It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 12:35 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 14 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 1:51 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:45 pm
Posts: 21
I recently got a Limited Edition American Standard Stratocaster and a Mustang III amp.

I love both. Really love them. At night I've been happily playing with my Bose noise cancelling headphones plugged into the headphone jack on the amp (noise-cancelling feature turned off -- just using them as a headphone). I bought a long, straight extension cord so I can move about a bit. Super so far . . .

It's been great except the long extension cord is longer than necessary and creates a tangled mess. So I bought a coiled cord instead to keep things neater. Well, it looked better but to my shock, the coiled cord introduced some very unpleasant and extensive reverberation. I couldn't figure out how that might happen -- I switched the straight and coiled cords back and forth but couldn't shake the warbling with the coiled cord.

So, confused as could be, I returned the coiled cord to Amazon and got another brand. Just set it up, the same thing happened!

Barring the possibility that I'm absolutely crazy, does anyone have an explanation as to what's going on or a solution? Does the coiling itself create the reverb? (When I step away from the amp and therefore somewhat straighten the coiled cord it doesn't seem to help.) Is there anything I can do to achieve my goal of having the neatness of a coiled cord without distorting the sound?

Weird!


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 4:44 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:43 pm
Posts: 532
Location: Here In Oregon
HM wrote:
I recently got a Limited Edition American Standard Stratocaster and a Mustang III amp.

I love both. Really love them. At night I've been happily playing with my Bose noise cancelling headphones plugged into the headphone jack on the amp (noise-cancelling feature turned off -- just using them as a headphone). I bought a long, straight extension cord so I can move about a bit. Super so far . . .

It's been great except the long extension cord is longer than necessary and creates a tangled mess. So I bought a coiled cord instead to keep things neater. Well, it looked better but to my shock, the coiled cord introduced some very unpleasant and extensive reverberation. I couldn't figure out how that might happen -- I switched the straight and coiled cords back and forth but couldn't shake the warbling with the coiled cord.

So, confused as could be, I returned the coiled cord to Amazon and got another brand. Just set it up, the same thing happened!

Barring the possibility that I'm absolutely crazy, does anyone have an explanation as to what's going on or a solution? Does the coiling itself create the reverb? (When I step away from the amp and therefore somewhat straighten the coiled cord it doesn't seem to help.) Is there anything I can do to achieve my goal of having the neatness of a coiled cord without distorting the sound?

Weird!

Ha, ha ha and LOL! You are pulling an early April Fools. Love it!!! That was a good one. :lol:

_________________
http://www.fullspectrumonline.com


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 7:00 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:45 pm
Posts: 21
HIO wrote:
HM wrote:
I recently got a Limited Edition American Standard Stratocaster and a Mustang III amp.

I love both. Really love them. At night I've been happily playing with my Bose noise cancelling headphones plugged into the headphone jack on the amp (noise-cancelling feature turned off -- just using them as a headphone). I bought a long, straight extension cord so I can move about a bit. Super so far . . .

It's been great except the long extension cord is longer than necessary and creates a tangled mess. So I bought a coiled cord instead to keep things neater. Well, it looked better but to my shock, the coiled cord introduced some very unpleasant and extensive reverberation. I couldn't figure out how that might happen -- I switched the straight and coiled cords back and forth but couldn't shake the warbling with the coiled cord.

So, confused as could be, I returned the coiled cord to Amazon and got another brand. Just set it up, the same thing happened!

Barring the possibility that I'm absolutely crazy, does anyone have an explanation as to what's going on or a solution? Does the coiling itself create the reverb? (When I step away from the amp and therefore somewhat straighten the coiled cord it doesn't seem to help.) Is there anything I can do to achieve my goal of having the neatness of a coiled cord without distorting the sound?

Weird!

Ha, ha ha and LOL! You are pulling an early April Fools. Love it!!! That was a good one. :lol:


I applaud your ability to see humor where none was intended, though I was hoping for something a little more helpful.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 8:36 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:43 pm
Posts: 532
Location: Here In Oregon
HM wrote:
HIO wrote:
HM wrote:
I recently got a Limited Edition American Standard Stratocaster and a Mustang III amp.

I love both. Really love them. At night I've been happily playing with my Bose noise cancelling headphones plugged into the headphone jack on the amp (noise-cancelling feature turned off -- just using them as a headphone). I bought a long, straight extension cord so I can move about a bit. Super so far . . .

It's been great except the long extension cord is longer than necessary and creates a tangled mess. So I bought a coiled cord instead to keep things neater. Well, it looked better but to my shock, the coiled cord introduced some very unpleasant and extensive reverberation. I couldn't figure out how that might happen -- I switched the straight and coiled cords back and forth but couldn't shake the warbling with the coiled cord.

