AudioQuest Blueberry 18Gbps HDMI Cable (3m Single)

The Blueberry 18 is AudioQuest’s entry-level high-performance HDMI cable — an 18Gbps design that applies the same engineering principles found throughout AudioQuest’s HDMI range to the most affordable price point in the lineup. It uses solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) conductors across all 19 HDMI pins, Level 1 Noise-Dissipation with full direction-controlled conductor management, and a CL3/FT4-rated PVC jacket for in-wall installation. The “18” designation refers to its guaranteed 18Gbps bandwidth, which supports 4K/60 (4:4:4), 8K/30 (8-bit, 4:2:0), HDR, Dynamic HDR (Dolby Vision, HDR10+), and eARC — comfortably covering the requirements of the vast majority of home cinema and hi-fi systems in use today.

AudioQuest describes the Blueberry as a significant performance improvement over its predecessor, the Pearl 18, while retaining the same solid-conductor, direction-controlled design philosophy that runs through the entire HDMI range. The use of solid Long-Grain Copper across all 19 conductors — rather than the stranded, minimum-grade materials found in budget HDMI cables — provides a robust, high-purity signal path with consistent performance across all data channels.

Solid Long-Grain Copper Conductors

Every one of the Blueberry 18’s 19 conductors is a solid, unbroken strand of AudioQuest’s Long-Grain Copper. Solid conductors eliminate strand-interaction distortion — the electrical and magnetic interference that occurs between the multiple thin wires in a stranded conductor as they make and break contact with each other. This is a particular concern in HDMI cables where high-frequency digital signals are more susceptible to the timing errors (jitter) that strand interaction introduces. Long-Grain Copper has fewer grain boundaries and impurities than standard OFHC copper, resulting in a cleaner signal path with less distortion at every crystalline junction within the metal.

Noise-Dissipation: Level 1 (Direction-Controlled)

AudioQuest’s Noise-Dissipation system addresses a problem that conventional shielding alone cannot solve. Traditional 100% shield coverage blocks externally generated interference, but the shield itself can become an antenna — capturing radio-frequency energy from Wi-Fi routers, mobile phones, Bluetooth devices, and other sources that saturate the modern home environment. This captured RF can then modulate the equipment’s ground reference, introducing noise into the signal despite the shielding doing its primary job. Level 1 Noise-Dissipation tackles this by direction-controlling all 19 conductors during manufacture, orienting them to direct and drain RF noise away from the most sensitive circuits. The eARC conductor pair receives additional attention: it is internally controlled to run in the opposite direction from the four data pairs that carry video and audio to the display, ensuring that the audio return path from TV to receiver or soundbar benefits from optimised noise management. For correct directionality, the cable should be installed with the arrows on the plugs pointing towards the TV.

eARC and Audio Return Channel

The Blueberry 18 fully supports eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel), which dramatically increases the audio bandwidth available on the return path from TV to soundbar or AV receiver compared to the original ARC specification. Standard ARC maxes out at lossy, compressed 5.1-channel surround sound. eARC enables uncompressed and lossless high-resolution multichannel audio formats including Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio, and DTS:X — the full-quality audio tracks found on Blu-ray discs and premium streaming content.

HDR and Video Support

With 18Gbps guaranteed bandwidth, the Blueberry 18 supports the full range of current HDR standards: HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and Dolby Vision. Dynamic HDR formats like HDR10+ and Dolby Vision enable frame-by-frame or scene-by-scene optimisation of brightness, contrast, and colour rather than applying fixed HDR metadata to an entire programme. The cable supports 4K resolution at up to 60 frames per second in full 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, and 8K resolution at up to 30fps in 8-bit 4:2:0. For 4K/120 gaming (which requires 48Gbps), AudioQuest’s separate “48” HDMI series is required.

Build and Installation

The Blueberry 18 uses a CL3/FT4-rated PVC jacket, meaning it is approved for permanent in-wall installation without conduit — a practical advantage for clean home cinema installations where cables need to be routed behind walls or through ceiling voids. The jacket is black with blue stripes, flexible enough for straightforward installation while providing robust physical protection.

18Gbps vs 48Gbps: Choosing the Right Cable

AudioQuest’s HDMI range is divided into two bandwidth tiers: the “18” series (18Gbps, HDMI 2.0) and the “48” series (48Gbps, HDMI 2.1). The Blueberry 18 is the right cable for systems where 4K/60 is the target resolution and frame rate — which covers the vast majority of home cinema use, including 4K Blu-ray playback, streaming from apps, and standard broadcast content. The 48Gbps series (starting with Cherry Cola 48 and Forest 48) is necessary for 4K/120 gaming, 8K/60 video, or where the full HDMI 2.1 feature set including Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), and Quick Frame Transport (QFT) is required. All AudioQuest HDMI cables are backwards compatible with all previous HDMI generations.

Specifications