Cheap Audio Cables VS Expensive

There is no difference in sound quality between cheap cables and expensive cables! No difference at all. Here’s the differences Cheap cables…. - might (but rarely) be more prone to interference - might (but rarely) have poor connectors and cause scratchy audio that you would hear very clearly - might not last as long.

Out of these… the worst is the last one. They might not last as long. The reason this sucks isn’t because you have to go buy a new cable. It sucks because you’re recording… and everything is going smooth… then all of a sudden for no reason…it’s not going smooth, something is not working. It could take a while to troubleshoot and figure out it’s the cable. If you are recording other people, you look like a total amateur while you’re fumbling around testing stuff.

In my studio, I have 2 main categories of cables 1- permanent installation 2- daily use for plugging in microphones and guitars and stuff.

For daily use cables that often get connected and disconnected, I use middle of the road quality cables, ProCo brand. I’ve been using the same cables for 10 years, never had an issue with them.

For permanent installation cables…. I’ve got miles of these (almost) because I have a lot of analog gear, such as analog summing, and 6 analog 12 channel mixers spread out throughout my studio, each mixer has 10 separate channels of audio going to it.

Most of my permanent installation cables are dirt cheap from iSK. They’re basically the cheapest audio cables available. I also use these cheapies occasionally for day to day use if I’m doing mobile recording, or recording lots of channels like drums. Here’s the thing… I’ve never had an issue with the cheap cables! Never had one effect sound, or break down on me.

Here’s where I have had trouble with cables

- guitar patch cords - at least once a year I find myself cutting a guitar cord and re-soldering the connections. I currently have 2 on the shelf awaiting repair. - buying used xlr cables - I’m a sucker for a good deal, and I’ll buy audio gear even if I don’t need it. Some of the used cables I bought were troublesome. - multiple channel snakes. These are usually subject to a little more abuse, and they have a lot of connections, and a lot more fail points.

If you’re just running a small 2 channel home studio to record yourself, there’s nothing wrong with using cheap cables. If you have a larger setup…. It’s worth getting some good ones. I don’t see any point in getting the high end super expensive xlr cables. I do see value in getting an expensive guitar cable though. It will reduce noise better, and put up with more abuse.