Eurorack 3.5mm Cable Comparison Chart

[dumbledog]

Speaking of Erthenvar, if you've bought anything there (like I did Sunday, ugh), you'll want to do the whole password-rotation thing as their site was breached: http://shop.erthenvar.com/blogs/news

I wrote Nick earlier today -- he'll contact customers with more details as he figures out what happened. In the meantime look out for spear phishing emails and the like.

[Licudi]

double post.

[Licudi]

Also love the ones that come with korg ms20 mini (yellow ones) wish they sold them separately as well.

Apparently Korg do, but it might be Japan-only. Possibly relevant to the OP's Eurorack Cable Comparison chart, anyway.

MS-CABLE-YL:
MS-20 mini genuine monaural mini patch cable 5 pieces set.
Color: Yellow
Cable length: 25cm

There's some on eBay here.

[mrgrimm]

fiveg in tokyo sells their own brand: http://fiveg.net/?mode=grp&gid=1011855
very nice feel, not as stiff as others.

Thanks for the tip, mrgimm. I've added Five G to the list. Any more details about the cables that you could confirm or add is definitely appreciated.

hey,
just looked at the list entry, comparing them to ad infinitum doesnt do them justice. much softer and nice feeling.
the ad infinitum cables i have are still shaped the way they shipped more than two years ago, whereas the fiveg cables are straight out of the package.
maybe you can add this sentiment?

[ignatius]

nice to have this. bookmarked it via bookmark function!

[fourhexagons]

fiveg in tokyo sells their own brand: http://fiveg.net/?mode=grp&gid=1011855
very nice feel, not as stiff as others.

Thanks for the tip, mrgimm. I've added Five G to the list. Any more details about the cables that you could confirm or add is definitely appreciated.

hey,
just looked at the list entry, comparing them to ad infinitum doesnt do them justice. much softer and nice feeling.
the ad infinitum cables i have are still shaped the way they shipped more than two years ago, whereas the fiveg cables are straight out of the package.
maybe you can add this sentiment?

Great, thanks. I did just that.

[fourhexagons]

Also love the ones that come with korg ms20 mini (yellow ones) wish they sold them separately as well.

Apparently Korg do, but it might be Japan-only. Possibly relevant to the OP's Eurorack Cable Comparison chart, anyway.

MS-CABLE-YL:
MS-20 mini genuine monaural mini patch cable 5 pieces set.
Color: Yellow
Cable length: 25cm

There's some on eBay here.

Thanks for looking into this. I'll hold off on the chart til we have more info of greater availability.

[fourhexagons]

I just received some BT cables from Control in 30 & 50cm lengths. The 30's are nice and straight, but the 50's came bundled tightly with twist-ties and are, full of kinks as a result. I suspect that in time, they'll loosen up, but for now they're kinked like Ad Infinitum.

If Control's manufacturer can supply the longer cables in coils instead of kinked bundles, my feeling is that it would be a smart move to make the switch. 'Cause I don't know about all you wigglers, but I can't stand the kinks. No relation to the band, which is cool.

Aside from that aspect, the Control BT cables are definitely tiny. Like way smaller than any other cables I've ever used. Really lightweight and they feel like feathers compared to Tip Top.

Here's an image of the 4 types of cables I've used from left-to-right / large-to-small: TipTop, Ad Infinitum, Expert Sleepers, Control.



I've only used them for a couple hours last night, but my initial thoughts are that I love how light and small they are. They're definitely a good choice for low-barrel height. I wonder if they'll last as long as the Expert Sleepers ones, though since the ExpSlp are harder and feel like they can take more abuse. The Control ones feel a bit more delicate, but this feel could be deceiving. I just feel like I have to be a bit more careful with handling and can't just yank them out by the cable the way I tend to do from time to time with the ExpSlp cables. Only time will tell.

The colors are very much primary colors, similar to the classic Buchla/TipTop colors. They match nicely if you already use TipTop and like that vibe. You can see that their green, however is a bit more yellow than TipTop/Ad Infinitum. Personally I might prefer the lighter palettes of Black Market Modular & Erthenvar/Hosa (but that just might be because so much of my case is Mutable). But I do like them very much and there's a chance that I'll make the switch to these, if only because I like Control so much.

