Customer Reviews

Monster Ultra Series 800 HDMI Cable (8 ft.)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

There has been a lot of misinformation circulating about cables, specifically HDMI cables. Digital is digital. It's either ON or OFF, 1 or 0. So does it really matter how cables are constructed? YES, it does. People are saying the digital signal may either reach the other end or it may not. So if you get a bad cable then you don't see the picture. If you get a good cable, you see the picture. There is no partial picture in digital. Right? Not really.

It is important to note that picture and sound is made up of billions of information when broken down in the digital world. The closest comparison to help one understand is to think of an LCD screen which is made up of thousands of pixels. These individual pixels are essential is forming a picture. Think of these pixels as the individual bits of digital data that is being sent to form the picture. If one of these pixels fail it doesn't mean the whole picture will fail. You will still see the whole picture and perhaps not notice a DEAD pixel. The same is true for digital signal. Just because one bit of information doesn't make it thru, doesn't mean the whole picture won't be formed. Couple that with all that information coming in and the picture changing 24 times every second, you may not actually notice you have a bad cable.

This drop in signal will result to "artifacting" for pictures and "drop out" in sound. If you want to ensure 100% signal transmission then you want to invest in good cables that will stand the test of time (degradation) and increasing bandwidth over the HDMI cable.

Unlike analog signals, the information is relatively more compact in its transmission. Therefore they are able to squeeze more information and produce thinner cables. Imagine one single cable to carry picture and eight (8) channels of audio PLUS data for multimedia experience - all in one transmission. We're not talking about ONE FAT single cable. We're talking about tiny wires inside an HDMI cable - try 19 tiny pins and with each 19 tiny cables to support those signals.

And don't think one second that cables aren't prone to interference. This isn't an optical cable where light the medium. It's still an electrical signal.

I'm not advocating the purchase of Monster Cable. Simply patronize on a decent cable manufacturer. Monster Cable is just one of them. Unlike any generic manufacturer, some companies including Monster Cable, have spent time and money on research and development to ensure satisfaction of what is being purchased.

What's good about this specific Monster Cable is that they ensure the tiny cables inside cannot be easily twisted and pulled to create a tear by equipping this specific model with a mesh jacket which minimizes tangles.

Furthermore, quality GOLD connectors help ensure good contact over time.


THE CONS:

1. R&D and the quality put into the product has created a household name for Monster Cable. Therefore, part of this is also to pay for the brand name. If you can't stand the Monster brand and pricing, there are a lot of alternatives. You don't have to buy into the hype. If you find what you think is a good deal on a Monster Cable, why not.

2. There are lots of confusion over the amount of HDMI cable Monster has been producing over the same HDMI standard that it's getting ridiculous. I understand if there is a low-end cable and a high-end cable made of silver for the ultimate enthusiast. But they have 14 HDMI cables on their website to cater to the same HDMI standard. Disregarding HDMI Type B standard which won't go into effect in a few years. Why not concentrate in producing 2 or 3 outstanding cables for the current HDMI 1.3 standard. Then go ahead and create other similar cables for other manufacturers for branding purposes.

It is because of these numerous cables that they have to support their marketing and manufacturing costs AND THEN pass it on to the consumers that is causing their own demise. Out of all these models and whatever series of cables they produce, to the uninformed a simple black HDMI cable may very well do.

3. The now defunct Ultra series for HDMI (which is slowly being replaced by their M series) are color-coded per model. BLUE represents the 600 series, while RED represents the 800 series. Go figure.

4. An email and telephone to Monster Cable has revealed they are not marketing any THX-branded HDMI cable simply because the THX company DOES NOT CERTIFY DVI or HDMI CONNECTORS. Yet, I have visually seen THX-branded HDMI cables at various retail stores perhaps simply because the analog Ultra series cables are THX-certified.


SUMMARY:

Buy cables from a reputable cable manufacturer that invests money back into R&D as well as guarantee that the cable material does not deteriorate over time especially due from heat of the stacked up devices. Poorly manufactured cables especially for digital transmission does not equate to total loss in picture. It just creates various visual abberations (bad streaks and pixelation) and audio drop-outs, which may or may not be evident except to the discerning enthusiast.

Before you buy a cable, learn what is at stake and how long you plan to keep it for as an investment. It is ridiculous to pay hundreds of dollars for a cable, but it is up to you to set your budget on how much you really want to spend for performance and peace of mind including customer support, service and guarantee. Does it have to be a Monster-branded cable? Not at all.

Further reading: I would suggest before purchasing that you read in the internet "The Truth About Monster Cable" parts I, II, and III from a popular website.

