Do Expensive Guitar Cables REALLY Sound Better? - Let's Find Out!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.พ. 2020
- Today I test guitar cables ranging from $10 - $250!
Do you think there will be a difference? Take a listen to find out!
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Could you guys hear a difference? Would you ever spend the money for a high-end cable?
In the end, which one was your favourite?
I may not buy the high and cable butI could tell the noticeable difference. I play poorly enough as it is without any extra noise added in.I think will upgrade my cable
I have a bunch of those fender cables I bought maybe 15 years ago. Been thru a bunch of other expensive, guaranteed cables that have all failed. The Fenders are still going strong. And no, I've never heard noticiple differences in any decent cables.
Darrell Braun Guitar i would buy a high end cable for gigs
Nice shoot out Darrell. Id say some expensive cables do sound better. I’ve tested the planet waves. Mogami: silver/gold/Platnium. Guitar center brand: livewire standard/elite. Overall I stuck with the $100 mogami platinum. To my ears, they sound crisp,full,and less static’s versus all the others. I didn’t like the mogami gold or silver, they sound like a small blanket covering the tone. Planet waves were ok. As for the livewire, the cheap $15 livewire sound a bit bright and a bit of static. The livewire elite $50 were ok, but I felt it just lacked a bit of clarity, otherwise I would’ve kept it over the mogami platinum. Cheers!
I was actually surprised at how much difference there was. Would I spend that much money on a cable? No, I would probably get a good wireless setup. Oh wait, I have a wireless setup. :)
When your guitar cable has its own case, you've gone too far.
Lmao
What's next, naming them? "Bertha sounded much more saucy and free, while Gretchen had a more in-your-face, raw carnality to her tone."
@@grayaj23 Well, now it's time to write a song about guitar cables I've named.
No one needs a $250 cable unless maybe you own a high end studio like Capitol records or something
So true 🤣
You dont need a super expensive cable but avoid ultra cheap ones.
I concur.
endrizo agree, unless lack of money isn’t a problem for you
Agree
If you're a gigging musician and it's your job you absolutely need good cables, but yeah no need to spend 250 dollars! Just not 20 dollars either...
Yep
Twenty years later, I never knew my first Fender was supposed to include a free cable.
Same lol
Only USA ones and you get a strap too
ive bought 2 new USA fenders and never got a strap or a cable haha
Ill bet you threw it away with your box lol
@@kingcatnip2614 i think he meant the beginner bundle, every bundle includes a cable an amp a guitar and a strap
If I would've bought the Transit Lab, my gear would be:
Guitar - $200
Amplifier - $50
Cable - $250
Using a Gorilla amp, are we?
@@sohamsengupta6470 as long as he loves his tone...
@@jerkforsure8387 If he loves that tone he is a God
@@sohamsengupta6470 Totally Not Gorilla Amp
Same mine would've been
Guitar: $250
Amp: $110
Cable: $250
I've been playing electric guitar for over 50 years. I'm lucky I can hear anything now. Any cable sounds good now.
I like that outlook.
Exactly, cheap cables sounds better anyway.
William Percival
New Zealand 🇳🇿
All of these had a high pitched whistle. Oh that’s my tinnitus.
😭😭
Do a “wireless vs cable” video.
Up!!!!!
Ελληνας?
@Kurt Cobain no thanks with that cringey ass guy
Yes.
@Dexter Moser I just watched that video (all 30 seconds of it) based on your comment. No. That is just about the worst music based video I have ever seen. It is immensely embarrassing just to watch. If you like it, cool. But its not for me.
Cables are like wine: $3 bottles make you sick, but $830 bottles make you poor
And a 10 euro bottle would be fine !
But, a 16 dollar cable can be a great deal
250 for a cable.......I COULD LITERALLY BUY A NEW GUITAR WITH THAT 😂
or awesome pickups!
Or a nice pedal
I would buy two new guitars with that.
@@kevin7rxxx346 or get a digital pedal with 100 pedals in it for like £50
Or a Squier with mods...
10 bucks for a cable? Nah I just use an aux cord with 2 quarter inch adapter
😂😅
You call THAT cheap? I bought some 6m DAP cables for €3.- each. But if you compare their resistance to that of a 6m Cordial Peak, you'll measure a value 3x as high. They're good enough as a spare for rehearsals... NOT for the stage.
Please don’t
😭
mine is 8$ lol.
its ok
$250 Transit Lab DPA (Don't Pay Anymore) Cable..