My next step, however, is to check out some of Black Market Modular's cables. I'll likely place a small order one of these days when I have some money burning a hole in my pocket. I just picked up a few new modules, so unless Eric wants to send me some free samples, that'll have to wait.

[fourhexagons]

Well, I just sold all my TipTop, Expert Sleepers, and Ad Infinitum cables here on MW (keeping the Control BT cables) to fund a huge purchase of Black Market Modular cables from Foxtone Music.

I'm totally doing this without ever having checked them out in person. But they seem to be held in such high regard by Taylor Deupree & Marcus Fischer and I really like how non-droopy they seem to be. Plus, the color palette and variety seem pretty great.

I'm not as much into the fact that they're sold in 5-packs, though. That is, because I want at least one of each color in lengths from 9cm to 75cm, I end up with a total of 28 packs, or 140 cables! Sheesh. I really only need half that amount. At least I shouldn't need to buy any more cables for quite some time. Or maybe I'll just sell my overstock here on the forum.

Black Market Modular Eric, if you're reading this, is there any chance if I were to want some longer cables (100 or 150cm) that I could mix and match colors within a 5-pack if ordered directly from you?

[BLACK MARKET]

I was really impressed with the Black Market ones at first, but they firmed up in a way that I am less enthused about

Could you elaborate on this? Is hardening-up a thing that occasionally happens?

Really? Wow, that's the first I've heard of that happening! Please let me know if anyone else has experienced this. Were they maybe left in an environment where it was really hot/cold for a period of time? I would love to know what people think!

If anyone has any quality issues with my cables (not that I have heard of any so far!) definitely let me know and I'll happily send you replacements since I want people to enjoy these for a long time.

@fourhexagons- Let me know directly what you need for long cables and I'll take care of you. Selling cables in 5-packs is so much easier than selling singles. I feel the pricing per cable can stay low since it's easy to deal with pre-packaged units. Having 54 skus of 5-packs in stock (9 colors times 6 lengths) is already a nightmare to keep track of

[fourhexagons]

@fourhexagons- Let me know directly what you need for long cables and I'll take care of you. Selling cables in 5-packs is so much easier than selling singles. I feel the pricing per cable can stay low since it's easy to deal with pre-packaged units. Having 54 skus of 5-packs in stock (9 colors times 6 lengths) is already a nightmare to keep track of

Ah, thanks Eric. And I see your point regarding packs/SKUs.

[strawberry]

Another option for us European types,

http://exploding-shed.com

Got mine today, very happy.
Good quality and plenty of options, well worth a look

I'm not related/affiliated, just a happy customer.

[fourhexagons]

Another option for us European types,

http://exploding-shed.com

Got mine today, very happy.
Good quality and plenty of options, well worth a look

I'm not related/affiliated, just a happy customer.

Thanks, strawberry. I've added this to my to-do list. It's quite a long list of options, so it'll take a moment to sort it all out.

[fourhexagons]

I received my huge order of Black Market Modular cables yesterday and they're awesome. I posted a sweet rainbow photo of 105 of them on Instagram and shared some of my thoughts. I'll write a more in-depth review soon once I've had more time with them.

For now, I've added Black Market to the photo comparison. Check it:

[smirky]

Looks like there's going to be a new set of Nazca cables per the Pittsburgh Modular twitter feed. I don't see any other info yet but there's a pretty pic for those that like that stuff.

[Licudi]

Also love the ones that come with korg ms20 mini (yellow ones) wish they sold them separately as well.

Apparently Korg do, but it might be Japan-only. Possibly relevant to the OP's Eurorack Cable Comparison chart, anyway.

These are now available in the UK. Juno has stocks.

[solitud]

Vermona has some nice ones.

[tthogs]

Looks like there's going to be a new set of Nazca cables per the Pittsburgh Modular twitter feed. I don't see any other info yet but there's a pretty pic for those that like that stuff.

