New to making noise music and need advice on cables

[latexcity]

Recently thought I'd spend lockdown time attempting to make some noise music so I bought myself a Mackie 802-vlz3 mixer, Arturia microbrute pedal, Focusrite 2i2 3rd gen and a Proco rat 2 distortion pedal.

All have arrived now but stupidly I forgot to purchase cables with my order from thomann. So if anyone knows what cables I need to connect everything to a MacBook Pro 2019 with thunderbolt 3 through the focusrite that would be great? (Preferably stuff I can get on amazon so I can have them ASAP with prime)

[Balor/SS1535]

I would think that pretty much any compatible instrument cable should work.  Though I would recommend experimenting a bit, as I have been able to get different sounds from different cables.  Something that I found to be interesting has been using head phone cables with adapters that allow them to fit into my amp and so forth.

[deutscheasphalt]

Cables are used to connect outputs and inputs to one another, so rather than taking the easy route to post here and hope someone will look up what you're supposed to look up and feed you with amazon links you should just read the manuals, see which plugs are used by the machines and then order the compatible cables.
As far as audio cables goes - I promise you you will hear no difference, especially if you're just starting to build your setup, so just go for the cheapest ones. For the interface connection you need a USB to thunderbolt adapter which seem unbelievably hard to come by, so good luck!

[Atrophist]

.
As far as audio cables goes - I promise you you will hear no difference, especially if you're just starting to build your setup, so just go for the cheapest ones.

I have to respectfully disagree here. You're probably right about the sound quality, but it's still a bad idea to skimp on utilities like cables etc. Especially when you are just starting out and will be doing a lot of disconnecting and connecting them again. If you are using the cheapest, crappiest cables available, one of them will fail, probably sooner rather than later. And if you're a novice, you might spend a long time trying to figure out what the hell is wrong, before it even occurs to you to check the cables — that is, if you even happen to have a replacement around in the first place.

If you're really serious about getting something done, you might as well pay a bit more (and it's not going to add up to a huge sum anyway) and get something you can rely on. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration and time wasted on problem shooting when you could be doing something creative. And in the long run it will probably be more economical too. 

[Nolan]

As far as audio cables goes - I promise you you will hear no difference, especially if you're just starting to build your setup, so just go for the cheapest ones.

Recently had to do surgery on an expensive piece of gear when the tip of a cheap cable broke off inside the input and am now extremely cautious of the cheapest cables

[Potier]

you might as well pay a bit more (and it's not going to add up to a huge sum anyway) and get something you can rely on.

The cost of cables can definitely add up to bigger sums. Musicians and "producers" will point people in the direction of stupidly overpriced cables geared towards the audiophile crowd. Obviously starting out with a couple of pedals, a small synth and a small mixer is not going to require a big investment.

Depending on the tools you are using, I have found it very useful to have a bunch of splitters, adapters, connectors/converters kicking around. I tend to use a bunch of unorthodox devices that are not necessarily "typical gear" and so I needed to make adjustments...not everybody does that, though.

Overall I have been doing good with "middle of the pack" patch cords from the local instrument store. Everything else depends on what you are working with and ultimately how picky you want to be and how deep your pockets are.

[Atrophist]

The cost of cables can definitely add up to bigger sums. Musicians and "producers" will point people in the direction of stupidly overpriced cables geared towards the audiophile crowd. Obviously starting out with a couple of pedals, a small synth and a small mixer is not going to require a big investment.

Oh absolutely. You can spend absurd sums of money on just about anything related to music production, if you choose to. There's a shop in Berlin (I believe) called KMR Audio who cater to the super high end crowd. I once browsed their webstore for a laugh. They have guitar cables for 70€, that type of stuff. I certainly wasn't suggesting the OP or anyone else should go for those. Just avoid the absolute bottom of the heap. Mid-range or lower mid-range stuff should be just fine for the OP's purposes, and probably most others here as well. Certainly for me.

[latexcity]

Cables are used to connect outputs and inputs to one another, so rather than taking the easy route to post here and hope someone will look up what you're supposed to look up and feed you with amazon links you should just read the manuals, see which plugs are used by the machines and then order the compatible cables.
As far as audio cables goes - I promise you you will hear no difference, especially if you're just starting to build your setup, so just go for the cheapest ones. For the interface connection you need a USB to thunderbolt adapter which seem unbelievably hard to come by, so good luck!

Thanks, i completely forgot about the manual, as I usually tend to learn by experimentation. The manuals shown exactly what I needed and I bought it, so now it works fine. I have cheap cables for now but I may consider to upgrade in the future when stores reopen to secure a long future for both my equipment.

