HDCable Review

[Andrew Everard]

nibbo:I
have compared the HDCable against the QED HDMI-P and could see nor hear
any difference on my system.

As for my original complaint, and backed up by others, the review was brief and too unbalanced and should have been better written.

I'd so like to think we'd still be having this discussion about balance and the standard of writing if we'd given the cable five stars.

Somehow I doubt it...

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:
nibbo:I
have compared the HDCable against the QED HDMI-P and could see nor hear
any difference on my system.

As for my original complaint, and backed up by others, the review was brief and too unbalanced and should have been better written.

I'd so like to think we'd still be having this discussion about balance and the standard of writing if we'd given the cable five stars.

Somehow I doubt it...

I doubt it too but a paragraph on sound and a paragraph on picture quality would have been a better balanced review instead of two paragraphs about sound and none about picture. How can one sum up at the end when picture quality has not been mentioned earlier in the review?

 

[Simon Lucas]

nibbo:I doubt it too but a paragraph on sound and a paragraph on picture quality would have been a better balanced review instead of two paragraphs about sound and none about picture. How can one sum up at the end when picture quality has not been mentioned earlier in the review?

The picture quality is mentioned. Hence references to the "reasonably detailed picture" and our assertion you can find cables that provide "a clearer image with superior insight".

 

[pioneer7]

Why is it that What HiFi always seem to go on the defensive with everything people happen to point out with regards reviews i personally think the review in question was short and sweet, and as stated before was only done to show that you had carried out a review, i seem to recall that a fair few readers on this forum wanted a review on a cheap HDMI Cable more out of curiosity to see how a cheep cable would fair against well known cables, as asked before what system was this reviewed on, i suspect an expensive one. Surely a cable that is £20ish is well made and does the job should at least get 4-stars you already said it was well built, the price is ok, the sound was good, so why 3-stars, yet a review on a taccima 6-way block got 5-stars and was a no brainer, to be honest i am not really bothered about the review, because i think what ever your readers and forum members say we will be always wrong, and the reason being is you are the experts and what you say determins what people will buy, however you dont know everything take HDMI from what people say spending alot on HDMI is not worth it as most say they can not see a difference, does that mean they are wrong in there observations. Andrew as for your reply in that you "had this been a 5-star product" what does that mean why would you say that, i find that pretty condicending and i have to say had it got 5-stars i think it is fair to say everyone would be rushing out to buy one, then coming on these forums to say how good it is especailly at £20. I think What HiFi should remember that your readers and forum users are the customers and we keep you going, so dont shoot down peoples opinion or concerns they may have about a matter they feel strongly about, as i said before most will buy a product on what you say, if it is good they will buy if it is bad they will probably stay away.

Anyway there you go i have had my moan, it is nothing personal guys just needed to air my opinions, i am off now to order The ultimate HDMI from VDH at £180.

Andy

 

[Clare Newsome]

We don't shoot down people's opinions - it's why we have a Forum and User Reviews for every product review we carry: if we didn't care for feedback, why would we host and prolong these discussions and encourage your own views to be aired?

As for being defensive - nope, explanatory. You've questioned a review we admittedly gave very little space to (not reflecting the blind-testing time it took to establish the verdict) so we're providing it.

You cite the review of the (cheap) Tacima - perfect example of an affordable product we feel could bring benefit to a lot of people, and that you'd have to spend a lot more money on before you could get the same sort of benefits. Hence the five stars, and the Award.

Some other products, although average (that's a three-star rating, as we state in every magazine) just don't have the same 'above and beyond' for the price, even when cheap. So that's what the HD Cable got - yes, it works and is perfectly acceptable, just not above average even at that money.

 

[d4v3pum4]

...so what sub £20 HDMI cable is worthy of 5 stars?

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:(not reflecting the blind-testing time it took to establish the verdict)

Do you publish your test method anywhere? If so, can you post a link? How many people are the subjects of the blind test? Do they tend to be the same subjects for each test, or from a pool of WHF staff, or from members of the public, or...?

Just interested.

 

[Clare Newsome]

d4v3pum4:...so what sub £20 HDMI cable is worthy of 5 stars?

We're still looking for one! This is superb value at £30, and well worth the (slight) extra investment.

 

[Clare Newsome]

smithdom:

Clare Newsome:(not reflecting the blind-testing time it took to establish the verdict)

Do
you publish your test method anywhere? If so, can you post a link? How
many people are the subjects of the blind test? Do they tend to be the
same subjects for each test, or from a pool of WHF staff, or from
members of the public, or...?

Just interested.

As i've said on many, many threads on the subject, it's standard ABX methodology. One person is responsible for the cable switching, while team (three, typically) of WHF testers independently note their verdicts on sound and vision.

It's something i'd encourage you to try for yourself at home with friends and family - with so many manufacturers offering home trials, it's definitely worth (as with any AV purchase) a look/hear to discover what suits your eyes, ears and system.

 

[Davo2008]

Clare this is the perfect opportunity for you to mention the review you've (hopefully) doner on that £3.00 cable you received a while ago, remember? Scoff if you will, but the picture I get is awesome! I'm sure that the other people on here that bought one would agree also!

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:

As i've said on many, many threads on the subject, it's standard ABX methodology. One person is responsible for the cable switching, while team (three, typically) of WHF testers independently note their verdicts on sound and vision.

Clare
Do you know what level of system this cable was tested
on? Was it tested on a high end system and a budget system and also
was it tested alongside a cable like the QED for comparison purposes?

 

[Andrew Everard]

nibbo:Was it tested on a high end system and a budget system and also
was it tested alongside a cable like the QED for comparison purposes?

Yes, yes and yes.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:
nibbo:Was it tested on a high end system and a budget system and also
was it tested alongside a cable like the QED for comparison purposes?

