Let’s take an in-depth look at the Mogami Studio Gold XLR cable. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the cable’s components and construction to give you a better understanding of how it works.
Quick Answer: The Mogami Studio Gold XLR cable is the gold standard for studio use. Its star-quad design and heavy-duty copper shielding do a great job of rejecting electromagnetic interference.
- Mogami Studio Gold XLR: https://currentprice.io/mogami_xlr
Non-Official Mogami Cables
Before we jump into this in-depth review, we want to make you aware that there are some manufacturers out there making their own version of the Mogami cable.
They buy reels of this cable in bulk, fit their own connectors, and then sell these cables on to third-party resellers like Amazon. We’re reliably informed that a gold Mogami shrinkwrap label at the base of the XLR connector signifies an authentic Mogami-made product.
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Quality Claims
Taking a quick look at the Mogami packaging, we notice they make a list of quality claims and statements. There’s also some information regarding the lifetime, no excuses, warranty.
- Most accurate cable available.
- Widest frequency response.
- Highest cancellation of hum and noise.
- Increases dynamic range.
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Cable Price
Prices change frequently, and there are other variables such as length to consider. It’s also possible to bulk purchase a cable reel if you want to make your own XLR cables with your own connectors. That said, it’s safe to say this is one of the most expensive XLR cables you can buy.
Check out our XLR cable buyers guide to see how the Mogami stacks up in terms of performance and value.
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Cable Colors
This cable is only available in black. That’s fine for longer cable runs at live events, but we prefer to have color options available for patching in the studio. It makes troubleshooting much easier.
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Cable Length
As we touched on earlier, these finished XLR cables are available in various lengths. It’s also possible to buy a whole roll of cable, allowing you to install your own XLR connectors.
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Cable Flexibility
We find that the Mogami Studio Gold XLR is one of the stiffer cables we have handled. There are various reasons for this, which we’ll cover in more detail as we look at what’s going on inside.
That said, we don’t find it so stiff that it’s hard to work with, and it wouldn’t stop us from running the cable anywhere we needed to. All in all, it’s not a big issue in terms of real-world use.
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Cable Shielding
We’ve cut open and deconstructed a piece of Mogami cable to show you what’s going on inside. Here’s a quick overview of the layers to put things in perspective.
- 6 mm PVC protective outer casing.
- One way, single spiral copper shielding.
- 4 x Copper cores (star-quad).
Mogami uses a tightly wound single copper spiral shielding for the Studio Gold XLR cable. Visually, we’d be happy to say that this provides 100% coverage of the copper cores underneath. Compared to an Amazon Basics XLR cable, the Mogami’s shielding is far denser and of a much higher quality.
Interestingly, Mogami chose not to include a layer of cotton yarn to protect the inner cores from friction. The lifetime warranty would suggest they don’t think this will be an issue. This layer normally helps keep the cable rounded, explaining why the Mogami looks and feels a little boxy.
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Cable Copper Conductors
The Mogami Studio Gold XLR cable has 4 x 24 AWG oxygen-free copper cores. The jury’s out on whether oxygen-free copper offers any real benefits, but it helps justify the cable’s high-end price.
The 4 core, star-quad design is intended to shield the signal from electromagnetic areas in more intense areas like a studio with guitar amps, speakers, mixers, and computers.
It does this by carrying 2 pairs of signals from one device to the destination. One pair of cores carries the regular audio signal. The other carries a phase inverted version, which is used for noise cancellation.
Traditional XLR cables use a twisted pair design with only 2 cores carrying the same signals. Read more about the pros and cons of twisted pair vs. star-quad XLR cables in our linked article.
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Connectors
Mogami uses high-end Neutrik XLR connectors for their Studio Gold cables. They’re black with gold internal components, which is our preferred configuration.
We think that black connectors give a cleaner look on stage or on camera as microphones and cables tend to be black. Gold pins are known to be more corrosion-resistant, meaning they’ll last longer.
Inside, the connectors are wired to the cable as we would expect.
- Copper shielding gathered and soldered to the ground pin.
- A pair of copper cores soldered to each of the remaining pins.
Live Sound / Stage Recommendation
The star-quad design is not suitable for runs over 100′ as the additional cores increase the cable’s capacitance, causing a loss of high-end frequencies.
While Mogami Studio Gold XLR cables would work fine for live sound with runs under 100′, we feel these cables are too expensive. Cables get damaged or go missing, making the cost prohibitive for use at any kind of scale.
Studio Recommendation
As the name is intended to imply, these XLR cables are the gold standard for home or professional studio use. If you want the top of the line, no expense spared option, this is the one for you.
In terms of value, the Canare L-4E6S Star-Quad XLR cable is half the price of the Morgami Studio Gold. It has the same connectors with comparable specs. We don’t think 99% of users would notice a difference in audio quality.
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Cable Pricing & Specs
- Mogami Studio Gold XLR: https://currentprice.io/mogami_xlr
- Amazon Basics XLR: https://currentprice.io/amazon_xlr
- Canare XLR: https://currentprice.io/canare_xlr
- RodeNT1 Microphone: https://currentprice.io/rode_nt1_kit
- Elgato Wave XLR Interface: https://currentprice.io/wave_xlr
- Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro Headphones: https://currentprice.io/beyer_dt_990
- Mic Stand: https://currentprice.io/desk_stand
- Rode PSA1 Boom Arm: https://currentprice.io/boom_arm
Mogami Studio Gold XLR Cable Review Topics
- 0:00 – Introduction
- 0:10 – Equipment & Pricing
- 0:22 – Non-Official Mogami Cable
- 1:05 – Quality Claims & Packaging
- 1:42 – Price
- 1:55 – Color
- 2:10 – Length
- 2:23 – Flexibility
- 3:06 – Shielding & Construction
- 7:05 – Copper Conductors
- 9:29 – XLR Connectors
- 11:20 – Live Sound/Stage Recommendation
- 12:10 – Studio Recommendation
- 13:35 – Final Thoughts
