Also my preferred ordering for highs and clarity. Interestingly, that doesn't quite line up with the pF/ft metric (or it'd be 3-2-1-4, with a big gap between 3 and 1/4 nearly indistinguishable). So there's something else going on on top of that.
“I don’t know, I think heard a difference between them on my iPhone 7 with only one functioning speaker...” He says as he searches the internet for the right tone wood for his telecaster build.
I'm in applied electromagnetics class right now and this is giving me flashbacks to Gaussian surfaces, spherical conducting shells, and other irritating stuff like that
Interesting! I was listening with headphones and cables 1 & 4 (Mogami, GLS) seemed the brightest to me. I actually own a GLS 15 foot and a Mogami 10 foot and I can't tell the difference. (Although I have not done a serious listening test) On Darryl Braun's channel when he tested the cables, he found that the more expensive cables introduced less noise. Can you do a similar test to see if it makes a difference? Great stuff! Thanks!
Cable #1 had the most definition in highs. Followed by #4. #2 sounded muddy and #3 sounded slightly less muddy. All that being said, I used to match the cable to a particular guitar if I was in a studio. So depending on the part and the guitar, there were times when I would use a darker cable to tame down a guitar if it was too bright. Right tool for the right job, is my motto in most things.
I wasn't looking at the screen during the cable test and finally looked up on cable three to see when you were changing cables. I couldn't hear the difference at all. I love these type of videos. Thanks for busting guitar myths. Keep it up.
1. Brightest 2. Dullest 3. Brighter than 2 but duller than the rest. 4. Seems similar to 1 but a bit duller. My guess would be: 1.Daddario 2.Mogami (most expensive) 3.GLS 4.Pig Hog I've had good luck with Pig Hog cables recently. Hadnt heard of them until about a year ago. Curious to see where they actually landed.
very cool stuff. just ordered a pig hog yesterday. i got nervous when i saw you were testing that cable but i was happily relieved by the end. thanks for making these kinds of vids dyl, ive learned a lot watching your channel.
I’ve have always had this thought, you confirmed it. I’ve studied electronics and have worked in an electronics factory. I love how you explain things so I can share it with friends that don’t understand the full in and outs of electronics. Thank you for your time.
There is so little difference between them all in sound quality through headphones. Could the difference in price be related to the general structure and durability of the cables? A great sounding cable is no good once it’s broken.
Love Spectraflex. Cost a little more but complement a nice guitar. Hate stiff cables that have bend memory. Same with test leads and solder iron cables.
This makes so much sense. But I wonder about the rate of capacitance loss through different materials at different lengths. For instance, would a low quality cable lose the same amount of tone through capacitance loss as a higher quality cable with a better ratio of wires and optimal braid pattern and better insulation between the wires?
In order of increasing high-end roll off, I heard it as Cable 1, 3, 4, 2... so unless some other variables changed between the tests, the linear capacitance doesn't seem to be the main operating factor here. I wonder if the real difference is in the connectors?
Great vids mate! Always love the mythbusting vids. Used cheaper cables for many years, myself. Only ended up switching to the, slightly more expensive, Van Damme/Neutrik custom cables for better durability and colour options, to see what was plugged into what on a dark stage easier :) Never had anything to do with tone!
A couple quibbles with the explanation: 1. The voltage doesn't matter to the amount of signal lost to capacitance. It's frequency dependent, not voltage dependent. 2. Technically everything from the guitar to the speakers is all one circuit. The cable does connect directly to the guitar, but the reason it matters is because the output impedance of the guitar is high. If you have a high output impedance on a pedal, that will also have a similar effect (except it won't have inductance, so its not a resonant RLC filter, but just an RC low pass).
I recently saw a question and a Facebook guitar group, and the person asked if the price of the cable matters, most told this person that the most expensive cables will sound the best, Thankfully there were some Who were more realistic with their answers. I have been using cheap cables all my life. Thank you for the content, you just save me some cash.
Regarding WBC-built cable, they charge the same for mogami and Gotham GAC Ultra, which is one of the lowest capacitance cables (well, Sommer aside), so yes, I'm with you when you say that Mogami is really strong in the market department...
I remember getting up sold into buying a gold plated Monster Cable in my youth. Still have the cable which is a testament to its durability but I can’t say it sounds better than my other cables.
I actually had a funny experience with a Monster "Rock" cable back in 2004-ish.... I was recording some guitar tracks and started hearing radio stations coming through the cabinet. Swapped to a cheap Rapco Roadhog and it went away. Have never used another Monster cable again. 🤣
I manufacture Cables. I guess you could call them, "Boutique" Cables. I was not content with the Cables that were currently on the market so I started designing and manufacturing my own. First of all, they are unidirectional. This just makes electrical engineering sense. The Guitar jacks contains a Dynamic Transference Actuator for clean Ion Control. Every fifth foot of the cable contains an Universal Interference Dampener. Lastly, the Axial Confinement Modulator end contains a Molecular Frequency Transducer. No other brand can even come close. Guitar jacks are solid Rhodium and the outer surface is a Carbon Fiber mesh. The inner 12 layers are a highly protected secret. Prices start at 13,000.00 for a 10 ft cable. add 5,000. for every additional 5 ft of cable. I guarantee you will never buy another brand again, because let's face it, all the other brands are inferior crap.
Honestly Bro, No. 1 had the most definition/clarity/balance to my ears, and though i didn't hate the other 3 tones, No.1 was the only tone i would consider using. Having said that, i'd be curious to hear the same shoot-out with a Tele and a Strat. Actually, i was kinda surprised that You Didn't use a single coil guitar for the test, considering You mentioned them in the preamble. Great work as Always Bro!!! Bigtime THX!!! :D :D :D
Video paused...1 > 4 > 3 > 2 brightest to dullest through my speakers. Also...kudos for the top wrapped tail piece. Thanks for this...it was fun to watch. Cheers!
BASS player here, I'm 49 and 30 years later it's all the same !!!! Back then it was Monster but got myself Excalibur cables (extinct company ). Refreshing to have some one with a head on their shoulders !!!
Wilde Pickups (Bill Lawrence) sells a 12’ cable for $30, 20 picofarad/foot (much lower than any of the tested cables). OR make your own out of Belden 8218 (same cable Wilde uses).
I've never really paid that much attention to the cable.... thanks for the education. I've learned quite a bit watching your channel in just a short time. much obliged.
