I got some of these cables a while ago and they are excellent quality for the cheap price. They are really thick and come in different lengths. They are on sale at the moment, but not sure for how long. Mailed from the UK.
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Any recommendations for Balanced TRS to TRS, and TRS to XLR cables? Thoughts on Hosa cables?
protip: buy your cables from a dj or professional audio shop
eg. djcity, storedj etc
you get quality without the hifi nonsense
I'm not familiar with Hosa's equipment or reputation.
There are quite a few variables when it comes to making audio related recommendations.
I definitely wouldn't recommend buying your cables from a DJ. My ex is an international DJ, and when I tried having a conversation with him about cables and even another topic about DACs, he nor his relevant mates were knowledgeable around that area. The only thing they need to worry about is a source, backup source and a digital cable.
As tony mentioned about the stores, those are reliable choices for cables, but most importantly, you get to spend ten minutes with the staff member to go over your gear and use scenario with him.
Without having any idea what gear you're using and the value associated with it, it's hard to say if it's beneficial at all to go any further than a $20 cable from djcity.
As I said above about the shielding, it's only good if you think there's relevant interference. Longer cables will need or higher loads will require smaller gauges(bigger wires), fewer resistances or materials that conduct more effectively.
DJs are generally interested in stuff that works, stuff that connects securely and just stuff that lets them get on with their live event.
None of the tech stuff matters that much.
Hosa is a fine brand, a bit expensive IMO but you get that with a brand name.
I'll give you a real world example. I needed an xlr to xlr cable.
I think they different from normal audio to microphone cables???
Anyway I just wanted a short piece, 1m to run from an amp to a preamp.
It's hard going finding one from a hifi store.
$13 stereo xlr 1.5m from DJcity and they even gave me a discount for coming in and paying cash.
Cant ask for more than that. I come from the other end and its refreshing to see the DJ side.
Thanks for the input everyone, DJ City rep said Hosa would do and for the short run and equipment I'm using, I think that'll be fine.
Yeah, they're good blokes from my experience. I went in to get a particular length and design/type of extension cable, probably only a $10-20 product, the guy went through three boxes to see if the size was there.
Never mind the quality, feel the width!
If you happen to need a 1.5m RCA 2x Male to Male and the device you're plugging it into also has a gold connector, then sure, this is fine for the standard user. The 1.5m variant is marked down from $22.96 to $16.27. The other lengths are at full price.
The fact that the product description and technical details don't actually elaborate on the cable much, and that going a shorter and longer length has a higher and lower price(inconsistently), leads me to believe the copper design itself isn't worth much. The value of the product for the manufacturer would be towards the connector and work required to quickly solder it together.
The gold will corrode the other metal and have a higher resistance than it should if not paired with another gold connector.
Also, shielding isn't always recommended on analogue cables, it helps protect against capacitance from electric fields, but causes a level of capacitance itself.
The top-rated reviews seem fairly respectable once read through, besides the guy who's a retired broadcast engineer, there are numerous things about his highly positive review which clearly says he's an idiot.
I got into the whole cable making thing over the first big covid lockdown with audio enthusiasm driving me, spending most of my time reading and watching. I'm not an engineer, licensed technician or professional manufacturer.