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We created a monster, or how ignoring basic ‘science classes’ is going to cost you.

PostHeaderIcon We created a monster, or how ignoring basic ‘science classes’ is going to cost you.

You buy a new DVD player (one that ‘upconverts’ to 1080i HD, to your, also newly, acquired HD TV). It has (wow) Digital Output through ‘Digital Coax Out’. And even though the manual says you can use a regular RCA cable ($2.15) for that, you run to your local Radio Shack and happily pay $25 for a REAL Coax Digital Audio cable. After all, you want GREAT sound. That’s why you paid BIG money for those THICK speaker cables from ‘Monster Cable’. The ones that assured you of that DEEP VIBRANT Bass that you always wanted.

I’m an immoral person. I admit it. Especially in the context of this post: if I see an opportunity to get rich off of snobs, I go after it .. that’s why I looked if I can invest in Monster Cable.

I can’t. It’s a private company. Too bad.

Why is this company so successful?

Because it played out a stereotype! Ask someone to describe a singer who sings bass! He/She will undoubtedly describe him as BIG… as LARGE … as FAT. Nobody would ever suspect my bluddy Rob of being a bass!

So people fall for the fallacy: “With this HUGE BIG FAT cable… you get an incredible bass sound from you speakers, especially your subwoofer”.

Nonsense of course! That ‘Bass’ sound comes from the quantity of air moved by the speaker. The ‘wire’ is only there to provide the ‘sound information’ (I’m now speaking of powered sub-woofers). You can actually make that wire VERY thin, and not notice a difference (since there is none). Okay, if you make it TOO thin, it CAN actually melt .. but it will do that before you notice any loss of ‘bass’. I have preached this (in vain!) for many years, but last week I ran into something similar. VIDEO cables.

We purchased an HDTV, and I needed to connect it through video cables .. so called ‘Component’ cables. I also needed (well.. wanted!) a new ‘upconverting’ DVD player, for which I paid $42. Because HD video players are still well over $500, and I’m a cheap skate!. Turned out, the cables were MORE expensive than the video player, with all its electronics, firmware (!), moving parts, laser, remote control (batteries included!), manual, shipment from China, etc etc…

INSANE!

So I looked around for cables….

I found them. On BOTH sides of the spectrum. Here they are … see the links… remember… there is NO WAY IN HELL (or heaven) that ANYONE, for simple reasons, can actually ‘SEE’ a difference in picture quality between these cables.

The ‘not-so-cheap’ ones: link

The ‘cheaper’ ones: link

Yes! That’s $5.95 for common sense ($3.89 if you buy a 1oo of them, at which price they STILL make a hefty profit!), to $299 for easy-to-fall-for-hype.

(As for the not-so-cheap ones… I have actually found a cable for $399, but granted, that was quite ‘lengthy’ (not sure who needs 150 Ft of this crap anyway!)


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17 Responses to “We created a monster, or how ignoring basic ‘science classes’ is going to cost you.”

  • Rob La Gesse says:

    Hey – I resemble that “Rob” remark! Sure, I am no bass, but I’m not a tenor either!

    I was in retail electronic sales when Monster Cable entered the scene. I managed a Radio Shack. THey didn’t carry Monster Cable (then). You won’t elive how many people came in and didn’t even know if they bought a stereo VCR or not that morning, but thy knew they “had to have” Moster Cables.

    Me, being a tech geek my entire (as of then 23 year) life tried to explain it to them.

    They wouldn’t listed to me. Know why? Their manuals told them to buy Monster Cable – BRILLIANT!

    Monster Cable bought their market buy buying the attention of their customers!

    I bet Monster Cable spent a small fortune on that advertising in manuals. It’s paid back very well.

    Even people who bought something that didn’t push them to Monster Cable had friends who did.

    This is Marketing!

    Rob

  • Rob La Gesse says:

    Man, I wish I could edit my comments and fix my typos 😉

  • Paul says:

    @Rob .. You wish you could fix typos? That’s a first!
    Anyway, you could have! During the first 30 minutes after posting your comment. By clicking that lower case ‘e’ next to the time stamp (which will vanish after 30 minutes).

  • Rob La Gesse says:

    I guess I just didn’t see it 🙂 – I’ll look after I post this comments!

  • Rob La Gesse says:

    Ahhh – I see. Your AJAX comment update doesn’t refresh the page — so the “Edit This” doesn’t show unless you do a page refresh.

