Parts Express 12-Feet 3.5mm Stereo Male to Male Cable

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This cable allows me to connect my laptop's headphone jack to my receiver's FAUX (front auxiliary) jack so I can play internet radio from the laptop (Jango is great, and free), or my laptop's DVD/CD player, into my receiver and out through Polk speakers. Or I can connect my MP3 player or TV as well. It will work to connect anything with 3.5 mm input and output jacks.

The build quality is excellent. The cable is as thick as the male pins themselves, suggesting the wiring is better than those skinny short connecting cables you get with some devices. The ends have good strain relief and the pins appear well made.

The excellent sound quality still surprises me whenever I use this cable. And the convenience of just plugging this into whatever I want to use at the moment is an important consideration. Now I just sit back in my recliner with my laptop connected to my receiver several feet away and have total control of volume, equalizer, tracks, and selections using my wireless mouse.

HOWEVER, I did have to do some very minor modification to get this to work perfectly. My laptop's headphone jack is recessed and the shoulder of this cable's plastic barrel ends hit the edge of that recess, preventing the pin from being fully inserted securely. This caused some hum unless I forcefully pushed the pin into the headphone jack. Any movement would then cause the hum to return until I pushed the pin back in. So, I took my trusty pocket knife and trimmed the plastic shoulders down to about 45 degrees. A 5 minute job to do both ends. This cable has worked perfectly since that very minor modification. I now have zero, zilch, nada, no hum or buzz when using this cable.

Five stars for sound quality, five stars for build quality, five stars for convenience, and five stars for those virtues at such a ridiculously low price. But I gave it four stars overall because of the modification I had to make. I have decided to order another one, just to have it if I need it. At a cost of less than three and free shipping it would be foolish not to.

Will you have to trim the ends on your cable? Maybe not, but it is easy to do if needed. I do suspect that some of the reviewers complaining of buzz or hum may need to do the modification. Or it could be a ground loop which is a grounding problem of the components interacting with the building's electrical ground; then using ANY cable for the connection could cause the hum or buzz (not just THIS cable). Actually, a ground loop sounds like a BUZZ, not a hum. A HUM would more likely be caused by a connection problem. In addition to the hum (before the trimming), I also had ground loop buzz when I connected my computer to my sound system. After trying a few remedies I read online, I finally fixed it by plugging the laptop's 3 prong plug into a 2 prong cord, with some of the cord's rubber removed so the 3rd prong sits in the open. It doesn't hurt a thing, and the buzz is completely gone. It is curious to me that all of my A/V components have 2 prong plugs rather than 3 prongs; could ground loop buzz be the reason?

By the way, I had intended to purchase a CD changer for my sound system, but now that I have this cable there is no need since I can easily use my laptop DVD/CD player. So I have just ordered an Audio Technica AT-LP120 phono with the money I saved by getting this cable. (Yes, I will be able to use the cables that come with it to attach to this cable to connect that phono to my receiver's front aux jack, as well!)

NOTE: When plugging or unplugging this cable, be sure the devices are turned off or that the receiver or device is set to some input other than the input for this cable. Failure to do so can cause a loud buzz or pop as the cable is removed or inserted. This sound is unnerving and I imagine it could damage speakers. Don't ask me how I know this.

ADDED MUCH LATER: I received my phono; this cable worked great as a fill-in until I received the RCA cables I ordered to make permanent connections between phono and receiver. I don't remember the last time something so inexpensive has served me so well. Maybe never!

ADDED 1/13/2012: I have been using this cable for a few months now with no problems. It is holding up well with no fraying or breaking of the rubber. I did notice that the first photo is the same as my cable, but the two 'users' photos appear to be a different cable (those photos with notes complaining of quality). Look for yourself and see that the end barrels and/or the pins are different from the first photo.

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Bought this for connecting a computer to a tv. No movement and no lack of sound. Works just as expected

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This cable works fine and arrived quickly. I use it to connect an older mp3 player to my stereo system in order to listen to the files. The length is nice, good to stretch across a (small-ish) room.

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This long, sturdy cable was all I needed to hook up my iPod to my receiver and control it from a far distance. It can be used for a bunch of other situations as well (laptop to receiver, iPod to car, you name it).

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Used to connect a music player to the aux jack in my car stereo. First cable was mono only----only got sound out of my right speakers. Replacement cable they shipped me had a different problem---volume had to be cranked WAY up before you heard anything, and even then the sound was very tinny with no low end. The shorter cable that I was replacing had none of these issues...so I know it's not a problem with my equipment. The seller, however, sent the replacement at no cost and refunded my money promptly when the replacement cable also didn't work.