Monster Cable for analog capture and viewing

[sanlyn]

I see posts in many forums where people state they've used Monster video cables throughout their capture/dubbing setups. I cringe whenver I see this; my experience with Monster wire has been totally negative. I had mucho improvement in image quality by avoiding Monster altogether.

Monster Video cable Series 1, 2, 3: Series 1 uses a core of cheap 30-ohm hookup wire and even cheaper plastic insulation (useless as insulation from interference, and a cause of hf crossover distortion with most wire). Series 2 and 3 use a common (cheap) 30-ohm hookup wire, not the 75- to 110-ohm needed for analog video. In viewing and in magnified still captures I see red and cyan streaking in flesh tones, especially shadows. Red is oversaturated, blue is too cool, and everyone's skin tone tends to look alike. Bright artifacts around contrasting objects. Color balance is completely off, tending toward green.

Monster Series 3 S-VHS video cable: 75-ohm wire is required, but this is generic 30-ohm wire with an overly tight connector (contains aluminum alloy, a serious no-no). At the price, I would expect foam insulation inside instead of cheap thermoplastic (another no-no). Over-saturated and murky reds, muddy shadows, incorrect skin tones, cyan and red blotching in shadows, under-saturation in blue. Skin tones too red -- you can correct it with a proc amp, but the amount of fix needed throws all other colors off. Despite low contrast, I see artifacts around small, shimmering objects, color smearing, and burnout in skin highlights. The example capture was made with Monster Series S-VHS wire from an old VHS tape recorded off cable tv.

I replaced all my Monster cables with Canare and Acoustic Research (Master and Pro series) wire, replaced S-VHS with generic "General Electric" S-video from CircuitCity. My analog captures are mucho improved, color is oustanding. Saved a lot of $$$, too.

Any others ahve this experience with Monster products?

[mattyboy]

Monster is an over priced, middle of the road brand.
It is the "best of the best" as they claim. but only compared against the other crappy brands sold at the same brick and mortar shops.(futureshop)

[sanlyn]

Agreed, but my opinion of Monster is even lower than that. I have some "generic" stuff that actually worked quite well -- although, yes, the no-brand crap is even worse than Monster. I also had some $100+ cable, but I found the best RCA and RF-plug video cable I've ever used was made by cutting up pieces from my cable company's stuff and adding good-quality Canare connecting plugs (great for video, but god-awful for audio!). The General Electric branded S-video was made, so I'm told by the wholesaler, with stock Belden wire.

Fie on Monster! I'm glad I got rid of it.

[Capmaster]

I've always considered them gimmicky ...marketed at people with more money than common sense.

It is beneficial to have a corrosion-proof plating, but unless you live in a very humid, hot climate, it probably won't matter much unless you're dealing with high currents. Video signals are typically only microamps so I suspect the average user wouldn't ever see the benefit.

[jdizzy40]

Monster is overpriced. I had 3 s-videos cables fail because the gold pins broke off. Crap!

[redwudz]

My feelings exactly. Hype wins out too often over common sense. There are a lot of good cable companies out there. Belkin for one. Radio Shack carries Monster cables, but even their next lower priced brand is better quality for the price. IMO.

I don't buy .99$US RCA cables, but paying 30$US for a RCA cable cracks me up. A sucker born ever minute. Oh well, live and learn.

Rant over.

[steve2713]

Blose and Monster Cable must have been separated at birth, they both make average products and sell them for insane prices, and people eat the shet up.

[sanlyn]

Glad there's some agreement here, I'd hate to think I ws putting Monster out of buisness all by myself <g>. My $60 Monster S-videos went out the window long ago. I have one Belden 1808 S-video ($23, 3 feet) and three GE-branded S-videos ($15 each, 6 feet), and lots of Belden 1505A a/v for about $20 apiece. Foolishly, I once tried a $250 (yes, that's 3 numbers) RCA video cable from AudioAdvisor.com. Bi-i-i-g mistakle, but at least they took it back for credit toward my Belden stuff.

If anyone is thinking about the overpriced BetterCables line sold on the 'Net, don't bother. A TV tech acquaintance in NY sez he measured it as silver-plated 110-ohm audio wire. Very ghosty stuff, a dircet result of the silver and its along-the- wire echos, and great for generating random and unique artificats in your projects. At last look, 1.5 meter (3 feet or so) of S-Video from this site was $80 (!).

[spectroelectro]

Monster Cable is a classic scam. Radio Shack cables work just as well, if not better.

Bottom line? Wire is wire. There's nothing magical about it. Of course that won't prevent the loonies from yapping about "linear crystal oxide free copper" and suchlike tripe...

[KenJ57]

I found the best source for S-Video cables is CableWholesale. About $7.00 each for a 3 or 6 ft Premium quality cable.

www.cablewholesale.com

[Tom Saurus]

I bought my composite input output jack cables at a Dollar Store. They seem to be working fine, and I payed around 3 bucks a piece for them. I got my S-Video Cable at Radio Shack and it is probably a Radio Shack Brand, I am way to cheap to buy the expensive ones. I always wondered how the expensive cables work and now I am glad I didn't purchase them.