I always make my own (HAND MADE) with Neutrik ends and Mogami Bulk Cable.. Never had an issue after many years.. It is the way to go..
Could hear the difference with the Fender,
The rest were too close to call through my headphones.
In a mix, you would never hear the difference. You may want to use them in a Recording Studio, but that is probably the only place they would make an audible difference?
"Neutrik ends and Mogami Bulk Cable..." my thoughts EXACTLY!!!
The same here: Brand bulk cable and Neutrik connectors.
A 250 USD cable that doesn't even have Neutrik connectors seems outrageous. Gold plated connectors don't matter, strain relief is what does. The cable should be double shielded and have proper electrical specifications - once you have that there shouldn't be any noticeable improvements over that.
Oh wait, did Jimi Hendrix use a high end cable for his desired tones?
Same here. I have even very cheap very very old cables retrofitted by myself with neutriks ages ago, they still work like on the first day. The jack is the most important thing in a cable its THE stress point. The better you go there the longer it will last.
The shielding in a mogami cable really makes one drool....so perfect and beautiful inside an otherwise ordinary looking cable.
Same here. Do mine my self and never ever hade any problems yet more then some usuall were when i make some in tweed.
The fender cable has a relic buzz included,, its part of the vintage tone/experience.
i thought mine was broken cause of how bent it was
@@christopherrivera6474they used to be better they started making the tips hollow sheet metal now
What was so amazing about the Transit Labs cable @9:11 is that it not only best reduced the high-frequency buzz, but it also virtually **eliminated the low-frequency hum** which was equally present and bad in all of the other three cables.
I love how he throws the cables away at the start hahaha
Yeah, come on Darrell. I wanna see you chuck that $200 cable onto the floor.
Ron Ramsay 😆
I can hear the difference but truthfully it's because I'm listening for a difference. If I was casually listening I'd never notice the difference.
Exactly. I think audiophiles and over the top cable buyers tell themselves that they hear a difference, so that they have a reason for buying a 250$ cable.
I honestly extremely appreciate a shootout like this. We are all about strings, amps, guitars, and woods that cables are usually not consider as much, so it is definitely helpful to learn more about their importance. Cheers for this one man!
The cable ends / plugs are the most important thing to look at! G&H last forever, best quality and best tone...
@@jimi272 actually the length of the cable is the more important. For practical reasons, just buy a wireless system
250 for a cable...no f***ing way !!!...Like someone said...just stay away from super cheap cables and you're fine..
Yeah better off spending $50 on a cable and the $200 on a hooker.
@@homers7777 🤣🤣🤣
Monster Prolink Cables - they're worth it
@@homers7777 lmao what the hell
@@dixienormous6969 If the hooker has cable, gold
I started buying Mogami Platinum cables after trashing so many others by standing all over them etc. Since buying a few Mogami cables I've stood on them, run over them many times with chairs and box wheels. And after three years I still haven't managed to destroy one. IMHO the Mogami cables with the Neutrik silent plugs are more then enough.
I totally agree! I used to make my own cables using exactly those brands of components. 😎
Darrel, I've followed your channel for over a year and let me tell you. Your reviews are really fun to watch (that's why I subscribed). But when you do stuff like this is really something else. Other youtubers do similar test but when I'm about to make a choice about gear, videos like this is what really helps me.
Apart from mechanical strength, here is what you want in any signal cable:
- Good sheilding
- Low resistance
- Low capacitance
That's it.
Better sheilding of course means lower noise.
You want low capacitance and resistance, because all signal cables act as a low pass filter, and those two values determine the frequency.
If you like a cable with high resistance and capacitance, in my opinion, you are better off adding a capacitor and resistor in your signal path.
Edit:
Also, oxygen free cobber is nothing but a marketing term.
So which one do you recommend ?
Cable length can be an issue - I use the shortest possible in my studio. Also crossing cables cancels hum whereas running them together lengthways can cause more 👍😊
Crossing cables as in just arrange it in an x?
@@ValWillKay yes
Yes 👍
That figures, I always knew they were out to trip me, especially after a few beers.
Good to know, I'll keep that in mind
I could easily got them all correct i here. But I admit this is cork sniffing🤣🤣🤣 the differences are so little that in a band context no one will ever hear it. And for the fender cable it might even cut through a bit more in the mix. I think what makes the expensive cables more expensive is their durability and the quality of building. Tone wise, it really doesn’t matter tbh
I truly believe those frequencies he's hearing were influenced by the price tag. I literally chose the cable that wasn't the high end one almost every time.
correct
Same. When you are a paid shill for the industry, of course price=better.
