1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:08,800 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you Get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com, and be 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: sure to check out the new tech Stuff blog now 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:19,119 Speaker 1: on the how Stuff Works homepage. This podcast is brought 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: to you by Audible dot com, the Internet's leading provider 7 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: of spoken word entertainment. For a free audio book of 8 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: your voice, go to audible podcast dot com slash tech Stuff. Hello, everybody, 9 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Polette. I'm 10 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: an editor at how stuff Works dot com and sitting 11 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: next to me as usual as senior writer Jonathan Strickland. 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: Hey there, and uh, I think we're going to uh 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: talk some cable today. Yeah, we're gonna talk cable kind 14 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:51,919 Speaker 1: of the way we talked megapixels. And you know, it's 15 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: funny because all this WiFi we've been talking over the 16 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: past few months, and now we're talking cables. Cables. We're 17 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: not we're not necessarily talking cable television or cable modems. 18 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,040 Speaker 1: We're talking about the actual physical cables that tether one 19 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: device to another. And if you're not familiar with cables, 20 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: ha ha, they're basically long strings of copper wire that 21 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: you plug one thing into another thing to connect them. Yeah, 22 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: to allow electrons to pass okay, jokes aside from one 23 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: to another. Um. The question has been posed by many 24 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: people over the centuries that we've had electronic equipment. Yes, 25 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: I remember Shakespeare himself wondering about this question. You know 26 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: we're gonna get an email saying you don'ts no, seriously, Um, 27 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: there have been people who have asked for a long time, 28 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: you know, because they are all kinds of cables you 29 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: can get in the store. Some of them are really cheap, 30 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: some of them are really expensive, some of them are short, 31 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: some of them along and people go, what the heck 32 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: is the difference? Does it really matter what cable I get? 33 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: And the answer to that is, well, answer is no, 34 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: it's not No. Answer is more or less no, Okay, 35 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: more or less no, I will accept. Okay, there, but 36 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: actually there's some there's some gray area in there, all right, Yeah, again, 37 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: there's some gray area. Okay. So what we're talking about 38 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: here are let's say that you just bought a really, 39 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: really nice sound system and you want to hook your 40 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,359 Speaker 1: sound system up, and you know, you don't want to 41 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: just use the cables that came with it. You want, 42 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: you want some nice cables. Um, you don't wanna you know, 43 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,119 Speaker 1: full around, because I mean, if you spent this much 44 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: on a on a sound system, you don't want something 45 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: as simple as cables making it sound crappy. Right, Actually 46 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 1: that sounds a lot like what a salesperson would ask 47 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: you in the store. I know, this is why I'm 48 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: going this way. So then you go down to the 49 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: audio aisle and you look at all the different cables 50 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: and you see some they're they're you know, fifteen dollars, 51 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: and you see some of they're twenty dollars. And then 52 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: you look and you see some that are a hundred 53 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: and twenty dollars and they're the same length as the 54 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: twenty dollar ones, And you think, huh, the d and 55 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 1: twenty dollar ones must provide a much better sound than 56 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: the twenty dollar ones. I've spent all this money on 57 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 1: my uh stereo. I'm going to go ahead and get 58 00:02:57,840 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: the top of the line. And you take them home 59 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: and you look so and you think I've got the 60 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,799 Speaker 1: best there is. Well, would you have had the same 61 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: experience of you about the twenty ones? Would it really 62 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: have sounded that much different or would it sound different 63 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: at all? Would you even be able to detect it? 64 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: Perhaps the most sensitive sound detecting equipment could pick it up, 65 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: but would your ear pick it up? And that's the question. 66 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: I mean. I wasn't long ago that I uh, that 67 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:26,799 Speaker 1: I edited Dave Russ article how do I know which 68 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: cables use? And it doesn't really talk about this, at 69 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: least not mostly. But he did put a sidebar in 70 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: there about an experiment that was held not too long ago. 71 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: They got picked up and it made headlines, well sort 72 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: of headlines, blog headlines all over the internet about these 73 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,839 Speaker 1: people who substituted coat hangers for Monster cables. Let's see 74 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: if they can tell the difference. Actually, no, they couldn't, 75 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: yeh um. And let's just say this. We're not talking 76 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: about a double blind study held in um a lab 77 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: and the results were published in a peer review journal. 