Yes, yes and yes.

Thanks Andrew. I must obviously have a rubbish system or something in my eyes then for me to not notice a difference between the 2 cables!

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:As i've said on many, many threads on the subject, it's standard ABX methodology.

I was not familiar with the term ABX, sorry if I missed the explanation. I tried searching the forums for "ABX" and got five pages of hits. I can't say I looked at every one but I looked at a lot of them without finding an explanation of the ABX method. However, I did find a concise explanation on Wikipedia.

Clare Newsome:One person is responsible for the cable switching, while team (three, typically) of WHF testers independently note their verdicts on sound and vision.

The Wikipedia entry suggests that the ABX test is primarily about seeing if subjects can reliably distinguish between two products. Subjects don't have to qualify their choice by describing differences, they merely have to distinguish. The validity of the test is proportional to the number of trials, with a minimum of 10 recommended. Results are presented as the number of correct distinctions as a proportion of trials. Your description of the WHF test method does not seem to fulfil the minimum recommended number of trials, and we don't see test results presented in the way indicated by the Wikipedia entry.

I'll readily admit that the presentation of ABX test results as shown in the Wikipedia entry makes for pretty dry reading, and would not be nearly as entertaining as the WHF reviews. However, the results of an ABX test conducted in line with the example in Wikipedia would inform the HDMI cable debate.

 

[carter]

guys the reviews are a guide.if you are happy with what you have then an extra star will make no odds.

i have a budget system made up of alot of 4 and 5 star bits even a couple of items that started as 5 and are now 4,have thay got worse? no just means better bits of kit have come along.

what i picked up from reading the mag and forums is some bits of kit work on some systems and some dont.aswell as diffrent opinions.ie mains filters ,shilded mains lead i found i got better sound and picture with both but i have read that some said thay didnt work.that dosent mean im gonna bin mine.

i no you guys are only giving an opinion but it does seem a bit of an attack

 

[Anonymous]

nodnarb4444:
guys the reviews are a guide.if you are happy with what you have then an extra star will make no odds.

i have a budget system made up of alot of 4 and 5 star bits even a couple of items that started as 5 and are now 4,have thay got worse? no just means better bits of kit have come along.

what i picked up from reading the mag and forums is some bits of kit work on some systems and some dont.aswell as diffrent opinions.ie mains filters ,shilded mains lead i found i got better sound and picture with both but i have read that some said thay didnt work.that dosent mean im gonna bin mine.

i no you guys are only giving an opinion but it does seem a bit of an attack

Yes you are quite right. I'm more than happy with my HDCable, especially as I have indeed compared it with a more expensive cable and failed to notice any difference and saved myself money. I'm very happy with my system but was keen to find out if I could gain anything extra by using a 'better' cable. I didn't gain anything so I returned it.

As for the attack, yes it was an attack. WHF are only too aware about the lengthy debates that go on on here about the merits of HDMI cables and that a lot of people are very sceptical about using more expensive cables and also whether WHF are biased towards the more established brands. The review didn't really make any effort to reassure people about their concerns by writing the review in a way that seemed no more than a token gesture. Also you have to spend double the amount for the QED, not just a few pounds!

 

[Andrew Everard]

nibbo:a lot of people are very sceptical about using more expensive cables and also whether WHF are biased towards the more established brands. The review didn't really make any effort to reassure people about their concerns by writing the review in a way that seemed no more than a token gesture.

Enough of the insinuations - this is beginning to look like axe-grinding...

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:
nibbo:a lot of people are very sceptical about using more expensive cables and also whether WHF are biased towards the more established brands. The review didn't really make any effort to reassure people about their concerns by writing the review in a way that seemed no more than a token gesture.

Enough of the insinuations - this is beginning to look like axe-grinding...

Nice to see that you're still showing an interest on this thread but it looks like we'll have to agree to disagree on this matter. I've had my say and I'll now leave it at that.

I'd be interested to know about whether the quality of the cable would be affected by the quality of the monitor though. i.e, whether you're much less likely to notice any difference with the cable watching blu-ray on a very good 720p screen against watching it on a full 1080p screen. Perhaps that is the case....any thoughts Andrew?

 

[Andrew Everard]

nibbo:Nice to see that you're still showing an interest on this thread but it looks like we'll have to agree to disagree on this matter. I've had my say and I'll now leave it at that.

OK, fine.

nibbo:I'd
be interested to know about whether the quality of the cable would be
affected by the quality of the monitor though. i.e, whether you're much
less likely to notice any difference with the cable watching blu-ray
on a very good 720p screen against watching it on a full 1080p screen.
Perhaps that is the case....any thoughts Andrew?

That didn't last long!

The answer is yes. The quality of the cable won't itself be affected by the quality of the screen, but of course a better-quality screen would be more revealing of the abilities or failings of a cable.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:

That didn't last long!

Haha. Thought you might say that [ although I was referring to slagging off the review!

]

Andrew Everard:

The answer is yes. The quality of the cable won't itself be affected by the quality of the screen, but of course a better-quality screen would be more revealing of the abilities or failings of a cable.

Thanks Andrew. So although I see no difference with my current set up, if I upgrade to a better screen then the likes of the QED would be a cable that I would see a noticeable improvement with? Perhaps that's where a lot of peoples problems lie with not seeing the difference, all down to the resolution of their screen. Same as speakers and speaker cable i suppose.

 

[Andrew Everard]

IME, a better screen will make the differences more apparent.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:IME, a better screen will make the differences more apparent.

Thanks for clarifying that Andrew.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a chord hdmi cable that i loved but the end snapped on moving my amp so i know have 2 van der hul going in to my pioneer amp and an ixos going from amp to tv . no complaints with either