Saw a real difference in HDMI cables last night for first time

[STROKD]

So, I was debating with Andrew, and he tells me Im full of shit. So I thought I'd make a post about it since I am bored at work and let you guys know my findings.

My dad just bought some new gear for the casa, I helped him install and set it up.

Pioneer Elite Pro151 60"
AVR-3808CI
Denon BD BTCI
Pioneer 05FD BD (we A/Bed em, wanted to see which was best)
Toshiba HD-A30
So, we had watched a movie on the Toshiba with a Rocket Gear HDMI cable we picked up to try at Best Buy (40 something bucks~low end, not the Monster stuff which I think is over priced). The movie looked and sounded really really good, all things considering (HD not as good as BD, lower end machine etc).

Later after that, we watched a few minutes of Cars on BD on the Pioneer. This machine was hooked up with an Audioquest HDMI-3 cable ($375 retail, I paid about 1/12th of that) I bought last year. So anyway, $40 retail cable vs $400 retail cable. It was astonishing how much better the picture was on the Pioneer vs the Toshiba. So, was this the cable or the technology or the better machine? ;)

Turns out if was all of those. I took the same cable (Best Buy) and hooked it to a Blu Ray Transport I bugged my dad to try (since he already got the Elite, and I thought it was hokey and ugly (Im a Denon guy for cheaper stuff). We hooked it up, and ABed Cars (my dad and I both have a copy). I synchroed them, both input to the 3808, and output to the TV with a single HDMI. The color on the Pioneer was MUCH more vibrant and the details of the cars and shine to the paint etc was much more aparent on the Pioneer with the "better" cable. :eek: To the point that my parents both heckeled me to wanting to bother with the Denon. So I went and snatched the other Audioquest cable off my PS3, and hooked it up so the players had the same cable (make it more fair). Immediately the Denon responded with more detail, sharpness and contrast! The blacks were deeper and the colors were BLING! More so than the Pioneer believe it or not! :eek: The only way to really describe it is picture a really good painting using water paints, the colors are good but not vibrant, and then picture a similar painting using oil based paints... MORE color and depth. The stereo system is fairly janky right now, so indeed there should have been an audio difference in the cables, but I could not depict one, since the TV was good it was more noticeable in the coloring and detail. If we had a better stereo, I am sure there might have been a better sound as well.

Anyway, that is my findings. Take them with a grain of salt. The HDMI-3 cables are the best ones AQ makes. I am not sure if there is a "better" company, as all cables should be the same picture wise, but these cables for sure make a difference... you can get em on ebay CHEAP from over seas. :D

Anyone of you guys that I know, I am bringing a cable with me next time I am in town to prove Andrew wrong, I'd love to come by and have you swap it out and see the difference as well. :cool:

[2K2 LS1]

It's funny we install $200-500k jobs and never have we used a $400 hdmi cable. :eek:

[Got Stripes?]

You just have to know where to buy cables from. Not to knock on your pops, but $400 is an absolute waste of money. HDMI is not like old school analog cables where money might have been well spent. I have cables that cost less than $20 that have past all industry test and are catagory certified at the highest level 1440P and beyond. Something that $400 job may not be able to do......

[Nick Chapman]

$400 on a cable :eek:

[2K2 LS1]

$400 on a cable :eek:


I would rather get a ps3 and a $20 hdmi cable thanks ;)

[jluv]

One cable may be better than another, but not several hundred dollars better than another. That's just silliness.

[90GT50]

One cable may be better than another, but not several hundred dollars better than another. That's just silliness.But price always means quality, right? (sarcasm)

[Mustangman_2000]

What a waste of money. You got hosed on a $400 cable even if you only paid half.

I use a Dayton HDMI 1080p certified cable and I paid less than $40 off the internet. The audio/video quality is outstanding.

Evaluating cables on different machines is not an accurate test. Swap cables on the same machine hooked up to the same tv, and go from there.

I've done the same thing you're doing before and came up with negligible results. I've compared a $40 cable and a $120 cable on the same machine/same disc. There was no noticeable difference in picture quality.

I spent more money on my THX certified subwoofer cable than I did my HDMI cable.

[Grant]

you got hosed..i've posted a link with monoprice ($5) hdmi cables testing @ 1440p just fine..

[Slowhand]

What a waste of money. You got hosed on a $400 cable even if you only paid half.


He claims 1/12, which is 34 bucks or so if my math is right.