78 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: But um, the original of this appeared in an audio 79 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: file um uh message board. It's the audio Holics Home 80 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:18,719 Speaker 1: theater forum and basically, um, some serious serious listeners decided 81 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: to do a test on two different kinds of cable, 82 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 1: basically trying to figure out because Monster has a reputation 83 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: for making really good cables or at least really expensive 84 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: or at least really expensive, wasn't And and uh, if 85 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: anybody's name is thrown around with are these really expensive 86 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,160 Speaker 1: cables worth it, it's theirs. Um. So they said, okay, 87 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: well let's do let's do a taste test, if you will, 88 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: And they plugged in some really nice monster cables and 89 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: they also put in some fourteen gauge oxygen free Belden 90 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 1: copper wire and tested them and basically, um, all this 91 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: wasn't a scientific, scientific test. It was pretty scientific. They 92 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 1: picked a band that none of them were familiar with 93 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,840 Speaker 1: so that nobody would have a personal biased that they 94 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: used the exact same length of wire and said, okay, 95 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: they hooked it up to an eight B box so 96 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: they could just throw a switch and uh. Basically they 97 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,359 Speaker 1: exposed five people. Again not a giant scientific example, but 98 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: two of the five could accurately identify the monster cable 99 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: out of the two as sounding different. And then they 100 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: threw him a loop and pulled out the belden wire 101 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: and swapped it for coat hanger that had been rigged 102 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: into speaker wires, and uh, and ran the A B 103 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: test again, and not one of them could tell the 104 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 1: difference in Monster cable or the the coat hangers. Not 105 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: that we recommend you going out and replacing all of 106 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: your wires with coat hangers. No, No, that could potentially 107 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: cause you a little bit of a shock, exactly. And um, 108 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: not to disparage the work of the audio holics who 109 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: have who have done this study. It's it's certainly um 110 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: uh you know, somewhat scientific. Um. But they you know, 111 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: people have been really excited about this because you know, 112 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: people like to pick on Monster. Let's face Yeah, No, 113 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: they're They're an easy target because their products are very 114 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: very much in the you know, the limelight, and they 115 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,679 Speaker 1: are very expensive or for the high end ones anyway, 116 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,720 Speaker 1: And uh, I just want to really quickly go into 117 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: what a double blind study is in case you're not 118 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: aware of what that is. Double blind is a methodology, 119 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 1: and it's one in which both the person administering the 120 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 1: tests and the person undergoing the test have no idea 121 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: which of the two or more UH scenarios they are 122 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: encountering at any one time. So, in other words, the 123 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: person who is pushing play on the stereo U doesn't 124 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: know which wires are being used, and the person listening 125 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: doesn't know which wires are being used. Now, ideally you're 126 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: using the exact same equipment apart from the wires, and 127 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,039 Speaker 1: you're using the exact same recording in all these cases, 128 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,840 Speaker 1: so that you know, no, you don't have any other 129 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: variation there. The only variation you should get are from 130 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: the wires. And the reason you do these double blind 131 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: tests is to avoid a kind of almost like a well, 132 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: it's really a psychological effect. If you go in expecting 133 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: to hear a better sound, you might be convinced that 134 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: you are hearing a better sound, even if on any 135 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: other day, if no one had told you that, you 136 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: wouldn't have that expectation. So, I mean, someone could tell you, oh, well, 137 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: these are the high high end speaker wires, and and 138 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: be pulling your leg, and you might convince yourself, wow, 139 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: those really do sound great, and then it turns out 140 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: that you know another the cheap little fifteen dollar ones 141 