[Closed] How much should one spend on a HDMI lead?

I'm waiting for the one made from human nerves.

I'm waiting for the one made from human nerves.

In the meantime, how about [url= http://www.futureshop.co.uk/audioquest-diamond-hdmi-cable-16m-p-5290.html#.UPK2hqV1mfQ ]diamondz[/url]?

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Blimey. I payed about 4 quid and I bet it makes no difference to one costing 300

What currency is that? Pesos?

But it comes with 3D so definitely worth it.

As long as they're directional diamondz.

Is digital not 10101010 or on off on off on off and therefore anything remotely conductive sufficient?

Don't start trying to bring logic into a video/audio thread.

Don't go to cheap. They are the only lead that i have ever had that some times simply won't work. i sent of my reviever for a warranty claim. Turns out it was a duff lead.

But I think think that the ones on thios thread are geting a little silly

Wasn't this disproved (albeit very unscientifically) on the gadget show?

Cheapo ones worked just as well.

eta. All my hdmi leads were less than £3 from the bay.

A fool and his money and all that....

I once had a giggle when a shop assistant was tying to tell me that I needed a more expensive [u]optical[/u] cable than the cheap one I was buying as it would get interference off other cables....

Don't go to cheap.

I bought a good few from the £1 shop when I saw them in there a few years ago.

They are all still in use and doing fine. 3 in my house, 2 in my Brothers, 3 in my dads house.
(And 2 left unwrapped in a box in the garage I think ?)

If you're bored and you feel the need to shout at your monitor > [url= http://www.russandrews.com/category.asp?lookup=1&region=UK&currency=GBP&customer_id=PAA1387018013107UXLKIYWWXJLFGPXY&cat_id=SuperKords ]How much for a mains power cable?[/url]

That mains cable is just ridiculous.

upgrading your £5,000 CD player’s mains lead to a Silver SuperKord SD II will bring about an even bigger upgrade than upgrading your player to the next model… and it’s cheaper. In that context, surely the Silver SD II SuperKords offer extremely good value for money?

WTF!

Wow, just wow, at that power cord!!!

In the meantime, how about diamondz?

It's got thirteen hundred quid off what more do you want man?!? 😆

It's got thirteen hundred quid off what more do you want man?!?

I bought Neet ones and I wouldnt think any more money would prove any better. Probably cheaper ones would do the same nowadays too.

Nothing but Nordost Odin power cables will do for me now. I went for 5m at £20,495.00

http://www.highendcable.co.uk/Nordost%20ODIN%20Power%20Cords.htm

whilst buying my TV the sales guy in richer sounds was trying to convince me I needed to spend 10% of the price of my tv on an HDMI lead if I wanted to do the telly justice............. I ignored him

£8 for a 3M gold plated polaroid one from Asda. Any probs take it back for a refund anytime in this lifetime...

It's essentially just bandwidth that differentiates HDMI cables. Cheap and nasty will potentially cause problems over long distances, especially with the latest video standards, but essentially as long as you buy based on the standard linked below you're perfectly safe.

[url= http://www.hdmi.org/consumer/finding_right_cable.aspx ]HDMI consumer info for cables[/url]

As above, what matters is having a matched impedance, and this is just a result of good digital design practises, and does not require, gold, diamonds, or other exotic materials.

The longer the lead gets the more important this becomes (as the phase shift of the signals increases with time (distance travelled).

A well designed £3 lead will work better than a poorly designed £300 one!

so is my £8 polaroid 5 metre hdmi cable going to really mess with my enjoyment of the next couple of series of Breaking Bad? It won't make it any better by spoending a shitload of money on a cable!! There is a point where people will spend too much money on things just because they can, and they think it will improve life or something.

I haven't, and never will, pay more than £5 for an HDMI cable.

I buy ones with all the pins wired for maximum connectivity.

somafunk - Member

If you're bored and you feel the need to shout at your monitor > How much for a mains power cable?

Improving the quality of the electrical supply [i]can[/i] enhance top end audio.

However we're talking incremental gains and more importantly, you'd want to upgrade the [b]whole[/b] electrical circuit path and supply, not just the final metre or so from the wall.

No doubt absolute purists do do such things but it's the law of diminishing returns.

Periodically unplugging and cleaning RCA jacks can make a difference to the sound. I did notice a subtle change when I last did this as an experiment but that was something like 15 years ago. - As you can probably tell, I'm really not that fussed about such things.

I've got a £4 on from tesco and on I Paid £35 for when I first got a hd tv. both are identical picturewise.

Is digital not 10101010 or on off on off on off and therefore anything remotely conductive sufficient?

Yes, but you can run out of bandwidth. HDMI is aproaching the limit of how many ones and zero's you can send down a copper wire without it coming out a jibberish at the other end. But yes, a cable will either work or not. Unless you upgrade your telly or something else and it needs to run a higher HDMI standard.

The only difference I've found between £4 cable and £20 cable is the £4 cable fell apart.

There is a point where people will spend too much money on things just because they can, and they think it will improve life or something.

Are we still talking about cables or have we moved onto bikes?