These shootouts are so awesome, thanks for taking the time to help us out with this stuff!! Your the best, thanks for listening to our ideas!
Cable capacitance is dependent on length. So were all the cables the same length ? Also, it would have been great if you unscrewed each connector to show the differences in construction of the core, insulation, and shielding - it would be good to know where these differences are coming from, especially for people who might want to make their own cables.
I also think you should be testing these blindfolded to ensure you don't impart any bias from the price tag.
I'm glad you made this video. I got every comparison 'guess' correct, because you can truly hear the difference of tone/frequency balance and delivery. This helped me confirm that I need a better cable. Mine is literally having aggressive static breaks while playing.
When your cable costs more than your guitar
Expensive cables don't improve your tone. I've been hearing this argument since the early 1970s. I've made my own, bought $60 setups, used speaker cables when I was in a jam, etc. Maybe if I owned studio that had high level players recording, I'd go for the $$$ cables. For me, as a gigging guitarist I go for the medium price cables. Not the cheapest, but $250 for a handmade cable? No way. My guitar and amp are the main components of my sound.
The most critical issue are the quality of the (double!) shielding, the thickness of the signal wire (which determines among other factors the electrical behavior and therefore the tone) and the craftmanship - meaning the quality of solderings/crimping/insulation at the connectors and the cable reliefs. The point where the cable meets the connectors cable reliefs are the most stressed ones. A 250$ cable where you cannot even repair a potential wire break due to factory sealing of the entire connector is not worth the money. I would also expect to get some information about the electrical characteristics for a high-end cable. Due to the capacity increase with longer cables the impact on tone can be massive on passive guitars.
Hey Darrell, I think this was an excellent demo. I like how you consistently cover the instrument info from beginner to intermediate to weekend player to full-time pro in your videos. That's important. Based on comments and questions here, I think a number of people didn't actually understand the gist of this unfortunately. Not your fault. It would probably serve them well to listen again with a different mindset going in. Thanks!
These are the kind of videos that keep me coming back to your channel. Stuff like this that we normally don’t consider but can still affect our tone.
I switch from the fender cable which was like €10 and it was turquoise to a mogami premium gold cable. And changes the sound quite a lot. It’s so much more clear I love it
Great comparison.Been using Mogami cables for years and never had an issue. They also have a lifetime warranty.
Gongrats Darrell for over 500k subs! You have a fantastic channel!
Thank you! I love ALL of your videos and have made many decisions based on your advice. I really appreciate that you actually test these and don't just talk about them.
Thanks for doing this. Good to know. I found the tonal differences negligible but the noise reduction of TL was impressive. Also durability is a big one for me. I've used PW for years and haven't changed them for more than a decade.
Cheap cable: YEET
High end cable: YEET
Really appreciate your fairness Darrell!
Kudos to the approach in comparing cables. Especially in recent comparisons of tonal differences in string gauges (from various TH-cam sources), it's hard to distinguish differences in tone when going sequentially through a series of variables where there are small differences between each step. I completely agree with your approach of picking one end of the spectrum as a baseline and then stepping through the comparisons. It makes it a lot easier to distinguish differences in sound.
I appreciate the content, the sound tests, I could not really tell much of a difference, but could tell a difference in the noise test
Here is my sceptic take on this.
Definitely the noise part is solid. Quality of the wire, shielding, length does make a difference for noise.
Now about the tone that cable transfers, I'm not convinced.
Every time you play, even if the volume levels are untouched, it can not be 100% identical.
Starting with, the velocity of hitting the string ( in MIDI terms 1-127, but in reality much more finer),
Exact position where the string was hit
Angle of the pick contacting the string
All of this, of top of my head, can contribute to a little difference in tone.
What I would like to see is a single take recorded (to eliminate variances), taken direct out of the DAW and then using the 4 cables to compare.
I wonder if we can actually hear a difference in tone.
I never used to believe it and had the cheapest cables money could buy. But it started to sound clearly bad and dull; so I upgraded everything, all my patch cables and long cables. I even got a gold tipped curly cable, and I got a wireless system.
And I'm glad I did all this. My tone feels open and fuller and crisper; and the wireless system?? The best! It sounds great (even less impedence) but the freedom of being able to sit on the couch without getting tangled, or go to the kitchen, or just roam wherever inside or outside, it's amazing!! But even when just sitting there (which comprises the majority of time) it's just great to not feel tethered to this thing that every time you move you feel Its' weight and the feeling that you're tangling. And the price is about equal to an fx pedal. It might not be as exciting to shop for, but I assure you , it's better to have!