2 sounded dullest 4 maybe had a low end loss. 1 and 3 were my favs upon 2 quick listens. You should check them with high gain where the noise and those outer frequencies become more exaggerated. Higher gain is where cables become noticeable, mostly for the noise floor and high freq response. Rock!
The only reason that I have a few Mogami cables for my guitar rig (not the patch cables) is because of the lifetime warranty. But after almost 7 years, I’ve had no issues. Not many of my other xlrs or 1/4” cables are still going, even the ones that don’t leave the studio and were never taken on the road like the Mogami cables. Do they sound better? I’ve never heard a difference. They just work. Edit: gotta buy some Dylan cables! Edit 2: I don’t see Dylan cables for sale on his site!
The first cable (GLS) sounded brightest to me through Sennheiser HD600 headphones into a Rupert Neve preamp and an ADI-2 DAC. All the others sounded less bright to varying degrees, number 2 (Pig Hog) seemed the darkest. That said, if I had one of the less bright ones I could easily brighten my sound with my amp's treble knob or outboard EQ. We are not helpless. BTW, I use Evidence Audio cables virtually exclusively and I have no idea what they are actually doing or not doing to the sound. I'm always tweaking EQ and such to my ear, so it doesn't matter much about the cables. If they work fine and don't break, I'm happy. Cheers, Dylan.
One thing I might correct about gold vs other materials; on some *very* old things, like 1970's consoles, the use of tin/nickel molex connectors (which in addition were wrong because they were round peg in square hole, with optimistically four points of contact, really sucked for reliability. I'm looking at you MCI. Replacing these with gold square pin molex makes a huge difference. There's no snake oil there - simply the fact that over 40+ years, across thousands of connections in one console, the tin-plated round peg in square hole sucks. But... that isn't about cables I guess, just interconnects in general.
This is off the topic is cables, but it is about hearing. Many people gets obsessed about tone, and we talk about gear. But there is one thing we leave out: the human ear. What I perceive as brighter or darker, will impact how I set up my rig. What are your thoughts on this.
I worked at a cable manufacturer in the 2000. it's the capacitance! yes it changes the tone. The rest is durability. The power the capacitance the longer the cord I can make. remember it becomes part of your tone control. If your ten foot cord sounds like you like, get a twenty that ensures the same. I use a 28 foot cable on stage because I worked at a cable factory and could make a free one every week out of whatever came .on the truck.
Thanks, Dylan! Clear and concise, as always. I’ve been using Pig Hogs for the past few years, and I have no complaints. The variation in sound between those doesn’t strike me as dramatic, so I think I’ll stay on this path. You da man! 🤘🏻👏🏻😎
To my 59 year old ears on a very average external computer speaker, best to worst was: 1, 4, 3, 2. I thought the #1 had the most clarity of high frequencies, followed by #4, 2 & 3 sounded very similar and I couldn't definitively tell which was better or worse.
Thanks for another look at the voodoo behind some of the products and thinking in the guitar community. Nice to see it backed up with science and demonstration . Love the channel , thanks
I recently bought about 50ft of mogami, but I use it for interconnecting my synthesizer rig. Also, some amps that I have like 100ft cables when they’re cranked. A pignose comes to mind. I’d love another cable!
I am blind, and most people think that we all have exceptional ears… guess what… It’s not the case!After playing music and being a DJ for so many years, I am glad and sorry I cannot hear any difference between any of these cables… so, I doubt that A bunch of drunk people Will be able to hear any difference in a loud environment like a Bar or a club. All I care about is the quality of construction… I also tend to keep my cables on the shorter side, when playing guitar 10 feet, since I don’t move around much… Also switching to a wireless system to avoid tripping into the cable! Now, a faulty connection, when amplified, can be very disturbing on the ears, drunk or not… when I was 15 and had my first electric guitar, I thought the hum I was hearing was because of a bad cable, I was too stupid back then to know that this was inherent to single coil pickups! Now, in a recording studio, proper wiring quality is definitely required…
Honestly, if there was difference I couldn’t here it. I’ll bet you pissed off the high end cable snobs. And thank you for doing it. Keep up the good work and stay safe.
I am not a high end cable snob, but I did hear a difference. I even had my eyes closed until I heard a change in tone and then opened again to verify there was actually a change because I have been guilty of hearing with my eyes in the past.
the biggest differences i've ever noticed from cables (length-for-length) is shielding capability, i half tuned out for the sound test and i didn't hear any drastic differences (because i have a variety of guitars with different sounds so fine differences don't really mean much to me). i've been using fender cables for a few years now and i think they're great for the price, i haven't taken any readings on them though, however i have a drive pedal on most of the time -with no buffered pedals, just "true bypass" which basically makes the pedals act like another short length of cable :)
Appreciate the myth busting. I started using Livewire cables because they’re inexpensive and guaranteed not to fail for life. I had a livewire speaker cable that failed and Guitar Center replaced it hassle free. After watching this video, I measured the capacitance of one guitar cable and it was 29uf per foot
Amazing difference of opinions! I noticed a lessening of "edge"/brightness with #4. The rest were similar. Listened through dinky phone speaker w. no headphones. Another amazing thing (to me); I went online early afternoon to check cables on offer from the 'big box' outlets. Timing! lol. 🎵
I have been playing guitar since 1963 . The cable does make a difference in tone . That said , it depends on the cable . I have had cheap cables that I loved , and expensive cables that suck . Monster cables seem to hold up , the old coil cables never seemed to last more than a few months . I don't want to mention a lot of brands , but I have an old Fender cheapo cable that I have had for years that still sounds great ! I just had a Monster cable go bad that I have had for 15 years . It sounded great , did tons of gigs , super reliable . It served me well , I usually use 10 or 12 foot cables . Seems like long cables lose tone !
I heard a little difference between 1 and 2, and maybe a little deference between 3 and 4. The guys that play in my garage all agree that there are way more pressing issues. Such as, are the mountains on my beer more blue at 33 degrees than at 35 degrees.
