What Makes a Cable a Good Cable?

Discover the key factors that make a cable great and why investing in high-quality cables is crucial for your musical equipment ▶︎ Learn how to avoid signal issues and enhance your sound ✓


Us musicians stock up on the highest quality equipment such as cool guitars, trendy workstations, fancy effects, mixers, amplifiers and cabinets, and we’re happy. And then we pick up a puny cable and wonder why our signal path is noisy, creaky or unstable. Shouldn’t we focus more on our signal path? It would be pretty logical to invest in good cables. But what on earth is a good cable


Don’t underestimate the mechanical stress on cables and connectors

It’s obvious, no matter how professional your stage technology is, it’s never a match against rough or clumsy musicians. Therefore, we should place great importance on the mechanical load capacity of the cables. This applies to the cable itself, but above all to the metal plugs, be they jack plugs between electric guitar and amp, XLR plugs between microphone and mixing console or wherever else.

After all, these cables and their plugs are under constant and recurring stress: plugging in, unplugging, twisting and pulling (often at sharp angles in the wrong direction). Fortunately, some sensible cable designs allow cable plugs to withstand some of the stress. With the smallest engineering tricks, plugs must engage sensibly over countless “ins and outs”. Anything less costs time and strains the technicians’ nerves.

 

Road-ready haptics as an urgent requirement

Basically, you should be able to work with a cable that is suitable for the road. The quality is expressed not least in the feel. How flexible and elastic is the cable without damaging it? It should be possible to wind it reasonably and quickly with the appropriate amount of softness in the rubber; the cable should not curl excessively if it has been wound incorrectly and the inside shouldn’t twist. And anyone who has experienced cables lying in the blazing sun at an open air festival knows how disgusting, greasy and oily sub-optimally manufactured cables can feel.

 

Microphone & instrument cables and interference

Especially with signals that are not pre-amplified, such as those from microphones and electric string instruments, we are talking about low output voltages and high resistances at the same time. The cables used for this have to come to grips with high susceptibility to electromagnetic interference, for example from smartphones, WLAN, dimmers, screens or fluorescent tubes.

Such interference not only creates annoying background noise that is sadly often immortalised on recordings. On the stage and in live scenarios, the noise is also massively amplified. The grueling result in the ears of the listeners is easy to imagine. The answer to the problem of interference is cable shielding in combination with balanced signal routing. So always make sure that the shielding is tight and continuous all the way to the plug.

 

Cables for pre-amplified signals such as from keyboards, effects units, etc.

For signals with line level – i.e. the pre-amplified comrades – the voltage is only slightly higher, but the AC resistance is significantly lower. The instrument cables used for this purpose are characterised by their insensitivity, but must nevertheless be shielded sensibly. In addition, balanced cables are ideally used here as well.

One of the significant criteria is the material for the connectors. Gold is clearly ahead of other alloys in terms of corrosion resistance. Gold-plated plugs are characterised by a long service life and reliable function; the contact resistances remain low. Oxygen-free copper should be used for the cores.

 

Loudspeaker cables and the compulsory task of low impedance

For loudspeaker cables, the shortest possible cables with a large wire cross-section and low impedance are used. The idea behind this is that a high impedance represents an additional resistance. And that’s exactly what we can’t use, especially since it would decimate the amplifier’s performance.  That’s definitely not the ideal plan. In the reality of events, however, long cable runs can hardly be avoided. The solution to power loss is a fat cross-section. When it comes to loudspeaker cables, look for really solid plugs, preferably made of metal or with lockable speaker twist plugs. Investing in quality cables can save speakers and amplifiers.

 

Signal routing

The electrical signals must be transported from A to B somehow. The typical musical signal routing can be done via balanced or unbalanced cables. And for a better understanding, we should take a look at these two variants together:

Unbalanced signal routing

We speak of unbalanced cables when the strands have a signal-carrying line and a screen. And no, this is not a weather-friendly umbrella, but a shield to prevent interference from external magnetic fields. Typical unbalanced cables are, for example, instrument cables with 6.3 mm mono jack or cinch cables. Speaker cables are also unbalanced. Unbalanced cables are single-core shielded audio cables in which the shielding serves as a necessary second conductor.

Balanced signal routing

In contrast, balanced cables have two signal-carrying conductors, one being the so-called “cold conductor” for minus, the other the “hot conductor” for plus. In addition, there is the shielding, which is connected on one or both sides to the signal source, such as a microphone, and on the other side to the signal receiver, such as the mixer. The signal receiver is also called the signal sink. Now the trick of balanced is that the same voltage is sent through the cable on both signal lines, mirroring the oscillations. XLR cables are usually balanced. The application decides whether they are unbalanced or balanced.

 

Cables and plugs must be considered with the value they offer

In fact, there are so many different special cables in the field of instrument, PA, audio, lighting and video technology that listing the respective requirements here would transform our blog into an encyclopedia. What they all have in common is that the signal-carrying connections must be of high quality and suitable for long-term use. It’s like the inflationary thing with transmitter and receiver. If the words of one side don’t reach the other, no matter how witty the slogans, the punch line is sure to be lost. However, one should also not fall for overpriced hi-fi advertising statements. In the event sector, a cable still remains a cable.

 

CableGuy™

Did you know that we have an exclusive online tool that allows you to find the perfect cable for your needs? Click on the screenshot below or HERE to access it and find your next cable within minutes!


Quality Cables: Your Feedback

What cable are you currently using? Let us know with a comment!


Also interesting

Top 5 Budget Microphones for Vocals 2025

Top 5 budget mics 2025: While these are undoubtedly worthwhile investments, they’re usually very expensive. What if we could get you a list of afforda...

Top 20 Rock Songs of the 2000s (For Guitar Lovers)

Discover the Top 20 Rock Songs of the 2000s every guitar lover must hear. From crunchy riffs to iconic solos, this list celebrates the best guitar-dri...

10 Most Used Classical Songs in Movies 🎬

Discover 10 iconic classical songs in movies that have shaped cinema’s most unforgettable moments — from epic battles to emotional finales. 🎬

New Gear June 2025 - Our Selection 

The hottest gear on the market right now. Check our selection!

Comments 0

No comments yet.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Do you know our newsletter yet?

Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated with the latest news, articles, and special offers!

Subscribe to newsletter

We respect your privacy and will never share your information with third parties.

Discover all our deals!

Special offers and promotions available in our shop