Cheap mini to mini cables

[falang]

Greetings y'all! Long time lurker...and unfortunately swept up into the freakish/obsessive head-fi subculture.

Anyway...I have found it difficult to find a decent (moderately priced) mini to mini cable here in Canada (creative zmp>pa2v2>ultrasone hfi-650). The shipping costs of cables from the states were often near to or exceeded the costs of the cables themselves.

So, I happened by chance to come across this product on this website: http://www.sysconcept.ca/product_inf...roducts_id=254

Its likely nowhere comparable to the highend cables you rich folk flaunt around here, but for budget-minded folk such as myself, they just might do the trick. The cool thing about this product is that you can customise the length of the cable ordered and the colour of the plug.

I ordered mine yesterday and its already been shipped out today. Total cost is around $20 U.S. shipped.

Has anyone else tried out these cables?

 

[sjwong]

I haven't tried those before, but I would definitely back up all the recommendations to use Blue Jeans Cables on these boards. I also live in Canada and I've never had any problems with anything they've sent me. Very reasonable shipping price too (unlike most places).

Give it a try...you'll be impressed! I find many of these (or other DIY cables from the boards or other places to be more than suitable with the type of uses you're using it for. I tried a bunch of cables before finally settling on a DIY one in about the same price range and never looked back.

 

[falang]

I browsed the bluejeans site but couldn't find where simple mini to mini cables were.

 

[sejarzo]

The link only shows mini optical (glass) cables for Toslink digital transmission, not stereo mini TRS (copper) cables for analog connections.............and I don't find any copper cables on their site.

Your description of your gear indicates that you need to do an electrical analog, not a digital optical, transfer between your ZMP and your PA2v2.

Are you certain that you bought what you really need?

 

[falang]

Uh oh. So, this is not compatible? Argh.

 

[sejarzo]

.......I'm afraid this isn't going to work for you.

What probably confused you is the term "mini" usually refers (around here, anyway) to a 1/8" stereo (TRS) plug for an analog connection, and that site where you purchased the cable uses it for an optical cable.

Home component digital ouputs usually have an RCA jack for an SPDIF electrical digital output, plus a squarish connection for TOSLINK (optical) digital connections that looks nothing like the "analog mini".

Some components, primarily portable units that require TOSLINK output, have a single combined output jack assembly that contains three analog contacts for a 1/8" stereo mini plus, at the far end from the connection point, an LED for the TOSLINK digital connection. That's why the connectors on the cables pictured in your link above look kind of like a mini-plug--they are shaped that way to fit securely in the analog part of this type of jack--but they don't have any wire in them, just fiber optic cable.

I have an M-Audio Transit with this arrangement, and at first, I was baffled as to how they could get a digital signal out of the analog connection.....because I only focused on the term "digital", which I mistakenly presumed was SPDIF and not an optical connection.

I had to read the manual further to understand that the digital output was only available as an optical TOSLINK connection. They supply an adapter that looks sort of like the end of the cable you bought on one end, with a connection for a regular TOSLINK on the other side.

Live and learn, I guess. Can you return the cable?

 

[falang]

Just asked for a refund, but he said that because I had the cable customised to 12 cm in length, there is no resale value and hence no refund. Ha. Thats what you get for not having a degree in Cabletronics. i.e. Thats what you get for being stupid.

 

[sejarzo]

Put it up for sale here, I'm sure that someone out there will eventually have a need for a short optical cable.

 

[falang]

Mods...

Please delete this thread.

 

[threEchelon]

Bluejeanscables does make analog mini-mini's. You just have to send them an email to get a price quote. The price should be the same as the balanced audio cables, but just ask about the stereo mini-mini cable. The cable won't dissapoint!

 

[EightyOne]

I don't think the mods just delete threads on request, and they shouldn't anyway, since keeping this topic archived will prevent another user from making the same mistake.

And I can vouch for Blue Jeans Cable. I own the Swans M200, which is a good set of speakers, but nothing top-notch, so I really wasn't expecting new cables to make any improvement. I placed a special order for their Belden mini-to-RCA cable and Belden 10-gauge speaker wire, and it actually brought out a noticeable amount of detail in the higher frequencies (cymbals and all that). And their prices are much better compared to the other sites I've looked at.

 

[ComfyCan]

I agree that somebody should buy it if you put if up for sale here. These are perfect optical cables for connecting a DAP like an I-river 120/140 to an external DAC like the MicroDac. I had an 8" made by this company for me and it is a very nice cable for this application. It is exremely well made.

There are a bunch of people here who recently bought Iriver H100 series players off e-bay within the last couple of months, and there's your market.

 

[falang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComfyCan I agree that somebody should buy it if you put if up for sale here. These are perfect optical cables for connecting a DAP like an I-river 120/140 to an external DAC like the MicroDac. I had an 8" made by this company for me and it is a very nice cable for this application. It is exremely well made. There are a bunch of people here who recently bought Iriver H100 series players off e-bay within the last couple of months, and there's your market.

Thanks guys...however the cable is very short at 12 cm (just under 5"). I'll put an ad up anyway. Once again, thanks.

 

[wowie11]

Markertek has really reasonable prices for mini-mini cables. The lengths are a bit long for some uses, but it might work out for you:

http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp...&search=0&off=

Good luck!

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by threEchelon Bluejeanscables does make analog mini-mini's. You just have to send them an email to get a price quote. The price should be the same as the balanced audio cables, but just ask about the stereo mini-mini cable. The cable won't dissapoint!

I sent Bluejeanscable an email a couple months ago asking about their mini to mini cables and never got a reply...I ended up just buying a Cardas 12". I would like to still get a 6"...do you(or anyone) have any picks of the BJ cables and a price?