Need HDMI Cable Input: Knowledge/Comparison Assist, Please

I’ve experienced satisfaction using Blue Jeans to my Sony TV. An X800 BluRay, X1 Cable & Roku Ultra among 6 inputs. I feel anything costlier to be overkill but have at it.

I've tried WireWorlds with no discernible difference.

For the absolute best performance, go with the DH Labs Silver HDMI 2.1- it is simply amazing.

@fuzztone   thank you!  That's very useful, as I've read comparisons posted about the WireWorld, so your note on the Blue Jean has valuable meaning for me.  I did at one point wonder if Blue Jean had an HDMI, but forgot to look into that possibility. 

Very much appreciated!

@jwpstayman  I've read similar about the DH Labs.  Can you provide a comparison to another cable?  Thanks.

The DH Labs 2.1 uses a mixture of copper and fiber optic conductors. So I wonder if technically it is an AOC cable, though I’ve also read great things about it. The WIreworld Stellar uses purely fiber optic conductors and is also rated 2.1.  There's not much commentary out there about the Stellar model.

@twoleftears   It is a curiosity how they hybrid with the optical.  Granted, the speed of light is the speed of light... yet, while the fiber is a direct unimpeaded light flow, the copper is subject to emf, crystal barriers, skin effect, and other barriers, so I wonder how DH Labs rectifies any differential that would occur between signals at the end point arrival?  Perhaps the fiber is exclusively for audio (or video), and the copper for the other?  Either way, DH Labs seems to have worked something out there, cause people really do seem to like that cable.  But, as you've said, there's not a lot of commentary out there, so I'm hoping to find someone out here that has compared it to other cables.  I'm not one to turn over stuff once I buy, so I try to perform due diligence to get a product I will keep for the very long haul, knowing it was the best of my price bracket considerations.

This is the cable Alvin recommended for my Denafrips Terminator.  It was better than the more expensive AudioQuest Cable I was using.  There are US distributors it was around $ 100.

@anzaanimalclinic Thanks.

Quantum Science Audio Silver HDMI Cable from Tweek Geek 

The Mapleshade Vivlink v3 Plus is the best HDMI cable I have came across, for audio AND video. Better than others up to 5x the price. Its actually a noticeable jump up from the Nordost Hemdall 2 HDMI, which was my previous reference.

Most of the time HDMI differences are so subtle you are fooling yourself to perceive differences, not so with the Vivlink 3.

And its only $220 USD, which is entry level pricing for the boutique category of HDMI.

This thread would probably be better served in the Home Theater area as here you’re as likely to get someone who uses HDMI for purely audio as not.  That said, I’d hold DHLabs in high regard for both performance and value for either.  FWIW. 

Wireworld !!

You won’t be disappointed with Furutech HF-X NCF HDMI for video. They are very well shielded too.

Don’t forget to ditch those crappy TV power cables, I use Oyaide NEO d+, not expensive and excellent performance.

https://www.neo-w.com/english/d_plus/d_plus-02/

sfcfran

Add: Wireworld Silver Starlight HDMI to your list. The 5.2 model is a Classic with plenty of upward mobility room for a 6,7 or Platinum , model.

Happy Listening!

@agisthos Thank you.  I did buy a A few Mapleshade products 4 years ago, including their top of the line Golden Helix Speaker Wire, an HDMI cable, and their antistatic brush.  I love the speaker wire performance, and it now resides in my secondary system feeding the front mains.  The antistatic brush, imo, is the very best in the business, which directly grounds static to the grounding input of a home receptacle.  The HDMI cable however, I did return.  I have no doubt that a proper sample would work well, especially given your personal observations, however the one I received had an exceedingly tight grip from either being misshaped or just blatantly too small.  It was unusually difficult to engage onto the HDMI port of my preamp.  Upon plugging it in and observing the pic on my tv of scenes I was very familiar with, I noticed extreme blurring of tree leaves in certain locations of my screen, where definition should have existed. In then trying to disconnect the cable from my preamp, I had to use a pair of pliers, and it literally pulled the port so hard it was bowing out the entire rear panel of the pre, which would involve pulling the entire mother board within the panel.  Unfortunately I'm a hard pass on that product after that experience.

Feedback coming. Thank you all for taking the time to share your knowledge and experience with me! It is very much appreciated. I’ve decided on posting a comparison here, and also as a new post to the forum. I’ve ordered: 1 x Wireworld; 1 x Furutech; 1 x DH Labs 2.1; 1 x DH Labs 2.0; 1 x Pangea MKII &1 x Blue Jean, HDMI Cables. I probably should have ordered a MonoPrice since they seem to be becoming quite popular, but I just didn’t think of it, and have to draw the line somewhere anyway. Perhaps I’ll still get them a little later.

