Finally!!! The end of the HDMI debate!!

[Davo2008]

I've been upgrading bits and pieces around the main components of my gear lately. I was using monster HDMIs, however, as I'd bought them for pennies off eBay, thought I'd replace them with some genuine, quality leads that are springing up in the sales. Like the top-of-the-range IXOS lead at Richer Sounds that was £150, down to £39.95. And the Chord Active that was £135, down to £50. Still loads of cash, I know, but these leads are as thick as my arm (well maybe not THAT thick, but they are certainly well made!) and I thought they'd last me for years. I can't comment on these as I haven't hooked them up yet. (Get on with it - I can hear you scream)

Anyway, I also bought a Clearer Audio Silver Line 1m hdmi from Future Shop that was down from £100 to £25. I hooked it up to my Sky box. I wasn't expecting anything much as WHF had only given it 3 stars, but once again, it's a massively thick lead that oozes quality. I couldn't believe it. The difference was literally night and day! The colours on my TV were so much more colourful, the picture so crystal clear that it completely blew me away! I had to turn the colour down form 38 to 31 as it was just too much.

This is not a test that required multiple changes back and forth to convince myself that there was a difference due to the money I spent. It was a staggering difference that would convince even Stevie Wonder that he had regained his sight! And this was on a cable that was only given 3 stars!! I'm now very excited about the difference the others will make to my blu Ray - although I refuse to try it till the Chord turns up in the post (damn snow)!

So there you have it! HDMI's DO make a difference (either that or I've learnt not to buy Monster cables from China on eBay)! At 75% off for £25, it's got to be worth an experiment of your own, anyway!

 

[Jammoe]

Or disconnecting and connecting the cable cleaned the contacts.

Sorry, couldn't resist...

 

[daveh75]

Oh dear.

 

[Anonymous]

Ahhhh Placebo

 

[Paul.]

I had a gold plated cable made by Hama, that with staff discount from the camera shop I used to work for, I paid a whopping £4 (down from £25). I just picked up a Chord Silver Plus off of eBay for £23, to plug in to my Apple TV. As my primary audio device I thought it was worthwhile trying a better cable. Anyway, I noticed no difference what so ever in terms of audio quality, so the Chord is going back on eBay.

Also, your monster cables from china may have been fake...

http://reviews.ebay.com/Fake-Monster-Cables-being-sold-on-Ebay_W0QQugidZ10000000010101903?ssPageName=BUYGD:CAT:-1:LISTINGS:6

 

[Anonymous]

£150 down to £39.95..hmmmm, i reckon after richer sounds profit, perhaps £15? vat, perhaps £8? distribution costs, perhaps £2? advertising and marketing, perhaps £2? then ixos is left with £12.95. of which manufacturing costs are? £1? or £40? if it's the former then erm?....if it's the latter then erm?

 

[Davo2008]

It would come as no surprise to me to learn that the Monster cables were fake, especially considering that the genuine ones go for well over £100 and I think I paid about £15. However, as an eBay grand master, I know that deals can be had and also I know that Monster cables are probably made in a factory in China and that the same factory almost certainly turns out identical cables for someone else, or unbranded ones that are the same for a fraction of the price. Going by past HDMI arguments though, this should not matter as digital signals are 1s or 0s. This is also not a placebo effect (which I've almost certainly been guilty of in the past as well.) This was a HUGE difference, instantly noticeable and so pronounced that I had to adjust the settings of my (calibrated) tv. Before the change I thought I had a great picture too.

Even if there was no difference whatsoever, I think I'd STILL fancy having a cable that looks like I could do some serious damage to a burglar with it, if necessary, for £25. Everyone likes to have something that looks like it's expensive! Take my lovely "Guccie" watch that I bought off eBay for £2.50, for example!!

 

[Davo2008]

maxflinn:

£150 down to £39.95..hmmmm, i reckon after richer sounds profit, perhaps £15? vat, perhaps £8? distribution costs, perhaps £2? advertising and marketing, perhaps £2? then ixos is left with £12.95. of which manufacturing costs are? £1? or £40? if it's the former then erm?....if it's the latter then erm?

Yes, true. And so what does that say about the cost of a free-in-the box cable? It must be made out of petrified dog waste! The optimum for a good picture??

 

[chebby]

I did alright.

I bought a 2metre QED HDMI for £15.95 (introductory offer at Tesco a few months ago where I got the BDP S370). They are normally £29.95.

It subsequently got 5 WHF stars and the WHF 2010 Cable Product of the year award.

So I get the best of both worlds. A 'respectable' HDMI cable that was cheap. It performs at least as well as the John Lewis HDMI cable that I got in a sale for £8 a couple of years ago that now connects my old Panasonic DMR-EX78 (for Freeview radio and recording programmes to HDD)

 

[Anonymous]

Davo2008:

This is also not a placebo effect (which I've almost certainly been guilty of in the past as well.) This was a HUGE difference,

HUGE Placebo.

 

[Davo2008]

I don't mind buying my underwear from Primark, but if I see some Armani in the sale for a fiver, I'm probably going to get it. The Primark pants will be falling round my knees in 3 months whereas the Armani will probably still be admirably protecting my modesty - which is the best analogy I can think of at the moment - unfortunately....

Sometimes, buying cheap is a false economy.

