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From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
So I’ve been using these whack-ass HOSA MIDI cables for years and years. There are a couple reasons for this, and they are as follows: (a) on tour most of your gear attrition comes in the form of loss of accessories, and (b) you’re lucky to find a MIDI cable at all in Fayetteville, North Carolina, never mind one that isn’t HOSA.
So, after 12 years of touring, comprising a couple thousand shows, I have stacks and stacks of cables of all flavors, and most of them are HOSA. I plugged up a MIDI cable the other day, and it didn’t work, and I was like “fuck it. I’m buying some nice MIDI cables.” So today the UPS man left a box from Analog Haven on my porch, and in it were some Mogami MIDI cables. These little bitches are _nice_, and that’s about all I have to say on the matter. HOSA and Mogami both make MIDI cables the same way that Seiko and Breitling both make watches. They both tell time, but the Seiko is essentially disposable, while the Breitling is an heirloom.
23 comments
Do they sound better? ;-)
why would you buy such midi cables ?
is that for less electrical interference , faster transfer because of different resistance ?
tx
Just dont buy Monster cables....
http://www.monstergreed.com/Index%20with%20info%20about%20MC.htm
Good Seiko watches aren't disposable... You just have to go looking for the good ones since they also make a lot of cheapies.
Check it out:
http://www.timezone.com/library/extras/200601314280
So, now during the after-show cleanup, you've got to dive for both your DI boxes, *and* the MIDI cables.
Seriously, though, my studio used to be full of MIDI gear, back when the Alesis MMT-8s were my main sequencer, and good MIDI cables were a must then. Thanks for pointing these out.
Molded cables? How pedestrian. I only use silver-core wire with die-cast silver-plated Switchcraft ends for my trusted MIDI sources. With tiny plastic stands to keep the ground effect from adding to MIDI slop. Even Vince Clarke gets up and dances when he hears the result.
For about $10,000 I could redo my setup with these:
http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/2238
and if I did, I would gush:
"It's as if a veil had been lifted, wider soundstage and more detail"
But since every record I've ever loved wasn't done with boutique cabling, I guess I'll muddle through somehow.
Well, I understand that a good-quality cable lasts longer than a cheap cable... so a high quality cable could be desirable in and of itself for that reason.
But, I have never heard of information being dropped because of a MIDI cable ("dropped" isn't the right term, because it isn't a packet, but you know what I mean). I have never heard of noisy cables triggering false events. I have had problems with midi equipment not being able to talk to each other, but that was weird incompatibilities between the equipment and were uneffected by midi cables.
The only reason I would pay a lot for a midi cable, is if I was worried about the plug on the cable getting kicked, and breaking the plastic inside the jack on the equipment, or leaving pins permanently stuck in the jack (I have seen midi jacks on equipment broken this way). But the Mogami jacks don't look any different than any other jack I have seen. Are the Mogami less likely to cause damage to the equipment (which is really the only thing I could care about from a midi cable).
"Even Vince Clarke gets up and dances when he hears the result."
Didn't Vince Clarke pay a lot of money to have the midi retrofits on all his classic keyboards removed? He still sequences on a BBC Micro that outputs CV, doesn't he? When Vince Clarke starts dancing to MIDI tunes, I expect a cold wind to be blowing through hell.
Heh. You guys crack me up.
These aren't especially expensive; I wouldn't term them "boutique" at all. They're just well-made, and I get the impression they'll last longer. Has a veil been lifted? Who the fuck cares. Even if it was, I would be compressing it to the point of distortion anyways, then running it through L3 to turn it in to a square wave.
-CR
"So, after 12 years of touring, comprising a couple thousand shows ... I plugged up a MIDI cable the other day, and it didn't work"
That's actually a pretty good track record, really.
Yeah man, but you compared Mogami to Breitling Watches --> they be pretty boutique if you ask me...
Mogami midi cables are full of techno.
Those coloured rings are just the shizzle ;-)
Really.
Breitling aren't boutique. They're working watches for professional people. Hence the comparision. If I wanted to go boutique, I'd have said "Jaeger-LeCoultre" or something.
In any case, as usual, you guys are reading far too much in to my comments. I've had plenty of HOSA cables fail, both MIDI and audio. If you don't want to spend $15 on your MIDI cables, don't. They'll probably be fine.
-CR
So, Chris, are you saying that HOSA cables fucked up your Seiko watch? Damn, that's weird.
Speaking of rings on the connectors, does anyone know what connectors they use? Looking for good connectors for DIY projects / patch cables and colored rings would be slick.
I've always splurged for expense audio cables just because I've gone through a ton of the cheap stuff and I like being able to bring a broken cable into a store and say "Replace this" and have it be free. Never splurged on nice midi cables though, mine are all pretty rag-tag cheapo ones.
wait, so you guys don't buy your midi cables based on matching the color of your synths?
when i sold my korg karma, i had to replace it with a nord otherwise my red midi cables would have been useless.
anyone want to buy a microwave xt? i can't find orange midi cables anywhere :(
i heard that monster owns seiko. just sayin' what i heard.
I can see the point. I still have cloth-wrapped 1/4" cables from 12 years ago. I also run midi data through them.
my seiko watch cost 500 bucks, is only available in japan, keeps perfect time (due to daily radio synchronisation with the atomic clock), and is fully solar powered so you NEVER need to change batteries ;) it looks cool too
as for good midi cabes, be careful, i bought some good midi cables once - on one occasion i tried to use them as sync24 cables and it DIDN'T work due to the fact the only the MIDI pins were connected. stick to hosa if you want sync24!
Hosa makes orange midi cables
"I still have cloth-wrapped 1/4" cables from 12 years ago"
Spectraflex?
I think I win, I've got a couple of asbestos insulated cables from the theater I started out in. It used to be a vaudeville house. Got some great old dynamic mics from there too.
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