Expensive Instrument Cable Snake Oil

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bxlxaxkxe
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BlackOut8910 said:
If there is an audible difference, then it should be childs play to demonstrate that with a graph of the signal.

However, the placebo effect wil lnot show up in such a graph.
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I can't comment on the other brands mentioned, but for analysis plus there was some science n stuff behind it lol... not gonna say I understand this to a T... but I heard a difference. Was it a huge difference? Not if your cranking it up and have ringing ears, not noticeable. For me though, doing everything via silent recording in headphones, yeah I could tell a difference for sure.

The link for their white paper n stuff -> https://analysis.plus/downloads/#:~:text=In this new section, you,cables perform and sound better.
 
Ferrite/rings in power cables is absolutely beneficial to noise reduction.
I've tested this over years with PSUs and even USB cables.
Increased stability in VRMs that led to higher stable overclocks.
Even among poor designs.
Could absolutely see a benefit to using it with tube amps.
 
I'm picking up some Fricker vibes in this thread.

guitar midwits.jpg
 
I just use a power conditioner, a CIOKS DC7 with the latest switching tech ....... noise floor is as low as it can get I imagine everything else aside..... havent really found much that can bring it lower thanks to the noise filtering tech......



Maybe a 300$ power cable will lower noise floor further but not sure if I would need one for the amp and one for the PSU too. No EMI, no added noise and actually lower noise floor with the DC7 and pedal board than plugged straight into amp. Nearly 20 db lower for example using a solid PSU like a DC7 for example....



How much lower noise floor in db is it vs a standard average IEC? Do they offer lower noise floor than a switching PSU or what is the difference between said power cables, Regular power cables and a PSU relative to noise floor?



I've found that a solid switching PSU to filter out noise helps in bringing noise floor down and improving sound/tone as well and have a hard time imagining how a 300$ power cable helps mitigate added noise floor more than a solid PSU and/or a power conditioner.......




Here for example the DC7 offers nearly 20 db lower noise floor vs being plugged straight into amp as mentioned :dunno:



 
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NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
Ferrite/rings in power cables is absolutely beneficial to noise reduction.
I've tested this over years with PSUs and even USB cables.
Increased stability in VRMs that led to higher stable overclocks.
Even among poor designs.
Could absolutely see a benefit to using it with tube amps.
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I went kinda nuts on ferrite rings. I put them on all the lamp cables within 20 ft of my recording area and anything else that generates weird electrical noise that gets picked up when silent recording. Also anything with rgb lights, in fact it took me forever to realize that my fkn rgb keyboard lights was adding noise when recording guitar.. when ever my pickups were facing the keyboard it would kinda make noise with the rgb lights on.
 
errrrrl said:
I went kinda nuts on ferrite rings. I put them on all the lamp cables within 20 ft of my recording area and anything else that generates weird electrical noise that gets picked up when silent recording. Also anything with rgb lights, in fact it took me forever to realize that my fkn rgb keyboard lights was adding noise when recording guitar.. when ever my pickups were facing the keyboard it would kinda make noise with the rgb lights on.
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Well you see, that's your problem @errrrrl

You must have imagined the noise that you noticed, as thoroughly debunked by Science McScience Man over there and his totally credible youtuber sources™️

Simply because it's qualitative data instead of quantitative data, it doesn't matter. Attempting to understand the experiences of others through language is too difficult! The only data that matters is the data that i can attach numbers to, so unless you have a scholarly article from the Priest Caste, forgive me, but I'm going to have to remain skeptical of your totally self-explanatory and well thought out comment.
 
So I was looking for analysis plus vids out of curiosity and came across this vid from Fluff... I noticed his comments are disabled for that vid, guessing he was getting hit with snake oil post lol... The cables he flashes in the vid are pretty much what Im using too in case anyone was interested.

 
Im just asking relative to a Regular cable what are the differences in noise floor if any and relative to a switching PSU is it any better or relevant and redundant in any such case given a good switching unit actually removes added noise as much as possible and actually offers lower noise floor and filters out the amps inherent noise floor in a measureable way......



Has anyone actually measured that they offer lower noise floor if any or lower noise floor and by how much vs a Regular power cable or switching PSU? I mean if your using said Power Cable I dont see how its filtering noise any better or could than a switching PSU especially one that uses multi stage filtering.



Relative to a power conditioner especially in combo with a solid switching PSU it just doesnt seem practical either or makes much sense given the practical quantitative and effect/benefits one can actually measure in noise floor using a switching PSU and Power Conditioner vs a 300 dollar power cable IMO.



Wouldnt I need a 300 dollar power strip for the PSU and amp too if there are any benefits to it to begin with? Isnt a power conditioner like a Furman or Tripp Lite and a switching PSU just more practical in that regard given opportunity cost low noise floor and filtering they measureably provide?
 
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simonfrewler said:
Science has shown the way, to kill production.

View attachment 390849
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It's more like an extension of "the cathedral" where the unwashed masses think of everything the priest caste of scientists say or do is divine in origin and beyond reproach; hence the religious fervor of their rallying cries.

"Correlation doesn't imply causation!"

"Where's the evidence? No, no that kind of evidence; the kind of evidence that a priori disregards your position."

"Garbage in, garbage out"

etc, etc
 
DanTravis62 said:
It's more like an extension of "the cathedral" where the unwashed masses think of everything the priest caste of scientists say or do is divine in origin and beyond reproach; hence the religious fervor of their rallying cries.

"Correlation doesn't imply causation!"

"Where's the evidence? No, no that kind of evidence; the kind of evidence that a priori disregards your position."

