Side by Side Comparison of: Hosa vs Samson Technologies

I bought 2 of these XLR cables to connect my Audio-GD NFB-1 headphone amp to a Theta DSPro Basic III DAC. They work very well and are extremely well made for the price. They don't use name brand connectors but seem very reliable otherwise. They've given me no issues over the last 2 to 3 months.

If you need a good XLR interconnect for a good price, this is a great choice, highly recommended.

Well made, look good, very nice finish and so far so good, no noise, no RF interference. I've use Hosa cables years ago and my previous impression was "Blah", kind of cheap, lets get it done quickly kind of product that wont last long, but these I have to say seem very nicely made, time will tell how long they last, but at the price I think is a good value.

I got this cable to go along with my MXL 770 Mic and Scarlett 2i2 interface and this cable is amazing. For the price of this cable and the nice look, you can't get any better, unless you pay a lot more. I have to say the cable has a very nice material on the outside of the cable and the ends of the XLR cable are very sturdy and built with a nice metal finish.
I have had this cable for a few months and it works great, I haven't had any problems with it and for sure none will arise in the future.
Looking for a great XLR Cable that is durable and won't break the bank, this is one to take a look at!

I do recording and noise is the number one killer of a good track. Virtually none. Great connectors as well.

I am very pleased with this balanced cable. It uses high quality XLR connectors with a robust cable. Well insulated and well shielded. I have experience with a variety of similar cables and recommend Hosa as a very good value.

Good cable. I mounted it internally into a hand boom. Works great.

Good product really durable. Just a little stiff. I use them for permanent install not a mic cable that need to be flexible.

Excellent cable. I've used it a several times and have had no issues. The connectors especially have a high build quality - no rocking when they're plugged into mics (I've actually swapped cables around to use these for handheld mics just because of the connectors). The only slight issue is that the sheathing is so thick that it retains bends in the cabling so you don't get a beautiful straight cable when it's laid out - it has some waviness in it.

Seems like a quality and durable cable. I bought it to use for a short cabled Mic for my gigs when at the Sound board. Connectors attach very securely ...no wiggle. One thing I noticed is that the cable is more ridgid than usual.... not as flexible, but I interpret that to imply that it will be more durable in the long run. Excellent high use short cable.

Two-Sentence Summary: This microphone cable is better than most in this price range, with rugged metal connectors and chuck-type strain relief. The Kopul Premium Performance 3000 Series XLR M to XLR F Microphone Cable - 25' (7.6 m), which has Neutrik brand connectors, may offer slightly better connectors for some applications, but overall this is a good cable for small to mid-sized DJ, KJ, and PA applications.This cable is generally better than most low to mid-range microphone cables I have come upon. The connectors are Rean brand units. Rean is a product of the Neutrik company which is essentially a made-in-China version of Netrik's past-generation X series connector. The connectors are therefore of die-cast metal construction and have Neutrik's very successful chuck-type strain relief. Although made in China, these connectors are therefore better, in terms of physical strength and electrical quality, than all of the injection-molded rubber and plastic, and slide-on metal, connectors seen on most cables in this price range. The Kopul 3000 and 4000 Series of microhpone cables, which are also available from Amazon, do fall in the same price bracket as this cable and come with the real German-made Neutrik XX series connectors. In large PA systems or recording studios, this would be a make-or-break issue. For most DJ/KJ purposes, the Rean connectors are just fine.The actual wire used in this cable is a heavy (20 AWG) two-conductor shielded cable. The 20 AWG conductors make this cable thicker than most microphone cables, which does offer some advantages in physical ruggedness. However, heavier gauge wire also comes with increased capacitance, which causes some issues in recording or large-scale PA environments. For the average DJ/KJ or small PA application, this would not be an issue at all, and this cable would be an excellent choice. For environments with high radio or electromagnetic noise, a "star-quad" or four conductor microphone cable, such as Mogami Neglex, Canare 4E6S, or Clark Mink4 would offer better noise rejection. However, such cables are mostly available from professional audio or production suppliers, typically on a made-to-order basis. Canare MC20F L-4E6S Star Quad XLR Microphone Cable (20 feet) is one such cable which is pricey but available online.Overall, this cable is very adequate for most small to mid-sized uses. While I would not recommend it for use in recording studios or around 10,000 watt PA systems, most users will be very pleased with this cable and I generally recommend it.