Monster Cable is advertised in our latest Radio Shack Flyer and I was thinking about saving up for some. Thanks for posting this info.

[canadateck]

Future shop sells trucks loads of the wires. I bought a 60$ DVD player they tried to sell me a 80$ wire to go with it.

I like the Radio Shack Brand"No name".

[piano632]

I gave up Monster Cables a few years ago. They are only worth half of what they cost, at best. Monster is usually the first premium cable people are exposed to, and they certainly are better than the cables that come in the box with hardware. But you can do better than Monster or Radio Shack. I've used a few different brands of cables now, and all of them equalled or beat even Monster's top-of-the-line M1000 video cable.

Now, if you want video cables in the blow-me-away category, try http://www.thecablepro.com
I just discovered these a month or two ago, and these are the only video cables I've used where I could say I was literally blown away by the quality improvement. Their "Reality" RF cable actually removes the grain/noise from analog cable channels (and believe it or not, it also improves DIGITAL cable video and audio). They aren't exaggerating when they claim they have the best RF cable on the market. And their "Foresight v.2" s-video cable literally is in a league of its own, just as they claim. (Haven't tried the others, but I would expect them to be equally amazing.) They aren't cheap, but they're the only video cables I've used where I've felt I got my money's worth.

[KenJ57]

CablePro, eay! $61.00 dollars a foot! And you say you can see the difference. Talk to me. Tell me what's different between a quality $7.00 cable and an outrageously priced cable. Let's see now, 6 ft X $61 = $361.00 It had better make all the relatives in my home videos look like movie stars! Seriously (for the moment) I want to be convinced that this 'Super-Man' cable has some merit.

Years ago when Monster cable came on the market, the 'golden ears' stereo buffs claimed they could hear the difference. I never could. Of course I used good quality larger guage wire. But it never cost like the over hyped Monster cables.

I tend to be a perfectionist in my video image quality but, for the cost of a full set of CablePro cables, I could buy a TBC, ProcAmp and so on. With those items I know I could SEE the difference.

[BrainStorm69]

FYI, I've never tried this stuff, but looked at the site and the pricing mentioned is $61.00 for the first foot and $4.00 for each additional foot. Plus it loks like they give you one full year to decide if you like them, and if you don't you can return them for a full refund.

Now, that said, I still have a hard time believing they are worth that price.

[piano632]

It doesn't cost $61 for each foot, only the 1st foot (you're paying for the connectors/terminations here) - each additional foot is $4. Monster's M1000 s-video cable costs $60 for 3 feet. And CablePro's Foresight v.2 s-video cable costs $69 for 3 feet. To me it's a no-brainer. I'd spend the extra $9 and get a far better cable. Plus you can return it for a full refund up to a year later. I don't know any other cable co. that will let you do that.

P.S. If you think $69 is a lot of money for a cable, perhaps you haven't seen what Audioquest is charging for their top-of-the-line S-5 s-video cable (made of solid silver). I'm sure it's a fantastic cable, but even I'm reluctant to fork over $425 for it.

http://www.needledoctor.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.846/it.A/id.2967/.f

[KenJ57]

It doesn't cost $61 for each foot, only the 1st foot (you're paying for the connectors/terminations here) - each additional foot is $4.

Oh Sorry, I misread. Thanks for pointing that out. So I can only get a month's worth of lattes for the cost a 3 footer.

piano632, you said

I just discovered these a month or two ago, and these are the only video cables I've used where I could say I was literally blown away by the quality improvement.

Is that difference between 'junk' cable, or better quality stuff?

If we are going to discuss cables, shouldn't we also discuss connectors. And specificly I am am referring to S-Video female connectors that receive the fancy cables. I think we can assume that all these better quality cables have good connectors, but the equipment may not have equally as good ones. For instance, my DAC-100 A/D converter has 90 degree-angle S-Video connectors soldered to the circuit board. None of these type connectors I have seen are good quality. The cable connectors are not held tightly enough, which allows the cable to wiggle somewhat. By contrast, my 8 year old Sony Hi-8 camcorder female S-Video connector ALWAYS grasps the cable connector securely.

If the female S-Video connector is less than wonderful, then a $400 cable may not improve the visual qaulity. Right

[piano632]

If you want good audio/video cables that are more reasonably priced, try here: http://www.signalcable.com These are the cables I used prior to discovering CablePro. I still use SignalCable for my audio cables, but I find CablePro has probably the best video cables out there for anywhere near the price. There aren't many reviews out there for CablePro's products, but of the ones I found they are claimed to outperform some highly rated cables like Nordost Optix and Tributaries.

I am still in awe by CablePro's RF cable. It takes a typical grainy cable TV picture and turns it crystal clear like you're watching a professionally made DVD. Don't know what voodoo science is involved, but no other cable I've used came even close to this one. Best $47 I ever spent on a cable.

