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Topic: Death Valley Cables |
Lynn Oliver
From:
Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 9 Jan 2011 1:30 pm |
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| I've heard some good things about Death Valley Cables, has anyone here tried them out? At the very least the web site is an interesting read. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 9 Jan 2011 2:33 pm
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| A lot of hype that sounds good..... |
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Gary Cosden
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 9 Jan 2011 2:48 pm
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| I emailed them and asked what the capacitance of their cable is and I think the reply I got (in about 20 minutes on a Sunday!) is interesting. They claim that the only meaningful way to measure is with the ends on the cable. They also claim that the plugs they use are best because they have copper wire cores and that the manufacturer holds a patent on this. The reply sated that a 20' cable with one straight end and one 90 plug has a cacitance of 32 pf/ft. |
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Lynn Oliver
From:
Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 9 Jan 2011 4:46 pm
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| I had also emailed them about the capacitance value, and I expect they get that question a lot. I don't know what to think about their claims with respect to the copper core plugs, and I'm not sure I like the strain relief being the solder joint with the shield. I guess the lifetime warranty takes care of any issues with that. |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 9 Jan 2011 5:16 pm
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It's true that the plug ends do contribute a little bit to the capacitance. One thing I've learned for sure is that capacitance is only part of the picture. While I can't explain why various wires sound different, they do. You can take 10 different cables each with the exact same total capacitance, and they'll sound different. Even the thin and thick George L's sound different. Cut one of each to length so that the capacitance is identical, and they'll sound different.
One factor that I see has to do with the core wire. For instance in the George L's stuff, the small wire has about 7 raw copper strands but the thick wire has about 18 tin plated copper strands. And they sound different. The Evidence Audio Lyric cable has been hailed as one of the best sounding guitar cords out there, and while it's capacitance is about on par with most good cable, they use a single solid pure copper core wire, not unlike video cable. People swear that wire sounds different and better than others.
Another thing that some exotic cable makers do is an old audiophile and pro audio trick where you use a cable with two inner conductors plus an outer shield (mic cable). Then the outer shield is only connected at one end so it doesn't actually carry the signal, but just creates an electrostatic shield. Then one of the two inner wires is the ground conductor.
I'm always interested in learning why cables sound different other than the capacitance factor.
One other interesting thing is that THE most critical cord is the one that comes directly off the pickup before any electronics have turned the passive signal active. It seems that once a signal has been amplified or buffered by active electronics, and/or the impedance of the signal path has been lowered, the various cables don't make nearly as much difference. It's that first passive cable that the pickup directly sees and drives that seems to have the most noticeable differences. So for $$ sake, it seems that one should consider just one really good sounding cord for that first position, and then just go with cheaper but good stuff.
No idea about the Death Valley cables, but their prices are much more fair than some of the high end, exotic cable brands like the stuff sold over at Lava Cables.
Brad |
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Scott Appleton
From:
Ashland, Oregon
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Posted 10 Jan 2011 9:58 pm cables
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the cable is not unusual the ends are better than some but only crimped around the shield .. not very impressive construction for the most part. I have been building cables for 30 + years and find better components for a lot less money than offered by DVC.
Naturally you have to assemble them yourself .. a single conductor with shield has a tendency to break after a while .. a twisted two conductor with a shield
will last much longer without problems.
No cable is without fault and the DVC has a few good points ..I don't think DVC cable is unusual. The standard ProCo lifetime cable is built stronger. If you solder the braided shield to the ground part of the connector and crimp plus leave the center conductor with enough flexability you will have a superior cable.
fill the whole thing with epoxy or silcone and it will last even longer .. eventually the cable itself will get pulled or stomped on or something heavy dropped on it and at that point will fail .. |
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Ray Uhl
From:
Riverside, Missouri, USA
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Posted 10 Jan 2011 10:52 pm
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| Help me out! But isn't the Goodrich Matchbox an impedance matching device that is suppose to address these differences?? I maybe wrong, but would like to know. Thanks. |
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Lynn Oliver
From:
Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 10 Jan 2011 11:17 pm Re: cables
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| Scott Appleton wrote: |
| ...find better components for a lot less money than offered by DVC.... |
It seems to me that their key claim is the importance of the copper-core plugs. I find it hard to imagine that that would make a real difference, but I haven't tried any. |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 10 Jan 2011 11:58 pm
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| Ray Uhl wrote: |
| Help me out! But isn't the Goodrich Matchbox an impedance matching device that is suppose to address these differences?? |
It will more or less nullify any cable/passive device impedance problems after it by feeding them a low impedance, but the cable from the instrument-PU to the Goodrich Matchbox must be as short and good as possible. |
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Lynn Oliver
From:
Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 11 Jan 2011 12:16 pm
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| Here's an interesting analysis of guitar cables. It is intended for bass players, but most of the cables are used more widely. A couple of points from the analysis: 1) as soon as you put an active device after the pickup the cable doesn't matter; 2) the G&H plug (which may or may not be the same one used by Death Valley Cables) is rated highly for strain relief. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2011 4:11 pm
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"I guess the lifetime warranty takes care of any issues "
Well,,, the company has to stay in business, doesn't it? Or be bought out by another company that will honor the guarantee??? |
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