Audio-Cable Reviews

Okay. Here is a write up, that I did, on the comparisons/contrasts on MP3 players. Mainly, the Harddrive versions (I.E. Rio Riot/Apple IPOD -both of which I own) and the flash memory type... (I.E. Memorex 3642 Mp3 Player, of which I own as well).
What prompted this little jaunt (of which you may send to as many people as you like) My $499 Apple IPOD died during a sync last month. Just me copying files over to it, and the battery ran out of juice. I would have not attempted to copy music had I known the battery was low, but the battery read FULL STRENGTH. Anyhoo, I called Apple, they said return it for maintenance.

I did. Sent it back.

They returned it, still broke.

To my suprise, there is only a TEN DAY return policy.

TEN DAYS.

I did not realize this at all... and it was a costly realization.

So, after a month or so of messing around trying to find another MP3 player... I decided to go with a flash memory MP3 player, the ones that use memory sticks.

SO, here are the pro and cons of these devices.

Pro's for the Memory Stick Mp3 players

-Cheaper. WAY CHEAPER than Hard drive types.

-If you go into music match and file convert to MP3 Pro and shrink the size of your MP3 to like, say 3o percent... you can really make a good Kompression. Example. My Memorex MP3 player has 32mbs of memory on board. It is expandable to 256mb. 32 mb will basically let you put one cd's worth of music. It is easy to put music on and off of them, due to your computer reading the USB as just another hard drive, so you drag and drop to put on, delete them to take them off. But, after you shrink your files to MP3 Pro 30 percent, you can put twice as many. So, basically a 256mb chip will allow me to put 208 songs on my little less than palm size MP3 player. And it wieghs like 3 ounces.

- More on memory. These little chips are the size of the upper part of your thumb, at least my thumb anyway. They come in 128mb, 256mb, 512mb and even though there aren't any MP3 machines out there to handle them YET, you can even buy a 1.5gig thumb size chip thingy. Considering the size of the chips and the shrinking kompression I told you about earlier, I could shrink my whole KOLLEKTION down to 10 of those 1.5gig chips. At the current shrink rate I am at 5 DVD's, which are way bigger and more fragile than these little chips.

- Not as fragile as hard drive type. You can drop one of these chips and not scratch it. I wouldn't stomp on one with my foot, nor get one in water, but they are encased in plastic. Ruggedish.

- Batteries last for like two days. There isn't much going on here, no moving parts, no laser or hard drive to put power to. Most of these flash Memory types have a single AA battery. I use a rechargeable type, so we are talking very low cost here.
In comparison to the hard drive types, where you will get a solid 8 hours of playing, this really whupps up.

- Size. Small. Very small. Mine is three inches by three inches. A square. But, you can get smaller ones. And the memory chips that go in them are the same ones you use for your camera. And you can put files on them. If you want to put a word doc on your memory chip, you can. Your Mp3 won't recognize it, but it is nifty storage.

COMPARISON/CONTRAST

- Size does matter. In the case of hard drive Mp3 players... lets face it, you can, if you so chose to, put a library of congress on these monsters. They are the caddilacs of the hand held devices, and guzzle batteries like gasoline. But when it comes down to it, size is the only thing they have going for them. I don't mean to downplay the hard drive types, but don't drop them, don't shake them, and after shelling out $499 to Apple you might consider insurance. Apple doesn't care about you or your apple after 10 days of ownership.

- Price/Komparison. IPOD ran me $499 bucks. My memorex MP3 player ran me 45 dollars. The 128 memory chip runs you 50 bucks. Owch. There really isn't a comparison to the two. The memory stick Mp3 players just kick butt on this issue. And, you get MORE than a ten day return policy, since you buy these things at Target/Wal Mart etc...

So, that is my review in a nutshell
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Not completely sure why I am getting such a roasting on this review. I am only reporting what happened to me, and how I bought another product and compared the two.... I am not trying to change anyones mind, but letting someone know what happened to me.

OK, this is a splitter. You can buy a cheap one anywhere but this one is well-made. The design matches the iPod well but it's functional as well. The black circle is a rubberized material with ridges that provide a good place to hold the splitter while you plug or unplug headphones. It works great.

I bought the splitter to use with a laptop playing DVD's while on vacation so that my wife and I could both listen with headphones (extremely important not to wake kids, especially while trying to enjoy a quiet moment on vacation). It works well on the plane too where you must use headphones to not disturb other passengers.

This thing is sweet, it works great to play your ipod through your stereo!!!

I've had this cable for about 6 months. It made an immediate difference to my system. It sounds clear, transparent, smooth. Also, I like the directional indicators on the cable which help in installation.

My only gripe is that the connectors are cheaply made. When one of the "grab" pins broke off, I realized the connector is not all metal construction (like you would expect for the price). The pin was made of plastic - quite a disappointment. I hoped for better at this price.

