Any difference between cheap and expensive gold-plated HDMI cables?

Question

Any difference between cheap and expensive gold-plated HDMI cables?

Answer 1

Kudos to Kevin L and Lance for well expressed answers.



In truth - unless the cables come with the "eyeball" pattern that they use to analyze the HDMI signals, you cannot really compare two cables.



We live in a "Caveat emptor" world and the cable industry has a HUGE reputation of using junk-science and Marketing to sell over-priced copper (Remember the $100 Electric Dryer power cord from Monster that promised to improve your dryers ability to work? Or the racks of "120 Hz" cables with the $110 price tag that implied you needed one of these if you purchased a newer LCD panel?)



In truth - the more expensive cables are probably better built and have some manufacturing QA while the cheap Asia built cables are built, packaged and shipped trusting the store to handle the 1-2% of the units that fail.



Personally - I buy the $9-$20 HDMI cables 2-3 at a time from Amazon, I use them to calibrate bedroom HDTV's or loan them out to co-workers or hook up family systems with them. I have only had 1 fail after two years of use.



For my main system my long cable is a BlueJeans Cables HDMI cable made with Belden wires. I use the budget $9 cables for interconnects.



If I was a professional I would probably pick some name-brand cable, charge customers the normal 50% mark up on the price (just like BestBuy & others do) because having a name brand is 'Marketing' - makes customers feel like they are getting quality.

Answer 2

no there is no differences at all

HDMI cables carry digital data (1.0) it either works or not (nothing in between)

NO DIFFERENCES between hdmi cables whatsoever

same thing applies on LAN cables and USB cables

Answer 3

It all depends on the quality of the wires used inside the cables. Just being gold plated outside does not guarantee of good and high standard product. The manufacturers of low quality and cheap HDMI cables and other products have become so clever that they just make loo-alike products from outside but use very low quality materials insides. So, be careful while buying expensive products. If possible, go for branded products.

Answer 4

Yeah, well, The usual zinc coating on cable ends got upgraded to gold electroplate for only one purpose, That being gold doesn't rust, or form oxides, so needed less maintenance. The zinc oxide that built up on cable ends occasionally meant you would have to re-seat the connector to scrape it off and get a good connection to the metal again. No other reason. Better cables fit strain reliefs and other niceties, may be better marked, have thicker end coatings, thicker insulation coverings, be better tested, have better warranty (if any), and in some cases, some shielding, perhaps even grounded shielding, to inhibit EMF. The main thing wire contributes to any electrical system is resistance. This conundrum is solvable by assuring the wire thickness is appropriate to its length, and the current capacity its expected to handle. People who use house wiring thickness cable to hook up stereo equipment where the distances are six feet or less are the same ones who buy gold plated Yo-Yos for wealthy idiots. The big thing is, if you pay more for a cable, you should be able to see what you are getting for your money. As for the wire itself, Premium materials would be oxygen free copper, or Litz wire. Braiding, not so much, being of value only for purposes of creating a shield, (because its one way to do that) increasing tensile strength of a cable, and if performed exactly,protecting and enhancing signal propagation for certain quite weak electrically speaking digital transmissions as in thin and thick net cabling, (which, by the way is an extremely poor choice for any audio use.)

Answer 5

no

Answer 6

About $25.00

Seriously, the screening (if any) on the cheap cables is largely ineffective and they are likely UTP since that is much cheaper to produce (as well as easier to work with - LOL)

Answer 7

Contrary to popular and uneducated belief there is a difference in performance in audio and video cables, INCLUDING digital cables. Now with audio digital cables there is a huge difference in sound performance and this includes hdmi. As for video, there is a difference but I will say it is smaller to detect. The video source and display must be calibrated at a high level to see and appreciate the differences.



Price is not always a indication of higher performance thought, there are lower priced cables that can perform extremely well if not out perform much higher priced cables.



As for gold, gold has nothing to do with performance of a cable. Gold is often used because it does not oxidize as quickly as other metals. As a conductor it is not as good as silver or copper, but these metals oxidize very quickly. There are high end cable manufactures that use connectors used from much different materials to both give good conductivity and minimize oxidation, like rhodium plating.



Many cheaper manufactures use gold connectors to make there product look like your getting a high quality cable, when in fact there is nothing significant in the cable technology behind them.



People that think digital is digital and it either works or doesn't would be seriously uninformed. There are several things that affect a digital transmission, and some things that are not completely explainable even to this day, especially in digital transmission of a audio signal. We know that any limitation in bandwidth, or issues with jitter (a form of digital distortion) that effects audio performance. For example, toslink is known to have limited bandwidth and introduces a significant amount of jitter when compared to coaxial digital connections and SPIDF. With that said, you will not get the high resolution of sound you get from the other types of digital connections. That is why no one uses toslink in high end audio systems.



So with that said, yes there is a difference in hdmi cables. So no digital is not just digital.



Yes there are much better cables, and the best way to know your getting better cables, is to read reviews from magazines who believe in and know about better cables, like Absolute Sound, and Stereophile.



No we are not nuts, we just know more than the average consumer about getting the best performance possible, and no its not just about selling more expensive cables, although there is a often a correlation to higher price and better performance.



Kevin

40 years high end audio video specialist

Answer 8

There have been numerous articles showing that the cheapest cables perform as well as the most expensive.

Cabling is the biggest scam in the audio world.

Answer 9

There is no difference.



HDMI cables either work, or they don't. Digital info is comprised of 1's and 0's, there is no gray area or degradation. Select the length you need and shop for the cheapest price.

Answer 10

Sometimes the build quality is better on some of the better cables which doesn't always transfer over to the price difference though.....and usually will not effect performance at least on shorter lengths...You can find well-built quality cables for reasonable prices though...The Tartan Cables sold by Blue jean cables are an example of a good cable for a cheap price.....Even the cheaply built cables will work for shorter lengths under 10 ft without any performance issues. In cable lengths over 15ft though you should seek out a better cable. The performance issues are never slight though its usually all or nothing either you get the best picture or its blank...sometimes right on the edge you might get picture freeze; color wash or (Sparkle) pixelization...but its nothing you could watch comfortably... The main weakness of the cheaper cables is the tip end and has nothing to do with Gold or Nickel,, some are soldered by hand while others on better cables will be electrolicly soldiered by robots also some tip ends will allow the cable to kink while others only allow the cable to bend slowly, better cables tend to have a better fit for the tip end fits tighter on the cheap cables they come loose more easily. Also the shielding is better on the better cables which may make the difference on longer lengths...Most of the time we don't know how the cables were made so reputation can have a lot to do with it...I mean is anybody really going to China to watch the testing going on,, some facilities in China may use an HDTV for testing others sophisticated equipment... In fact some expensive cable companies will make outlandish claims about testing they will even show you pictures they took in China ten years ago when they last visited the manufacturing site...also I have seen pictures of the Robot machines used on Japanese( not China) cable manufacturers sites... Cables are no longer being listed for Compliance they just say "High Speed" no more numbers 1.3 1.4 etc...Cables to look into for even the longer lengths would be Tartan Cables Mediabridge and the Mono-price premium cable...also warranty is something to take a look at some better cables will offer a life time warranty some only 90 days or nothing....Also sometimes you can get things like Monster IXOS HDMI cables at close out or tremendous discount on the net...some times $100- $150 retail expensive cable selling for $15 Dollars or less may be worth it at that price...

Answer 11

All HDMI cables are same