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Quality of digital interconnects. Just how important?


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Old 15-07-2007, 13:26
Jezzar
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Having finally convinced myself that I have to have Sky HD otherwise the quality of my life will suffer, I'm faced with pondering over a subject I have often lost myself in thought with.

I have a really not all that special 'HD Ready' 32" LCD TV. Until I buy that 1080p TV that I really need, I find myself wondering if I can at least improve the quality of my current viewing with the purchase of a more expensive HDMI cable.

The point I wrestle with here, is that whereas I can mentally justify expensive speaker cables, to improve the analogue signal delivered to the speakers, surely with a digital connection there would be no improvement? Digital data, along with checksums to ensure that the data has arrived at the receiving end exactly as it has been transmitted from the source, should surely mean that it either works to provide an exact digital replica of data at each end, or it just doesn't work.

Am I missing something here? There always seem to be a number of myths and legends. I have been told in the past by a supposedly well respected high street retailer such rubbish as "An anologue RCA cable will not carry digital data, such as a coaxial audio out, and therefore will not even produce sound", so I tend to be rather sceptical.

What views do you all have?
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Old 15-07-2007, 14:20
unheardof
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In the red corner I have a 2m £70 monster HDMI cable, in the blue the £4.99 cheapie one I have

There is zero difference between the two. Absolutely nothing

Luckily I wasn't the mug who paid full price for the monster cable. It was thrown in with a second hand HDDVD player I bought from ebay without my knowledge

Same goes with the £2.99 and £25 optical cables I have, again zero difference (I again didn't pay full price for that one)

Plus I use standard RCA audio / video leads as digital coaxial leads and component cables. Anyone who says you shouldn't or can't is lying through there teeth
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Old 15-07-2007, 15:20
soulboy77
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Monster cables are seriously overated - I don't know how they can justify their prices.

It's only in high end systems that one cable might be perceived as making a difference over another.

I have in the past also used mains cable for long runs of speaker wire.
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Old 15-07-2007, 15:47
bobcar
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Providing the signal gets through ok there is ZERO improvement in using a more expensive one. You must realise these are digital signals not analogue - the signal is there or it is not.

If you require a long lead then (e.g. 20m+) it may well be worth paying more but this is for reliability of connection not picture quality.
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Old 15-07-2007, 16:47
Nigel Goodwin
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Monster cables are seriously overated - I don't know how they can justify their prices.
Simply because there are idiots out there who will pay it!.

From a retailers point of view expensive cables are VERY good business! - for a cheap lead you might make 50% profit, for an expensive lead you might make 200%-400% profit!. This is why many retailers try and sell you a £70 SCART lead for your £29 DVD player - they may make £1 on the DVD player, but £50 on the SCART lead!.
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Old 17-07-2007, 00:52
unikey
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In the red corner I have a 2m £70 monster HDMI cable, in the blue the £4.99 cheapie one I have
Where did you find a HDMI cable for £4.99 been looking for a 5m and a 5m DVI - HDMI and the cheapest i have found is £49.99

Cheers

Simon
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Old 17-07-2007, 01:47
unheardof
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Where did you find a HDMI cable for £4.99 been looking for a 5m and a 5m DVI - HDMI and the cheapest i have found is £49.99

Cheers

Simon
ebuyer and ebay have the cheapest by far. I got my £4.99 hdmi cable from a local discount store
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Old 17-07-2007, 23:17
kansaiguy
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5m HDMI to DVD £8.99

http://stores.channeladvisor.com/cab...rce=googlebase

Search froogle for bargains
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Old 17-07-2007, 23:32
OB racks
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Having finally convinced myself that I have to have Sky HD otherwise the quality of my life will suffer, I'm faced with pondering over a subject I have often lost myself in thought with.

I have a really not all that special 'HD Ready' 32" LCD TV. Until I buy that 1080p TV that I really need, I find myself wondering if I can at least improve the quality of my current viewing with the purchase of a more expensive HDMI cable.

The point I wrestle with here, is that whereas I can mentally justify expensive speaker cables, to improve the analogue signal delivered to the speakers, surely with a digital connection there would be no improvement? Digital data, along with checksums to ensure that the data has arrived at the receiving end exactly as it has been transmitted from the source, should surely mean that it either works to provide an exact digital replica of data at each end, or it just doesn't work.

Am I missing something here? There always seem to be a number of myths and legends. I have been told in the past by a supposedly well respected high street retailer such rubbish as "An anologue RCA cable will not carry digital data, such as a coaxial audio out, and therefore will not even produce sound", so I tend to be rather sceptical.

What views do you all have?
Well I work in the broadcast TV industry. If you were to see some of the corroded XLR connectors that the master audio is originated on (eg Glastonbury - typical of all OB's), I don't think you would waste money on 'premium' connectors (or cable).

It's BS as far as I can make out. A wire is a wire. Maybe thicker cables from the power amp to speakers make sense, but for line level interconnects between kit? Any cable properly made off to any connector should work fine.
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Old 11-09-2007, 14:32
Jezzar
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Thanks for this - exactly as I thought which is good!

So, to add a question to this which I guess (and hope!) is the same answer; I have bought a 4m HDMI cable which I plan to plumb into the wall. However, it says on it that it is only for 'up to 1080i signals'.

I guess this is another marketing scam - ie at this point I should panic, send it back and order a more expensive one that will give me 1080p capabilities.

Same answer, or is this different?
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Old 11-09-2007, 15:02
philljp
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For some scientific testing on this subject check out the links from here:

http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=263
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Old 11-09-2007, 16:44
Jezzar
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I'm even more confused now! If only my cable was in the test.

I bought a 4m Monster 300 cable. I had thought this was probably overkill but I am laying it behind the wall prior to finishing my laminate floor and redecorating, so thought I'd better spend the money rather than worrying.

Having found that it only mentions 1080i on the packing, and it not being in the test I am faced with:

1. Assuming that it will be ok for 1080p and installing it

2. Buying a more expensive 4m Monster cable

3. Buying a different brand cable

I cannot work out which option makes sense given the fact that it is 4m rather than the "Don't worry about it" 2m. I don't have 1080p yet so I cannot test it myself, but I need to get on with whatever I decide.

Can we have a bit of a poll here? What would you all do in this situation?
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Old 11-09-2007, 16:46
JohnX1
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HDMI Licensing LLC has recently divided cable rating into two categories: Standard and High Speed. The High Speed rating is approved for the greater bandwidth requirements of the latest HDMI version 1.3.

http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/faq.aspx#q7_6

They recommend the High Speed cable for all but the shortest of runs (2 meters or less). If you weren't wiring through a wall, I would recommend you try the cable you already have. As you can read from their noncommittal response in the next FAQ, chances are your 'standard' HDMI cable will work just fine. But who wants to do that job over in case it doesn't?

To be clear here, HDMI has always supported 1080p from the beginning with version 1.0 in 2002. I would bet the cable you have will work just fine. But if it doesn't, I'm not the one who has the re-wire job to do. The question here is the robustness and length of that cable. In addition the ultimate question is whether you will ever have a 1080p signal to send through that cable. And even if you have to settle for 1080i, what impact is that to have on the quality of your life?
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Old 28-11-2007, 16:45
FlatProblem
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This gold optical cable made me chuckle

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/pr...sp?SKU=AV14625
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Old 28-11-2007, 16:59
chrisjr
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That's nothing. try this OPTICAL cable with oxygen free copper cable. And ferrite interference filters as well!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2m-Gold-TOSLin...QQcmdZViewItem
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