Audio cable

An audio multicore cable, or most commonly known as a snake is a compact cable, typically about the diameter of a coin, used in the audio recording and entertainment fields, which contains typically 4-64 individual shielded pair microphone cables all housed by one common outer jacket.

High-end audio cables are claimed to improve the sound quality of high-fidelity audio systems but whether they actually do is hotly disputed. Since the audio signal passes through cables on its way from the source to the amplifier, or from the amplifier to the speakers, the cables will affect that signal. Whether or not the effects are measurable and/or audible remains a question. Cables between components are called interconnects. Speaker wires carry the signal between the amplifier and speakers.
For analog interconnecting cables, basic system frequency response can be calculated from the electrical properties of the cables, and components on either side of the cables. These electrical properties include resistance, capacitance, and inductance. For small-signal applications the degree of shielding is also important. All of these qualities are taken into account in the design of commercial and broadcast cables. High-end cables for the audiophile market often involve intricate construction geometries and exotic materials such as silver and oxygen-free, long-crystal, high-purity copper.
Digital cables, such as TOSLINK, coaxial and HDMI, are less vulnerable to signal degradation for the short lengths used in consumer audio which makes audiophile claims harder to measure.