So, confused as could be, I returned the coiled cord to Amazon and got another brand. Just set it up, the same thing happened!

Barring the possibility that I'm absolutely crazy, does anyone have an explanation as to what's going on or a solution? Does the coiling itself create the reverb? (When I step away from the amp and therefore somewhat straighten the coiled cord it doesn't seem to help.) Is there anything I can do to achieve my goal of having the neatness of a coiled cord without distorting the sound?

Weird!

Ha, ha ha and LOL! You are pulling an early April Fools. Love it!!! That was a good one. :lol:


I applaud your ability to see humor where none was intended, though I was hoping for something a little more helpful.

Truly sorry!!! In all my years I have never heard of such a thing. In your own words, really *weird*. Hope you can get to the bottom of this. If I can think of anything I will report back. Happy Easter!

_________________
http://www.fullspectrumonline.com


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 8:50 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:43 pm
Posts: 318
I have been using "coil cords" for a very long time. It is not your imagination that you do get a different sound from a coiled cable - though I wouldn't go as far as saying it is a "reverb effect" all by themselves.

Long instrument cables, short or straight, can produce a "delay" effect - it takes longer for the signal to travel and the milliseconds difference can be noticeable. Long cables can also sound muddy/noisy - especially cheap cables.

I use the shorter (15') Fender KoilKords going into my pedalboard but they not for everyone. They do attenuate the high frequencies and some say they are a little bit noisy when they are moved around - though for all the years I've used them I have not noticed this to be a big problem personally and you can't hear that when your playing.

You do have to treat them with a little more care as they are not the most rugged of cables... so it's a good idea to have backups if you play in a live situation.

Players that prefer humbuckers will probably detest coil cords of any type because of the high frequency loss but single coil players - especially those seeking a "vintage" sound might like them.

Kirlin makes a high quality coiled cable that are no doubt better than the Fender cables as far as noise and frequency loss but they only come in 30' lengths which are going to produce a delay...

On a personal note, 30' is also way longer than I need to just run to my pedalboard.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 10:40 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:45 pm
Posts: 21
Hio, thanks, but there's really no need to be sorry. I fully understand how odd it must seem to read my thread, and I wouldn't have even responded if not for fear that my ignoring your comment might make it seem like I was really kidding. Happy Easter to you too.

And P90sdude, I appreciate the fact that you believe me! Oddly, both of my irritating coiled headphone extension cords are actually shorter than the straight cord I have. And the difference in sound (perhaps emphasizing the reverb/delay instead of creating it) is truly dramatic.

I know what I'm saying sounds suspicious, but the straight cord is wonderful, and the coiled cords unlistenable.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 11:47 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:43 pm
Posts: 532
Location: Here In Oregon
Actually I could write an article on the difference that cable can make including one brand of cable to another. I have done extensive testing with other audio engineers in very controlled environments. Many in the industry dismissed our findings but I will tell you many world class studios pulled all of their cable and changed brands because of what we reported.

In my humble opinion and based on our unbiased findings I can categorically state that cables matter. I personally use Canare for everything and cut and solder my cables to length. I always try to keep guitar cables less than 20 feet if possible.

Are your coiled cables real cheap in price? Is one end right angled? Is your amp plugged into a grounded outlet? I tend to stay away from coiled cables for several reasons but hearing some sort of reverberation is very strange and I get your points wholeheartedly. I have heard of stranger things and again sorry about my initial flippant remark.

_________________
http://www.fullspectrumonline.com


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 12:14 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:45 pm
Posts: 21
HIO wrote:
Actually I could write an article on the difference that cable can make including one brand of cable to another. I have done extensive testing with other audio engineers in very controlled environments. Many in the industry dismissed our findings but I will tell you many world class studios pulled all of their cable and changed brands because of what we reported.

In my humble opinion and based on our unbiased findings I can categorically state that cables matter. I personally use Canare for everything and cut and solder my cables to length. I always try to keep guitar cables less than 20 feet if possible.

Are your coiled cables real cheap in price? Is one end right angled? Is your amp plugged into a grounded outlet? I tend to stay away from coiled cables for several reasons but hearing some sort of reverberation is very strange and I get your points wholeheartedly. I have heard of stranger things and again sorry about my initial flippant remark.


The long straight extension cord (which works nicely) is a Hosa brand cord (if I can judge by the name on the plugs at each end of the cord -- which are straight on both ends). I don't remember what I paid, but I bought it at a guitar store.

The coiled cord I have was inexpensive (as was the one I originally returned). It's a Maxell brand I bought from Amazon seen at the below link, and yes, it has one right-angled plug. Is that evidence of low quality?

http://www.amazon.com/Maxell-Headphone- ... ge_o02_s00


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 1:00 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:43 pm
Posts: 532
Location: Here In Oregon
My bad. Maybe I should have read your initial post more clearly but I thought we were talking about your coiled guitar cable the one you plug from your 1/4 output of your guitar and into the 1/4 inch input of your amp. Are you only getting this noise when listening to headphones?

