firewire cable question
 

Has anyone used the cheaper "no name" firewire cables being sold on eBay? I know that the connectors are flimsy by nature on these cables but I'm getting really sick of paying for the overinflated price of Monster cables. Seems to me, this is exactly what eBay is good for... cheap stuff... Sorry if this has already been talked about, I tried doing a search to no avail...

Max

I recently purchased a 3' 4pin to 4pin IEEE1394 Firewire cable for .99 cents... It does the job just fine.

Tustin Larson

Modest cost cables work fine for most purposes. Monster cables mainly provide status and bragging rights (in some circles) while deflating the billfold.

I've not bought cables on ebay - I found that ebay tends to be overpriced for many things.

Max,
Actually, this hasn't been discussed (in my memory).

I wasn't aware that Monster Cable had moved into the Firewire realm. While MC may have some faint bragging rights in the world of analog signal cables, they don't in the digital world. Don't waste your money paying them a marketing premium.

I also wouldn't bother with eBay for cables. Radio Shack, or other generic Firewire cables will generally do just fine.

Ken,

You're probably right as far as Monster goes. I recently bought an optical cable for my home theater and for some reason I had it in my mind that it was Monster. Thanks for the response, I'll go for a less expensive cable.

Max

I've traced dropped frame issues to firewire cables. Be careful of the length of firewire 400 cables. I'm not sure that 6 foot is recommended without special cables. With generic cables the shorter the better would be my recommendation.

This article from the Apple site's knowledge-base, seems to confirm Jeff's remarks concerning cable length.

There are (much) longer cables available but they have some type of repeaters built-in to maintain signal integrity.

Monster Cable is into S-VIDEO, composiite video, audio, fiber optic (Toslink and mini), data (with RCA connctors) , passive s-video -to-composite adapters, rf splitters, y-asdapters, surge protectors, speaker connectors, speaker cable, and IEEE1394 cables. All at a premium price. THe longest IEEE1394 cable I've seen listed from Monster is 4 meters.

Long cable relies on excellent cable with low losses, including retaining the pulse shape. 4.5m is the Firewire cable spec. Probably set at aconservative to allow for low cost cable, manufacturing tollerances, and minimally performing firewire gear.

MarkerTek offes IEEE 1394 cable lengths to 70 feet, w/o repeaters at 100 Mbps data rates.

Focus (Videonics) offered lengths to 50 meters. http://www.videonics.com/products/distancedv/'.
Elite Video is another retail outlet with longer cables (100')

I just ordered a generic cable from a place in Ohio. Cost 7$ + shipping. I'll let you know how it works....

interesting.........
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Donald : I've traced dropped frame issues to firewire cables. Be careful of the length of firewire 400 cables. I'm not sure that 6 foot is recommended without special cables. With generic cables the shorter the better would be my recommendation. -->>>

Jeff/Ken,
Is this true across platforms (e.g. Win/Mac)?

The example Ken provided was in "Mac-lish". <;~)

Dan,
Regarding the cable length recommendation, the answer would be yes. I believe the guideline is based principally on the IEEE 1394 specifications which are platform-independent.

Don P.,
Yes, I've seen those very long Firewire cables in the Markertek catalog and wondered about them. There's a Distance DV (brand) that runs up to 50 meters. It's description reads:Hey, for a $600 piece of cable it better contain something "proprietary"!

thanks for the onfo Ken
 

<NT>

Just tried my $7 firewire cable. It actually looks heavier than the $30 one I got fron Circus City.....works great!

George,

That's good to hear. I ended up having to buy one of those 30.00 Circuit City ones yesterday as I had to have it immediately and they are the ONLY store in Myrtle Beach carrying firewire cables right now. I think I'll order a couple of the cheapies now so that I don't run into this predicament again...

Max