@andyharris thanks, actually the ebay link that I posted is from their ebay store.

I agree completely with @halimecondor, except I use Mogami quad and occasionally canare

+1 Neutrik Connectors and Canare L-4E6S Star Quad Microphone Cable (or the smaller diameter Canare L-4E5C Miniature Star-Quad Audio Cable). Markertek in the US usually has the best prices. These are the standard on US motion picture productions.

@Vitaliy_Kiselev This is for those that will choose to make them. For the others, Markertek is still a great option for pre-made cables.

You don't need an XLR cable if the mic isn't balanced; your mic isn't balanced.

As for "best bang for buck" cables, if you're going to worry about performance issues that are only perceptible at the the quantum level - we're talking about 3m of cable here, i.e. you're not going to hear jack shit of difference between a $0.50 or $5K cable - I would worry more about the devices your cable is plugged into: That mic and preamp are definitely going to degrade the quality of the source you're capturing. Getting your hands on one of the rode mics you mention would be a great start.

@kavadni - It's been many years since I last worked with Mogami mic cable, are they still using a spiral wrap shield? It's excellent wire otherwise but that spiral shield is the weak link, eapecially for cables in non-fixed duty. I switched to Canare for its superior braided shield, and am still using mic cables I terminated decades ago while none of the Mogami cables from the same period survived.

You can't go wrong with Canare, a lot of the pros use this cable. If you get the quad cable, it has very good shielding. I don't use Mogami. I have some Canare that is at least 20 years old as well. However, IMHO the two best cables are the Gotham and the Belden digital installation, so Gotham GAC 4 analog, and Belden Digital (AES). Now the AES is not designed for audio, so if you are nervous about copper wire somehow being different from copper wire, go with the Gotham GAC 4. If you don't want the Quad cable go with the regular Gotham which has a ton of shielding anyway. Shielding is a big topic, and 20 years ago there were walkie-talkies, radios and EM hum. Now you have all kinds of junk in the air, and some kinds of shielding work better than others. The Gotham has both main types, so it is kind of a unique product.

Mogami: seems to brighten the sound a bit, but if it exists, it is subtle. I had some and tossed it. It was well made, however.

Noise: assuming you have no interference, quad cable is not quieter. In fact, the less cables, the better the sound; more cables=more resistance. That's why Gotham GAC 4 is such a good product, because you get the specs of regular cable in quad. If you aren't running 100 meters, you won't hear the difference. Seriously. But if you lay the cable on a transformer, you may get better sound with quad. Or you can do what I do and move the cable. Hook the cable up to a Benchmark preamp (best for EM rejection) and your noise issues will usually disappear even if you are recording inside a radio or TV station, which is a pretty common place to record.

Gold plating: this is real BS of course. Only use if all your other connectors are gold. Don't hook up gold to silver, etc. There is zero difference in the sound. If your mic has gold pins, you may as well spend the one dollar more for neutrik gold. If they are silver, gold on silver can create an electrical current, which is minuscule but you don't want it. Putting two different metals together is called a battery.

Redco has a handy online cable fab menu where you can design your cable and connectors. They have taken the pain out of cable assembly. Finally. Yay. So you can just pick whatever fittings you want. The new Neutrik right angled XLRs are cool if you need right angle, otherwise go with the new Neutrik slim XLR. Small, light and solid. http://www.redco.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=126&cat=Design+Your+Own+Custom+Cable

Loss of sound quality from the connectors: that is total BS unless of course they are using 50 cent parts, cheap solder, etc. You may lose a tiny bit of the shielding from stacking connectors but I have never had an issue with that even in extreme conditions. You might think that a tiny connector is more easily bumped, but wiggle an XLR hooked up to a mixer or preamp--it is loose. Locking XLRs are better, but they are a pain to work with.

Klotz cable: might be good, might not. I have never seen anyone with a Klotz cable. Do they make their own wire, in a foundry, or is it sourced from somewhere else? It isn't cheap, that's for sure.

You can read about Gotham here: http://www.gothamaudiousa.com/analog.htm

But just suppose you want a perfectly wired cable by a master solderer. Like a work of art. Then you want this guy: http://www.renoaudiotrade.com/About/about_us.htm

I opened up one of his cables and they were not only wired correctly, but they were perfect. The new Neutrik connectors are very good. I could not solder them better if I spent the whole day, and I doubt if a big company could match his quality. I don't solder my cables any more, I just have him do it. I still make my own network cables.

having owned about a hundred different xlr cables over the years in the studio, I just buy these now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-12-COLORED-Microphone-Cables-Mic-Mike-GLS-AUDIO-6P12-/390478385026?pt=US_Cables_Snakes_Interconnects&hash=item5aea534f82

They aren't especially high quality but their connectors are almost identical neutrik knock-offs and the cable is really flexible and they are cheap. I like the colors because you can tell them apart when there are piles of cables laying about in a studio.

I have belden, mogami, canare and other cables and they are all great cables but they all tend to have the same drawbacks of eventually breaking or twisting in their jackets. The solder joints used to be the main point of failure but the newer neutrik and switchcraft connectors(and the knockoffs) now have insulation gripping claws that keep the stress off the solder joints so my newer cables don't fail nearly as much.

Be careful about how you roll your cables up and always use the connector body to push and pull and you'll be able to use cheaper cables without issues.

Honestly, I've not found a big difference between the performance of quad and dual XLR in real life and the science behind "quad balanced" systems is dubious at best. Ever since I started designing transmission line systems, I've yet to see quad balanced anything in the real world. Coax and twisted pair rule the world. What IS important in EMI/RFI ingress situations is that the shield have 100% coverage, be low impedance and the ground systems designed correctly, which in pro-audio, it's usually not. In most serious transmission line systems, the shields are usually woven or are solid. Canare usually uses woven shields which is generally a step above in EMI rejection, which is where most of their "performance" comes from.