"Garbage in, garbage out"

etc, etc
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This seems like a Paladin issue.🤣


All joking aside.

This is a rabbit hole I stay away from, for obvious reasons. Even though technically I'm an engineer, I don't like to be in my free time. 🤣
I'm looking for reasons to play, not reasons not to play. 🤣
 
I mean the White Papers are nice but there really isnt any baseline or data comparing 300 dollar power cables or any boutique power cables relative to the noise floor of a Regular power cable and power conditioner to see if there are any quantifiable benefits if any......

Nvm relative to a solid switching PSU that one can objectively measure........ It may be so that they help with noise floor but if so how much relative to a solid switching PSU and/or solid Power Conditioner? No one really makes that claim in most videos or comparisons and merely talk about the tonal "differences" they bring......


They may or may not actually have any practical benefits in regards to noise floor but I just dont see any practical or real benefits from boutique power cables given opportunity cost and the availability of a solid power conditioner/switching PSU in regards to noise floor.


From an objective standpoint its just hard to imagine the practical benefits of a 300$ or 2000$ power cable given opportunity cost and Actual measureable benefits if any they may have to offer to lowering noise floor. Are there any such comparisons or such baselines from anyone anywhere?
 
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BlackOut8910 said:
"I mean do we also need to provide scientific data or graphs to explain why certain amps, guitars, or speakers sound better to us vs others?"

You've never seen speaker response graphs?

Vintage 30
https://midi-audio-expert.com/wp-co...ion_vintage_30_speaker_frequency_response.jpg

Greenback
https://celestion.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/T1221-G12M-Greenback-copy.jpg

If an amp claims to put out 120 watts - you can test and prove that. If an amp claims to put out 0.5 total harmonic distortion, you can test and prove that.
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I mean pretty much this if anything claims to offer any real benefit it can be tested...Replicated in a similar enviornment........ by others, tested and verified........ White Papers or none of anything presented by anyone saying 300 dollar or 2000 dollar power cables do anything to offer any real benefits in terms of practical utility and use in regards to lower noise floor has actually proved anything or said anything to prove so in that regard or show so.....


Maybe they sound "better" but thats entirely subjective....... different PSU I have to say do affect the tone of pedals marginally but didnt hear any real difference in noise floor if any say with a True Tone vs a CIOKS.



Maybe they sound better maybe they dont but nothing shown shows there are any real practical benefits in terms of noise floor and if there are any how much better are the benefits in regards to noise floor relative to practical things like a power conditioner and/or a switching PSU?


Given whats practical, what can be tested and has and hasnt and opportunity cost its just hard to see the benefits of 300 dollar or 2000 dollar power cables IMO and from an objective standpoint.
 
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BlackOut8910 said:
Audiophile power cords tested against factory power cords - no detectable difference.

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Also pretty much as dude explains Power Cables have zero effect on sound/tone.


This is tested and illustrated here objectively and with real measureable tools on this chart. No difference whatsoever between a Regular power cable and a 300$ or 2000$ power cable tone/sound wise.

1000000274.jpg



Dude also explains that if you have noise most of the time its from a ground loop and this can be helped with a power conditioner and if you have pedals, synths, keyboards etc etc a PSU with noise filtering IME and its actually tested, replicatable and actually does what its supposed to do and thats offer lower noise floor and little to no added noise to the signal.



Pretty much a PSU and power conditioner actually bring real, quantifiable, measurable and testaste benefits that 300 dollar or 2000 dollar power cables just dont offer......



Nvm a PSU and power conditioner are more practical too :dunno:


Usually IME a good PSU will filter out any added noise and the newer switching stuff even better as they just filter stuff cleaner and to lower noise floor with little to no noise added.

1000000276.jpg
 
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Bxlxaxkxe said:
That is 100% what this is about. That first cable from guitar to pedalboard/first pedal is most important from what I understand
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Pretty much this is what I have found ImE. The first cable in the signal plays the most influence on end tone.


Say if you have brand A and brand B or two cables of the same brand but different models for example. If you plug from guitar to board with cable A and plug in from board to amp with cable B this will sound different plugged in vice versa relative to one another.



This is why I always advise to use the same brand/model of cables when plugging to board from guitar and to amp from board aside from mitigating/regulating a baseline of a nominal noise floor or even lowering noise floor lower in some cases and to keep the tone/sound of the first cable in the signal intact or "pure" to the cables inherent tone for lack of a better term.
 
If you guys want to put this to bed send me your cables or whatever & I'll A/B reamp test them & post it up. Otherwise it's gonna be "team subjective" vs "team objective" for the next 10 pages.
 
GJgo said:
If you guys want to put this to bed send me your cables or whatever & I'll A/B reamp test them & post it up. Otherwise it's gonna be "team subjective" vs "team objective" for the next 10 pages.
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I mean I dont have any 300$ or 2000$ to send over...... could send my regular IEC power cable but I figure you have one already.....


In either case its already been shown they dont do anything other than power stuff...... as any proper power cable should do and can do :dunno:
 
Personally, I have zero knowledge of how the super expensive stuff compares. That being said, Im fairly certain that the monoprice cables I am using are holding back my sound to an extent. Ive heard that Sommer cables as an example are really good, but with my amp switcher setup, id functionally need 15 or so cables and 10 or so speaker cables. Is there a brand that people recommend that wouldnt require me to spend 1000$ on cables? I see a lot of people recommending stuff like buying a fuck ton of mogami cable and neutrik connectors, but no idea if those are the best options- I basically want cables that dont actively hold back my guitar tone.
 
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