Monster Cable HDMI 400 Cable (2 Meters) $33.88!

[SlickSnake]

MONSTER CABLE HDMI 2 METER CABLE FOR $33.88!

Great shielded HDMI cable to win back that Monster Cable hater in your life! Almost as cheap as Monoprice plus a lifetime guarantee!

Don't be left in the dark holding a limp, broken cable!

Locked because this is gone off topic and there's a little to much crapping.
I know the stuff is overpriced but if you guys don't like the deal, let the thread die.

esquared
Anandtech Senior Moderator

 

[mshan]

http://www.monoprice.com/produ...p?c_id=102&cp_id=10240


"We started this business using hand-held coax strippers and ratchet-style crimp handles, and today we use Swiss-built computer-controlled stripping equipment and 3-ton pneumatic presses to provide the most consistent termination quality possible."
http://www.bluejeanscables.com


I wouldn't buy Monster Cable products because of their 1) bullying business practices, and 2) at least for me, Monster Cable products I've owned seemed very shoddily built (e.g. poor terminations can actively degrade signal quality).

To each his own, I guess.

 

[solleyman]

Coat Hangers? LOL.

 

[XNice]

mshan, Be careful of the "thread crapping" the new mighty mouse mods might send you a nasty PM. Apparantly, on this board you can't ever say anything negative about any hot deal that is posted. Anyways, just looking out for ya.

I always thought/heard that monster cables were over-priced crap. Has things changed in the last 2 years or so?

Also what is the deal with, "termination quality"? Is that a major variable for hdmi cables or cables in general?

 

[mshan]

Poor terminations can actively degrade transmission of the signal. This is why some people argue that bare wire terminations will sound better than some cheap, poorly crimped on or especially poorly soldered gold plated spade lugs: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

When Outlaw Audio first introduced their cables, they found it was easier to degrade the fragile interconnect signal, while differences between speaker wire were much more subtle. This is why they don't sell speaker cable and just recommended standard stranded copper wire.

I would say if you want to really and honestly evaluate a particular interconnect or speaker cable, you don't do some instantaneous ABX switching, but put the cable your own system and listen with music you like at the sound levels you like for at least a week and see what you think. I suspect that any honest listener with anything even an entry level speaker system will end up turning off their coat hanger wired system because their ears will bleed from all of the distortion those cables probably introduce. You could probably go pretty far with good quality stranded copper cable, even with a reasonably hi fi system.

 

[Mitch101]

These guys rock.
http://www.bluejeanscables.com

The website might not look like much but the cables are excellent. Excellent customer service too. Very helpful.

 

[DannyLove]

Originally posted by: Mitch101
These guys rock.
http://www.bluejeanscables.com

The website might not look like much but the cables are excellent. Excellent customer service too. Very helpful.

great cables, monoprice has cheap HDMI cables, don't buy into the Monster Cable crap. They are stealing your money.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: solleyman
Coat Hangers? LOL.

Indeed, call me when coat hangers are on sale. 3 for a buck.

 

[chick3nhead]

Plus, you have to remember what an HDMI cable is transmitting. A DIGITAL signal.....which means the signal will get there or it will not(1's or 0's). There is no degrading of your output because of degrading of the signal over the distance of the cable like with audio. Get the cheapo hdmi cable from newegg and i guarantee you will not see a difference.

 

[mshan]

Ever heard of digital jitter?

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: chick3nhead
Plus, you have to remember what an HDMI cable is transmitting. A DIGITAL signal.....which means the signal will get there or it will not(1's or 0's). There is no degrading of your output because of degrading of the signal over the distance of the cable like with audio. Get the cheapo hdmi cable from newegg and i guarantee you will not see a difference.

Yes, but your digital information is still represented with an analog signal and is still subject to the same signal degradation. So with enough signal loss you will lose your digital signal.

That being said, monster cables are not worth the price when compared against a cable from monoprice or bluejeanscables.

 

[Basilisk]

Durability issues aside, any HDMI cable of a given spec (e.g., "1.3") should be as functional as any other cable of that spec: the HDMI specs stipulate the minimum required signal quality, so if a cable doesn't meet those req's, it can't (legitimately) be sold as "HDMI"; and if it does meet them, the signal should be loss-less for your equipment.

For different -lengths- of HDMI cable, different components may be required to meet that minimum std, but the label guarantees the end-to-end signal quality.

Over time, HDMI standards have evolved: an "HDMI 1.1" cable may lack the necessary bandwidth for "HDMI 1.3" equipment. But, there's no appreciable price difference, so buy the latest (1.3a) standard and you're safe (as the cables are all backwards compatible).

Again, any $12 "HDMI 1.3a" cable should provide as good a signal as your HDTV equipment can use.

If your requirements exceed HDTV standards, there's a "Category 2" HDMI spec (HDMI 1.3b?), but it'll be a few weeks before any of us need a signal richer than 1080P, I suspect.


But... sure, keep the economy going by buying Monster cables. I listened to a BB salesjerk telling a couple that "I don't use anything but Monster Screen Cleaning kits" [$25!!]. My impression is that the Monster prices are just another tax on ignorance.


mshan & Crusty: Only a -FAILED- HDMI cable will contribute signal degradation. Period. A failed cable's not an impossible event. Nor is it impossible that devices' drivers/receivers may be out of spec and result in data loss, nor that the s/w passing the data-stream may have defects. But a cable meeting the HDMI spec should deliver its stipulated "noiseless" signal -- i.e., a signal whose losses/noise are below the threshold required to defy loss-less digital reconstruction.

 

[manimal]

+2 monoprice, Motion carried.