For me 4 &1 sounded best in the blind test! I agree that Mogami 2524 Gold is overpriced for its 42pf rating, but if you take a look at Mogami 3368 it has 21 pf rating which in my opinion makes a huge difference. I use this from my guitar to my pedalboard 18ft and it made a huge difference, before I used cheap roland cables they looked good but didnt sound anywhere close to the 3368
THANKS FOR THIS. :) I have to say, I have made over 4k videos on my channel and the one that gets the MOST heat is the one about CABLES! Not kidding. But it was speaker wires, and people who are purists can be obsessive about wires. It is simple... side by side, electricity is electricity, and snake oil is everywhere in the music world. But of course, quality matters when you want durability. Also, you might get interference if you have super cheap wires with no shielding. But lamp cord will carry the signal just fine, to be honest.
Hi The cable you use depends on what you’re using it for!!! Mogami Platinum (expensive )is the best cable for Lead Distortion Tone I have two separate rigs
To my ears #1 sounded the best. I didn’t hear much difference between 2, 3, and 4. Another point to consider is construction of the cables. I’ve seen some very shoddy solder joints on some high end cables. Are the outside weaves worth the up charge ? Do they add to the longevity ?
This was fun. Usually I just pay more for a cable in hopes that it will last longer. But it's interesting to think of it as possibly affecting the tone.
It seemed that the first one was the loudest/clearest - which I'm assuming would mean it has the least drop-off and would be therefore the planet waves cable? My guess is 1-3-4-2 from best-to-worst. I guess that would translate into: PW-PIG-GLS-MOG. At the end of the day, they all sounded fine to me. Because you're not every comparing one to another, you make your tone, volume and effect adjustments with the cable you're using and you're good to go. (my thinking anyway) I suppose a studio situation could see some advantage to a marginally clearer signal. Cheers
My main cables for years now have been ones I've made myself from mogami with switchcraft plugs. The main benefit I've seen has been with durability. Those cables have been malfunction free for many many years... Before making those I primarily used planet wave. I've never noticed one over the other sounding better, but my planet waves, or any other cables I used previously never held up over the long term.
I love telling this story. In 1985 Geno bought a PA head 2 mains and 2 floor monitors. As part of the deal he got them to throw in 4 speaker cables and 2 Mic cables. We still use those very same cables to this day....and they were freebies! These cables have out lasted 5 P.A. Heads. Do You want your cables to last over 30 years? They will if you take care of them. The cable is weakest link in anyone's rig if you don't respect that and take care of them, they will shit on you at the least opportune moment. That's just one reason why I still play with Geno after 20 years, he has respect for his musicians as well as the equipment. I've been in flashier arguably better bands, but what a headache constantly chasing down defective cables and people....pfff anyway...
07/28/20: Hell Dylan, Tom from Orlando Florida. As far as the sound test, for my ears (listening along with my Tinnitus ear ringing ... LOL), they all sounded good, except number # 2 seemed just a little brighter. Check this out ... I got swept up by guitar cable sales pitched too. I bought expensive $100.00 six-foot, gold-tipped, Monster Cables cables about 15-20 years ago, and still use them. They were way much thicker and less flexible than other $10.00 cables. The marketing pitch was they filtered out-static noises, so when playing on a clean amp for clean Jazz, or clean tone Rockockerbilly, etc. there would be no static. I still have my old Ibanez Whoetone amp (no longer in production) 80W, 15" speaker. The speaker was a factory unknown brand. It was good tones at first, but slowly it started to make odd noises. so I upgraded to a 15" Weber Thames Speaker $175.00. Now, it was so much better with crystal clear clean tones. I used my 1994 Fender guitar with up-graded Lace Hot-Gold Pickups ($450.00), which also now had crystal clean tones. So, did I get a better clean tone with the Monster $100.00 Cables? Hell, I don't know, per I never really never heard any static from my amp and guitar after upgrades in the first place. But, for $100.00, I keep using those cables. I take care of my toys - so to speak. The cables look new, except for the gold is slightly dull from putting in/out of amp or guitar. Thanks for this informative video, per I will never waste money again on sales pitches for guitar cables.
Dylan, I was hoping you would address the type of jack, straight or angled. I have always had failures of cable at the angled jack, and taking them apart I would find that with the angled jack, the pin appears to be riveted to the connector, and the pin would weaken and spin inside the outer connector. Now I only buy cables with 2 straight connectors. I hope that doesn't seem snobbish.
I have been using Planet Waves solderless cables and I am happy with them. Did an a/b cable test between straight and through pedal board and didn’t notice a difference in sounds (buffers in right places :-) ). I also have some more expensive cables with ”a lifetime guarantee” but none of them are working and I am too lazy to fix them...
I heard a difference between the first one and the other three. Two through four there was minimal difference. I personally liked one and three the most but not really enough of a difference for me to spend big bucks on. Thank you for sharing. Stay safe and be blessed
Still, there is a certain quality of cables that matter. When I worked at intel I learned about a couple who worked there a few years before I was hired. Intel was using gold wires too attach the pins on the back of the chip to the substrate. The problem was that this couple would take small pieces of scrap gold home with them every day. In two years time they had stolen 2,000,000 worth of gold from the company. Intel was later able to build a better processor without golf connector wires. As for stray capacitance, that must be taken into account when your circuit’s function at the point where your capacitor or cable and adjust that point in the circuit to include that capacitor.
Apples and Oranges. In CPU's you are talking about digital signals in the GHz frequency range. At those kinds of frequencies, the smallest of details can sometimes make a big difference. For instrument level audio frequency signals, gold makes absolutely no difference.
GREAT VIDEO!!! I've been using the Planet waves and GLD cables for YEARS and they are AWESOME. They take a BEATIN' I use them in my loom and as my Instrument cables and never have they let me down. I keep buying them because they get stolen or I loose them and it's because at their price point I can afford to. LOL Gotta be more disciplined with my cables I know... SMH LOL
So would a 30ft coily cable going from a strat into a pedal board significantly affect my tone? Or could I just turn up some treble on my preamp pedal?
I did not hear a significant difference between the cables - listening on my headphones. I usually buy the least expensive cables at GC that have a lifetime replacement warranty. My cables rarely go bad, but when one does, I just get it replaced with a brand new one. No soldering!