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: you can get on the aisle um. That's why double 142 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:45,679 Speaker 1: blind tests are important. It takes that kind of bias out. Actually, 143 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: James Randy, do you have you do you know who 144 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: James Randy is? I've heard his name, James Randy. Uh, 145 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: it's a professional magician UM and also a noted skeptic, 146 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: and he has the one million dollar Chi Lenge, which 147 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: really is open to various claims of um of abilities 148 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: that fall into the paranormal range. But he opened it 149 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: up the one million dollar challenge to anyone who could 150 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: reliably tell the difference between I think it was a 151 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: seven thousand, five hundred dollar cable and a I think 152 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: a two hundred dollar cable. So we're still talking about 153 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: high end cables on both ends, but one that's incredibly 154 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: expensive versus one that's just expensive. And his argument was 155 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: that the human ear would be unable to detect the 156 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: the difference between these two cables, even if the two 157 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: cables performed exactly the way they were supposed to perform 158 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: according to advertisements and packaging. UM. As of right now, 159 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: no one has uh that they have not done any 160 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: of these tests. I think because the company that was 161 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: going to supply the cables backed out in the last second. Yeah, 162 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 1: maybe they just didn't want anyone to find how that 163 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: their product may or may not be distinguishable from significantly 164 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: cheaper products. I think that might be it. That that 165 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: could be it. Yeah, we don't know. We can't say 166 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: it may be a totally different reason. Um Wilson Rothman 167 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: UH from Gizmodo has done a series of articles about 168 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: Monster cables and whether they're worth it UM and worth 169 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: worth the price. And you know, he actually met with 170 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: some some folks at Monster and they explained to him 171 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: some of the reasons why they feel UM their cables 172 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: are worth it. And I should point out that UM. 173 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: According to one of his posts, uh it talks about 174 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: the the consumer blog Consumerist, UM, they got an inventorialist 175 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: from radio radio shack employee and there was a a 176 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 1: cable that had a markup of actually UM and nineteen 177 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 1: h d M I d v I digital cable was 178 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: a hundred wholesale was which is a profit of eighty 179 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: dollars and fifty four cents, which is actually, as Monster 180 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: points out, a margin of which is just a little 181 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: higher than their normal margin, which is thirty seven. That's 182 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: according to Monster them, you know, the company itself. UM, 183 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: but there are a lot of things that Monster says 184 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: makes a difference for them. Um. They make heavier duty cables, 185 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 1: which UH, in the long run will save one wear 186 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,839 Speaker 1: and tear. They showed Um Wilson Rothman and an X 187 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: ray of a monster cable and a less expensive cable, 188 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: and they showed the difference in wear and tear just 189 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: at the point where the connector touches the cable and 190 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,840 Speaker 1: just bending it back and forth can can damage the 191 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 1: cable where the Monster cables were more robust. Also, they're 192 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: certified for things like h technologies like h d M I, 193 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 1: and they're saying, you know, basically, when you pay for us, 194 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: you're getting a higher quality copper cable. You're getting, you know, 195 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: a more robust cable that will last longer. The connectors 196 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: tend to be made out of pretty expensive material as well, 197 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: with the idea that you know, this is the part 198 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 1: that actually you insert into whatever equipment you're going to 199 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: plug the cable into and for it exactly and that 200 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: therefore it does make a difference which material you use. 201 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: And uh, you know, to his credit, uh, you know, 202 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,839 Speaker 1: Rothman was really sort of skeptical about the whole thing 203 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 1: going in, but he said, you know, these things honestly 204 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: do play a part in whether or not the cable, 205 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:27,559 Speaker 1: um you know, is worth more to the to the consumer. 