_________________
http://www.fullspectrumonline.com


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 2:30 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:45 pm
Posts: 21
HIO wrote:
My bad. Maybe I should have read your initial post more clearly but I thought we were talking about your coiled guitar cable the one you plug from your 1/4 output of your guitar and into the 1/4 inch input of your amp. Are you only getting this noise when listening to headphones?


Yes, I have no issues when playing through the amp's speaker. My issue is the severe degradation of sound in my headphones that I experience when I replace my "straight" headphone extension cord with the two "coiled" extension cords I bought.

Obviously I first thought that there was some malfunction, but experiencing this twice with two different cords made me wonder if there is some mysterious physical design issue associated with any type of coiled extension cord.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 2:57 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:43 pm
Posts: 532
Location: Here In Oregon
HM wrote:
HIO wrote:
My bad. Maybe I should have read your initial post more clearly but I thought we were talking about your coiled guitar cable the one you plug from your 1/4 output of your guitar and into the 1/4 inch input of your amp. Are you only getting this noise when listening to headphones?


Yes, I have no issues when playing through the amp's speaker. My issue is the severe degradation of sound in my headphones that I experience when I replace my "straight" headphone extension cord with the two "coiled" extension cords I bought.
Obviously I first thought that there was some malfunction, but experiencing this twice with two different cords made me wonder if there is some mysterious physical design issue associated with any type of coiled extension cord.


Okay, different issue altogether and really sorry for not reading more carefully. I will say that companies around the world are putting out really cheap stuff that breaks real fast and it is called planned obsolescence. With that said there should be no reason the coiled cords shouldn't be working properly for headphones. Very strange and you are not crazy. <g>

My only suggestion would be to try one more coiled headphone cable to see if for example you just coincidentally happened to get two bad ones and maybe test on other equipment. IICRC, I think it was MusicLaw who mentioned this guy was having trouble with the Remuda app and it just so happened that the first two OTG cables he bought were defective.

_________________
http://www.fullspectrumonline.com


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 9:35 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 8:50 pm
Posts: 4602
Location: ˚ɷ˚
Yes, a coiled cable acts differently. You add impedance to the cable, even if the total length is the same.
If either your headphones or amp output stage can't handle the higher impedance, you may hear audible artifacts because the drivers in your headphones don't get enough juice.

You don't say exactly which headphones you have, but if they are the QuietComfort 2, those have a very high impedance. Likely far higher than the Mustang headphone stage can comfortably drive, and especially when you add a coiled cable.
If they're QuietComfort 15s, the impedance is still high, but much lower than the 2's, so that might not be a problem, but on the other hand, those have really high harmonic distortion in the upper guitar range.

TL;DR: Get a headphone amp, or lower impedance cans.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 10:48 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:45 pm
Posts: 21
arth1 wrote:
Yes, a coiled cable acts differently. You add impedance to the cable, even if the total length is the same.
If either your headphones or amp output stage can't handle the higher impedance, you may hear audible artifacts because the drivers in your headphones don't get enough juice.

You don't say exactly which headphones you have, but if they are the QuietComfort 2, those have a very high impedance. Likely far higher than the Mustang headphone stage can comfortably drive, and especially when you add a coiled cable.
If they're QuietComfort 15s, the impedance is still high, but much lower than the 2's, so that might not be a problem, but on the other hand, those have really high harmonic distortion in the upper guitar range.

TL;DR: Get a headphone amp, or lower impedance cans.


Thanks for the reply. I did some more experimenting over the past few days. I have Bose QC 25 headphones. Inspired by your focus on impedance, I tried using some simple earbuds I must have gotten from an iPhone or something. I have no idea of the bud's impedance, but in any case they performed similarly to the QC 25 headphones -- sounding reasonable plugged into the jack, sounding reasonable plugged into the long straight extension cord, and sounding warbley when plugged into the coiled cord .

Thanks everyone for your help, but I think I'll just deal with the too long but "right sounding" straight cord!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Coiled extension cord conundrum
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 8:36 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2016 3:25 pm
Posts: 7
Jumping on this thread instead of starting a new one. I have some older bose on ear headphones that I have been using. They sound really over saturated at louder volumes. at lower volumes sounds washed out/not full. So I read up a bit and thought I would try a set of ATH m40x, highly recommended by some friends on other forums and the guy at GC. So I got them home all excited and the amp still sounds junk on headphones. My little THR 10 sounds boss with them though. Any thoughts?


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 14 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: