Originally Posted by Mike Halloran
Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
Originally Posted by Simon - PG Music
Directional cables exist and can be beneficial. Consider ground loops - lifting ground at one end of the cable can remove the ground loop, but in some cases there can be a measurable reduction in noise having the lifted end at one end vs the other end.
The observation is sound, but "directional cables" are not implicated. You could reverse a "directional cable" end-for-end, repeat that test, and the outcome would be the same, all other things equal.
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Since Simon didn’t quite explain what a true diretlional cable is, only their use, your answer is incorrect.

Directional cables have nothing to do with the stereo store boutique cables scam where the flow of electrons is somehow important. If it were, your answer would have been right.

Actual directional cables are balanced cables with a shield disconnected at one end and are used for the purpose Simon mentioned—to break up ground loops and reversing the direction renders that function ineffective. They are often spec’d in broadcast and TV studios where their use is necessary to solve problems (I used to have a Class 1 FCC License) as well as other installations. You can even buy instrument cables with that design—the shield is connected at the amp—but I’ve never found a situation where one actually lowered the noise floor. They were a fad in the late 1970s using Belden blue cable that turned out to be way too fragile for use as guitar cables.
Curious. I've never heard of that use of the term and couldn't, in a quick look on the Web, find any examples of the use. Is it possible that that's a peculiarly Nort-American term and my geographical location is giving me only the Hi-Fi nonsense? I have to concede that at the moment I don't really understand what makes the cables about which Simon and you speak are "directional", but clearly we seem to be talking about quite different things. I certainly acknowledge that the orientation can be important.

For me, cables with the screen disconnected are just that ... cables with the screen disconnected at one end.

Edit: A longer look around today finds some examples of that use of the term "directional cable". Personally I think it's a bad/confusing term, but that's life. I've always tried hard to avoid disconnecting screens, of course, but have to acknowledge that there are times when one appears to have little other choice, especially when the clock is ticking on, e.g., stage or studio time. I have a couple of baluns with ground-lift for when I'm desperate. I rarely use them, but then my cabling setups are relatively simple.

Last edited by Gordon Scott; 01/02/24 04:33 AM.
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