Woah these colors are rad.

[fourhexagons]

Thanks for all the additions! I've added the Exploding Shed cables to the chart. But this got me to thinking that I should probably split this spreadsheet into different worksheets for each market.

Are there any detail oriented European wigglers who would want to moderate such a thing? Same goes for any other markets. Japan/Asia, perhaps?

If anyone is interested, PM me and we can talk

[fourhexagons]

Looks like there's going to be a new set of Nazca cables per the Pittsburgh Modular twitter feed. I don't see any other info yet but there's a pretty pic for those that like that stuff.

Yeah, nice colors. Those are still braided, right? Can anyone tell if the barrels appear to be the same or smaller?

[fourhexagons]

As I had previously mentioned, I replaced all of my cables with Black Market Modular.



I've had some time with them and I've gotta say that I absolutely love these things. They're small, yet substantial. I'm not a fan of droop and these are stiff enough that they stand up pretty nicely so you can reach in between to wiggle. The feel of the cables is really nice, too – not to shiny, not too matte. I feel like Goldilocks here. But yeah, the barrels are firm but not hard plastic. Similar to the TipTops, I guess. Way softer than the Control BT's. The texture and rounded edge feels good on the fingers when patching. I get the impression that the reinforcement at the neck will protect the cable from wearing out there. It seems like a good compromise between the taller reinforcement of Ad Infinitums and the short one of Control BT... or the non-existent TipTop. The cable diameter is similar to Ad Infinitum, which feels strong, but not as stiff as Expert Sleepers.

And the colors are pretty great. In the end, I decided not to keep the Neon Peach ones because in low light, I had a little difficulty differentiating between Neon Peach and Neon Pink. It was surely a unique color, though, but I replaced it with White which is super easy to see. I also picked up some longer black ones to use as output cables. That way it will be quick to see where the end of the signal chain is for audio. Personally, I like having all the color options so as to be able to kind of color-code my patching. To be able to follow something through a patch based on a particular color. I'm not strict about it, but when reaching for a cable, I'll sometimes continue a color from gate/trigger to envelope to VCA. All this just helps me read the patch quicker.

So yeah, enough gushing. This isn't a paid advert or anything, I'm just super happy with the price, options and quality of Black Market. Plus Eric, the owner is a nice guy with a great vibe. Totally worth supporting the guy and spreading the gospel.

In hindsight, I wish that I had kept a few stackables of the shorter lengths just to make mults easier when I only want a single copy (hate to 'waste' a hub mult or monomult on just one copy) but oh well.

Y'live & y'learn.

[mskala]

Does anyone have interesting things to say about the electrical properties of different kinds of cables? I've had some trouble recently with cables that have more resistance than I think they should, like a kOhm or so - which works fine as long as they're carrying high-impedance synth signals, but becomes a problem as soon as there as "passive" (signal-powered) modules involved. And I recently found one of my cables had no continuity for the shield/ground connection at all... easy not to notice because of the way Eurorack grounding practices make redundant connections all over the place, but it's not how the cable ought to be and it causes a problem when that cable is going to an external box.

I'd like to be able to buy some cables that I could be reasonably sure wouldn't have these kinds of issues.

[fourhexagons]

Does anyone have interesting things to say about the electrical properties of different kinds of cables? ...
I'd like to be able to buy some cables that I could be reasonably sure wouldn't have these kinds of issues.

Wish I knew. I wonder if any manufacturers or other engineering types might be able to chime in.

[Junk Rhythm]

I received my huge order of Black Market Modular cables yesterday and they're awesome. I posted a sweet rainbow photo of 105 of them on Instagram and shared some of my thoughts. I'll write a more in-depth review soon once I've had more time with them.

For now, I've added Black Market to the photo comparison. Check it:

Thank you for this! I've been researching options for cables to work within portable folding cases and I thought that the Control cables would be the smallest of the bunch. This confirms it for me.

[fourhexagons]

Thank you for this! I've been researching options for cables to work within portable folding cases and I thought that the Control cables would be the smallest of the bunch. This confirms it for me.

You bet!