After buying a Toshiba SD2200 DVD player, I didn't want to use "el cheapo" cables. I only wanted the best. That's were Monster came in with their high-performance audio interconnects. I compared the cable to the ones the came with the player and the difference was like night and day. I could not believe my ears! If you are looking for some high-resolution audio cables for your new home theater and you don't have optical or digital connections, this is the best route to take. Sure it may not be cost-effective, but who really cares, eh? You are a audiophile.

Just go out and buy some of these right now, you won't regret it!

These cables are excelent. They reproduce bass, middle and highs very clearly and in a soft way. They sound very good and natural. I think the guys who had problems should had checked their equipments, room accoustic and speakers before review this product.

I've had this cable for about 6 months. It made an immediate difference to my system. It sounds clear, transparent, smooth. Also, I like the directional indicators on the cable which help in installation.

My only gripe is that the connectors are cheaply made. When one of the "grab" pins broke off, I realized the connector is not all metal construction (like you would expect for the price). The pin was made of plastic - quite a disappointment. I hoped for better at this price.

After buying a Toshiba SD2200 DVD player, I didn't want to use "el cheapo" cables. I only wanted the best. That's were Monster came in with their high-performance audio interconnects. I compared the cable to the ones the came with the player and the difference was like night and day. I could not believe my ears! If you are looking for some high-resolution audio cables for your new home theater and you don't have optical or digital connections, this is the best route to take. Sure it may not be cost-effective, but who really cares, eh? You are a audiophile.

Just go out and buy some of these right now, you won't regret it!

These cables are excelent. They reproduce bass, middle and highs very clearly and in a soft way. They sound very good and natural. I think the guys who had problems should had checked their equipments, room accoustic and speakers before review this product.

I've had this cable for about 6 months. It made an immediate difference to my system. It sounds clear, transparent, smooth. Also, I like the directional indicators on the cable which help in installation.

My only gripe is that the connectors are cheaply made. When one of the "grab" pins broke off, I realized the connector is not all metal construction (like you would expect for the price). The pin was made of plastic - quite a disappointment. I hoped for better at this price.

After buying a Toshiba SD2200 DVD player, I didn't want to use "el cheapo" cables. I only wanted the best. That's were Monster came in with their high-performance audio interconnects. I compared the cable to the ones the came with the player and the difference was like night and day. I could not believe my ears! If you are looking for some high-resolution audio cables for your new home theater and you don't have optical or digital connections, this is the best route to take. Sure it may not be cost-effective, but who really cares, eh? You are a audiophile.

Just go out and buy some of these right now, you won't regret it!

These cables are excelent. They reproduce bass, middle and highs very clearly and in a soft way. They sound very good and natural. I think the guys who had problems should had checked their equipments, room accoustic and speakers before review this product.

There are several "video enhancement" gizmos on the market these days, the majority of them made by Sima. Basically, you want one of these things so that you can transfer a VHS cassette which is copy protected to a DVD-R. However, not many people realize that there are two types of Macrovision--type 1 and type 2. Most of these units ONLY remove "type one" macrovision, leaving "type 2" still fully functional (and you S.O.L.).

So what you really need is a unit which will fully override both types of Macrovision, and to my knowledge, the only thing available is the SIMA SCC-2 Color Corrector 2. This thing is expensive ($150-200 bucks), but it's worth it if you have a big video collection you'd like to transfer to DVD-R. I hope this helps anyone out there who bought a bunch of VHS tapes and simply wants to transfer a few to DVD. Jeez.....

This item is great for backing up your old video tapes to DVD. Especially those videos that will never be released on DVD. I was skeptical at first but when I hooked up the Sima to my DVD recorder I was able to back up a VHS tape that I couldn't before. Heck you can even back up your DVD's to DVD. I must mention this device is so easy to use pretty much a no brainer. Worth the money.

Forget about using those cumbersome and illegal computer programs! The Sima CT-2 signal processor will allow you to easily make "fair use" back-up copies of your store bought DVD's. Simply plug it in between your DVD recorder and DVD player and you'll be good to go. Works with either a S-Video cable or RCA connector. Although not true digital, the DVD images will transfer nicely and are very crisp looking. I've been extremely satisfied with the results. Well worth the price.

The dude from Carlsbad got a 4-way splitter (given the specs he/she quotes). Make sure you properly terminate unused outputs on your 4-way.

This is a 2 way and works as advertised.

After making some recent upgrades in my primary audio/video system it became clear that the two way splitter that the cable company provided was simply inadequate to the task. Upon doing some research I determined that this particular splitter made by one of the industries most reputable manufacturers was going to have to be the way to go. Upon hooking up this superior two-way splitter in conjunction with Monster's MV3F2M NF Video 3 coaxial cables there was quite a wonderfully distinct difference in the picture on my new television.