  • Injun says:

    Welll… while I totally agree that most of the time, expensive cables are a simple (as in “well marketed”) rip-off, your story has some holes:
    – while it is true that a digital signal does not care much about a cheap or expensive cable, don’t forget that in streaming media, there is no error correction if indeed bits are lost. The higher the bit rate, the higher the chance of errors (look at error counters of otherwise perfectly looking Ethernet connections). So I would say: beware of cheap (as in “delivered in the box”) digital video cables (HDMI).
    – which brings me to: why on earth would you want to connect your shiny new upconverting DVD player through an inferior method, i.e. analog instead of digital? Granted, “component video” is probably the best analog video connection you can make, but: with analog, quality cables can make a difference. Why did you not immediately go for HDMI, ensuring a fully digital path from DVD laser pick-up to flat panel pixel drivers?
    – minor: no, you would not be able to melt the wire to the subwoofer, since it is only a signal cable – the power amp is in the subwoofer cabinet itself. And that signal is… analog again, so quality of the cable could make a difference (now, if only someone could judge the quality of the sound of an earthquake…)

  • Paul says:

    @Injun .. I bet that if you make the subwoofer cable incredibly thin it would melt! 😉

    In general, my main point was, that while you can of course MAKE a ‘bad’ cable .. take some lamp wire, a few rusty connectors and a botched soldering (or knotting) job, yes.. you may lose stuff .. BOTH in analog and digital. But I doubt there is a measurable quality difference in audio or video in commercially available cables, whether they cost $3 or $300.

    But let me answer your most important question: WHY use component video, and not HDMI?

    First of all: My receiver, which used to be my audio/video ‘source’ switch, is old, and doesn’t switch HDMI (nor component, for that matter). So my video sources (DVD player and cable box) have to go directly to my HDTV.

    Why do I connect my DVD player through component?
    Simple, it doesn’t HAVE HDMI out! To put this in perspective: the shiny new metal device with plenty of electronics, mechanical mechanisms, laser, firmware(!), 1080i upconverting capability, a manual, being shipped from China, warranty and providing the local Walmart with a margin, was mine for $42!

    Why do I connect my cable box through component?
    Simple too (although it took me a while to figure out): When my smart cable box senses that it’s connected through an HDMI connection, it disables all other outputs: including my digital coax audio out! It sends video and audio to my HDTV. And I REALLY like my 5.1 prologic surround sound from my receiver, and not from those two louzy TV speakers!

    This cable box behavior is not a problem when connected to a modern EXPENSIVE receiver (home theater system), since it switches HDMI while splitting audio (keeping it for itself) from video. I found a cheaper receiver, but noticed that it does NOT do ‘HDMI’ processing, it’s a simple ‘pass through’ switch. Which would still leave me with my audio problem.

    I hope that answers your question… 😉

  • Paul says:

    @Injun .. I stand corrected. My previous comment had me have a second look at that cheap DVD player. It DOES have an HDMI output. And unlike my ‘smart’ cable box, it does let me use it and still route the audio to my receiver.

    So, I now have ANOTHER reason why I don’t have my cable box connected through HDMI: My HDTV has only one HDMI input.

  • Rob La Gesse says:

    Paul, I think what Injun was asking was, “WTF did you buy an HDTV with one HDMI input for? When you have an HDTV Cable Box (HDMI) AND a NEW DVD player (that you went cheap as hell on) that you wanted to connect at the optimal level?

    YOu aren’t happy about your experience with the cables, but this has nothing to do with cables!

    You didn’t buy what you wanted/needed.

    🙂 Ducking and running…

    Rob

  • Paul says:

    @Rob .. Let me answer your question too.
    a. I could have bought an similar HDTV as the one I now have with TWO HDMI inputs. It would have cost me $800 more. (Go ahead, call me cheap again!).
    b. It wouldn’t have made a difference, since I can’t USE my cable box’s HDMI output without losing full audio capabilities. And I didn’t buy that cable box! Got it from my cable provider and didn’t have a choice (this will soon, July I think, change!).
    c. If my cable box wouldn’t have had that stupifying ‘smart’ notion of shutting off digital audio out when HDMI is being used, I would simply have bought a $40 HDMI switch, rather than paying $800 more for an HDTV with two HDMI inputs.
    d. In any case, the difference in quality between component and HDMI is purely theoretical. With my poor eyes I simply can’t detect a difference. And quite frankly, I’m willing to bet that you can’t either.
    e. Yes I went cheap on the DVD player. Unlike an early adopter like yourself, I’m not willing to pay $500 (HD DVD player) or $1000 (blue-ray) for something that will be sold tomorrow for $42.
    f. The only thing I was not happy about concerning my experience with the cables was their price. It was, in fact, my main point, that other than price, those cable are all just fine.
    You may again call me a cheap skate, but you’d probably agree that it’s insane that I now have a state-of-the-art upconverting DVD player hooked up to my system with a cable that’s more expensive that the damned DVD player.
    g. As for not buying what I needed/wanted: I didn’t NEED any of it, and what I bought I DID want. The only thing I want MORE is an HDMI processing receiver so that I don’t need to switch TWO devices (one for sound, one for video) when I switch between cable and DVD. But that little bit extra comfort isn’t worth $700 to me. (In fact maybe I can achieve this with some of those smart Logitech remotes). The other thing I want is a combined HD/Blue-ray DVD player. I don’t think they exist yet, and if they do, I can’t afford them right now.
    Bottom line: I’m VERY happy with my current setup.