These cables seem to be pretty high quality and they are very thick and have neoprene jacket, so they can be a little hard to coil. The material has some "memory" to it. I also had an issue hooking one of these to a powered Blue mic, where the system was picking up radio stations, but it may have been the mic, which I returned for exchange. However, when I replaced this cable with one of my other 25 ft cables of a different brand, the pickup was much less. So, there could be an issue with shielding. Not sure I'd buy again.

The cord is a lot more stiff than others I have used, but it gets the job done.

Does the job.

It's a low cost mic cable so there isn't a lot to say about it. I needed a mic cable in a pinch and since I am in the process of moving, all my normal cables are packed up and I can't get to them, so I ordered this one. It'll work, but my first impressions are that the cable is heavy and stiff. Most of my cables are much more flexible and easier to work with, but they also cost quite a bit more - including the ones I made myself. This one should work fine and does seem to be better quality than what I typically expect from Hosa. I did open up one of the connectors and found that the internal wires are stranded and there is a spiral shield from the stranded ground conductor. Note: they do list this as a 90% spiral shield so if you are in a high RF/EMI environment, and need a 100% shield, keep looking. The connectors are made by REAN, which apparently is a division of Neutrik, so they aren't normal Neutrik connectors but they do have a lot of similarities. At least they aren't cheap, flimsy no-name connectors that bend out of round with the slightest pressure.
I don't have much else to say. I can't speak to longevity, but I doubt it would hold up under heavy use. Stiffer cables never last. But, like I said...I needed a cable in a pinch and this should work just fine.

This is the nicest looking XLR Cable I've seen so far!

That out of the way it's also actually the shortest I've seen so far.... yeah you might want to consider looking for a longer one.
I had to put my phantom power supply on top of my desk because the lenght of this one won't ever reach my desk's height, wow, good thing my PSU could reach my computer though.

Bottomline: I love it! but I wish no one manufactured XLR cables this short! I mean, who uses XLR cables this short!? oh well...

Poor shielding. Not good to cancel RFI.

The cable connections work fine. The problem is that these cables don't lie flat on the ground when unwound - they "remember" their shape, which is pretty annoying. We'll be purchasing replacements and looking to get rid of these.

Bought 10 of these cables for my rehearsal studios, and they started dropping one by one and I have only had them for 6 months. Sending 8 of the 10 back to Hosa to have fixed or replaced. Hopefully they come back working better!

The cables feel sturdy and look nice. However after my purchase of 8 cables, 2 of them stopped working after just 2 uses. Losing connection during a performance and causing a terrible crackling sound.

A few months of use and 3 of the 8 still work well, 3 are so bad I no longer use them and 2 I use only in places they will not be jostled or they cut out and lose connection.

They are difficult to wrap up and tend to hold kinks and twists. Definitely don't get if they are to be used with handheld mics during performances.

Would not recommend or purchase again.

Cable work about 95% of the time, but about 5% of the time they short out. They've been that way since day 1.

This cable is thick, stiff and holds a memory. It's already kinked from the packaging.

Bought this cable about 2 years ago and only used it a handful of times since then. I figured that, because of it's high rating, there was no chance I'd get a defective product, but it's bound to happen to some people and it appears I am one of said people. I use the cable for voice-over work with a Focusrite Scarlett Solo and a Rode Broadcaster Mic and, two or three times per hour, it produces a crackling noise (think Rice Krispies) for about 5 minutes each time. I haven't seen any others with a similar issue as mine, so I used a spare XLR cable to ensure that this one was the culprit. Unfortunately, it was. Just wish I could have pinpointed the problem when I first bought it to potentially return it.

I had originally bought this item because it looked good quality. I bought it in January. I recently moved my recording set up and it just stopped working. The cable seems to be good quality and it did not peel from any side or ripped. This cable was never moved but once due to changing set up and I used it indoor. I just thought this cable would have lasted me 1 more year due to its indoor use. I will have to look for a new brand. Maybe the one I got had a defect.

The cable has never worked well, cutting in and out repeatedly. Was not the input connector nor the mics, as I tried on the cable on several devices. Finally replaced it with a cable bought locally. This Hosa is first new cable I've ever bought that is defective from the get-go.