I honestly don't know why I'm not seeing everyone use them all the time! You really don't have to be jumping around on stages like Angus Young or CC DeVille to justify a wireless system - they're for you Bro, do yourself a favor and break the leash now! (that'd be a great Ad line! 😆)
great video darrel ! really appreciate the input !
Awesome comparison video! I don’t use cheap cables and I certainly won’t spend 200+ bucks for a cable. I use Planet Waves American Stage cables and they sound great with minimal if not zero handling noise. They do great retaining your highs and I love how firmly the plug holds into the jack. By the way, I LOVE that Paoletti guitar!.
What the hell did you get me to watch this time Darrell!I
I cudn't hear any difference between cables
And they are all noisy! just different noise! None are silent!
Very interesting. Thanks for doing it Darrell!
i'm buying a guitar soon so i see your face a lot these days XD. you help a lot though!! thanks for the quality content and smiling face!!:)
As is usually the case, as soon as you throw dirt onto the guitar, much of the difference goes away. The clean tests were much more revealing. The noise test had a very clear winner, though... that Transit Labs was remarkably quiet. Is it worth the money? No, of course not. But the Fender, on the other of the scale, is definitely not a cable you want to use if you have anything better.
Somewhere, I have a bag of unused and mostly unpackaged cables that come with instruments. Most of my XLRs and the majority of my 1/4" cables are Canadian-made Digiflex. A couple I've had and used for well over 30 years, and they're still going strong.
I'll take the machine made cable please. As also called a consistent quality.
Thanks Darrel, always very good information.
Darrel I freakin love the new intro! You rock brother!
Cables do make a difference. I have been using the same 15ft Dimarizo Steve Vai signature cable for the last 30 years. I had to resolder one of the end once about two years ago. Great even tone. However this test needed a little rest between comparisons to allow your hearing a chance to reset for reference. Like stated he was able to really hear the difference through his studio monitors (think recording).
Would have been nice to see some EQ Spectra too. Just to "see" the change in frequency that you are talking about
Darrell, I'd be intrigued to hear you do a comparison of cable vs wireless system.
Love the channel!
Good test comparison Darell. i need to change this fender cables of mine soon :)
I've run over my DiMarzio cable at least 100 times with my computer chair and and it doesn't have any problems, so I'm happy. I also have some old Beldin cables that sound surprisingly good. Both boutique cables and tone woods are a ripoff in my opinion.
The difference is down to the capacitance of the cable, it'll affect the resonant peak of the pickups.
yup... the Transitlabs has a higher capacitance and causes loss of high end but leaves the lower frequencies relatively untouched... ending up with a warmer bassier sound...
@@quikie2211 and noisier signal.
I don't play any instrument but had to comment on how enjoyable and informative your channel is 👍 tempted to go out and buy one now 🤔😉
Cool video, I would love to see a comparison between the quality of cables regarding humidity. I live in the second most humid city of the world and I was told to put my cables and equipment in a non humid palce like a box with news papers and sawdust to keep stuff dry.
Oxygen-free copper = snake oil at audio frequencies.
Snake oil taste like chicken
willyburger OFC wire will not sound any different when new. The reason for OFC is that it will not oxidize as quickly. Oxidization will increase resistance so it is not a good thing. OFC cable is not that expensive so spend the $5 and enjoy.
@@kirarittberg5088 Given that it would take a decade or so before any difference was noticeable, another option is to save the money now and buy a new cable in 2030. It might be a "legit" feature, but it's one that almost no one will need unless maybe they live in a swamp in the Philippines or a Louisiana bayou.
@@Lord_Stinkfoot just enjoy the gritty crunch
@@Lord_Stinkfoot snake oil. my fav salad dressing.
No, I don't believe they sound better, but I would expect the durability to improve as the price goes up. IF there is an improvement in sound I imagine it would be very very marginal, and if you play high gain/distortion you'll never know.
I like the way you coat the plugs with skin oil before the test. And as you talk about the cables you whip them around in your hand. I can can almost hear the tiny little shielding wires breaking. Great video!
I like neutrik connectors, particularly the ones with the auto cutoff switch, it makes for easy instrument changes without having to remember to stand on the tuner.
