Need patch cables? As in, a LOT of patch cords?

LOOK NO FURTHER!
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2255800164534876.html
Ran across this while looking for some good deals on 3.5 to 3.5mm cables. No, they're not in candy-colors and such, just black. But DAAAAAMN are they cheap! Around $65 got me a bundle of 50 cm and a bundle of 100 cm cables, shipping included.

And if your modular is big enough to serve as an efficiency apartment, they even sell 'em in lots of 1000!

EDITED Aug 19th 2022, 03:06

Hi Lugia,

Ha, ha, ha! Yeah, order from every length a bundle of 50 pieces, so 200 pieces in total and that will do for a while, till another rack is full with modules ;-)

Not too sure about the quality though... Interesting though! Kind regards, Garfield.

Well, they showed up yesterday...50 50cm ones, 50 100cm ones. And the verdict is....

Hot damn, what a DEAL!

Yes, they're everything I was hoping for. True, they're only in black, but unless you're hellbent on having your modular look like a unicorn sneezed all over it, black is fine, IMHO. The cables are pretty much the same sort of thing as Nazcas et al...molded 3.5mm plugs, and a nicely-flexible cable stock that's easy to deal with when there's a bunch of them and you need to get past the tangle. Definitely NOT throwaway grade! So if you need piles of patchcables, I think this might be the mother lode!

hmm, yes I need cables, a BUNCH, and all I use is black (typically Ad Infinitum cables)

Q1: do modular cables differ meaningfully in quality?

Q2: Lugia, you think these are as good or better than most modular cables?

... btw, thanks for sharing this find!

EDITED Aug 31st 2022, 03:23

Hi Lugia,

Nice to hear that you like your 100 new patch cables! :-) Let's hope they hold for several years and don't cause any issues.

To be honest, I am not so much a fan of moulded mini-jacks but of course for this price, who wouldn't like it? :-)

At least you don't have to worry about not having enough patch cables for a while, enjoy that luxury :-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Nickgreenberg,

Regarding your first question: Yes, there is a huge difference in quality regarding patch cables. For example take Vermona's patch cables or those from Cordial the CPI ZZ series whereby is the length in metres; these two are great patch cables but bloody expensive. Then on the other scale there is for example those patch cables from Endorphin.es, which I expected would be good patch cables but I had to return them, extremely thin cables and also very thin moulded mini-jacks. And of course then there is anything in between from fair till good. Endorphin.es is just an example there are more bad examples (like those cables that come with some of the Behringer equipment, those cables are also not top-notch stuff, but to my surprise at least a slightly bit better than those from Endorphin.es). I am using quite a bit of Make Noise patch cables, those have moulded mini-jacks too however their cables are a bit thicker and if I am too lazy to make myself the cables I usually buy those from Make Noise, kind of fair quality I guess.

Making yourself patch cables is here perhaps the best option. I am using a rather thick instrument cable from Cordial and using Neutrik mini-jacks for my CV cables (I use blue to differentiate) and I am using even a bit thicker black cable from Cordial in combination with gold-mini-jacks from Amphenol for my audio patch cables. But it's a lot of work to DIY, so if I am lazy I buy those from Make Noise :-)

That are my 2 cents, kind regards, Garfield.

Edit: removed a typo.

EDITED Aug 31st 2022, 23:01

Q1: do modular cables differ meaningfully in quality?

They can. But for the most part, they don't. You can get hi-tweak patchcables with all sorts of voodoo to 'em, but those are somewhat pointless; using silver Mogami cables or some such makes far more sense on LONG cable runs, and not little 1m or less lengths.

At the same time, my skepticism about audio cables still stands. The only place I use something like that are the OFC lines from the amps to the monitors, and there it's mainly due to the fact that those big 12 - 14ga lines pass amplified audio much better and don't pose a resistive load like, say, cheapo speaker 2-conductor lines from Menard's. But at the same time, I have used that low-rent speaker wire for things such as a few amateur radio antennas...and even with the 10 watt signals I put out (I like low power operation...more of a challenge), I can still hang with other stations running ten times that...or more.

The one point where they DO differ, though, is in build quality. Some cheap patchcords really do feel like they're about to fall apart in your hands, either due to using a flimsy cable stock, or janky soldering work on the plugs. That was the scary bit, but I opted to make the leap with these AliExpress ones because I didn't see anything about them that indicated that. And sure enough...really well-done molded plugs with molded-on strain reliefs at the plugs, and they use a bit thicker cable stock which is the sort that has plenty of flex to them...but which can also be easily manipulated to stay out of the way of things and stay there, kind of like what you'd get in the box with an ARP 2600 back in the day. So...

Q2: Lugia, you think these are as good or better than most modular cables?

Bet! After I had a close look, messed around with them and such, I was very pleased. Zero buyers remorse here. And like I mention above, I really like the feel on the cable stock. It's got plenty of flex...but it's not limp, as you can shove it all around and it'll largely retain the position you leave it in. And those prices are really the cherry on the cake here, tbh...the cables are pleasing enough, but the money saved on them? Daaaaaaaaaamn...

Q1: do modular cables differ meaningfully in quality?

They can. But for the most part, they don't. You can get hi-tweak patchcables with all sorts of voodoo to 'em, but those are somewhat pointless; using silver Mogami cables or some such makes far more sense on LONG cable runs, and not little 1m or less lengths.
-- Lugia

Hi Lugia,

Don't we all have at least a ballroom size studio of at least 60 feet/20 metres long wall with our Euroracks against it, hence we need (very) long cables? ;-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hot damn, what a DEAL!
Definitely NOT throwaway grade! So if you need piles of patchcables, I think this might be the mother lode!
-- Lugia

Mine just arrived today (the email "Delivery Updates" were intolerable though)! Just as you described!

Thanks for the heads-up about these.