Nord User Forum

Guitarist run into this issue a lot as you can hear the difference in cable quality and length more easily with the less robust signal of a guitar (that's why they need a buffer with long cable runs or a pedalboard). I have and use Mogami and they're good. I've had just about as good an experience with Fulltone cables at 1/3 or so the price. IMO you don't need to spend over $100 to get a good quality cable....but you do need to spend more than 8 bucks. Don't let the moniker 'guitar cable' put you off, a good cable is a good cable. You want TS X 2
http://www.tonetronix.com/c/Fulltone-Go ... ables.html

SteveNordP3 wrote:

Mr_-G- wrote:Ridiculous price for a cable.

$104 does seem quite steep!

Oh yes, very expensive although the price is for 2 cables at 10ft each. I think the difference is audible compared to very cheap cables but I also think that a bit cheaper cables do a good job as well, if they are not in the very low price range.

I actually don't think cable difference is audible on active instruments, like keyboards. (Unless broken, but that's another story).
On passive instruments like guitars and basses (that doesn't have batteries) there's definitely an audible difference - have tested that in a bass player mythbuster session.

If I remember correctly it's due to difference in capacitance in the cable which lets through different frequencies differently, but capacitance shouldn't be much of a factor for active instruments.

The cheapest cables tend to break a lot quicker, so good to stay clear of those just for that reason.
Also the lowest priced variant from the known brands is good to avoid - those were the worst ones in our test session.

JohnT wrote:Makes perfect sense to me to use an $8 audio cable for a $3000 instrument. LOL Why not just play a Casio?

Hm... I would like to have some scientific proof of that a cheaper cable really makes an audible difference. By the way there is nothing wrong with some Casio instruments.

Mr_-G- wrote:Hm... I would like to have some scientific proof of that a cheaper cable really makes an audible difference. By the way there is nothing wrong with some Casio instruments.

I already posted this. Use a MIDI file, record the Nord or any other QUALITY board using the $8 cables, then record a second track with the Mogami cables. Reverse the phase on one of the tracks and play them back together. They should cancel each other out. They DON'T. Which means you are getting different frequencies through the cable. The difference may not be audible to everyone, and in a live performance I seriously doubt anyone could tell, but there is a definite loss of frequencies from the cheap cables.

Didn't mean to dis Casio, I know they do have some higher end boards. With tongue in cheek, I was referring to the ones on display at Costco.

JohnT wrote:

Mr_-G- wrote:Hm... I would like to have some scientific proof of that a cheaper cable really makes an audible difference. By the way there is nothing wrong with some Casio instruments.

I already posted this. Use a MIDI file, record the Nord or any other QUALITY board using the $8 cables, then record a second track with the Mogami cables. Reverse the phase on one of the tracks and play them back together. They should cancel each other out. They DON'T. Which means you are getting different frequencies through the cable. The difference may not be audible to everyone, and in a live performance I seriously doubt anyone could tell, but there is a definite loss of frequencies from the cheap cables.

Didn't mean to dis Casio, I know they do have some higher end boards. With tongue in cheek, I was referring to the ones on display at Costco.

I don't think that is a proper test.

There will potentially be minute difference in the note onset caused by differences in the midi timing and maybe also in the response from the keyboard. Effects like chorus etc will also sound different, as they run independently of the notes. You need this to be repeatable to one sample, i.e. around 20 us.

So my guess is you will hear phasing errors also if you do the experiment suggested with the same high quality cable both times ...

It will be better then to record the exact same signal at the same time via two cables and then carefully balance out the levels after switching phase on one. A splitter would work at the instrument end, or maybe play in mono using both outputs but avoiding stereo effects...

Would be interesting to hear an example if you tried this yourself?

Sent from my phone in brevity

JohnT wrote:Makes perfect sense to me to use an $8 audio cable for a $3000 instrument. LOL Why not just play a Casio?

In a later post you claim you didn’t mean to disrespect Casio - should I infer then you at least meant to disrespect me?

Hey - whatever floats your boat. If you enjoy the sound from a $100 cable your ears work better than mine. Happy Nording!

Myself, I use Van Damme cables with Neutrik connectors. For a 6m cable (which I personally would never use any longer than that, would always opt for using a DI box for longer runs) they cost me £16 which is about $20. The quality of them is very good

SteveNordP3 wrote:In a later post you claim you didn’t mean to disrespect Casio - should I infer then you at least meant to disrespect me?

Hey - whatever floats your boat. If you enjoy the sound from a $100 cable your ears work better than mine. Happy Nording!

No, you shouldn't infer anything. Was only comparing a $3000 Nord to a $500 Casio being similar to a $100 cable vs. $8.
There is a reason "professional" studio engineers don't use $8 cables.

baekgaard wrote:I don't think that is a proper test.

There will potentially be minute difference in the note onset caused by differences in the midi timing and maybe also in the response from the keyboard. Effects like chorus etc will also sound different, as they run independently of the notes. You need this to be repeatable to one sample, i.e. around 20 us.

So my guess is you will hear phasing errors also if you do the experiment suggested with the same high quality cable both times ...

It will be better then to record the exact same signal at the same time via two cables and then carefully balance out the levels after switching phase on one. A splitter would work at the instrument end, or maybe play in mono using both outputs but avoiding stereo effects...

Would be interesting to hear an example if you tried this yourself?

Sent from my phone in brevity

The test should not include effects which are not in the original sample. No reverb, chorus, tremolo, phasing, leslie, just a clean simple pattern, not an entire opus.
Before you "think" this is not a proper test. You should try it yourself. It was enough to convince me I was loosing frequencies.
Most of my Nord use is in the studio so it mattered to me.

The bottom line is if you are going to spend $3000 on your board, you don't have to buy Mogami, just don't buy the cheapest cables. There IS a difference.