I paid 108.00 for the 4ft. version of this cable at Best Buy. Bought my next HDMI cable off of Amazon for 6 bucks. (Not Monster of course) I can see no difference in the picture or sound quality. Test it for yourself, you be the judge. Why waste your money>

While all Monster products are horribly overpriced, the digital cables are even more so. With analog cables, you can at least make a defense that the quality of the cable affects the signal, but with digital cables unless there's something MAJORLY WRONG, the signal will still come through perfectly. Do yourself a favor and get a $10 HDMI cable instead and spend the $50 on something worth it.

Don't buy any monster cable or any other expensive HDMI cable...they are a waste of money...you will get the same picture quality from a 5 dollar cable. That's the true, no doubt about it.

Digital networks work over most any wire. 20 Years ago we were running 1 Megabit digital networks over Army Field telephone wires that costed less then a penny a foot. The wire was used by the US Forest service to setup LANS hundreds of feet long in areas where they where fight Forest Fires. The wire worked, 1 Mbps was clean and they could just leave the wire behind on the forest floor if they had to run from the fires.

Your equipment does not need gold plated wires and Nitrogen filled wires. You just need an unbroken wire that is manufactured to the HDMI specifications.

Look at it this way. CAT 5 wire for 1000 Mbps LANS sells for about $75.00 for 1000 feet. It is copper wire, 4 twisted pairs. And your IP video signals run over it all through your house just fine. And when you Download HD movies from the internet it runs over even cheaper wires between your house and the movie provider.

The HD programming signals from the cable company runs over a COAX wire, yes, it might have a nitrogen core, but it is just that wire on the telephone pole outside your house.

So, the video arives at your house via cheap wire just fine. And it goes in your cable box just fine. Then why on earth do you think you would need a $15 a foot cable to improve the signal for that last 6 feet? Wires alone cannot improve a digital signal.

Think of a fax page. the orginal document is faxed to a fax machine. the Orginal looks better then the fax copy because much of the image iformation was removed to compress and transmit the information. If you then fax the fax to a fax it gets worse each time. That is how old analog TV worked, each time you copied the TV image it only got worse because of information loss.

No think of digital as not faxing but laser printing. Your print out the orginal on your laser printer. It looks marvelous. You then email a copy of that document to a friend, who then prints out your document on his identical printer. Again it look marvelous. Why? Because there was no "compression" of the image data. He printed an exact copy of what you printed. This is how digital television networks work.

When the TV signal is sent from the source (Cable/Satellite provider) to you it is passed through a series of hubs that regenerate or amplify the signal to move it over miles of wires. In the past old Analog 4:3 TV lost a little bit of information with each amplification and a little "noise/static" was introduced each time.

The Analog TV signal was being "faxed" to your house through several fax machines.

In contrast, Digital or HDTV signals are "emailed" to your house.

You should be more concerned about and money is better spent on the electronic componnents between the wires as they make the actual Signal quality and resulting picture quality.

A Gold plated refrigerator does not keep Milk fresher any longer than a non-gold plated refrigerator.

After reading some of the reviews on this item, I had to drop my $.02 There is currently only 1 bonded, certified 1.3 HDMI cable in the world, at the moment. The brand is Belden, not Belkin, and I have zero affiliation and I do not sell any audio/video gear either. I simply want the best cable at the best price to maximize my video and audio components.

Google the brand and you'll find out Belden cable is not Chinese made, but made in the US. And when read through the volumes of technical information on the cable, you'll come to a point where you'll either purchase one or not. But compare the cost of a true audio/video-phile cable and a mass marketed brand like Monster, and ask yourself why would you pay more for and get less.

The Monster Ultra(tm) Series THX 800 HDMI Video & Audio Cable does what you expect it would do.It produced a Sharp Vivid and Clear Picture on my Sharp 52" LCD,versus the Component Cables. The price that I paid on Amazon is half the price at Best Buys and Circuit City Why? who knows and who cares...you can't beat Amazon Prices!

The cable works but it is far too much money. I have since purchased cables through amazon for around 10 bucks and they work great. I have been using these inexpensive cables for two years and have had no problems. I currently keep this monster cable as a back up or in case I need to connect a new component.

I have no complaints at all. They are a good price, they got to my house within a weeks, and they work perfectly.

I bought the Monster Ultra Series 600 HDMI Cable (4 ft) three months ago for $120. It is connected to my HD Cablebox, creating such clear and crisp pictures and with no problems WHAT SO EVER!

9 months ago, I bought a store brand (from a well known electronics store) $30 4 feet basic HDMI cable and had issues from day one with the following:
-horrible pictures for HD for all HD channels when used for my HD cable box
-picture flickering on and off when used for the Playstation3. (this issue has just gotten worse over time, with the picture flickering off more often than on.)

I am finally investing in another of HDMI cable from this series for the Playstation3 because I am SO PLEASED with its performance. It is much cheaper than the first one I purchased but I would STILL pay $120 for it if I had to.