Monday, February 28, 2011
Does Star Quad Microphone Cable Sound Better? Let's Find Out!
- John Huntington's Blog -: "For many years, the professional live sound community has, for the most part, stuck to actual science to advance our art, and generally steered clear of some of the outlandish, testimonial-driven claims made in the consumer “audiophile” market. However, in our trade publications over the last year or so, I’ve seen advertisements for audiophile’s gold-plated power cables; an editorial in a professional live sound publication offering a hearty endorsement of the rubbish of “The Secret”; and magical claims about star quad cable and its use for microphones on stage in live sound applications. Because cables are an area that drives audiophiles nuts, that article was the last straw for me, and so I donned my best flame-resistant suit, and engaged in a little online discussion with the author, into which I dragged live sound guru Bob McCarthy. You can read the whole exchange in the comments section of the article, but in my final postings I offered to set up a blind test to actually evaluate the author's claims. He never responded.
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4 comments:
Ok, so let's say Star Quad microphone cable is better. If it even is better, then it obviously isn't that noticable. Considering this debate has been going on for so long and goes back and forth, at the end of the day, the difference is at most marginal. It's not worth the money! Just buy XLR cable! If Joe Pino can't tell the difference, then it's good enough for me.
Well, 'better' is subjective; Star Quad is different than normal twisted pair because of its superior EMI rejection but higher capacitance. These means less interference and more HF rolloff over great distances, as I understand it, but this is only significantly measurable with very long cable, which is used neither in the experiment nor in the original PSW article. I tend to side with Bob and John regarding the necessity of a measurable difference; I would also like to see a transfer function between the two cables at various lengths.
Regarding subjectivity in general, Ethan Winer and Sean Olive have both written several great articles that boil down to the invalidity of judging similar audio gear outside of a double-blind test. I couldn't hear a difference here, but then again, my bias is towards not hearing one...
Eh... I also have a bias to not hear anything. I'm opposed to the whole "audiophile" thing. It seems like one of the modern day "snake oils." I remember reading about Monster Cable's "directional audio cable." It was like an XLR or 1/4" or RCA or something that is meant to go in one direction only. It has little arrows printed on the jacket. That way you know that THIS piece of copper only moves electrons in one direction. I mean, that just defies the laws of physics, right? But who cares... it costs twice as much!
I tried to do this test and my computer wouldn't load it up. Stupid PC. I will try this even after this post. My professor of Production Audio would suggest I wouldn't notice a difference but I want to keep an open mind about this process. In my experience the expense in a cable is based more on durability.
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