Behringer B1, cheap but good? Options

[visualmusic]

Ahh yes, lepetitmartien...thanks for keeping me in line.

I broke down and bought the B-1. Mainly because of costs. I'm just doing the acoustic guitar/vocal thing for demos at the present. However, Behringer suggests you use gold plated XLR connections with the mic. Does this really make a difference in the sound quality? If so what cost effective 25 ft. cable should I go with?

Thanks for the feedback.

[lepetitmartien]

Gold plating is interesting because Gold don't oxydize… Oxyds are BAD (noise, radio effect, scraaaaatch). Though, Gold platting tend to wear off easily… sometimes VERY easily.

I think you're better off putting money in a good cable, with good shielding and Neutrik connectors (you'll plug/un-plug them a lot like other cables you may have).

I'm sure some US user can point you to some correct sources.

[dmrkh]

If contemplating Monster Cable, then know that they are owned by Radio Shack.
So don't think I'm saying that Monster's won't be Caddy's to RS's Buick's. But an Electra 225 can be a sweet ride.

And the price pt.

[visualmusic]

Thanks for the help on the cable suggestions.

I've been playing with the MBox and the B-1 for the last couple of days. I have the phantom power on, but I'm not getting a good signal when recording? I thought 48v was enough to preamp the B-1. Am I doing something wrong? If I crank the gain way up I get a ton of noise (of course). It just seems I would get better volume. Any suggestions?

BTW I'm running PowerBook G4, OS X 2.8, 1Ghz, 1Ghz RAM

[lepetitmartien]

As far as I know Monster cables are ok but overpriced.

[visualmusic]

What about Mogami? Are they over priced as well?

[lepetitmartien]

I can't tell…

[Ben Up the Tree]

I got the Monster Cable Standard 100 which although not gold plated seems to deliver very good quality signal. 20 foot was $30, I don't know if it was a good deal, but it seems like a quality product. I'm using it with a Studio Projects C1, thank you very much lepetitmartien, and am enjoying listening to my room to try to hear what it sounds like recorded.

[lepetitmartien]

Glad you like the C1

$30, that's about the price of 150 m (500 feet) of good cable in roll… go figure
In the USA you can buy neutrik connectors for less than a $1. I've never said Monster were not quality, but expensive

Better expensive and good than cheap and crap

[nacho45]

Marshall's cheap condensors are solid. I use the 93v.