I am expecting audio recording frequency graph.. so we can see which one have unnecessary frequency response in.. and also spectrum graph so we can see which cable have the thicker sound
That cable is more expensive that my Guitar 😳
Loved the way that you set up the review especially the noise/hum comparison. I'd buy the Transit Lab cables but that can't happen until the promotion to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff comes through LOL.
Mogami works for me. I use their Ultimate “Cable For Life” and have no complaints. The Neutrik Silent Jack makes life a great deal easier and it added a degree of top end detail and depth of soundstage when compared to my 7yr/1000 gig old Van Damme cable that I was using previously. Will be interesting to see if the Mogami lasts as well.
An idea, Darrell: Post the audio results of A/B tests like this in one video, get us to vote, and then reveal the "answers" a week later in another video.
I think it’s better when you play the guitar and TH-cam compression does not help
If I played on stage and had he money, of course I'd spend some serious money for my accessories, but being I just play near my home. my stuff is just fine and I saved all that money.
I'm the opposite. Quality more expensive stuff for the house. Inexpensive stuff for going out. Stuff gets damaged, stolen, or left behind when you take it out.
Great test! Thank you!
As always great content. I have everything from cheap to expensive cables. There is a slight difference but nothing to write home about.
Imagine someone sees one of those expensive cables laying on the floor and they're like "must be trash"
What I would Love love to see is a sound comparison of a pool routed strat verses traditional- Please!!!
Kevin you will find there is no difference, I own both
I believe the ONLY way to effectively make that comparison would be to test a traditional routed Strat, and then rout THAT Strat to a swimming pool, using all the same parts of course. There is too much variance between any two given Strats to fairly judge between them based solely on the routing. Just my take on it, but it’s the closest solution to the “Scientific Method” that I can think of.
Im Sorry for watching your videos for over 2 Years now without subscribing your channel!!! Love your videos
Great one! Thank you sooo much!
Things like high-end cables, exotic conductive materials in components and such are really only worth it if you regularly play over large PAs where the complete signal path will provide a fair amount of net resistance and reducing that can get a bit of extra clarity for a better mix. Bar gigs and home playing hardly call for that. Just my opinion.
agreed...it also depends on the quality of the sound system...a higher end system will pick up a lot more details from your sound (noise, eq structures, etc)...most local gigs don't warrant a $250 cable...
Should have included Monoprice cables in the test. Great cables and you can't beat the price. Clearly I've become a Monoprice fanboy. 🤣
I got some speaker cables for my home theater from MP - they sound and function great. And yeah, I’m a bona fide cork sniffer.🤓
Good vid bro. 🤘⚡
Thanks for this. I've been thinking about upgrading my cables, but now I won't. Thanks again. Everything you do increases the knowledge base for all guitar users! However, I would like wireless, ever done a test on those?
The only difference in cable quality is build quality. Sure, low cost cables degrade quicker and lose sonic quality as they break. But they pretty much sound the same to me.
I have a couple higher end Monster cables I’ve been using for a very long time and still sound great. I also have some Sound Gear cables that I’ve been using for a long time and they still sound great. Same with Mogami cables.
I’m confident if you take care of equipment it’ll last and sound great.
Tight, open, boomy, more clarity, smooth, full, flabby, milky, glassy, and etc are not measurable qualities and are terms that demand double blind evaluation. If there is a true sound difference, there has to be a way to measure something that can quantify that difference.
One could probably just measure capacitance with all cables the same length.
great video :-) I've been having pretty good luck with the Ernie Ball cables as of late.
Hey Darrell, I've seen your vid on it, but I'm just wondering what you think about the D'Angelico Bob Weir Bedford guitar now? Is it worth going for? I'm really considering it but struggle to find reviews that aren't first impressions.
Ho god stepping into snake oil land. Copper is copper, inductances is inductance, capacitance is capacitance, if the mfg can't state those, anything else they try to pour at you is bs.
So nice to see someone is awake, but you can hear the difference right? If people pay 10-30 times the price for the best tubes, 6x more for having the right vintage amps and speakers in their cabs and infinitely more for the right guitars, even buy vintage Neumann mics and Neve mic preamps, then why not get the best cables? Its not snake oil. You could buy 50 Citroen C1s for a Rolls Royce, but if you want the Rolls and money is no object, thats what you do. But it would be rather stupid to put some cheap tires on the Rolls, just to save some money, or?
@@Heatfarmer depends on which monitors headphones you are hearing... if they aren´t capable of reproducing the frequencies, how are you going to notice them? And I think it really has to be a weird cable to kill so much of the frequencies...
