[lojay]

Alright, so I'm settling for a Blacksilver!

But one question, how long does a cable have to be in order to affect the audio quality greatly?

Would my less-than-$2 interconnects be the culprit to the feeling that my E-MU isn't sounding as great as it should? Or would it not affect audio at all because it is only 3 meters long?

Also, what should be the length of the interconnects that I am to buy from Larry? Should I buy them longer, say just in case I'd move my house or have special use of the length later (like mountain climbing?

ok not funny)?

Or should, for SQ sake leave the cables as short as possible?

I know this sounds crazy as hell, but I'm using interconnects only because my E-MU ouputs can't be plugged in with my phones or amps, so I need IC's as "E-MU dual 1/4" - RCA" adaptors.

So am I doing anything wrong?

 

[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lojay But one question, how long does a cable have to be in order to affect the audio quality greatly?

That all depends on lots and lots of factors, if the connection is single ended or balanced, the capabilities of the equipment you will use it with, the properties of the cable itself, the amount of RF in the environment... In short no one can tell you. The rule of thumb I use is to make sure it is long enough for the worst case scenario but as short as possible. A <$2 interconnect that is three meters long would probably be pretty crappy. If possible I would go for a 1 meter length and if that wasn't long enough step up to 1 1/2 or 2 meter.

 

[Mr.PD]

You have 3 meter cables?

Actually for audio, that seems quite long. That long of a cable should be highest quality you can afford.

Yes, cheap 3 meter interconnects are a major factor in why you are not getting great sound from your set up.

Get shorter cables when you place your order, if you can use shorter cables in your set up. Even if you can only knock 1 meter off of that length it will be beneficial.

 

[meat01]

maximum length of rca cables

This site is mostly talking about video, but it does say that audio and video will not be degraded up to 40 or 50 feet.

 

[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meat01 This site is mostly talking about video, but it does say that audio and video will not be degraded up to 40 or 50 feet.

Only if you're very, very lucky, generally when you get to 40-50 foot runs you would have to go to balanced connections for their superior noise rejection.

 

[kartik]

Congrats on choosing the Blacksilvers. I really like them. I agree with the others on keeping the run as short as possible. 2.0M is a good place to stop. Nonetheless, the Blacksilvers are good enough to be excellent even at a 3.0 M length but I wouldn't want to find out.

 

[lojay]

I figured that 2 meters' the limit for order. I thought that normally you'd buy longer, but then now I see since "no IC better's than any IC" 1 meter's enough. Anyone concur that 1 meter's long enough for most uses?

 

[kartik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lojay I figured that 2 meters' the limit for order. I thought that normally you'd buy longer, but then now I see since "no IC better's than any IC" 1 meter's enough. Anyone concur that 1 meter's long enough for most uses?

Pretty much!

 

[kartik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lojay I figured that 2 meters' the limit for order. I thought that normally you'd buy longer, but then now I see since "no IC better's than any IC" 1 meter's enough. Anyone concur that 1 meter's long enough for most uses?

Actually,Larry will make it longer if you need it. Call him or PM/email him. He would be able to guide you in terms of both the length and the type of cables.

 

[Orpheus]

there is a total of 200ft+ of interconnect cable between the source and the amps, with the single longest section being 30ft. that's for the cd player. the mics are on a 100ft snake. and mic signal is smaller than the cd player signal, so i would think is even more sensative to whatever cables do to sound. so, even 300ft+ from the mic to the amps.

so, 3m really is nothing at all.

but anyway, like gpalmer said, it all kinda depends on your environment. but i can tell you, yours is not likely to be worse than mine.

 

[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lojay I figured that 2 meters' the limit for order. I thought that normally you'd buy longer, but then now I see since "no IC better's than any IC" 1 meter's enough. Anyone concur that 1 meter's long enough for most uses?

1 meter seems to be the most popular size, 1 1/2 next and then 2 meter.

 

[lojay]

Orpheus

, you won't be using <$2 cables I assume...

BTW, they're not 3 meters, just 2 meters and a bit more, I measured them today, sorry for the incorrect information .... but I think I'm buying the IC's from Larry anyways, at least they look better ^^, $95's a steal

 

[Orpheus]

the cable i use costs $0.3-$0.4/ft, but the connectors cost more: $2-4/each. i make my own cables, so about $10 each i guess for normal lengths.

but to answer your original question, it's unlikely that your $2 cable is causing audible problems, but who knows... for $2 they can't be made too well. you don't have to spend a crap load, but you should get cables that are of good quality.

there's not much you can do to mess up a cable... they usually work, or they don't. so, if you're looking for audiophile cables, go to audiogon.com or something and pick up a used pair. you're not gonna lose any performance over new ones.

 

[lojay]

I'm buying from headphile because I believe that my <$2 cables are already over priced, and they do look as if they're total crap. I've heard people talk about how bad cables will make the instument separation or soundstage collapse, and lower resolution, and that's exactly what I'm experiencing - so why not take a shot at headphiles bang-for-the-buck-cables?

Anyways I'm not going to audiogon because I don't know what to buy, just too much cable and too little time to sort thru which is better and which is good value....

Ever since I got thru all the hassle to buy the E-MU 1212M to HK, I've been dissapointed by the fact that it isn't "that" better sounding than my previous Audigy 2. Maybe my expectations were set too high, but that's what my other friends (non audiophile) told me. After all I got thru all the hassle to get this baby home, and now I want it to sound best: so I'm putting my best hopes on the headphile cable and an amp. I'm desparate!