Confused about HDMI cables

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Hi I'm hoping someone can clear something up for me.
I've been looking at HDMI cables recently and found the pricing to be a little, well odd.
Cable prices seam to go from cheap to very expensive, most cables look much the same , can someone explain if (and preferably how) a expensive cable is better than a cheap certified cable?

Cheers
 

Clare Newsome

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Hi there,

Hear that sound?
That's a very large can of worms being opened.

There are vehement disagreements about cables and the effects they have, from both a scientific and audiophile standpoint.
However, we regularly test cables and do find differences in both sound and vision quality between brands, prices and even lengths of wire.

When it comes to HDMI, there are those who say different cables can't possibly sound/look either better or worse, as it's a digital signal - simply a series of 0s and 1s.
However, a difference there is. Why? Because all interconnects harm the signal in some way - it's just that some have a less detrimental effect than others.

Onto pricing - there are some preposterously overpriced cables out there. But there are also some that can give you a good system boost that's well worth the money. As What Hi-fi? Sound and Vision tests all products on a performance-per-pound basis, you'll find our cable reviews (as with all our tests) focus on a product's absolute value. So, it's not enough for a pricey cable to be damn good - it needs to be demonstrably better than its cheaper rivals.

The key is to choose a cable that's right for your system. We've long talked about spending around 10 percent of your system budget on cables/accessories like speaker stands. Even a budget player will benefit from a cable upgrade - in-box free cables tend to be utter rubbish -ÿbut there's no point investing in a cable that costs more than your player itself.

Will be interested to see what everyone else thinks, and how you'd all like to see the mag/website cover the topic.
 
A

Anonymous

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Hi, So it's not that the cables can affect the underlying data(the 1s and 0s) but that diffrent cables are more lossy than others which can affect the signal and thus affect the sound/picture? And that a decent quality cable doent have to cost alot.

Thanks

Dan
 
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Anonymous

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what is the best cables i could buy of which have to reach over a 3 mtr space i am looking for hdmi-hdmi(dvd player), hdmi-dvi(external media hard drive) & a scart lead(sky) i am looking for something thats not going to loose picture quality and sound. i don't want to have to spend hundreds of £ per lead but i don't want bottom of the range either.
 
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Anonymous

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I posed some serious questions on this forum about the ability of HDMI. The difference in cost relates, I imagine, to their ability to screen interference and reduce attentuation of the signal. As this is a basic data cable with no error correction, you need to minimise data loss. At longer lengths (which varies according to the route taken by the cable) even the better cables can uffer from 'sparkles' and so reamplifing and retiming (jitter/timing errors) is required. One trade off from all of this costly materials used is that half of these stupid wires fall out of the HDMI socket because they are too heavy. At least its forerunner DVI had mounting screws. But for the moment we are stuck with this stupid standard.
 

jetjohnson

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and how you'd all like to see the mag/website cover the topic. Ok Clare you did ask! ....I reckon if the mag took a deep breath and did a completely "blind" test of various connectors used with the exact same components (with possibly opinions sought from a panel of non techy types?) that would be REALLY interesting.

And I'm not a luddite ....I've always used pretty decent connectors and cables for years in my previous life as a 2 channel hifi nut (I probably read too many issues of HIFI Answers over the years!) ..but personally I'd be fascinated to see if "the man in the street" could discern a difference between variously priced connectors.

The cynic in me feels (perhaps very unfairly) it'll never happen ...so???
 
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Anonymous

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A lot of your questions will be answered with the debut of a new testing and rating program for HDMI cabling & accessories. We've had a lot of the same issues you've experienced here in the States. The new program is called DPL(Digital Performance Level) Rating Program. The tests involved will focus on how the device performs over and above the HDMI minimums. So price, packaging, brand name, doesn't matter, it's strictly by performance. Their website for further info is www.dplrating.org.

By the way, the HDMI connector is based on a USB computer connector. They never seem to fall out. According to some local retail folks, the HDMI connector was never designed to handle a real thick amount of wire.
 