  • Injun says:

    @ Rob: *LOL* thanks for being willing to take the flack!

    @ Paul: Let me add a much better reason for “wanting” another receiver: that your current one does not switch HDMI is not such a big issue, but I don’t believe (at least: remember) that it decodes Dolby Digital! So all that nice sound is nothing more than a (OK, probably very good in its days) stereo-to-surround processor; not the real sound that the DVD author put on the disk…

    About the stupid behaviour of the cable box: reminds me of similar behaviour of my first upconverting-DVD-with-HDMI: I was being a cheap skate there awaiting HD DVD, but I threw it out of the window after 6 months not being able to believe all it’s unfinished user i/f stupidness.. and invested €300 on a Pioneer which did everything right. Sometimes spending some more offsets greatly the frustration afterwards… (not that it helps you with your cable box but OK…)

  • Paul says:

    @Bob .. yes, my receiver DOES decode Dolby Digital, Dolby ProLogic and DTS. And in addition to that it also has, indeed, a DSP mode for simulated surround, although it doesn’t appear to do much ‘smart’ surround stuff, it just adds various levels of echo (Hall, Theatre, etc etc), but indeed using all 5.1 speakers. I can email you the manual (pdf) upon request. 😉

    As for that €300 Pioneer.. is that a full HD DVD player then? What product id?

  • Paul says:

    I just DID find a good reason to go with HDMI instead of analog component!
    And it doesn’t have to do with picture quality!

    Interesting!

    I found this on one of Pioneers’s web pages (about blue ray: see link)

    Component Video
    480i/480p/720p/1080i

    … for privacy protection, each movie studio will decide whether to allow high-definition delivery through this output.

  • Rob La Gesse says:

    @Paul – My HD DVD cost me $199. Of course, it’s the XBOX-360 addon, but it works great, and the video is impressive.

    And I agree – I can rarely spot a difference in HDMI and Component. In my case, I needed INPUTS – lot’s of them – and with my TV, I got a ton of inputs – o I an save the component for things like my cameras and my A/V processor (which has component video out for on-screen configuration).

    Oh – the other thing I got for my extra $800 I spent on my TV? It automagically turns on the VCR, Surround SOuncd, etc, depending on what I am doing (what inputs I select). THAT is pretty cool (and damned easy to do – I don’t know why ALL manufactureres don’t do this!

  • Suze says:

    This is ALL my fault. Three weeks ago, I STUPIDLY mentioned that it would be kinda cool to watch The Kentucky Derby on HDTV. Now, I have a TV set-up that is totally baffling to me, 4 remotes that I can’t figure out (two are universal remotes). Seven and half miles of cable and an enormous TV (that I can’t operate) in my den. It wouldn’t fit in our entertainment center – so we have an ugly solution. Paul has spent hours in the attic running wires, he has been to Radio Shack and Best Buy 39 times, he has bought a new set of tools (only because he could not find any of the other 7 sets of tools he has in our garage) re-wired the entire surround sound, moved the furniture around so that I have to sit in a specific place to watch TV (after he turns it on!). So now, Paul has declared that we DON’T need a new (bigger)entertainment center, what we REALLY need is a bigger house (and pool). Because the pool somehow makes the sound so much better…. But, I gotta admit – the TV is awesome. AND The Kentucky Derby is gonna be great on HDTV!

  • Paul says:

    @Suze .. and Injun is right too .. we also DO need a $400 HDMI-switching receiver (eliminates one remote!), an HD DVD player (and an XBOX, so that we can get the CHEAP $199 one, that Rob has), and a Blue-ray DVD player.
    Oh, and that receiver actually has a 7.1 channel speaker system, so we need two more speakers.. which means 5 more miles of cable.
    I also wonder if that 42″ is actually big enough for the medium room/bar in our new house.

  • Suze says:

    Hello! We have an X-Box … an older one. Remember? You used to push me off cliffs in Halo and Halo2! And I used to mow you down with the Wraiths!

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