I thought 1 and 4 were the better tone, brighter and clearer with 1 being the best but I'm watching and listening on my Samsung A20e so how much speaker quality plays into this hard to gauge. Reminds me of the serious arguments and entrenched positions several of my friends and myself adopted back in the day regarding vinyl vs CD. I was absolutely convinced that vinyl was/is superior but many friends were equally set on CDs. When you're using the very best equipment you can possibly buy I suspect the difference is so miniscule it truly becomes subjective. I love my music on vinyl and my albums with 12" sleeves that give you the sense of genuinely owning something substantial so I'm sure I went in every time primed 100% to find vinyl superior. My friends convinced of the technology angle, read by laser etc, etc were absolutely sure CD HAD to be better. As I said the difference probably so minute it may well be beyond human hearing to detect. A lot of the time the difference between tones are equally subjective and prone to priming. Funnily enough, my other great lifelong love/passion/obsession is cars and everything to do with modifying and tuning them. I can't think of two seperate pursuits where the snake oil salesman outnumber the actual enthusiasts like guitar gear and car tuning....... K'N Typhoon anyone lol
Excellent video! Thanks for the simplicity. I'd like to know if anyone else agrees with me. I was surprised to learn about the snake oil marketing. I do recall you doing at least one video with a large roll of cable. I currently use 10' cables. As for the test, they sounded very similar to me. I'm choosing cable 3 as the most expensive.
I picked the Planet Waves as the most expensive. I am shocked Mogami was the absolute worst. I thought at least one inexpensive brand would have been horrible. I did think - before I knew - that the Mogami lacked clarity. Great test! I'm always learning something.
Ok, I didn't have any idea what each one costs, I only heard the Mogami name before. My personal preference was: - 1; - 4; - a close 3; -2. Then I see #4 (my personal 2nd place is Mogami, #2 (my outsider) is dirt cheap, and #1 (my personal preference) is obviously GLS.
Thanks nice review! During audio sample I voted for 1, next is 4 and 2&3 is a tie or I have no interest in lol😅. That GLS surprised me, I’ll gonna look for one. However - for my strat which is super sparkly highs (sometimes in a bad way)- I might consider those 2/3 to darken the brittle tone.
Hard to say which one really sounded better, but if I had to say best to worst it would be 4,1,3, and then 2. Based on the new info about pf and each cable, I'd guess 2 is the most expensive.
I did think the "Planet Waves" had all the clearest tones and the best way to detect the difference was with using headphones. Thanks Dylan, I learn a lot from watching your videos!
The issue I see with gold plated cables is that my guitars, pedals and amps don't have gold plated jacks. So I can still get rust on the other half of the connection. Kinda defeats the whole point doesn't it?
I found from what little differences I could discern that I actually liked the tone of cable 2 the best. Just a little more top end coming through. Having said that, I probably wouldn't notice it in any other forum outside of a cable comparison test.
I know this video was done awhile ago, but I picked 1 & 3 as best sounding, and noticed a big difference between those two and the 2 & 4, which sound a little muddy, and less sparkle? I normally play bass, and when I switched from a cheap guitar cable to a Monster bass cable, I. noticed. a big improvement in sound. Is Monster better than some other alternatives? I don’t know, and maybe just switching from a cheap cable to a better one made a difference, or because the bass cable is made for bass? I’m not sure how it works with bass and the loss of clear low end versus guitar. But I did certainly notice a difference in your demonstration. If it were in a band and in the mix with overdrive, probably could not tell. I bought Monster because they are guaranteed for lifetime replacement. What do you think of Monster cables? Do you think they are worth it?
I thought I heard a noticeable dropoff in clarity from the first to the second, but for the second listen I closed my eyes, imagined I was listening for the cleanest pass at that riff like a producer would and simply forgot cables.. once again you offer more wisdom to help save us from snake oil salesmen
I couldn’t tell much difference without headphones. What is the threshold where capacitance becomes a bigger issue? Do any guitar cables under 30’ ever reach that mark? I usually go with durability and replacement warranty myself.
The GLS Audio cables aren't made very well but they still get the job done like any other cable. They're pretty inexpensive especially compared to the $30 big brand names that you get at a Guitar Center or local instrument store.
I thought I heard a difference between the first and second cable but going back and forth between them, I think that's just the subtle differences in guitar playing not the cable. Also, it would be a good idea to use some of the cables again. When there's duplicates, it's much harder to guess correctly on the first try and people are more likely to not hear the same differences the second time it's used.
the difference I heard was mostly when going from 1 to 2; 3 and 4 both sounded pretty close to 1. I would have guessed the order from brightest/"best" to darkest/"worst" cable would've been 1>4>3>>2, so looking at the results...literally got it backwards lol
What’s the difference between Emg, lace, and deathbuckers? Are there guitars that have humbuckers and emgs or lace and emg? Are these pickups compatible on a single guitar? Your show is great thanks.
No audio quality difference. It's UA-cam. I used to buy LifeTime guaranteed cables from Guitar Center. Then they changed their guarantee retroactive. Then they stopped carrying them. I recommend a good cable with a good end. I also skip Fender cables.
1-3-4-2 The first was the best sound to me, second was right out, three and four were comparable with three being slightly better
That is also the ignition order of most 4 cylinder in-line engines lol.
same for me
Exactly right. The cheapest was the best and the second one stank.
Also my preferred ordering for highs and clarity. Interestingly, that doesn't quite line up with the pF/ft metric (or it'd be 3-2-1-4, with a big gap between 3 and 1/4 nearly indistinguishable). So there's something else going on on top of that.
No it wasn't you couldn't hear the difference in an other order if your life depended on it.
“I don’t know, I think heard a difference between them on my iPhone 7 with only one functioning speaker...” He says as he searches the internet for the right tone wood for his telecaster build.
What you watch and listen to here is so compressed and changed from the original that slight changes won't be heard.
I'm in applied electromagnetics class right now and this is giving me flashbacks to Gaussian surfaces, spherical conducting shells, and other irritating stuff like that
Interesting! I was listening with headphones and cables 1 & 4 (Mogami, GLS) seemed the brightest to me.
I actually own a GLS 15 foot and a Mogami 10 foot and I can't tell the difference. (Although I have not done a serious listening test)
On Darryl Braun's channel when he tested the cables, he found that the more expensive cables introduced less noise. Can you do a similar test to see if it makes a difference?
Great stuff! Thanks!
Cable #1 had the most definition in highs. Followed by #4. #2 sounded muddy and #3 sounded slightly less muddy.
All that being said, I used to match the cable to a particular guitar if I was in a studio. So depending on the part and the guitar, there were times when I would use a darker cable to tame down a guitar if it was too bright.
Right tool for the right job, is my motto in most things.