206 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:31,319 Speaker 1: But he also advocates trying a cheaper cable to start 207 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: out with because he said, you know, for the most part, 208 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: most people can't tell the difference, UM, and for shorter lengths, um, 209 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 1: it doesn't matter as much. He said. What's really funny 210 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: is the cables that seem to be the most overpriced 211 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: are the mid range cables, because you sort of get 212 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: what you pay for when you buy an inexpensive cable 213 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: or the monster cable. But the mid range cables really 214 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: aren't that much better than the cheap ones, and you're 215 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: paying a premium for that in between, and you're not 216 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: really getting that much more for your money. And when 217 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,199 Speaker 1: you're talking about longer cables, that's when you're getting into 218 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 1: situations where you may have to, you know, move the 219 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,959 Speaker 1: cable around corners and things like that, and this is 220 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,800 Speaker 1: stuff that can produce wear and tear, or you may 221 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: have to if you're if you're wiring through the walls, 222 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:18,200 Speaker 1: that may also play a factor. If you you know, 223 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: there may be a point where you have to kink 224 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:22,199 Speaker 1: the wire a little bit in order to get around 225 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: a certain point um. And of course the heavier duty 226 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 1: ones can take that better than the cheap ones. So 227 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,440 Speaker 1: in that case, yeah, if you're using a long cable, uh, 228 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 1: you may need to look into one of the more 229 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: expensive ones if if a cheaper one just isn't giving 230 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: you the quality of picture that you really want. And uh, 231 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 1: and it is true that there are times where you'll 232 00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: look at an image on a TV and you'll think, 233 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 1: this is a high definite definition television. Why don't I 234 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: have a better picture? And sometimes it is the cable. 235 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: Sometimes the connectors not not quite sitting right, or uh, 236 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: the cable itself has a weak spot. Um, if the 237 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 1: fielding around the cable isn't very strong, there could be 238 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: interference from other cables. Keep in mind that you know, 239 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: cables that don't have any shielding are essentially emitting radio waves. 240 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: So if there if you have a whole bunch of 241 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: these together, there is chance of interference. If you've ever had, um, 242 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: for instance, a a cell phone near cheap set of speakers, 243 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: and the cell phone updates and then you start hearing 244 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: this did it? Did it? Did it? Did it? Sound? 245 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: That's because the the uh, the speakers are picking up 246 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:33,720 Speaker 1: the interference from the phone. Actually the speaker wires are 247 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: picking it up and sending it to the speakers. I 248 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: always thought that was the ghost of Porky Pig could 249 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: also be that. So the we miss you mel blank 250 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: the but no, the shielding around the wires is very important. 251 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 1: So if you have a lot of if it's gonna 252 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: be laying around a lot of other cables, I mean 253 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: my house, that's the case behind any entertainment system. But yeah, 254 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: if there are a lot of cables there and they 255 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: have poor shielding, then you can have interference and that 256 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: can affect your pictures. So in that case, you may 257 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: need to look at a better, better set of cables. 258 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: But in general, like like s net, c net reviews 259 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: lots of products, and one of the things they review, 260 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 1: among many others, are home entertainment systems, and they have 261 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: the people have seen it, have gone on record saying, 262 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 1: you know what, there's a two h d M I 263 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: cable that we could get, and there's a twenty dollar 264 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: h d M I cable we can get. We stuck 265 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 1: with the twenty one. We can't tell the difference. Uh, 266 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:30,880 Speaker 1: you know, we compared the two. We've used the twenty 267 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: dollar one for all of our tests from that point forward, 268 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: and that's what we're gonna stick with because for the 269 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: purposes of our tests, it's exactly what we need and 270 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: you're talking about, you know, testing really high end systems. 271 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: So again they're using you know, an average length of cable. 