When the cables come in I’ll give them all 24 hours of burn in on my secondary system in the basement, then rotate them between 2 positions on my primary system for comparison: Oppo-->television, and Oppo-->Preamp, to enable both a video & audio comparison review of each. With that, I will also be able to throw into the comparison my 3 pre-existing cables from Monster Cable, Media Bridge & Amazon Basics. SACD’s & DVD-A’s will be used for the audio comparison. I also have a new (used) preamp/processor coming which I will be using: Classe’ SSP-800. Remainder of the audio system not previously mentioned is Bob Carver Raven 350 Tube Mono Blocks into Paradigm Tribute Mains, thru Silnote Cables & Speaker Wire.

I’m expecting all the new HDMI cables & the preamp to arrive in a week. Will be moving around my living room for a new & improved set up. Between that, burn in & doing the actual comparison, I expect to take 3-4 weeks before I publish my notes here. I’ll be keeping the best 2 or 3 cables, as I actually need 3 (forgot I also need one to hook up a Sony 400 Disc SACD player to the preamp). From the excess, I’ve already promised 1 as a gift to a brother & can return most in a 30 day window.

@lordmelton "Don’t forget to ditch those crappy TV power cables".

Absolutely! Unfortunately my tv's power chord is hardwired, thus not readily removable. Yet, I plan to open up the back panel now that its extended warranty is expired, and wire in a replacement. I have on hand a DH Labs Power Plus cable & Furutech NCF 50 Male, ready to go.  Also have some Furutech FPS-032N to play around with and compare.  The whole system will be plugged into Furutech Rhodium & Gold receptacles, with a direct line to the panel.

@sfcfran That's a real shame, but I understand after a bad experience not going there again. Sounds like it was definitely defective, not just the connector.

I have had all 3 versions of the Mapleshade HDMI cable. The last, v3, was a huge jump over the previous 2 and better than any other HDMI I have ever tried. It even massively improves the Xbox X video output. It was way better than the Nordost Heimdall HDMI. I admit to not yet having tried the Valhalla HDMI, perhaps that one is king, but look at the cost differential...

The Vivlink 3 has much better physical geometry than the previous versions, being a single conductor run, but it has the usual Mapleshade negatives, fragile construction, and its shield cannot touch any metal, it essentially has to hang in the air, or only touch wood. But like all Pierre's designs, that's the price you pay to get the world beating performance.

BTW I have hard wired my last 2 OLED tv’s using high end audio power cable.

The very recent one, done 2 months ago, an LG G2, I had to take off the entire back shell, as there was no small panel port to access the hardwired power cable like there usually is on LG tv’s.

I have done this twice now, many years apart, and noticed the same thing,,, if the TV is only a 2 core power input, make sure to only use 2 core (figure 8) cable, or if using good 3 core, leave the ground/earth wire disconnected at both ends so it floats. For me having the earth/ground connected at the wall point (but not at the TV, as it only accept positive and neutral) resulted in slightly reduced performance both times.

@agisthos   Thank you!  It actually makes sense, but I probably wouldn't have thought to leave the wall receptacle end of the ground floating.  Most likely on sheer reflex I would have terminated that ground to the male receptacle ground port.  Curious, since you've been there-done that twice already ... were the conductors going into your tv sets clamped in place or soldered?   Big fingers crossed you're going to tell me it's a simple clamping mechanism in there.

@sfcfran Of course it will differ from model or manufacturer, but check this thread for what is going on in the LG tv’s;

The cable is connected to the TV power supply via a white connector, but pushed into that connector is spade plugs, which you solder your wires into first. You can try and clamp them into the spade, but its safer to solder IMO. It was all very straightforward, until LG decided to remove the small access port to even get to it on 2022 models. Perhaps this year will return to normal.

I now believe C7/Figure 8 cables, when using 3 core wire but floating at the component end, are compromised in performance due to the connected ground acting as an antenna up the cable length. I have tried it enough times now to confirm this for myself, the first time back 2012. Back then I had the Nordost Heimdall 2 Figure 8, which was just their normal power cable but with a C7 connector on the end. Floating the ground both ends was always better. On a Sony FALD TV, not floating the ground introduced a very slight extra judder in panning shots and fast movement. Floating it fixed that. And now the exact same thing occurred on the new LG G2, it was uncanny.

Wireworld used to be the top pick with respected videophiles.