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Post by pcns on Feb 23, 2007 8:04:04 GMT -7
Yeah, the Lyric HG is a symetrical coax. No signal thru the shielding wire, ... and it uses 20awg for the twin core wires. I guess pretty thick, but it's also got really stiff insulation, i thinks its some kind of enhanced PVC. They're Amazing, but i think you also better be able to really baby 'em, ... i mean they're pretty tough, but just get the feeling that i can tweak em bad if not careful. I'm actualy getting used to it now. The down side of the solid core cables is you can end up with a paper clip effect. If you bend it a sharp angle a few times it could break. 20 gauge is pretty good size stuff, nothing to be embarassed about thats for sure. Most of your low quality stuff will be 24 or even 26 gauge, thats getting thin and is part of the reason why the nicer cables sound better. Just be carefull coiling your cables, don't wrap them around your elbow and you should be fine. Todd
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Post by billyguitar on Feb 23, 2007 11:42:01 GMT -7
okay wise guy! Nah, I have spare George Ls because I used to have two sets of gig stuff and also had spare long and shorter cables ready to go for different size stages. I even have one about 25' long that I keep in the living room so I can sit in front of the stereo and play one of my Bassmans which is over by the TV where I can enjoy looking at it when I'm sitting on the couch watching TV.
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Post by pcns on Feb 24, 2007 6:12:28 GMT -7
okay wise guy! Nah, I have spare George Ls because I used to have two sets of gig stuff and also had spare long and shorter cables ready to go for different size stages. I even have one about 25' long that I keep in the living room so I can sit in front of the stereo and play one of my Bassmans which is over by the TV where I can enjoy looking at it when I'm sitting on the couch watching TV. ah, yes, jamming in front of the TV. My kids get mad at me when I do that lololol
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Post by pcns on Feb 24, 2007 6:18:41 GMT -7
OK here's one. In choosing cable for guitar level signals, which parameter should take precenence: capacitance, or % shielding? Or is there another parameter (impedance?) that is even more important to pay attention to? Excellent question!! I love this one. Let me first say that are excellent cables out there that will give you great perfomance in both areas so you don't always have to choose between them. However, to answer your question let me just say the following: Capacitance, when boiled away, is about tone. On my guitars and my amps I have means to control tone and can change it if I so desire. Shielding is about noise. Although my wife is pretty sure I have a noise knob on my amp I really don't. So if I had to choose (fortunately I don't have too) I would pick shielding any day. I have no other way of controlling noise without good shielding. Grounding is the same game. Gotta have it. hope this helps, Todd
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 24, 2007 8:54:19 GMT -7
OK here's one. In choosing cable for guitar level signals, which parameter should take precenence: capacitance, or % shielding? Or is there another parameter (impedance?) that is even more important to pay attention to? Excellent question!! I love this one. Let me first say that are excellent cables out there that will give you great perfomance in both areas so you don't always have to choose between them. However, to answer your question let me just say the following: Capacitance, when boiled away, is about tone. On my guitars and my amps I have means to control tone and can change it if I so desire. Shielding is about noise. Although my wife is pretty sure I have a noise knob on my amp I really don't. So if I had to choose (fortunately I don't have too) I would pick shielding any day. I have no other way of controlling noise without good shielding. Grounding is the same game. Gotta have it. hope this helps, Todd Thanks for that! It does help, and of course, the way my itty bitty pea-sized brain works, it raises more questions. I noticed that the wire you all are using has four conductors and a shield. It looks like it's pretty good cable, but how are you guys setting up for a guitar cord with all those wires in there? It seems to me to be good cable for having the shield grounded on one end only, but I didn't see that on your web page. Just say so if I'm digging too deep..
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Post by sonicgator on Feb 24, 2007 8:55:11 GMT -7
What are the performance metrics for instrument cables? Do instrument cable manufacturers take VSWR or relections into account? Obviously, a guitar is an extremely low-level signal, but a bad crimp or solder joint on a plug or an exceeded bend radius could create some reflections.
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Post by pcns on Feb 24, 2007 14:47:16 GMT -7
Excellent question!! I love this one. Let me first say that are excellent cables out there that will give you great perfomance in both areas so you don't always have to choose between them. However, to answer your question let me just say the following: Capacitance, when boiled away, is about tone. On my guitars and my amps I have means to control tone and can change it if I so desire. Shielding is about noise. Although my wife is pretty sure I have a noise knob on my amp I really don't. So if I had to choose (fortunately I don't have too) I would pick shielding any day. I have no other way of controlling noise without good shielding. Grounding is the same game. Gotta have it. hope this helps, Todd Thanks for that! It does help, and of course, the way my itty bitty pea-sized brain works, it raises more questions. I noticed that the wire you all are using has four conductors and a shield. It looks like it's pretty good cable, but how are you guys setting up for a guitar cord with all those wires in there? It seems to me to be good cable for having the shield grounded on one end only, but I didn't see that on your web page. Just say so if I'm digging too deep.. Good question, lots of wires in there for sure. The Star quad cable we use has 4 wires as you stated but those are wired in twisted pairs. The 2 twisted pairs work to reject noise. Todd
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Post by pcns on Feb 26, 2007 19:06:31 GMT -7
What are the performance metrics for instrument cables? Do instrument cable manufacturers take VSWR or relections into account? Obviously, a guitar is an extremely low-level signal, but a bad crimp or solder joint on a plug or an exceeded bend radius could create some reflections. Hi Sonicgator, Good question. Some cable manufactures have white papers available that will have actualy engineering data. Most do not. VSWR is a consideration though because we don't want out guitar cable to act like an antenna and pick up local radio stations (I had one that did this a number of years ago) or to broadcast itself like a CB either, although with the low power it wouldn't broadcast much! Good shielding is important and you could infer from the shielding specs how well the cable would perform. Here is website on VSWR for those of you who are curious: www.antennex.com/preview/vswr.htmCanare does make a speaker cable that would reduce RF emission from the power side of your amp. Noise isn't as critical on the speaker cable because of the strength of the signal going through the cable. Speaker cables can/will create noise for other cables in the area. Canare makes a speaker cable called 4S11. The conductors are run in twisted pairs that create a field around the cable that reduces the amount of RF that could interfere with other signal cables. As for reflection, I haven't seen any specs on that either. Your point is well made about the voltage being low in guitar cables though. I just see there being much impact unless there is an obvious failure in the system someplace. If you have come accross either of these specs in regards to cables please post, I would like to see. thanks, Todd
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Post by pcns on Mar 6, 2007 5:31:30 GMT -7
Okay, whats next?? No more questions?? Todd
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Post by billyguitar on Mar 6, 2007 10:02:53 GMT -7
What about mic cables. Does anyone report hearing any differences?
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Post by pcns on Mar 7, 2007 8:39:32 GMT -7
What about mic cables. Does anyone report hearing any differences? YES! Mic cables made as much difference as guitar cables, maybe even more so because vocal are typically a much cleaner signal and have an even lower signal level going through the cable. I have many testimonies from people commenting on mic cables. One recording engineer reported that because his original recorded signal is better (cleaner, warmer, no RF, clearer) that he spent less time mixing. Others report cleaner signals, less noise, clearer vocals from live performance as well. As stated before, cables are part of the system. The better each part of the system is the better overall performance you can expect. If you have a great vocal mic you may be choking it (no pun intended, well, maybe a little bit). thanks, Todd
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