Could this be due to a cheap Monoprice.com cable?

[matt91]

I've bought from monoprice before, and had no issues. But I just got a cable last week, and am having some issues with it.

I setup firewire recording recently, and while testing it, had been using a Belkin cable from a buddy of mine. It appears to be a good quality cable. All was working fine, so I wanted to buy my own cable. As I often do, I went to Monoprice.com to pick one up. $2 for a 3' cable (versus $30 at Circuit City - ouch!).

I swapped out the cables yesterday, and quickly tested it. I could watch a show from the STB through Sage, so I called it good.

I noticed on the server today that there were some showanalyzer errors. Upon further investigation, each show that the STB had recorded since I swapped cables was "bad".

Older, good cable:

Encoded by: Moto DCH3200 #1 on 127.0.0.1:6969
File Format: MPEG2-TS[MPEG2-Video 4:3 480i@29.97fps, AC3/192Kbps@48kHz Stereo eng]

Newer, cheaper cable:

Encoded by: Moto DCH3200 #1 on 127.0.0.1:6969
File Format: AC3[AC3/366Kbps@48kHz Stereo]

I can't watch them through Sage, nor though VLC.

I can swap back the original cable, and things start to work OK again. But as soon as I use the $2 cable, it works for one channel change, and then nothing.

I would think that a cable would either work, or it wouldn't. This seems to be working for just a few minutes, then crapping out.

Any thoughts? Should I just try another $2 cable? Monoprice doesn't seem to have any higher quality firewire cables.

This is what I got: http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

Appreciate any thoughts.
Matt

[stanger89]

I'd call them up and tell them the same thing and get them to send you another. Definitely sounds like the cable.