 

[Anonymous]

has anyone ever wondered why hdmi cables are so often given away with magazine subscriptions? thrown in when buying a blu-ray player or tv? massively reduced from time to time and place to place? and yet are heavily advertised? it's imo, because the materials that go into them cost peanuts, the manufacturing of them costs peanuts, their design costs peanuts, but the profit they generate for all involved bar the actual manufacturers, is anything but peanuts

also, there is no such thing as a good hdmi cable, there are bad hdmi cables, you will know one when it either doesn't work at all, or there is snow on your tv screen, both are absolutely incredibly rare occurances, (does anyone remember a "my hdmi cable doesn't work thread"

) otherwise they just work, they host high speed data transfer from one component to another, and in the case of tv's, the data is then decoded by the tv, the tv then does what it's designed to do, it creates an image, if this image was in any way affected by limitations of a hdmi cable, there would be no image, or snow on the screen

 

[Davo2008]

ok, I understand what you're saying. I know the debates. I know it's impossible to convince people that are only interested in the 1s and 0s argument.

All I can say is: there was no snow on my screen before and the picture has never cut out or done anything to make me think it wasn't functioning anything but 100%.

I've replaced my old cable with a new one that is clearly of a higher quality and the picture is irrefutably better! It's a marked difference that no person on the planet would be able to argue against.

Some people may still think £25 is too much to pay for an HDMI, but considering what else I've spent on my Blu Ray, amp, speakers etc, this doesn't seem so bad, and would actually seem a bit silly if I had a £2 cable.

The picture is better. There is no doubt! Now, it's time for you all to be happy for me...

 

[Anonymous]

i am happy for you

...

but..

imo..

if your previous cables worked fine, then your current one works fine, the only way there could be differences is if your current cable suffered from no data loss, and your previous cables did, in which case there would have been either no image, or snow on the screen..

this is because, imo, data loss would/could only be random data loss, which would mean you would see/hear (hypothetically speaking of course) a different kind of image/sound, even on the same movie, each and every time you watched said movie with said cable

..

unless..

data loss is not random, because the cable is intelligent, which it cannot be, because the materials used in the cable are not intelligent, no more than my floor tiles are intelligent

 

[Davo2008]

Your dazzling arguments are making me feel like Forest Gump/ Rain Man and I normally would be entirely submissive and accept that you're correct......however.....the picture is better! Not just a little bit better! Not a "spoon full of sugar" better....but a "oh My God honey, get the kids out of bed and look at THIS" better!!

I have to also point out that you've unwittingly made yourself a target for the ruthless hit squads of Chord and Van den Hul, so HDMIs are the least of your worries!

The truth that no one wanted to hear as it means a hefty, pre-Christmas, wallet-busting upgrade! Quality HDMI cables DO make a difference!

Glad I could be of help.....

 

[Anonymous]

Davo2008:
Your dazzling arguments are making me feel like Forest Gump/ Rain Man and I normally would be entirely submissive and accept that you're correct......however.....the picture is better! Not just a little bit better! Not a "spoon full of sugar" better....but a "oh My God honey, get the kids out of bed and look at THIS" better!!

I have to also point out that you've unwittingly made yourself a target for the ruthless hit squads of Chord and Van den Hul, so HDMIs are the least of your worries!

The truth that no one wanted to hear as it means a hefty, pre-Christmas, wallet-busting upgrade! Quality HDMI cables DO make a difference!

Glad I could be of help.....

ah, im well used to being a target, it's fun

..

btw, enjoy your tv, you seem like a nice person with a good sense of humour, fair play to you

 

[Anonymous]

Quality HDMI leads DO make a difference but you all have to be weary:

[Rest of post edited by mods for inappropriate language, unsubstantiated allegations and offensive remarks]

 

[Alec]

Davo2008:The difference was literally night and day!

Believe me, it was not. Sorry, cheap shot, but still true.

And what about the sound?

 

[Alec]

shadiest.tripod:Quality HDMI leads DO make a difference but you all have to be weary:

Oh, I'm sure many of us really are.

 

[Davo2008]

I cannot tell you about the sound. This lead was just from Sky box to TV. I CAN tell you about the picture as I WAS there! Even a wizened sceptic, like you obviously are, would be running down the street, yelling halelujah and throwing Chord samples through windows!

Seriously, as the previous poster said, I can stop holding my breath and say that this lead was everything he said, right down to the little arrows that handily tell you which way to plug it.

I know it's already too late to not sound like I'm some psycho employee looking for a Christmas promotion, but for £25, it's been the best pound-for-pound upgrade I've put on my system for a while! Fact, not placebo!

 

[Alec]

I was actually just picking on your use of the word "literally", sceptic or not.

For the record, I'm a "not that bothered".

 

[Paul.]

Surely you have only proven that your new HDMI lead is noticeably better than your previous lead of dubious origin? How do you know a £15 QED Classic wouldn't have been night and day better? I love my classics that hook up my video gear, but mainly because the translucent purple finish is pretty

 

[strapped for cash]

Davo2008:
I don't mind buying my underwear from Primark, but if I see some Armani in the sale for a fiver, I'm probably going to get it. The Primark pants will be falling round my knees in 3 months whereas the Armani will probably still be admirably protecting my modesty - which is the best analogy I can think of at the moment - unfortunately....

Sometimes, buying cheap is a false economy.

The power of branding -- especially when it comes to clothing, perfume and after-shave -- never ceases to astonish me. Would they be the kevlar-strengthened Armani boxers, then, measured against the edible-fabric Primark briefs?

 

[Alec]

Ooh can you eat the Primark ones?

 

[Andrew Everard]

And so another thread goes round in ever-decreasing circles. Locked.