because they don’t want to undercut their dealerships. Believe it or not, most dealer’s bread and butter result from cable sales. Cables offer some of the highest profit margins in the industry. It is not uncommon for a dealer to do in excess of $100K/month in revenues for cable sales where they would be lucky to do 1/4th of that in sales and maybe 1/8th in profit margins of say loudspeakers.

Q:
What marketing jargon do I need to be aware of?

A:
Here is a list of the top ten marketing gimmicks that we noticed many of the exotic cable vendors enjoy promoting: Top Ten Signs a Cable Vendor is Selling You Snake Oil

http://www.audioholics.com/education/ca ... -snake-oil

For the record Mogami Cables are Lifetime replacement warranty cables.

I'm sold on them!

My previous experience was with Live Wire and I had 2 cables in a row that were bad out of the box and they were lifetime replacement as well.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

I love this link:

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industr ... oil-cables

Especially this fair-use quote:

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

^^ ^^

my thoughts exactly!

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

The warranty is great but please, do not consider Monster to be a high end cable, this brand sells way too much for the quality it offers, they sell the name more then the quality If you read the article on my last post, you'll see a comment regarding Monster... I personally always had bad experience with this brand, whether it's an audio cable or a surge bar, WAY TOO EXPENSIVE but they do need to cover their cost of marketing

I have yet to have that happen as I buy these as well, but this can happen with ANY brand as it's so much like to be pointed out. You just got unlucky a couple times.
Get a lifetime guaranteed cable with a couple extra on hand so if one goes out you are covered for the night until you replace the next day & you'll be fine.

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