Clare Newsome

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[quote user="jetjohnson"]
I reckon if the mag took a deep breath and did a completely "blind" test of various connectors used with the exact same components (with possibly opinions sought from a panel of non techy types?) that would be REALLY interesting.

[/quote]

But that's exactly how we DO test cables - only the person physically plugging/unplugging the things and noting down the reactions of the viewing/listening panel knows which are which. The test panel have no idea what cables, in what order, they'll be assessing.

[quote user="jetjohnson"]
And I'm not a luddite ....I've always used pretty decent connectors and cables for years in my previous life as a 2 channel hifi nut (I probably read too many issues of HIFI Answers over the years!) ..but personally I'd be fascinated to see if "the man in the street" could discern a difference between variously priced connectors.

The cynic in me feels (perhaps very unfairly) it'll never happen ...so???

[/quote]

It's a shame you weren't at our Show at the weekend, when both Chord and Clearer Audio were doing comparison demos of various types of cables for anyone to see/hear....
 

jetjohnson

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....Thanks for the reply Clare and sorry if I sounded rather too cynical with my original post! .....I do accept that W-HIFI test products entirely fairly ......I guess what I was trying (rather clumsily) to say was that I wondered whether people with no interest in hifi/av could spot the generally regarded "better" cable in a blind test .....having said that you may well argue being a member of a listening panel doesn't mean you have a pair of the mythical golden ears!

......what was the general feedback from punters at the Chord / Clearer Audio demos at the show?
 

Alsone

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[quote user="Clare Newsome"]

Will be interested to see what everyone else thinks, and how you'd all like to see the mag/website cover the topic.[/quote]

I think what would be interesting Claire would be if you were to do a very large group test using a wide range of cheaper cables and one reference cable - maybe the QED Qunex?

My thoughts would be to go with a wide range of brands from those approaching the Qunex in price eg IXOS to those at the midrange eg Profigold, Bandridge, Vivanco, nikkai (www.maplin.co.uk) to those at the real cheaper end of the market eg. Wharfedale (Argos), John Lewis's own brand (many people buy tv's here), Letropacks own branded cables and also some non branded examples eg. http://www.cables2u.co.uk/hdmidvi-c-49.html?gclid=COTZkfPpqJACFQwZewodFVBVqQ and http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/1M-HDMI-Cable.html

Such a test would just about cover all the most popular cable choices and enable a rating relative to the Qunex to be made. It would give the chance to see if any cheaper cables close in picture / sound quality and would allow testing of standards compatability eg HDMI 1.3a / 1080P.

Best of all if any did deliver good results, it would give people a budget choice with the backing and assurance of the What HiFi testing lab, something of comfort to most buyers.

I think it would be essential though to at least cover all those mentioned and maybe even some more to give a real look at the market as a whole and not just the big names.

PS on a similar subject (but not cable related) any chance of a test of John Lewis's TTAP AV stands? Given that a lot of people buy tv's here and they are attractively priced and look good quality (I've seen this one close up but not fiddled with it), this would be of interest to a lot of people - link here to product: http://www.johnlewis.com/Technology/TV+Stands+and+Accessories+/TV+Stands+and+Accessories/Television+Stands/193/230449313/Product.aspx . My only critisim of What HiFI S&V is that there is a tendancy to test big name brands only on accessories instead of including some of the really common brands around as sold by big retailers such as John Lewis / Asda etc. A more balanced testing policy given that many people shop for av in these stores as well would be helpful to a wider range of people and might uncover some genuine av bargains.
 
A

Anonymous

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[quote user="dreaddan"]
Hi, So it's not that the cables can affect the underlying data(the 1s and 0s) but that diffrent cables are more lossy than others which can affect the signal and thus affect the sound/picture? And that a decent quality cable doent have to cost alot.

[/quote]

The cables do affect the underlying data (the 1s and 0s) as this is the complete signal, and the loss that happens is to those 1s and 0s.
 

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