Are we still talking about cables or have we moved onto bikes?

Keep up. We are onto coffee machines now.

Cables are the new religion, dontchaknow.

I am a person of limited faith - when I die, I'm going to Richer Sounds.
True belivers end up in Russ Andrew's warehouse.

I've seen a rubbish HDMI cable.

You could tell it was bad, because the signal suddenly disappeared if you run it next to anything else.

But it was pretty darned obvious when you weren't getting a signal.

Ah I wonder if this can solve a problem I seem to have created for myself having just fitted an hdmi switch so I can remotely switch between satellite, apple tv and the DVD thing the daughter keeps leaving on without leaving the sofa of joy.

Anyway ever since I installed it there are loads of little star trek like white specs flashing whenever the screen is dark, mildly irritating if not for the star trek like aura they depict.

So do I need to spend £24k on a cable or is it the switch thing itself?

HDMI switches are a bit flaky in my experience, particularly ones that try to be clever. Problem is that they have to pretend to be one device, putting out one display format, whereas in reality they are taking input from 3 devices, all with different display formats. Absolute pain. We have some quite expensive ones, and they are still a pain in the arse.

Does your TV not have enough inputs that you can switch between inputs on that - 2 hdmi + 1 DVI is I guess the minimum you need there? On some TVs the DVI wipes out one of the HDMIs though, so you might not.

I just buy HDMI cables from Amazon for a £1 or so. No problems yet.

They've got them at the Poundshop - 1m length. The 2 I bought are in service and work well. 🙂

joemarshall - Member
HDMI switches are a bit flaky in my experience, particularly ones that try to be clever. Problem is that they have to pretend to be one device, putting out one display format, whereas in reality they are taking input from 3 devices, all with different display formats. Absolute pain. We have some quite expensive ones, and they are still a pain in the arse.

Does your TV not have enough inputs that you can switch between inputs on that -

No, it's only got one hdmi input, hence the switch, previously I had a two into one cable which you physically have to get up, walk behind the set and push a little button to change over, then I got one off the internet that just didn't work, this one bought from a store, works but with added star effect, so I guess your 'bit flaky' description about sums it up.

So looking at the standards not all HDMI cables will do then - Standard HDMI Cable is different from High Speed HDMI Cable.

Depends.

The 'high speed' moniker refers to 1080p and 3D support. If you're not using either of those features, then there's no difference. (Also, I've half a memory that 'high speed' cables can be made to longer lengths, but I may have made that up.)

Yeah but it does imply that not all cables are the same - as long as they meet the standards then they'll do what the standards say they will. Looks like Blu ray users should use a cable that meets the High Speed standard.

Even a superficial google search for "high speed" HDMI indicates that it is only required for 3D, 4K displays, and 60fps (also for short cable runs regular cables might work) so unless you have these sorts of displays then high speed won't be needed. Add to that, I'll lay good odds that the high speed ones will be a bit more expensive (initally) but they won't be anywhere near the eyewatering prices that some companies charge!

Yeah but it does imply that not all cables are the same - as long as they meet the standards then they'll do what the standards say they will.

I've fielded this misunderstanding once already on this very thread. We're not saying that all cables are the same; we're saying they'll either work or fail. Ie, you can't replace a cheap cable with an expensive one and improve your sound / picture quality (as you might with say SCART), it simply doesn't work like that. However, if your signal is faulty - if the audio cuts out or the video pixellates and corrupts, or if features aren't supported - then you might need a better cable.

Looks like Blu ray users should use a cable that meets the High Speed standard.

Depends. If you're just watching 720p / 1080i in a typical domestic setup then it doesn't matter either way. Arguably though, there's little reason not to get 'high speed' cables given the choice, so long as they're similarly priced. (I think the last ones I bought were about four quid.) (EDIT - [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-High-Speed-Supports-Ethernet-Standard/dp/B003L1ZYYM ]thus and so[/url]. All the cable you'll ever need, until UHDTV comes out anyway.)

This looks nicer 😉
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3m-1-4-HDMI-Cable-High-Speed-Ethernet-1080p-3D-PLATINUM-/271115988268?

No doubt absolute purists do do such things but it's the law of diminishing returns.

Years ago, when I frequented the Naim boards (when flirting with the idea of a full Naim set up), there were very serious threads* about people's projects to have the whole of their mains supply upgraded to very precise specs.

So yes, there are people, in the outer reaches of sanity, who are doing this s--t.

*There's nothing else on the Naim boards

ourmaninthenorth
No doubt absolute purists do do such things but it's the law of diminishing returns.

Years ago, when I frequented the Naim boards (when flirting with the idea of a full Naim set up), there were very serious threads* about people's projects to have the whole of their mains supply upgraded to very precise specs.

A friend in Hi Fi retail went to the Naim factory a few years ago and finished hand assembling his CD5.
I have wondered if line interactive UPS's would make an audible difference* but quite frankly CBA to rejig one of mine to to find out.

*= difference, but not necessarily an improvement

Some use car batteries. Some of those use Rolls Royce car batteries!