I wasn't looking at the screen during the cable test and finally looked up on cable three to see when you were changing cables. I couldn't hear the difference at all. I love these type of videos. Thanks for busting guitar myths. Keep it up.
Very cool I've been saving money with GLS cables for year this kinda made me feel warm and cozy inside lol! Great video!👍
1. Brightest 2. Dullest 3. Brighter than 2 but duller than the rest. 4. Seems similar to 1 but a bit duller.
My guess would be:
1.Daddario
2.Mogami (most expensive)
3.GLS
4.Pig Hog
I've had good luck with Pig Hog cables recently. Hadnt heard of them until about a year ago. Curious to see where they actually landed.
very cool stuff. just ordered a pig hog yesterday. i got nervous when i saw you were testing that cable but i was happily relieved by the end. thanks for making these kinds of vids dyl, ive learned a lot watching your channel.
I’ve have always had this thought, you confirmed it. I’ve studied electronics and have worked in an electronics factory. I love how you explain things so I can share it with friends that don’t understand the full in and outs of electronics. Thank you for your time.
There is so little difference between them all in sound quality through headphones. Could the difference in price be related to the general structure and durability of the cables? A great sounding cable is no good once it’s broken.
Love Spectraflex. Cost a little more but complement a nice guitar. Hate stiff cables that have bend memory. Same with test leads and solder iron cables.
This makes so much sense. But I wonder about the rate of capacitance loss through different materials at different lengths. For instance, would a low quality cable lose the same amount of tone through capacitance loss as a higher quality cable with a better ratio of wires and optimal braid pattern and better insulation between the wires?
The first cable sounded the clearest,lots of highs.Then 3, 4 and 2. And yes,I've always believed that gold plated cables were gimmicks.Great video.🎸
In order of increasing high-end roll off, I heard it as Cable 1, 3, 4, 2... so unless some other variables changed between the tests, the linear capacitance doesn't seem to be the main operating factor here. I wonder if the real difference is in the connectors?
very informative thanks dillon. been a sub for a couple years and just want to say i really like the content lately.
I’m getting old and honestly I couldn’t differentiate from one cable to the next.... but thank you for your videos and lessons, I do enjoy them.
Great vids mate! Always love the mythbusting vids. Used cheaper cables for many years, myself. Only ended up switching to the, slightly more expensive, Van Damme/Neutrik custom cables for better durability and colour options, to see what was plugged into what on a dark stage easier :) Never had anything to do with tone!
"I used to sell cables, I don't anymore" - Glad to hear you've reformed!
Thanks for the information. I was just looking at new guitar cables
A couple quibbles with the explanation:
1. The voltage doesn't matter to the amount of signal lost to capacitance. It's frequency dependent, not voltage dependent.
2. Technically everything from the guitar to the speakers is all one circuit. The cable does connect directly to the guitar, but the reason it matters is because the output impedance of the guitar is high. If you have a high output impedance on a pedal, that will also have a similar effect (except it won't have inductance, so its not a resonant RLC filter, but just an RC low pass).
Great video! Learned a bunch. Thanks for making great content Dylan!
I recently saw a question and a Facebook guitar group, and the person asked if the price of the cable matters, most told this person that the most expensive cables will sound the best, Thankfully there were some Who were more realistic with their answers. I have been using cheap cables all my life. Thank you for the content, you just save me some cash.
Regarding WBC-built cable, they charge the same for mogami and Gotham GAC Ultra, which is one of the lowest capacitance cables (well, Sommer aside), so yes, I'm with you when you say that Mogami is really strong in the market department...
They should just market the muddy cables as tube like tone.
LOL!
The Monster company calls them "bass" cables. LOL!
@@fladification LOLS! Bloody clowns!
"Vintage"
@@PastelComGini LOL!
I remember getting up sold into buying a gold plated Monster Cable in my youth. Still have the cable which is a testament to its durability but I can’t say it sounds better than my other cables.
Yeah they were well made cables but they never specified the capacitance per foot. They even made a 'Jazz' cable which was of course high capacitance.
I actually had a funny experience with a Monster "Rock" cable back in 2004-ish.... I was recording some guitar tracks and started hearing radio stations coming through the cabinet. Swapped to a cheap Rapco Roadhog and it went away. Have never used another Monster cable again. 🤣
I manufacture Cables. I guess you could call them, "Boutique" Cables. I was not content with the Cables that were currently on the market so I started designing and manufacturing my own. First of all, they are unidirectional. This just makes electrical engineering sense. The Guitar jacks contains a Dynamic Transference Actuator for clean Ion Control. Every fifth foot of the cable contains an Universal Interference Dampener. Lastly, the Axial Confinement Modulator end contains a Molecular Frequency Transducer. No other brand can even come close. Guitar jacks are solid Rhodium and the outer surface is a Carbon Fiber mesh. The inner 12 layers are a highly protected secret. Prices start at 13,000.00 for a 10 ft cable. add 5,000. for every additional 5 ft of cable. I guarantee you will never buy another brand again, because let's face it, all the other brands are inferior crap.
13000 pesos is pretty cheap
$13 000 ?
W T F
@@sergeyromashkin7876 Price is more flexible with a bulk purchase.
@@ethelwulfmountbattenderoth2286 I mean that's just an overkill spending $13k on a cable. $20 ones do their job more than adequately.
@@sergeyromashkin7876 Uh, you do realize I just made all that stuff up...right?
I was going with d addario recently anyway. Glad to see they are great quality. Good video.
Honestly Bro, No. 1 had the most definition/clarity/balance to my ears, and though i didn't hate the other 3 tones, No.1 was the only tone i would consider using. Having said that, i'd be curious to hear the same shoot-out with a Tele and a Strat. Actually, i was kinda surprised that You Didn't use a single coil guitar for the test, considering You mentioned them in the preamble. Great work as Always Bro!!! Bigtime THX!!! :D :D :D
Video paused...1 > 4 > 3 > 2 brightest to dullest through my speakers. Also...kudos for the top wrapped tail piece. Thanks for this...it was fun to watch. Cheers!
BASS player here, I'm 49 and 30 years later it's all the same !!!! Back then it was Monster but got myself Excalibur cables (extinct company ). Refreshing to have some one with a head on their shoulders !!!
Wilde Pickups (Bill Lawrence) sells a 12’ cable for $30, 20 picofarad/foot (much lower than any of the tested cables). OR make your own out of Belden 8218 (same cable Wilde uses).