@@Heatfarmer use shorter cables, not even high ones can compete on distance. Or just use a good wireless system...
@@josearaujo8616 Just use a buffer amp before any long cables
@@josearaujo8616 I heard the major difference through Apple headphones, not exactly monitors
Repeat the same test with the spectrograph. Then we could visibly identify more highs less lows etc.
Yes! For sure. I experienced beginning with a poor cable and I swapped to a cordialcableusa-like and it changed drastically. I can hear a big difference even with a low quality transistor amp.
So on every test I chose the cable I liked better before you stated which it was, and EVERYTIME I chose the transit lab! It's amazing what the difference in tone is.
I'd test these cables with a calibrated tone generator, set to an output impedance similar to a pickup. 😉
Also, the results depend highly on the lengths of the cables tested, as well on the output impedance of the guitar used. An active guitar has a very low output resistance, compared to one with a passive pickup. Low resistance, in combination with the parallel capacitance of a cable, gives a much brighter tone. Cable capacitance plus instrument impedance form a low pass filter. The higher the impedance, the lower the cut off frequency. 😉
ThunderBassist Jay DAMN that’s legitimate
@@ThunderBassistJay Thats really interesting, because I thought that the difference was much less than I would have expected when he played higher output guitar. Didn't know that, but makes perfectly sense
What we learned: YES! Better cable = better audio
But, the difference between the Fender and the Transit Labs is most definitely not worth $240
This is one of the best shootouts I've ever watched.
Great, as always!!!
“Trasit lab” - wishing he had proof read the caption he had in every test.
Darrell as a noob guitar player i can't hear any difference at all and this is an amazing thing cause i won't feel bad to buy cheap cables along with the cheap guitars and cheap amps hahahahahah . The buzz i can fear it! but i guess that goes away with a noise gate right?
I did not think that stuff like this actually makes a difference before this test. Not corksniffing at all. :) Thanks for testing that, Darrel!
So is G&H the "standard" now? Seems odd to use upper end with the same connectors. I figured Neutrik would fit in there.
He should try to recognize his guitars blindfolded and their sound, that will be very interesting
That would be cool.
oxygen free copper is marketing invention. All copper is oxygen-free! Exception is rusted copper - it's the copper oxide. It looks different. It is black and fragile. So if you see just a red copper - it is oxygen-free
No, it's not! There are grades of Cu that are refined to have a lower oxygen content. If the oxygen content is below 0.001%, it's labeled OF or OFHC. For example, C10100 has an oxygen content of 0.0005%, and it's graded OFE - Oxygen Free Electronic grade. The OF coppers are generally higher in both thermal and electrical conductivity than the less expensive alloys that have more oxygen content. For thermal applications, OF copper is generally preferred since thermal conductivity improves markedly. It makes no difference in a guitar cable though, because for a cable there is no thermal conduction to speak of, and not much electrical effect either since the cable is conducting very little current. Don't believe me? Look it up.
@@bahhumbucker woah, I didn't know that. Thank you for this info, I learned something new about metals. But in terms of electric conductivity these alloys are almost the same, aren't they?
The material exists because there are cases where the difference matters. I don't think you're going to hear much if any difference in a guitar cable due to the conductivity of the wire. I've got a lot of different cables and never noticed a difference, other than cheap cables die sooner. The thing to understand is that in an audio application, it's not really about resistance of the wire - it's about the overall impedance over the audible frequency range. Whether you hear a difference, and whether you like what you hear, depends on the input impedance of the amp and the amplifier's damping factor. As Darrell said, "it's cork sniffing"... not really something to drop serious money on. I get decent cables (never spent more than $50, if that) strictly because cheap ones don't last.
@@bahhumbucker I got a pair of Pete Cornish 6m guitar cables 10 years ago. Because i wanted to check out if there were any difference. Cost me the same as a medium priced fx-pedal Did they sound different from my normal cables, yes. No question. Better clarity, which to me translates to lower capacitance or better connectors or better assembly. I don't care. Did they last forever, as promised? No. Did i buy another pair? No. They were nice, but its a matter trying to accept that since the voltage out of your socket change and you don't play in humidity controlled environments, there are simply factors that change your sound, no matter what you do. I only take a minor tweak on the tone controls to correct that.
Would any difference be cancelled out by plugging any of these into a 8-10 pedal pedalboard with various patch cables? Seems like this only applies to those who plug directly from guitar to amp.
Great video. Would love to see runway Vs the others, since that’s the one I’m most likely to buy.