Are instrument cable reviews right about the Elebase 1/4 inch cable?

How an instrument cable actually protects your signal

Here's where your money actually goes on a cable like this. Inside the jacket sits a copper conductor, wrapped in two layers of shielding instead of one. That extra layer is the whole point: it's a foil or braid that intercepts electromagnetic noise, the hum from fluorescent lights and other gear, before it can ride along with your signal into the amp. One layer catches most of it. Two layers catch more, which is why the buzz that plagues a bargain cable is quieter here, though not eliminated, since shielding fights probability, not physics with a guarantee. The connectors are the other half of the trade. Gold doesn't conduct better than the tin or nickel most cheap plugs use, but it corrodes slower, so the contact point stays clean for longer, which matters more than the metal itself. That's the actual argument for gold plating: not tone, maintenance. Then there's the part that fails first on any cable, the jack end, twisted and yanked and stepped on for years. The aluminum shell and braided nylon jacket exist purely to survive that abuse, not to improve the sound at all. The Velcro strap is there so the extra length of a 10 foot cable doesn't turn into a tripping hazard or a coiled mess by the amp. None of this changes what the cable sounds like, plugged into a functioning rig it's transparent, which is the entire job. What changes is how long it stays that way, and how quietly it does it. That's the trade you're actually making.