Getting In Gear: Mark Markel, Analysis Plus Cables

TheToneKing.com counts itself lucky to be part of such a great community of builders, designers, users (professional and amateur alike), and musicians. We here at TheToneKing.com will wager that, collectively, our circle of friends probably knows everything about everything when it comes to gear. So, every once in a while, we like to pick a brain or two.

Analysis Plus is no newcomer to the Tone Lounge. You’ve seen us feature them in our extensive Summer and Winter NAMM coverage and put their quality products like the innovative QiJack through the paces. The guru at Analysis Plus, Mark Markel, has a lot of great stories about interactions he’s had with some of the top artists on the scene, and we thought it would be cool to get some insight on how they’re used Analysis Plus products to hear music as it was intended.

We have so many artists that have supported us, it’s hard to know where to begin. To name a few: Marty Friedman, Johnny Hiland, Russ Hewitt, Buddy Strong (with Usher), Chris Rodriguez, Igor Saavedra (Chile), Juan Pablo Daza (Juanes/Colombia), Adam Miller (Australia), Dominique Di Piazza (France) and Tyler Chiarelli (Florida Georgia Line),” Markel said.

Mark Markel – CEO & Founder of Analysis-Plus Cables with John Mayer at Capital Records

In case you’ve forgotten, Analysis Plus is, at it’s heart, an engineering company that specializes in computer modeling to solve problems.

Some years ago, we were hired by the largest cable manufacturer to analyze their cables,” Markel said. “While utilizing our modeling technology to see how current flows through cables at different frequencies, we soon discovered that the accepted academic answers to current distribution in a wire are wrong. Our use of computer simulation showed us how current is truly distributed and thus allowed us to enhance the sound quality. Moreover, it showed how our resulting Hollow Oval cable design provides superior performance.”

If you go to the Analysis Plus website https://www.analysis-plus.com/, you can see the original computer models of this discovery.

Audiophiles put it this way: ‘Using round cable is like pouring fine wine through a lead pipe. What comes out is not what went in,” Markel said. “Since we all love music at our company, we applied for and received a patent that allowed us to start building our Hollow Oval cables, and today we are proudly supplying cables to many of the industry’s greatest musicians and music aficionados.”

 

Silver Sky-slinger John Mayer 

John Mayer, who was a great host, invited us to one of his recording sessions at Capitol Records. He was using one of the largest recording rooms at Capitol. This is the same room Frank Sinatra used to record with a big band – so you get an idea of how big it is,” Markel said.

Shane Juhl – Analysis Plus Production Manager, making cables for John Mayer at Capital Records.

John Mayer plugged directly into his amp at one end of the room but played and listened through the studio monitors on the other side of the glass”.  This is a crazy-long run of 20 meters! “John Mayer said the Yellow Oval instrument cable is the only cable he can use at this length and feel like he is hearing everything as it should sound. Shane Juhl (Analysis Plus production manager) and I spent a full day at Capitol Records with John Mayer, Chris Gott (production manager) and Chad Franscoviak (engineer), going over his special cabling needs. John has an incredible ear and really understands the importance of using the right cables“.

While John played, the engineer switched many cables in and out of the signal path. It was amazing to witness John describe the differences in detail and response that he heard with each cable.

Markel reports that John Mayer now uses the Silver Oval 2 speaker cable between his amp heads and cabinets. On stage, he typically uses the Genesis Pure instrument cable.

 

What A Coincidence!

One of my favorite stories is about a top Manhattan fashion photographer, Michael Pollizzi,” Markel said. “He was doing a shoot of Richard Bona, one of the world’s best bass players and a long-time Analysis Plus user. Richard was apparently more interested in the outstanding sound coming from Michael Pollizzi’s stereo than in posing for a picture —Pollizzi’s audiophile system was completely wired with Analysis Plus home audio cables. Richard Bona was already using our Yellow Oval instrument cables, but wasn’t aware of how our technology can similarly improve high-end home audio systems.”

Trust Him..He’s a Doctor

Joshua Fineberg is a professor of music, composition, and music theory at Boston University. His curriculum vitae includes…well, just go here or visit https://joshuafineberg.com/biography/ and take a look.

He took the time to write me a detailed letter (read here) on the improvement Analysis Plus cables brought to his highly refined home audio system—it was awesome to hear, ” Markel said. Dr. Fineberg described Analysis Plus cables as providing “...a level of sonic reproduction I never thought I could achieve.”

 

No Bass Player Jokes Here…World-Class Bassists Agree on Analysis Plus

Another artist [in the Analysis Plus family], who is a great talent from Chile, is Igor Saavedra,” Markel said.

Igor was asked by Steve Bailey to give a Master’s Bass class at Berklee College of Music. Igor insisted that they use what he considers the best bass cables for the class—Analysis Plus. And bass player Joseph Patrick Moore sent me a video where he compared instrument cables in Pro Tools and found clear proof of why Analysis Plus cables are better.”

Moore’s video is available for viewing on the Analysis Plus website.

 

Where to Start With Analysis Plus Products

The Black Oval is our entry-level cable but still has a great sound. Marty Friedman uses this cable on tour,” Markel said.

The Yellow Oval is a cable that can handle long runs with ease and as Peter Stroud (co-founder of 65amps) said, ‘…so quiet that you can hear your amp breathe.’ It’s physically larger than the other cables, and not quite as flexible, but gives you a massive sound that makes it more than worth the small handling compromise,” Markel said.

A cable that many people forget about is the power cable. Our power cords have a very low noise floor and great shielding to reduce Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Although many players have experienced great results from replacing their stock amp and rack power cables with Analysis Plus offerings. Prince was certainly the most notable user [of this product],” Markel said.

 

Coming Attractions

We are constantly innovating for both Pro and Home audio applications. Specifically, we are very excited about a new connector solution and finding new ways to improve our musical experience through this amazing Hollow Oval cable geometry,” Markel said. “What’s fun about pro audio gear is that you are dealing with trained ears and artists who appreciate the difference they hear with our cable. The better the player, the more excited they are about what they are now hearing and what they were missing.”

 

Special thanks to Greg DiBenedetto for contributing to this article.

John Mayer’s guitar techs before a concert at DTE in Detroit with Mark Markel. They are holding the new QiJacks!

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