I've never really paid that much attention to the cable.... thanks for the education. I've learned quite a bit watching your channel in just a short time. much obliged.
I'm old school GLS, got mics & cables that have always worked!
Love my gls 58
2 sounded dullest 4 maybe had a low end loss. 1 and 3 were my favs upon 2 quick listens. You should check them with high gain where the noise and those outer frequencies become more exaggerated. Higher gain is where cables become noticeable, mostly for the noise floor and high freq response. Rock!
ur the shit bro love that u give back to our community!!!
The only reason that I have a few Mogami cables for my guitar rig (not the patch cables) is because of the lifetime warranty. But after almost 7 years, I’ve had no issues. Not many of my other xlrs or 1/4” cables are still going, even the ones that don’t leave the studio and were never taken on the road like the Mogami cables. Do they sound better? I’ve never heard a difference. They just work.
Edit: gotta buy some Dylan cables!
Edit 2: I don’t see Dylan cables for sale on his site!
The first cable (GLS) sounded brightest to me through Sennheiser HD600 headphones into a Rupert Neve preamp and an ADI-2 DAC. All the others sounded less bright to varying degrees, number 2 (Pig Hog) seemed the darkest. That said, if I had one of the less bright ones I could easily brighten my sound with my amp's treble knob or outboard EQ. We are not helpless.
BTW, I use Evidence Audio cables virtually exclusively and I have no idea what they are actually doing or not doing to the sound. I'm always tweaking EQ and such to my ear, so it doesn't matter much about the cables. If they work fine and don't break, I'm happy.
Cheers, Dylan.
One thing I might correct about gold vs other materials; on some *very* old things, like 1970's consoles, the use of tin/nickel molex connectors (which in addition were wrong because they were round peg in square hole, with optimistically four points of contact, really sucked for reliability. I'm looking at you MCI. Replacing these with gold square pin molex makes a huge difference. There's no snake oil there - simply the fact that over 40+ years, across thousands of connections in one console, the tin-plated round peg in square hole sucks. But... that isn't about cables I guess, just interconnects in general.
This is off the topic is cables, but it is about hearing. Many people gets obsessed about tone, and we talk about gear. But there is one thing we leave out: the human ear. What I perceive as brighter or darker, will impact how I set up my rig. What are your thoughts on this.
I worked at a cable manufacturer in the 2000.
it's the capacitance! yes it changes the tone. The rest is durability. The power the capacitance the longer the cord I can make. remember it becomes part of your tone control. If your ten foot cord sounds like you like, get a twenty that ensures the same. I use a 28 foot cable on stage because I worked at a cable factory and could make a free one every week out of whatever came .on the truck.
Thanks, Dylan! Clear and concise, as always. I’ve been using Pig Hogs for the past few years, and I have no complaints. The variation in sound between those doesn’t strike me as dramatic, so I think I’ll stay on this path. You da man! 🤘🏻👏🏻😎
To my 59 year old ears on a very average external computer speaker, best to worst was: 1, 4, 3, 2. I thought the #1 had the most clarity of high frequencies, followed by #4, 2 & 3 sounded very similar and I couldn't definitively tell which was better or worse.
Thanks for another look at the voodoo behind some of the products and thinking in the guitar community. Nice to see it backed up with science and demonstration . Love the channel , thanks
I recently bought about 50ft of mogami, but I use it for interconnecting my synthesizer rig. Also, some amps that I have like 100ft cables when they’re cranked. A pignose comes to mind. I’d love another cable!
I am blind, and most people think that we all have exceptional ears… guess what… It’s not the case!After playing music and being a DJ for so many years, I am glad and sorry I cannot hear any difference between any of these cables… so, I doubt that A bunch of drunk people Will be able to hear any difference in a loud environment like a Bar or a club. All I care about is the quality of construction… I also tend to keep my cables on the shorter side, when playing guitar 10 feet, since I don’t move around much… Also switching to a wireless system to avoid tripping into the cable! Now, a faulty connection, when amplified, can be very disturbing on the ears, drunk or not… when I was 15 and had my first electric guitar, I thought the hum I was hearing was because of a bad cable, I was too stupid back then to know that this was inherent to single coil pickups! Now, in a recording studio, proper wiring quality is definitely required…
Honestly, if there was difference I couldn’t here it. I’ll bet you pissed off the high end cable snobs. And thank you for doing it. Keep up the good work and stay safe.
I am not a high end cable snob, but I did hear a difference. I even had my eyes closed until I heard a change in tone and then opened again to verify there was actually a change because I have been guilty of hearing with my eyes in the past.
Another great video, I've learned a lot!
the biggest differences i've ever noticed from cables (length-for-length) is shielding capability, i half tuned out for the sound test and i didn't hear any drastic differences (because i have a variety of guitars with different sounds so fine differences don't really mean much to me). i've been using fender cables for a few years now and i think they're great for the price, i haven't taken any readings on them though, however i have a drive pedal on most of the time -with no buffered pedals, just "true bypass" which basically makes the pedals act like another short length of cable :)
Appreciate the myth busting.
I started using Livewire cables because they’re inexpensive and guaranteed not to fail for life.
I had a livewire speaker cable that failed and Guitar Center replaced it hassle free.
After watching this video, I measured the capacitance of one guitar cable and it was 29uf per foot
Differences are subtle but nothing that slight knob tweaking can't fix.
I didn't heard that much of a difference except for the cable #4. I thought it was the cheapest. Great job as usual. Thx!
Amazing difference of opinions! I noticed a lessening of "edge"/brightness with #4. The rest were similar. Listened through dinky phone speaker w. no headphones. Another amazing thing (to me); I went online early afternoon to check cables on offer from the 'big box' outlets. Timing! lol. 🎵
I have been playing guitar since 1963 . The cable does make a difference in tone . That said , it depends on the cable . I have had cheap cables that I loved , and expensive cables that suck . Monster cables seem to hold up , the old coil cables never seemed to last more than a few months . I don't want to mention a lot of brands , but I have an old Fender cheapo cable that I have had for years that still sounds great ! I just had a Monster cable go bad that I have had for 15 years . It sounded great , did tons of gigs , super reliable . It served me well , I usually use 10 or 12 foot cables . Seems like long cables lose tone !
I heard a little difference between 1 and 2, and maybe a little deference between 3 and 4. The guys that play in my garage all agree that there are way more pressing issues. Such as, are the mountains on my beer more blue at 33 degrees than at 35 degrees.
