xlr cables

[admin_exported]

wondering if anyone has any advice on cables , i am looking to purchase some xlr cables , any input most welcome . So far i have thought of siltech , chord , nordost .

 

[MUSICRAFT]

wondering if anyone has any advice on cables , i am looking to purchase some xlr cables , any input most welcome . So far i have thought of siltech , chord , nordost .

Hi m0172uk

I'll recommend contacting your nearest Professional audio dealer and seek their advise at to the XLR cables they use/sell 🙂

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Richard Allen]

wondering if anyone has any advice on cables , i am looking to purchase some xlr cables , any input most welcome . So far i have thought of siltech , chord , nordost .

Hi m0172uk

I'll recommend contacting your nearest Professional audio dealer and seek their advise at to the XLR cables they use/sell 🙂

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Absolutely. Rick's right. Our local pro dealer sells 5 metre XLR leads at £15.00 each. With XLR, you don't need all the hype and rob dog prices of HiFi dealers. Balanced cables don't work that way. And you can have pretty colours too!! ( Pink!!!!)

 

[aliEnRIK]

Be aware the components need to be fully balanced or else its a waste of time using XLRs

And I disagree with the above notion. Weve tested van damme UP-LC OFC XLRs against Atlas OCC copper XLRs, and the grain free atlas were far better (That said, this was in a VERY expensive system)

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

I'll recommend contacting your nearest Professional audio dealer and seek their advise at to the XLR cables they use/sell 🙂

I wouldn't be so confident about turning to pro audio dealer. a few months ago I bought myself some cheepo CU XLR interconnects just to find out if there's any gain worth spending money on. suffice to say I let those cables stay in my system for about 2 songs before reverting to my trusty Atlas Titan. sound with Atlas is definitely more fluid and pleasant. well I'll just have to wait for some cable sales and maybe then will I be able to find something more suitable from Atlas (Atlas Mavros is outrageously expensive at the moment).

 

[datay]

Be aware the components need to be fully balanced or else its a waste of time using XLRs

And I disagree with the above notion. Weve tested van damme UP-LC OFC XLRs against Atlas OCC copper XLRs, and the grain free atlas were far better (That said, this was in a VERY expensive system)

No point using XLR to phono cables then? I may be picking up a preamp with balanced (and unbalanced) outputs, my X Power of course is RCA only. In which case stick with RCAs at both ends (until I find upgrade to monoblocs...). The preamp apparently has a switch according to which outputs you use.

Another question - does the system have to be fully balanced - i.e. CD and/or dac XLRs into the pre? (This particular preamp has one set of balanced inputs).

Cheers.

 

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. Rick's right. Our local pro dealer sells 5 metre XLR leads at £15.00 each. With XLR, you don't need all the hype and rob dog prices of HiFi dealers. Balanced cables don't work that way. And you can have pretty colours too!! ( Pink!!!!)

I have used those 5 meter XLRs on my old NAD pre/power combo. The type that are used for i dunno what, electric guitars and what not. While i deffo think they sounded better than a pricy interconnect i could certainly tell a massive difference when i got a £100 interconnect refitted with XLR plugs.

 

[aliEnRIK]

No point using XLR to phono cables then? I may be picking up a preamp with balanced (and unbalanced) outputs, my X Power of course is RCA only. In which case stick with RCAs at both ends (until I find upgrade to monoblocs...). The preamp apparently has a switch according to which outputs you use.

Another question - does the system have to be fully balanced - i.e. CD and/or dac XLRs into the pre? (This particular preamp has one set of balanced inputs).

Cheers.

Definitely no point at all in XLR to phono. Its one or the other.

Id better explain what I mean by 'fully balanced'. Quite a few components have XLR inoputs/outputs but are NOT actually balanced. What that means is that when its unbalanced (in the case of input for example) the XLR is converted to a normal single signal (like a phono). Any conversion in hifi is generally bad. In which case phonos should be used (unless you need lengths over 5m and XLR might be better due to noise reduction)

The whole system doesnt need to be balanced no. My original statement was just to make you aware that just because something has XLRs doesnt mean it must be balanced

 

[audioaffair]

Pro audio and hi-fi customers are often quite different. While you can get £15 XLR cables if you try, I agree with the comments that the sonic benefits are not fully worthwhile unless these are properly balanced cables.

For the discerning hi-fi buyer, there are big differences between quality XLR cables from Chord, Nordost, Black Rhodium, Wireworld etc that its worth having a listen for yourself and/or borrowing some cables from a friendly hi-fi dealer to listen to differences for yourself.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Normal pro xlr cables from a pro audio supplier is all you need.

Artists, studios, live concerts etc. all use them (an that inlcudes studio masters recording).

There is no gain in quality from more expensive makes, except cosmetic (the value of which is up to each individual, naturally).

Get some music with the money you save.