Someone else mentioned the thunderbolt cable being hard to find, but it was actually quite easy to find one for both the synth to the Mac and the Focusrite to the Mac on amazon and wasn't too pricey either.

[deutscheasphalt]

Cables are used to connect outputs and inputs to one another, so rather than taking the easy route to post here and hope someone will look up what you're supposed to look up and feed you with amazon links you should just read the manuals, see which plugs are used by the machines and then order the compatible cables.
As far as audio cables goes - I promise you you will hear no difference, especially if you're just starting to build your setup, so just go for the cheapest ones. For the interface connection you need a USB to thunderbolt adapter which seem unbelievably hard to come by, so good luck!

Thanks, i completely forgot about the manual, as I usually tend to learn by experimentation. The manuals shown exactly what I needed and I bought it, so now it works fine. I have cheap cables for now but I may consider to upgrade in the future when stores reopen to secure a long future for both my equipment.

Someone else mentioned the thunderbolt cable being hard to find, but it was actually quite easy to find one for both the synth to the Mac and the Focusrite to the Mac on amazon and wasn't too pricey either.

Good to hear. I use firewire to thunderbolt which is pretty common, but I don't think focusrites are working with that.
Tougher cables are useful if you re-connect your gear a lot and try out different patchings or the ones you use for travelling/playing shows should have more durable connectors. Otherwise if your setup is just sitting there stationary it doesn't really make sense to get expensive cables unless you care about certain brands or aesthetics to your setup.

[Noizehead]

Cables are used to connect outputs and inputs to one another, so rather than taking the easy route to post here and hope someone will look up what you're supposed to look up and feed you with amazon links you should just read the manuals, see which plugs are used by the machines and then order the compatible cables.
As far as audio cables goes - I promise you you will hear no difference, especially if you're just starting to build your setup, so just go for the cheapest ones. For the interface connection you need a USB to thunderbolt adapter which seem unbelievably hard to come by, so good luck!

I disagree with EVERYTHING this guy said. Get some decent cables they will reduce cable noise. Decent just means not crapo chinese amazon ones. Get some mxr patch cables or dunlop. Just look at mid priced brands. I don't even know what this dudes goin on about about the interface connector but just get an interface with good reviews like Scarlett solo.

[JLIAT]

In the spirit of noise and experiment (whatever happened to that?) why not make a release
of the noises made by various cables?

I'm reminded of the work of Alan Lamb... began using old telephone wires on his farm in Australia...

(back in the days a long wire into a guitar amp would pick up radio Moscow...)

Some interesting stuff here?

http://www.sounddesign.unimelb.edu.au/web/biogs/P000277b.htm

[Acne]

Get some decent cables they will reduce cable noise. Decent just means not crapo chinese amazon ones.

I bought a 6 pack of amazon cables when I first started. Spent a good year or two not understanding why everything I made sounded so flat and quiet compared to friends and people I played with. One day I had a fit when i was trying to collaborate with a buddy and went to guitar center and bought $100 worth of new cables figuring I could return them if it wasn't the reason why I didn't have control over my sound. The difference was night and day. There really doesn't seem to be any reason not to buy decent cables - you'll be able to use them forever, and they aren't too much $$$

[FiEND]

am i alone in just stealing cables from enemies?

[Theodore]

I bought a 6 pack of amazon cables when I first started. Spent a good year or two not understanding why everything I made sounded so flat and quiet compared to friends and people I played with. One day I had a fit when i was trying to collaborate with a buddy and went to guitar center and bought $100 worth of new cables figuring I could return them if it wasn't the reason why I didn't have control over my sound. The difference was night and day. There really doesn't seem to be any reason not to buy decent cables - you'll be able to use them forever, and they aren't too much $$$

Sorry i dont believe that unless i listen myself or show me a spectral analysis comparison of the output using both cables under same conditions. - I never support the cheapest of any kind but when we speak about cables -short, for home use- it is here that you wont be able to notice any difference unless the product is broken / faulty, which yes it is more likely to happen with cheapos. - I use 4-8EUR cables and 20YO cheaps for connecting my home devices. Yes, the Bespeco are more solid constructed and i mainly use these. As for audio, i am sure i would fail to a blind test. - I have an expensive cable sitting in my closet, a friend gave me, i see no reason to use it with the equipment i have.

Cables is the thing you will spend the most money to have the less improvment, if you can listen any at all.

[Acne]

unless the product is broken / faulty, which yes it is more likely to happen with cheapos.

agreed ;) i think the case was probably one or two of the batch being faulty, in any case its good to have something reliable.