For me 4 &1 sounded best in the blind test! I agree that Mogami 2524 Gold is overpriced for its 42pf rating, but if you take a look at Mogami 3368 it has 21 pf rating which in my opinion makes a huge difference. I use this from my guitar to my pedalboard 18ft and it made a huge difference, before I used cheap roland cables they looked good but didnt sound anywhere close to the 3368
THANKS FOR THIS. :)
I have to say, I have made over 4k videos on my channel and the one that gets the MOST heat is the one about CABLES!
Not kidding. But it was speaker wires, and people who are purists can be obsessive about wires.
It is simple... side by side, electricity is electricity, and snake oil is everywhere in the music world.
But of course, quality matters when you want durability.
Also, you might get interference if you have super cheap wires with no shielding.
But lamp cord will carry the signal just fine, to be honest.
Hi The cable you use depends on what you’re using it for!!! Mogami Platinum (expensive )is the best cable for Lead Distortion Tone I have two separate rigs
To my ears #1 sounded the best. I didn’t hear much difference between 2, 3, and 4. Another point to consider is construction of the cables. I’ve seen some very shoddy solder joints on some high end cables. Are the outside weaves worth the up charge ? Do they add to the longevity ?
This was fun. Usually I just pay more for a cable in hopes that it will last longer. But it's interesting to think of it as possibly affecting the tone.
It seemed that the first one was the loudest/clearest - which I'm assuming would mean it has the least drop-off and would be therefore the planet waves cable? My guess is 1-3-4-2 from best-to-worst. I guess that would translate into: PW-PIG-GLS-MOG.
At the end of the day, they all sounded fine to me. Because you're not every comparing one to another, you make your tone, volume and effect adjustments with the cable you're using and you're good to go. (my thinking anyway) I suppose a studio situation could see some advantage to a marginally clearer signal. Cheers
My main cables for years now have been ones I've made myself from mogami with switchcraft plugs. The main benefit I've seen has been with durability. Those cables have been malfunction free for many many years... Before making those I primarily used planet wave. I've never noticed one over the other sounding better, but my planet waves, or any other cables I used previously never held up over the long term.
I love telling this story. In 1985 Geno bought a PA head 2 mains and 2 floor monitors. As part of the deal he got them to throw in 4 speaker cables and 2 Mic cables. We still use those very same cables to this day....and they were freebies! These cables have out lasted 5 P.A. Heads. Do You want your cables to last over 30 years? They will if you take care of them. The cable is weakest link in anyone's rig if you don't respect that and take care of them, they will shit on you at the least opportune moment. That's just one reason why I still play with Geno after 20 years, he has respect for his musicians as well as the equipment. I've been in flashier arguably better bands, but what a headache constantly chasing down defective cables and people....pfff anyway...
07/28/20: Hell Dylan, Tom from Orlando Florida. As far as the sound test, for my ears (listening along with my Tinnitus ear ringing ... LOL), they all sounded good, except number # 2 seemed just a little brighter. Check this out ... I got swept up by guitar cable sales pitched too. I bought expensive $100.00 six-foot, gold-tipped, Monster Cables cables about 15-20 years ago, and still use them. They were way much thicker and less flexible than other $10.00 cables. The marketing pitch was they filtered out-static noises, so when playing on a clean amp for clean Jazz, or clean tone Rockockerbilly, etc. there would be no static. I still have my old Ibanez Whoetone amp (no longer in production) 80W, 15" speaker. The speaker was a factory unknown brand. It was good tones at first, but slowly it started to make odd noises. so I upgraded to a 15" Weber Thames Speaker $175.00. Now, it was so much better with crystal clear clean tones. I used my 1994 Fender guitar with up-graded Lace Hot-Gold Pickups ($450.00), which also now had crystal clean tones. So, did I get a better clean tone with the Monster $100.00 Cables? Hell, I don't know, per I never really never heard any static from my amp and guitar after upgrades in the first place. But, for $100.00, I keep using those cables. I take care of my toys - so to speak. The cables look new, except for the gold is slightly dull from putting in/out of amp or guitar. Thanks for this informative video, per I will never waste money again on sales pitches for guitar cables.
Great video/awesome channel!!!
Very cool test... I'm about to buy a cable and I think I'm buying a planet waves...
Dylan, I was hoping you would address the type of jack, straight or angled. I have always had failures of cable at the angled jack, and taking them apart I would find that with the angled jack, the pin appears to be riveted to the connector, and the pin would weaken and spin inside the outer connector. Now I only buy cables with 2 straight connectors. I hope that doesn't seem snobbish.
I have been using Planet Waves solderless cables and I am happy with them. Did an a/b cable test between straight and through pedal board and didn’t notice a difference in sounds (buffers in right places :-) ). I also have some more expensive cables with ”a lifetime guarantee” but none of them are working and I am too lazy to fix them...
I heard a difference between the first one and the other three. Two through four there was minimal difference. I personally liked one and three the most but not really enough of a difference for me to spend big bucks on. Thank you for sharing. Stay safe and be blessed
Charles Wallace very much same
Nice test. Sweet jeep!
Still, there is a certain quality of cables that matter. When I worked at intel I learned about a couple who worked there a few years before I was hired. Intel was using gold wires too attach the pins on the back of the chip to the substrate. The problem was that this couple would take small pieces of scrap gold home with them every day. In two years time they had stolen 2,000,000 worth of gold from the company. Intel was later able to build a better processor without golf connector wires.
As for stray capacitance, that must be taken into account when your circuit’s function at the point where your capacitor or cable and adjust that point in the circuit to include that capacitor.
Apples and Oranges. In CPU's you are talking about digital signals in the GHz frequency range. At those kinds of frequencies, the smallest of details can sometimes make a big difference. For instrument level audio frequency signals, gold makes absolutely no difference.
Planet waves cables have always been one of my favorites
GREAT VIDEO!!! I've been using the Planet waves and GLD cables for YEARS and they are AWESOME. They take a BEATIN' I use them in my loom and as my Instrument cables and never have they let me down. I keep buying them because they get stolen or I loose them and it's because at their price point I can afford to. LOL Gotta be more disciplined with my cables I know... SMH LOL
So would a 30ft coily cable going from a strat into a pedal board significantly affect my tone? Or could I just turn up some treble on my preamp pedal?