After seeing such a distinct improvement in the signal for my primary audio/video system I immediately went out and purchased another one for the computer room to use for both the cable modem and the television in that room. This is the perfect two-way splitter for either a television/cable modem hookup or a television with PIP (picture-in-picture) capability in conjunction with a cable box or satellite receiver!

I highly recommend this outstanding cable splitter to any and all who're interested in getting the best picture available from their television sets or signal for their cable modems. The end results far outweigh the costs for this splitter! {ssintrepid}

The splitter my cable company installed degraded the signal on the bigscreen TV, especially on the lowest (2-6) and highest 54-60) channels. The cable tech wanted to sell me a powered signal amp for $32. It worked, but I passed and bought this model. The results were as good as the fancy booster, without the fuss.

Forget about Optical cables, with this coaxial cable you will experience the BEST sound from your DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 system. It provides the best DIGITAL audio connection between your DVD and your dolby digital receiver.

For some time, I had been reluctant to switch to coaxial digital cables. I figured I was getting good sound with the optical cable which I paid [price] for, and why should I spend another [price] for digital coaxial cable. Last week I switched to Monster Cable IDL 100 Interlink Datalink 100 coaxial digital cable and now my optical cable is collecting dust in my garage. The difference in the sound is incredible!!! This Interlink 100 cable eliminated "sound inpurities" and turned it into a much crispier, detailed sound. The bass from the subwoofer is crystal clear and powerful but without the "puffy"/distorted bass. dvd players have both connection options in the back. Some new models have only the digital coaxial option. Buy this Interlink 100 and experience the difference yourself. You will not be sorry you switched. I give this product two thumbs up!!!

This is for the gentelman from Houston who has been lost in the world of cables and wishes to return the Monster Cable IDL 100 Coaxial digital cable. Do not return it!! As another reviewer suggested, you run the IDL 100 from your Digital receiver (it will not work if your receiver doesn't have a digital coaxial out put) to your dvd player. You connect the end of the IDL 100 with the arrows into your digital coaxial out put in the back of your reciver and the other end of the cable into your dvd player (NOT your TV) This cable is an audio cable NOT a video. The back of your Sony TV is for video connections: component, analog or S video. Read your owners manual or visit Amazon.com, find your tv model, your dvd model and read thechnical information. You will be surprise how easy it is.

Forget about Optical cables, with this coaxial cable you will experience the BEST sound from your DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 system. It provides the best DIGITAL audio connection between your DVD and your dolby digital receiver.

For some time, I had been reluctant to switch to coaxial digital cables. I figured I was getting good sound with the optical cable which I paid [price] for, and why should I spend another [price] for digital coaxial cable. Last week I switched to Monster Cable IDL 100 Interlink Datalink 100 coaxial digital cable and now my optical cable is collecting dust in my garage. The difference in the sound is incredible!!! This Interlink 100 cable eliminated "sound inpurities" and turned it into a much crispier, detailed sound. The bass from the subwoofer is crystal clear and powerful but without the "puffy"/distorted bass. dvd players have both connection options in the back. Some new models have only the digital coaxial option. Buy this Interlink 100 and experience the difference yourself. You will not be sorry you switched. I give this product two thumbs up!!!

This is for the gentelman from Houston who has been lost in the world of cables and wishes to return the Monster Cable IDL 100 Coaxial digital cable. Do not return it!! As another reviewer suggested, you run the IDL 100 from your Digital receiver (it will not work if your receiver doesn't have a digital coaxial out put) to your dvd player. You connect the end of the IDL 100 with the arrows into your digital coaxial out put in the back of your reciver and the other end of the cable into your dvd player (NOT your TV) This cable is an audio cable NOT a video. The back of your Sony TV is for video connections: component, analog or S video. Read your owners manual or visit Amazon.com, find your tv model, your dvd model and read thechnical information. You will be surprise how easy it is.

I bought this set in an attempt to improve the quality of analog to DVD using a Canopus box. The problem was, the cable jacks were too large for my VCR's component output. They fit in the jacks, but were loose would only provide a connection when I jiggled them about. I've never had this problem with this type of cable before, very disappointing.

I've purchased a lot of cable recently including S-Video, Component Video, and Optical Cable. I purchased this short cable to run data from my progressive scan DVD player to my Denon 987. And to be perfectly honest, the stuff Sears sells in their audio/video department works just as well as Monster and costs quite a bit less. Mind you, I'm not anti-Monster, heck my house is filled with 100s of feet of 16-gauge Monster THX cable. But you can get really good cable for a lot less if you look around. Try Ebay for starters...

I used to wonder why spend the extra money. It's just cable after all. Well, I wonder no more. I have an older TV and a decent but older receiver. The sound was okay but I was wanting something better. I bought a couple of these cables, and S-Video cable and 16 gauge Monster speaker wire.

My system is AWESOME now. I was truely impressed at what a difference a $50 (or there about) investment in cables made.