272 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: I think I think two meters is like the longest 273 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: one they use. Um. And so they they say straight 274 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: out like, don't bother buying the really expensive ones because 275 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: you're just wasting money. Um yeah, and that's uh yeah. 276 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: Rothman sort of tempered his his message after having met 277 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 1: with the Monster folks. Basically he said, we're not saying 278 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: that Monster cables aren't the best. That's not what we're 279 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: saying at all. We're saying you may not need, you know, 280 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: to buy a really expensive cable unless you're using it 281 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: for specific applications where you need an extra long cable 282 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: or you know you're going to need heavy duty cable 283 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 1: to to run through the walls, you know, things like that, 284 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: if you need you know, if you don't use that 285 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 1: for for that, then it's it's seriously unlikely that you 286 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: need to spend the extra money on a Monster cable 287 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: because you know, after all, they did do some lab 288 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: testing and the Monster cables tested very very well. Um, 289 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: you know, so you know, sure you can you can 290 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: buy that if you really want to. And they you'll 291 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 1: get an excellent product, but you know you may not 292 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: need require it, maybe more than what you need exactly. Yeah, 293 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: audio files and video files will often tell you they 294 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: want the absolute best in order to get the best, 295 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: and that they can tell the difference. I can tell 296 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:02,200 Speaker 1: you as someone who has looked at a lot of 297 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: these things personally. Um, there was a time actually at 298 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: the last consumer Electronics show where I was walking around 299 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: and I was walking into a booth. This is the 300 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: first day of the show, and they had not yet 301 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: put up the signs for which TV was which for 302 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: certain things, and I couldn't tell the difference. And I 303 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: came back to that booth later and then I saw 304 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: which one was supposed to look better than the others, 305 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: and I thought, you know, I still can't tell the difference. 306 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: But if I had walked into this the first time 307 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: and saw those signs, I probably would have thought to myself, hey, 308 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: that that picture does look better than this other one. 309 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: But without the without that information, there there was no 310 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: way for me to tell. So no, not granted, perhaps 311 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: that's a fault that lies on yours, truly, you know, 312 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 1: maybe I'm incapable of seeing those differences and that's my 313 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: my burden to bear in life. But I'm just saying 314 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: I couldn't tell. Yeah, And I'm sure that if I 315 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: had been there for the audio Holics testing procedures, I 316 00:16:57,640 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: would not have been able to tell the difference in 317 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: speaker wire versus uh, you know, code hangers either, um, 318 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: you know. And they're a lot more highly developed ears 319 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,359 Speaker 1: than mine, certainly, And this just n yes, the j 320 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:13,880 Speaker 1: REF challenge I was talking about earlier, it was seven 321 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,879 Speaker 1: speaker cables versus eighty dollar speaker cables. So I just 322 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:19,920 Speaker 1: want to get that straight before we started getting emails 323 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: about it, all right, I hope people didn't pause the 324 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,479 Speaker 1: podcast and type out an angry email and then started 325 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: up again. If it makes you feel better, I'll send 326 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: you an angry email. It always makes me feel better. Well. 327 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: I think now's a good time to thank our sponsor, 328 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: audible dot com. And hey guys, if you go to 329 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: www dot audible podcast dot com slash tech stuff and 330 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,959 Speaker 1: sign up there, your first download is free, and we 331 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 1: have a couple of suggestions for what that first download 332 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 1: could be. If you like Chris, what what suggestions do 333 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: you come up with? We'll see this was obvious for me, 334 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: I chose Nick Hornby's High Fidelity right. Well, of course, 335 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: you know, I don't think there were any code hangers 336 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:03,120 Speaker 1: in it. Anyway. It's narrated by David by David Kale, 337 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: and you know, it's an excellent it's an excellent book, 338 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: so it's an excellent one for their free download. Yeah, 339 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: it's a good one. Okay, Well, well mine, Uh, mine 340 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: takes a little explanation, but I'll go out and say 341 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 1: what it is. First. It's Love is a mixtape Life 342 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,200 Speaker 1: and Love one song at a time, and that's by 343 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: Rob Sheffield, who also narrates it. Now, this is a 344 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:30,719 Speaker 1: story about Rob and it's it's autobiographical. Um. He he 345 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: describes himself as a shy, skinning Irish Catholic geek from Boston, 346 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,920 Speaker 1: and it's kind of about his love affair with a 347 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: young woman named Renee, who he describes as an Appalachian 348 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,399 