 

[Desslok]

Originally posted by: Basilisk
Durability issues aside, any HDMI cable of a given spec (e.g., "1.3") should be as functional as any other cable of that spec: the HDMI specs stipulate the minimum required signal quality, so if a cable doesn't meet those req's, it can't (legitimately) be sold as "HDMI"; and if it does meet them, the signal should be loss-less for your equipment.

For different -lengths- of HDMI cable, different components may be required to meet that minimum std, but the label guarantees the end-to-end signal quality.

Over time, HDMI standards have evolved: an "HDMI 1.1" cable may lack the necessary bandwidth for "HDMI 1.3" equipment. But, there's no appreciable price difference, so buy the latest (1.3a) standard and you're safe (as the cables are all backwards compatible).

Again, any $12 "HDMI 1.3a" cable should provide as good a signal as your HDTV equipment can use.

If your requirements exceed HDTV standards, there's a "Category 2" HDMI spec (HDMI 1.3b?), but it'll be a few weeks before any of us need a signal richer than 1080P, I suspect.


But... sure, keep the economy going by buying Monster cables. I listened to a BB salesjerk telling a couple that "I don't use anything but Monster Screen Cleaning kits" [$25!!]. My impression is that the Monster prices are just another tax on ignorance.


mshan & Crusty: Only a -FAILED- HDMI cable will contribute signal degradation. Period. A failed cable's not an impossible event. Nor is it impossible that devices' drivers/receivers may be out of spec and result in data loss, nor that the s/w passing the data-stream may have defects. But a cable meeting the HDMI spec should deliver its stipulated "noiseless" signal -- i.e., a signal whose losses/noise are below the threshold required to defy loss-less digital reconstruction.

QFT

 

[jjmIII]

Here is the DIRECT comparison at Monoprice.

I returned a $60 Monster cable to Circuit City when mine came in.

EDIT: Actually, I use the above to connect my HTPC. I use this cable from my HD DVR to TV. It is almost too nice (rigid).

 

[Fayd]

i have the 10ft HDMI cable from monoprice.

seems like a quality cable to me. havent had a chance to hook it up yet, because... my monitor said itd come with a HDMI to DVI adapter... so i bought the HDMI cable to hook it up with. turns out, it comes with a DVI to HDMI cable. so...

but still, i'd rather use the HDMI-HDMI cable and an adapter, because it's 10 ft, and will permit me to do some fancy wiring job once i get around to drilling holes all through my desk.

 

[John]

Blue Jeans Cable sells their 28 awg Tartan (copartner) HDMI cables for less than monoprice.com

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/...tartan-hdmi-cables.htm

 

[jjmIII]

Originally posted by: John
Blue Jeans Cable sells their 28 awg Tartan (copartner) HDMI cables for less than monoprice.com

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/...tartan-hdmi-cables.htm

Yes, but the 6ft, 10ft, and 15ft are OOS.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: XNice
Be careful of the "thread crapping" the new mighty mouse mods might send you a nasty PM. Apparently, on this board you can't ever say anything negative about any hot deal that is posted.

If one feels that a moderator has acted in the wrong, feel free to follow the Forum Guidelines for reporting it so it can be investigated

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[SlickSnake]

Thanks Shadenfroh.

The foaming at the mouth Monster haters just can't help posting, it seems. It's kind of sad when someone can't mention certain brands on these forums anywhere without certain posters going off the deep end.

If you don't like the deal, don't buy it. It's as simple as that. How about let's argue about Ford versus Chevy or LCD versus plasma in my topic for a while.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
Thanks Shadenfroh.

The foaming at the mouth Monster haters just can't help posting, it seems. It's kind of sad when someone can't mention certain brands on these forums anywhere without certain posters going off the deep end.

If you don't like the deal, don't buy it. It's as simple as that. How about let's argue about Ford versus Chevy or LCD versus plasma in my topic for a while.

Fair enough. But despite the occasional hyperbole (my coat hanger is better than your coat hanger) the critics have a reasonable argument to make. In the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, $5 HDMI (retail monoprice) will produce identical quality images/sound as $120 or $200 Monster Cables up to 2m. One can certainly argue about 'value-added' benefits such as Lifetime replacement and aesthetics, though. The former means upgrades forever (or until people stop buying overpriced cables), while the latter . . . when was the last time you showed off your cables?

So if you are determined to buy Monster 400s, this is a good deal. If you are determined to get quality HDMI for a reasonable price, this deal is terrible. I don't think that's thread crapping. It's the truth. UNLESS, you are passing that signal over distance (9m+). THEN, Monster probably is the way to go.

If you doubt, then go to AVSForum, Gizmodo, Sound and Vision Mag or Electronic House.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
Thanks Shadenfroh.

The foaming at the mouth Monster haters just can't help posting, it seems. It's kind of sad when someone can't mention certain brands on these forums anywhere without certain posters going off the deep end.

If you don't like the deal, don't buy it. It's as simple as that. How about let's argue about Ford versus Chevy or LCD versus plasma in my topic for a while.

i also make fun of sli certfied ram - total b.s., just like monster cables. sorry, but the truth is that they are are scam and are taking advantage of the ignorant.

 

[Rage187]

Monoprice +100000000000000

 

[chick3nhead]

Yes, but your digital information is still represented with an analog signal and is still subject to the same signal degradation. So with enough signal loss you will lose your digital signal. That being said, monster cables are not worth the price when compared against a cable from monoprice or bluejeanscables.

Exactly my point.....yes it is represented by an analog signal, but this analog signal can degrade quite a bit for the standards of a 2m cable, and still be represented by the same exact binary value. The engineers have a set voltage range that is going to correspond to a single binary value. This is the entire purpose of using a digital signal....to eliminate the effect of signal loss. I'm sorry, but you will not have that much signal loss over 2m in any compliant HDMI cable.