Gold VS Silver for XLR / TRS Connections?

[Spells]

Forgive me ! As I know this is a subject that some people see as snake oil...

I'm still working through my new studio space and rack gear. I have always used gold connectors, purely because the cables sit for years and I was told it's beneficial.

Now a friend has said that if the hardware connectors are silver then gold is NOT good as the difference in materials will mean the benefits of gold are cancelled out... as mixing materials is not good.

He also said that gold connectors lose some top end / frequency wise... which I think is BS but I stupidly googled it and have seen others say similar.

Please help me not invest in new cables by telling me gold is great...

[ef37a]

I doubt it matters much, I see Gold as more of a fashion statement! For a touring band or location recording setup the constant swapping out of plugs will soon wear the Gold off the contacts so little point?
Where kit is left connected indefinitely the 'nobility' of Gold might be an advantage but only of course if it mates with the same element.

Silver is the best conductor there is (but only marginally so than Copper) but can tarnish in air forming a Sulphur compound although that is probably not so common now few people smoke and there are no coal fires!

I really wouldn't worry about the metals in your connectors, just buy good stuff, Neutrik say and good quality cable but don't pay silly money. Gold does have one advantage if you make up your own cables? It is a DREAM to solder!

Dave.

[Sam Spoons]

Yup, will do. Gold is great...

It doen't tarnish/oxidise (which silver does) but it's softer so if frequently plugging and unplugging the plating will wear more quickly than silver or nickle.

It won't make the slightest noticeable difference to the frequency response or audio bandwidth of signals passing through it.

[ef37a]

I think if "they" really wanted a useful plating on contacts they would use Platinum, Iridium or Rhodium* all of which are much harder than even Nickel and totally unreactive but are very expensive and the punter does not see any "bling factor".

*Have dim recollection of it being used on contacts for electronic organ keyboards?
Dave.

[Hugh Robjohns]

The 'standard' connectors may be silver in colour, but they are very rarely coated in silver because that metal — although highly conductive — oxidises and corrodes quickly. Nickel is the standard conductor surface as it is hard-wearing and doesn't tarnish too badly.

For Dave, rhodium and palladium are used on critical contacts such as in relays, professional B-type socket switch contacts and — yes — things like old-school keyboard key switch contacts. Modern keyboards mostly use different technologies...

Back to audio connectors... I have microphones from the 1970s here with Nickel XLRs and they still connect properly and sound perfectly good to me.

I can see the logic of gold/gold contacts for long term connections, but in practice I've only very rarely had problems with standard audio connectors, even in static installations.

XLRs have wiping — self-cleaning — contacts which seem to be very reliable; TRS rather less so (because A-type socket contacts are often poorly designed) but these can be easily maintained with a yearly wipe over with de-oxit and a cleaning plug of a suitable type.

I'd not heard of the HF-loss claim with gold contacts, nor experienced it myself. From an electronics point of view, I'm struggling to understand how that would work, but would have thought tarnishing capacitance (which I think is the claim) more likely would create a high-pass filter — so reduced low-end rather than lost high-end.... but that's only supposition on my part, I have no tangible evidence... and much would depend on the specific impedances of the interface circuitry.

Personally, I'd stick with standard plugs rather than gold, but undertake to remake and/or clean connections once a year or every couple of years. That works for me, anyway.

[merlyn]

There is something in the dissimilar metals thing, but it doesn't apply here. It's possible to make a battery out of a lemon, a copper coin and a paperclip.

This is to do with the activity series in chemistry. Note that the electrodes are not silver or gold. Silver and gold are unreactive (they're low down the activity series) and it's not an issue, especially at audio frequencies. Silver that has tarnished is not pure silver.

[Philbo King]

I've never, in 40+ years of work in electronics, encountered a silver or silver-plated contact.

It tarnishes and corrodes upon contact with air, forming an insulating layer, and is uniquely unsuitable for connector contacts.

[MarkOne]

^^^ This ^^^

[Tomás Mulcahy]

He also said that gold connectors lose some top end / frequency wise... which I think is BS but I stupidly googled it and have seen others say similar.

Please help me not invest in new cables by telling me gold is great...

Google does not differentiate between fact and opinion

1. They are not gold, they are gold plated brass pins.
2. If they look like silver, it is actually rhodium, not silver. Rhodium is preferred since it is far far more resistant to corrosion than silver is. Jewellers use it to coat silver rings for protection.
3. There is no "mixing", since the plating is only micrometres thick and the resistivity of both is beyond negligible for AF.
4. Loss of high end- is BS. Frequency response of an XLR cable is in MHz, so there is no audible loss of high end at any point in your cables and connectors.

In short- gold is great

[Spells]

I will save my money and use the cables I have... and sleep well tonight thanks to you all!