Speaker 1: punk rock girl from nor across Georgia. I feel a 349 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,159 Speaker 1: certain kinship with both of these people, being both a 350 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,359 Speaker 1: geek and a punk rock fan. And uh, it's a 351 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: great story. It's very funny, it's very very sad um 352 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: and he narrates it. So that's my recommendation excellent, and 353 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,200 Speaker 1: remember you can get that or one of fifty other 354 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:05,919 Speaker 1: audio books for free as your first download if you 355 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: sign up at www dot audible, podcast dot com slash 356 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: tech stuff. And now you know what time it is, 357 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: don't you. Yes, that's right, it's listener mail. So this 358 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: is from Catherine from Philly. Hey Katherine, and uh, I've 359 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: expurgated your email slightly. It's I just took out the 360 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: middle part. Hey guys. As a lifelong geek girl, I'm 361 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,159 Speaker 1: quite enjoying the podcast and hope you keep up the 362 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: good geeky work. Well, we don't have a choice in 363 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,959 Speaker 1: the matter, so thanks Katherine. But she also says also 364 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 1: in your podcast where you talked about which platform is better, 365 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,199 Speaker 1: a harry topic to say the least. Kidding, she's not 366 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,640 Speaker 1: reading the other emails that you mentioned that if you're 367 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: doing web development, it really doesn't matter which platform you use. 368 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: This is true, but it's important for any web developer 369 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: to be sure to test their website on both platforms. 370 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,680 Speaker 1: I developed sites on my PC, but I'm always sure 371 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:09,200 Speaker 1: to check them on a Macan Safari browser has around 372 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: a ten percent share of the browser usage at the moment, 373 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: so let's not forget about our Mac friends. When we 374 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 1: PC users build our sites. Keep on seeking. Katherine from Philly, 375 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: who was incidentally saddened to report that tagging web pages 376 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 1: with HTML does not technically count as programming. Sorry, guys, 377 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 1: it's well, you know, and we we did say coding. 378 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: We said that wasn't programming, it was coding, and we 379 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: were we were kind of weakling out of that one. Anyway, 380 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 1: that was a great point, Katherine. Um, and a lot 381 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 1: of web developers do have to check on multiple not 382 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,199 Speaker 1: just multiple platforms, but multiple browsers to make sure that 383 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:49,199 Speaker 1: a website looks correct in every single one. So you 384 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: might have to, you know, check your website and Chrome 385 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 1: and Safari and Opera and what's that big one, uh Firefox, 386 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: that's it. No, of course, we mean Internet Explorer. I 387 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: meant Firefox. Okay, when you meant Firefox. We do have 388 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: some Firefox fans out there who are very adamant about 389 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: us talking about Firefox. And I mean, if you're going 390 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: to get into the whole extra browsers thing, we could 391 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:14,360 Speaker 1: get into Flock and Camino and anyway, right, So anyway, yes, 392 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: you do have to take that into considerations. Um, and 393 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: the same thing goes for people who are developing programs 394 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:21,879 Speaker 1: you know that they want to run on both platforms. 395 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: Obviously that that's a lot more work you have to 396 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:27,720 Speaker 1: you know, and you often have to build from the 397 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: ground up on both versions. So and then you have 398 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: to take into other other stuff into account, like the 399 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,159 Speaker 1: colors are different on Windows versus a Mac. The actually 400 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: display different colors slightly, one darker, one finer. It's kind 401 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: of weird. Actually. Yeah, anyway, thank you for actually taking 402 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: the time to take that into account, because a lot 403 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: of people don't. Yes, we greatly appreciate that. And if 404 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: any of you want to write in and talk to us, 405 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,439 Speaker 1: give us any suggestions or comments or corrections and anything 406 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 1: like that, you can do so at tech stuff at 407 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,440 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Remember we have blogs at 408 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: blogs dot how stuff works dot com slash category slash 409 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: tech stuff and of course you can find lots of 410 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,239 Speaker 1: information at our homesite, how stuff works dot com. And 411 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: we'll talk to you again really soon for more on 412 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:14,639 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff 413 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:21,600 Speaker 1: works dot com brought to you by the reinvented two 414 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,160 Speaker 1: thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you