As to the CablePro's s-video cable, I noticed more shades of color and contrast even compared to some other high-quality cables.

Just for the record, these are the other cables I've used and my rating for each:
Radio Shack (composite) **
Monster Video 2 (RF, composite) **
Monster M1000 Silver (RF, composite, s-video) ***
BetterCables Silver Serpent (composite, s-video) ****
SignalCable (composite, s-video) ****
CablePro (RF, s-video) *****

Your mileage may vary.

[edDV]

Cables are sold with maximum hype exactly the way floor mats and "undercoating sealer" are with cars. They are high markup optional extras that often carry a fat commission for the salesman. The salesman will hype your ears off.

There is a minimum reasonable quality for cables. For cheap short cables, poor connectors are the biggest problem. Corrosion builds over time making the connection high resistance or intermittent. S-Video cables need minimal shielding to keep Y-C crosstalk under control.

The longer your cable, the more important it is to go for quality materials and maximum shielding. By long, I'm talking >12 feet to hundreds of feet. Very long runs can be equalized with hardware equalizers.

I think for <20ft (6-10MHz bandwidth) baseband video, $5-20 cables are fine. The most important home theater cable is the analog component (Y, Pb,Pr) cable set that carries 60 frame/sec progressive video from the DVD player to the progressive TV. That requires >30MHz bandwidth. For 12 ft and under the $19 Walmart Philips component cable set should be OK.

Other important cables: the long VGA or analog component cable that goes to a front projector and/or the analog Y,Pb,Pr cable that connects a DTV, cable or satellite HDTV tuner to a HDTV. At 1080i/720p, these cables need up to 60MHz bandwidth and are very sensitive to length.

Digital cables <15ft (e.g. DVI, HDMI, firewire) don't need to be expensive. Longer runs may need high quality cables.

[ozymango]

Future shop sells trucks loads of the wires. I bought a 60$ DVD player they tried to sell me a 80$ wire to go with it.

I like the Radio Shack Brand"No name".

There's a pretty interesting article/discussion of some cable and wire facts (from an electrical engineering point of view) and "myths" at:

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/5/6528.html

along with a Top-10 list of wire and cable snake-oil claims. My favorite is always the "directional" power cables I've seen advertised by some dealers -- obviously "designed" by somebody who doesn't have a clue about AC current.

And surely, yes, good wires and cables make a difference but not all difference is about improvement -- by varying the capacitance and resistance of wire runs you can subtly and not-so-subtly affect things that change performance ... but "improvement" is often in the eye (and the ear!) of the beholder.

My wife is an electrical engineer and her speciality happens to be powerline design (like transmission power lines, power production for cities, megawatt stuff), and she always rolls her eyes at some of the electrical "theory" that gets bantered about out there. :P

[swiego]

Hate to resurrect an OLD post but what S-video cables is everyone using?

[rhegedus]

For s-video and component I use JVC gold plated.

For SCART I use Ixos.

[BrainStorm69]

Hate to resurrect an OLD post but what S-video cables is everyone using?

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=279561&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=various cables

[swiego]

Wow, that's a fantastic link and you obviously put a lot of effort into it. Thank you.... it gives me some perspective. Sounds like the cable isn't going to make a lot of difference, so long as it is a decent s-video cable. So people buying those "Nordost Optix" cables aren't going to see any difference if they use 'em for capturing, huh?

[BrainStorm69]

You're welcome. I think generally that its true that if you get moderately expensive cables, they will be just as good as Monster, etc. I think the one thing that rhegedus says makes sense - make sure the cables you buy have good connectors.

[sanlyn]

swiego: ("Hate to resurrect an OLD post but what S-video cables is everyone using?")

I'm using "GE" or "RCA" -branded generics from Recoton, found in BestBuy, CircuitCity. About $14 for 6 ft. Very sharp, snappy images. For noisy VHS tapes, I use a slightly softer-imaging Acoustic Rsearch PRO-II Series, at 3 times the price (AR's lower-priced "blue jacket" s-video has great color but an oddly fuzzy image). For source images that have way too much contrast in the highlights I'm using Mogami s-video, which is ridiculously cheap ($11, 6-ft).

Monster Cable s-video is pretty atrocious, but the two *worst* I've used were RadioShack and Belkin.

[redwudz]

sanlyn, RS I can understand. If you are having problems with Belkin, you should Email them. They have been a premier company as far as quality. If they have went to shipping substandard cheap cables, we would like to know. Any specifics?

[edDV]

sanlyn, you need to show us frame captures showing that your cables can have that much effect. Document what you are doing so that others can replicate your results.

I'm highly skeptical unless we are talking about very long runs but can be persuaded.

[anitract]

I've had the opposite experience with Belkin. Their cables have been great. Good build, nice picture, good price point...what more could you want?

[energy80s]

It's always worth looking at professional cable distributers to see the actual prices of cables. As far as audio goes, the dearest cables the BBC use are much less than £10 a metre - and this is for broadcast quality material. That being the case, it's kind of pointless buying cable at over fifty quid a metre!