Any opinions on this from PSSL:
http://www.pssl.com/25ft-XLR-to-XLR-Microphone-Cable-8-Pack
I realize maybe not the best quality but eight 25' XLR cables for $50 is hard to say no to and for use by less than Lounge level guy.
And that's the rub!
It's tempting, but completely false economy. I've only ever bought a handful of ready-made xlr cables, but I've always insisted on Neutrik plugs and decent cable. Decent cable doesn't need to cost a fortune, I've used most things over the years, but cheaper cable from Studiospares and Canford audio have also worked fine. As a guide I would expect to be paying around £1.00 a metre. I don't buy esoteric cable, my last 100m drum was of Van Damme and was easy to work with and is holding up well.
All this being said, I've had several occasions in the last 10 years where I've used other people's rigs and they have bought cheap, Chinese pre packed cables. My experience has been that the connectors can be problematic regarding fit, latches, getting bent, poor pins, etc. The cheap cable on these leads can be problematic for coiling and also is subceptable to splitting down the length, particularly when cold. I've never had these problems with my own leads, some of which are around 30 years old and still going strong.
IMHO, there is nothing much that screams "amateur hour", than cable failures. To be honest, thinking about it now, I could rank the quality of companies I've worked with by the level of signal lead problems the have and it would equate accurately to the companies quality and competence. Buy quality and you don't need many spares.