[merlyn]

I've never, in 40+ years of work in electronics, encountered a silver or silver-plated contact.

It tarnishes and corrodes upon contact with air, forming an insulating layer, and is uniquely unsuitable for connector contacts.

Silver alloy tarnishes. E.g. sterling silver with added copper. Pure silver is too soft for contacts but silver plated copper is good enough for Van Damme and a hit with audiophiles. LMFAO.

[resistorman]

If you don't live near saltwater, just give them a light coating of Deoxit when you install them. Clean and re-apply every year or two. I lived on a very small island (2x4 miles) in the Atlantic for 40 years doing audio work and I sprayed deoxit on my cables with every use. Plus my boat and car wiring. I even used it on AC connections and in locks. Everything corroded.

[sonics]

Pure silver is too soft for contacts but silver plated copper is good enough for Van Damme and a hit with audiophiles. LMFAO.

Nice idea. Presumably the outer sleeve is transparent so you can see the cable corroding!

[Wonks]

It’s the outer PVC casing that keeps the silver corroding. If you don’t let the air and moisture in, it can’t corrode (to any noticeable extent as there will always be micro-levels of contaminants).

Copper oxidises as well, and again it’s the outer sheaths that protect it.

[merlyn]

As Dave said above, silver (pure silver) reacts with sulphur. It doesn't 'oxidise' as such, as in react with oxygen. The black tarnish is what is seen on sterling silver, an alloy of silver and copper. Copper is more reactive than silver, so the more copper, the more tarnish. Pure silver also tarnishes, but less so than an alloy.

[ef37a]

As Dave said above, silver (pure silver) reacts with sulphur. It doesn't 'oxidise' as such, as in react with oxygen. The black tarnish is what is seen on sterling silver, an alloy of silver and copper. Copper is more reactive than silver, so the more copper, the more tarnish. Pure silver also tarnishes, but less so than an alloy.

That is also my understanding. On cleaning connectors, indoors I find jack plugs eventually (N2) go dull and can be a source of trouble and I use a washing up green pad with just the merest whiff (literally!) of WD-40. Brings them up a treat and stops tarnish for months.

The XLRs in my garden last for several months but eventually succumb to heavy rain when I then get a hum on the mics. The fix is a good blast of WD-40, it shifts the water and repels further intrusion for a time. I am thinking of whacking in a good gob of silicone grease but don't have any at the moment. Vaseline perhaps?

Dave.

[ef37a]

As Dave said above, silver (pure silver) reacts with sulphur. It doesn't 'oxidise' as such, as in react with oxygen. The black tarnish is what is seen on sterling silver, an alloy of silver and copper. Copper is more reactive than silver, so the more copper, the more tarnish. Pure silver also tarnishes, but less so than an alloy.

That is also my understanding. On cleaning connectors, indoors I find jack plugs eventually (N2) go dull and can be a source of trouble and I use a washing up green pad with just the merest whiff (literally!) of WD-40. Brings them up a treat and stops tarnish for months.

The XLRs in my garden last for several months but eventually succumb to heavy rain when I then get a hum on the mics. The fix is a good blast of WD-40, it shifts the water and repels further intrusion for a time. I am thinking of whacking in a good gob of silicone grease but don't have any at the moment. Vaseline perhaps?

Oh and I think the green 'patina' we see on external Copper cladding is in fact the carbonate? Result of acid rain and C02.

Dave.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

If you don't live near saltwater, just give them a light coating of Deoxit when you install them. Clean and re-apply every year or two. I lived on a very small island (2x4 miles) in the Atlantic for 40 years doing audio work and I sprayed deoxit on my cables with every use. Plus my boat and car wiring. I even used it on AC connections and in locks. Everything corroded.

Wowsers. I wonder what is in the Deoxit? I've always used Servisol Super 10 which is advertised as good for both pots and switches. Mainly because it was the main thing in use here back in the eighties, never heard of Deoxit til the internet came along. We are on mainland 700m from the sea shore. I don't seem to have trouble with stuff indoors, but locks and window handles definitely corrode faster than a few km further inland.

[merlyn]

This silver tarnishing thing is being exaggerated. The way it's being presented here silver is trying to turn itself into a black, unconductive mess at its earliest opportunity. That's not the case.

Neutrik are more in tune with reality on this. Their 1/4" jack sockets use silver plated bronze for contacts. Ag is silver BTW. Pure silver, not a silver alloy.

https://www.neutrik.com/en/product/nrj4hf

[Tomás Mulcahy]

I find it hard to believe they are using silver, since it is expensive and too reactive in this application nickel or rhodium would be better. For the quantities involved it is chemical stabity and price that are the most important factors, not resistivity. Bronze is an interesting choice over brass. It is certainly more durable.

[merlyn]

As metals go silver is pretty unreactive. As Dave said above, it is the best conductor on earth.