[ClockwrkOrangeS4]

just a hunch

* Standard (or “category 1”) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of a 1080i signal.
* High Speed (or “category 2”) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths and/or increased refresh rates. High-Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as WQXGA cinema monitors (resolution of 2560 x 1600).

[90GT50]

just a hunch

* Standard (or “category 1”) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of a 1080i signal.
* High Speed (or “category 2”) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths and/or increased refresh rates. High-Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as WQXGA cinema monitors (resolution of 2560 x 1600).Stop making sense, asshole!

[Nick Chapman]

Anyone of you guys that I know, I am bringing a cable with me next time I am in town to prove Andrew wrong, I'd love to come by and have you swap it out and see the difference as well. :cool:


Come on by, I'll swap out my cheap $20 Monoprice 1.3 HDMI cable to see if your $400 cable makes a difference on my 106" screen :D Bigger the display, the more difference you'll see(if there is a real difference).

Nick

[STROKD]

He claims 1/12, which is 34 bucks or so if my math is right.
wow someone who can fucken read... :p I paid 35 bucks shipped from HONG KONG, if you read the entire post, I was saying they are overpriced and can be had cheap all day on ebay... I feel they are better cables, and to spend 30-35 bucks vs 15-20 is worth the 15-20 bucks imo... the one I got from Best Buy was 45+ tax, so the "$400" dollar cable was technically cheaper and MUCH better picture wise. ;)

I have 4 of these currently, I'm not rolling deep enough to drop 1500 bucks on "cables" :rolleyes: I do feel they are better than at least the Best Buy Cable. I bought a Monster Cable 1000 last night to test out vs the Audio Quest as well, will update if there is any difference later tonight or tomorrow. :o

[STROKD]

What a waste of money. You got hosed on a $400 cable even if you only paid half.

I use a Dayton HDMI 1080p certified cable and I paid less than $40 off the internet. The audio/video quality is outstanding.

Evaluating cables on different machines is not an accurate test. Swap cables on the same machine hooked up to the same tv, and go from there.

I've done the same thing you're doing before and came up with negligible results. I've compared a $40 cable and a $120 cable on the same machine/same disc. There was no noticeable difference in picture quality.

I spent more money on my THX certified subwoofer cable than I did my HDMI cable.
You got hosed because I got a BETTER cable for cheaper... what now? :confused:

And if you read the entire post, I DID swap the crappy cable for the good cable on the same machine. The Pioneer was never unhooked, just the Denon. Two BD players, same TV, same time synchronized. Picture improved on the Denon drasticly in the 5 or so seconds it took me to swap cables. ;)

[STROKD]

Come on by, I'll swap out my cheap $20 Monoprice 1.3 HDMI cable to see if your $400 cable makes a difference on my 106" screen :D Bigger the display, the more difference you'll see(if there is a real difference).

Nick
Cool deal dude! We can test it out, find out if you see any difference... It'd be worth 30-40 bucks for you to pick one up if it makes a difference. Its only 2 meter though, will that reach your equipment since you have a projector? Or is everything close together on a rack? :confused:

[STROKD]

just a hunch

* Standard (or “category 1”) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of a 1080i signal.
* High Speed (or “category 2”) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths and/or increased refresh rates. High-Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as WQXGA cinema monitors (resolution of 2560 x 1600).
I 100% agree that is probably the problem. I cannot see if either of them say they are "high speed" though. Here are the two cables:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7831876&st=HDMI+cables&lp=10&type=product&cp=2&id=1142297086204

http://cgi.ebay.com/Audioquest-HDMI-3-HDMI-Audio-Video-Cable-2M-w-seal-BOX_W0QQitemZ350094074917QQihZ022QQcategoryZ61395Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Nick Chapman]

Cool deal dude! We can test it out, find out if you see any difference... It'd be worth 30-40 bucks for you to pick one up if it makes a difference. Its only 2 meter though, will that reach your equipment since you have a projector? Or is everything close together on a rack? :confused:


2 meters won't cut it :(

Need at least 12' in order to reach the projector :( No way I can move anything closer to one another either. I'm stuck at this distance.

I think Clockwork is right on the money though. The $40 cable you got from Best buy, is most likely not 1.3. The other cable is probably 1.3, and passes more info through it.

I just upgraded some cables from the PS3, Blu Ray and HDDVD players to my processor. Previous were original HDMI cables. New cables are 1.3. I wasn't able to take advantage of the new audio formats, and now with the 1.3 cables, I am getting them all :D There really is an advatage to the new cables if your equiptment can process the signal.