I did not hear a significant difference between the cables - listening on my headphones. I usually buy the least expensive cables at GC that have a lifetime replacement warranty. My cables rarely go bad, but when one does, I just get it replaced with a brand new one. No soldering!
I thought 1 and 4 were the better tone, brighter and clearer with 1 being the best but I'm watching and listening on my Samsung A20e so how much speaker quality plays into this hard to gauge. Reminds me of the serious arguments and entrenched positions several of my friends and myself adopted back in the day regarding vinyl vs CD. I was absolutely convinced that vinyl was/is superior but many friends were equally set on CDs. When you're using the very best equipment you can possibly buy I suspect the difference is so miniscule it truly becomes subjective. I love my music on vinyl and my albums with 12" sleeves that give you the sense of genuinely owning something substantial so I'm sure I went in every time primed 100% to find vinyl superior. My friends convinced of the technology angle, read by laser etc, etc were absolutely sure CD HAD to be better. As I said the difference probably so minute it may well be beyond human hearing to detect. A lot of the time the difference between tones are equally subjective and prone to priming.
Funnily enough, my other great lifelong love/passion/obsession is cars and everything to do with modifying and tuning them.
I can't think of two seperate pursuits where the snake oil salesman outnumber the actual enthusiasts like guitar gear and car tuning....... K'N Typhoon anyone lol
Excellent video! Thanks for the simplicity. I'd like to know if anyone else agrees with me. I was surprised to learn about the snake oil marketing. I do recall you doing at least one video with a large roll of cable. I currently use 10' cables. As for the test, they sounded very similar to me. I'm choosing cable 3 as the most expensive.
I picked the Planet Waves as the most expensive. I am shocked Mogami was the absolute worst. I thought at least one inexpensive brand would have been horrible. I did think - before I knew - that the Mogami lacked clarity. Great test! I'm always learning something.
The 1st one sounded best to my ears!
Ok, I didn't have any idea what each one costs, I only heard the Mogami name before. My personal preference was:
- 1;
- 4;
- a close 3;
-2.
Then I see #4 (my personal 2nd place is Mogami, #2 (my outsider) is dirt cheap, and #1 (my personal preference) is obviously GLS.
Thanks nice review! During audio sample I voted for 1, next is 4 and 2&3 is a tie or I have no interest in lol😅. That GLS surprised me, I’ll gonna look for one. However - for my strat which is super sparkly highs (sometimes in a bad way)- I might consider those 2/3 to darken the brittle tone.
To my ears, 1 and 3 sounded brightest, with number 1 being " best " . . .
Hard to say which one really sounded better, but if I had to say best to worst it would be 4,1,3, and then 2. Based on the new info about pf and each cable, I'd guess 2 is the most expensive.
I did think the "Planet Waves" had all the clearest tones and the best way to detect the difference was with using headphones. Thanks Dylan, I learn a lot from watching your videos!
The issue I see with gold plated cables is that my guitars, pedals and amps don't have gold plated jacks. So I can still get rust on the other half of the connection. Kinda defeats the whole point doesn't it?
I make a difference between measuring mfpf and hearing: the ear is the judge and although the difference is very subtle, the #4 sounded good to me…
I found from what little differences I could discern that I actually liked the tone of cable 2 the best. Just a little more top end coming through. Having said that, I probably wouldn't notice it in any other forum outside of a cable comparison test.
I know this video was done awhile ago, but I picked 1 & 3 as best sounding, and noticed a big difference between those two and the 2 & 4, which sound a little muddy, and less sparkle?
I normally play bass, and when I switched from a cheap guitar cable to a Monster bass cable, I. noticed. a big improvement in sound. Is Monster better than some other alternatives? I don’t know, and maybe just switching from a cheap cable to a better one made a difference, or because the bass cable is made for bass? I’m not sure how it works with bass and the loss of clear low end versus guitar.
But I did certainly notice a difference in your demonstration. If it were in a band and in the mix with overdrive, probably could not tell. I bought Monster because they are guaranteed for lifetime replacement.
What do you think of Monster cables? Do you think they are worth it?
I've always played regular cables of decent quality. Things like whirlwind. Never used a monster, or any other boutique cables. Never had any issues
I thought I heard a noticeable dropoff in clarity from the first to the second, but for the second listen I closed my eyes, imagined I was listening for the cleanest pass at that riff like a producer would and simply forgot cables.. once again you offer more wisdom to help save us from snake oil salesmen
I thought exactly the same.
2nd sounded worst to me and 1st one sounded best.
Which was the 2nd cable? Can you tell me?
I couldn’t tell much difference without headphones. What is the threshold where capacitance becomes a bigger issue? Do any guitar cables under 30’ ever reach that mark? I usually go with durability and replacement warranty myself.
Best to worst: 1, 4, 3, 2. #1 sounded nice, had good clarity. #2 was quite muddy, was like some shoved a pillow in front of the speaker.
The GLS Audio cables aren't made very well but they still get the job done like any other cable. They're pretty inexpensive especially compared to the $30 big brand names that you get at a Guitar Center or local instrument store.
Wondering if you could hear a bigger difference if you plug in an acoustic (piezo) guitar.
I thought I heard a difference between the first and second cable but going back and forth between them, I think that's just the subtle differences in guitar playing not the cable. Also, it would be a good idea to use some of the cables again. When there's duplicates, it's much harder to guess correctly on the first try and people are more likely to not hear the same differences the second time it's used.
the difference I heard was mostly when going from 1 to 2; 3 and 4 both sounded pretty close to 1. I would have guessed the order from brightest/"best" to darkest/"worst" cable would've been 1>4>3>>2, so looking at the results...literally got it backwards lol
What’s the difference between Emg, lace, and deathbuckers? Are there guitars that have humbuckers and emgs or lace and emg? Are these pickups compatible on a single guitar? Your show
is great thanks.
I'm not sure which was which. I liked the dynamics of 1 and 4, though 1 was a little too bright. 2 and 3 were a little too muddy.
Playing seems to be different throughout too, if you had a loop running and changed the cables, would that not be the best way to compare?
No audio quality difference. It's UA-cam. I used to buy LifeTime guaranteed cables from Guitar Center. Then they changed their guarantee retroactive. Then they stopped carrying them. I recommend a good cable with a good end. I also skip Fender cables.
Thanks man! I just bought 1 after seeing this:)
Which one did you buy?