Buy the way....The new audio formats KICK ASS! :D Most people said that there was little difference between the new audio and the older DD stuff. But I can honestly say that there is a pretty large increase in sound quality with the new formats. I am a happy camper again.....well till something new come out :D

[STROKD]

2 meters won't cut it :(

Need at least 12' in order to reach the projector :( No way I can move anything closer to one another either. I'm stuck at this distance.

I think Clockwork is right on the money though. The $40 cable you got from Best buy, is most likely not 1.3. The other cable is probably 1.3, and passes more info through it.

I just upgraded some cables from the PS3, Blu Ray and HDDVD players to my processor. Previous were original HDMI cables. New cables are 1.3. I wasn't able to take advantage of the new audio formats, and now with the 1.3 cables, I am getting them all :D There really is an advatage to the new cables if your equiptment can process the signal.

Buy the way....The new audio formats KICK ASS! :D Most people said that there was little difference between the new audio and the older DD stuff. But I can honestly say that there is a pretty large increase in sound quality with the new formats. I am a happy camper again.....well till something new come out :D
I think that makes more sense as well, I was just confused how much better the picture looked!

The audio in losless or HD is MUCH better than the older 5.1. It makes the 5.1 sound like it was an ipod compression vs the newer losless Master HD stuff that sounds like a Super Audio! Thats how much fuller and open it sounds.

[slowimport96]

Nick has an electronics addiction, sweet setup though.. but none the less and addiction. Im just hating cause I dont have his entertainment setup, all i have is a little 50 inch 1080p lcd :o

[Nick Chapman]

Nick has an electronics addiction, sweet setup though.. but none the less and addiction. Im just hating cause I dont have his entertainment setup, all i have is a little 50 inch 1080p lcd :o


I've admitted this :o
I only have a couple of more upgrades that I want to make, then I'll be done for a while. The sub is my biggest feat right now. I'm having an incredibly hard time making a decision. There are a few options, but as soon as I make a decision I find something that I haven't seen before, then that throws me off again :D

[ClockwrkOrangeS4]

I 100% agree that is probably the problem. I cannot see if either of them say they are "high speed" though. Here are the two cables:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7831876&st=HDMI+cables&lp=10&type=product&cp=2&id=1142297086204

http://cgi.ebay.com/Audioquest-HDMI-3-HDMI-Audio-Video-Cable-2M-w-seal-BOX_W0QQitemZ350094074917QQihZ022QQcategoryZ61395Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The Audioquest is 1.3 category 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep5gDz9YQVg&feature=related

can't find much spec info on the Rocketfish product

[Mustangman_2000]

You got hosed because I got a BETTER cable for cheaper... what now? :confused:



What now? I'll tell you what now. The funny part is you thinking that someone sold you a real $400 cable for $35 with them still making a profit. Does that make sense to you? I'd be interested in buying $400 cables for $35....let's see where you got them from. Share your sources. I'm interested. Otherwise, it sounds like bullshit.

My $39 cable is 2 meters and it's still 340mhz. I'm happy with that.

The only way those cables will look better is in long cable throws. At 1 meter they are absolutely identical. It would be more believable at 3 meters or greater. Some of the higher end cables do address noise better at longer lengths. At 1 meter I can't even tell the difference between my signature cable and a wallyworld $10 cable I have laying in my toolbox.

[STROKD]

What now? I'll tell you what now. The funny part is you thinking that someone sold you a real $400 cable for $35 with them still making a profit. Does that make sense to you? I'd be interested in buying $400 cables for $35....let's see where you got them from. Share your sources. I'm interested. Otherwise, it sounds like bullshit.

My $39 cable is 2 meters and it's still 340mhz. I'm happy with that.

The only way those cables will look better is in long cable throws. At 1 meter they are absolutely identical. It would be more believable at 3 meters or greater. Some of the higher end cables do address noise better at longer lengths. At 1 meter I can't even tell the difference between my signature cable and a wallyworld $10 cable I have laying in my toolbox.
they may very well be fake, I cannot tell, they look identical to the ones at the store for 400 bucks. They have the same box, labeling, and even the serialed box barcodes. Only thing I can think is that there is some HUGE bullshit price markups from when they leave China to the distributors, to the sales stores, etc... does it really cost more than 5-10 bucks to make a nice cable? they can sell direct for 30-40 bucks and still make money, espicially in large volumes with no overhead besides the electricity for their computers. All I know is they look better than the Best Buy cable I had hooked up, which didn't look terrbile, just not as good.