I am looking for short (~3 feet) audio cables to connect an Edirol FA-66 audio interface with 1/4'' TRS balanced phone type outputs to my monitors that have balanced female XLR inputs with pin1=gnd, pin2=+, pin3=-.

I have found an 3 feet "Comprehensive EXF Series Stereo 1/4" Male to 3-Pin XLR Male Cable" at bhphotovideo.com
here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=4246&A=details&Q=&sku=133543&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

I am no audio engineer, so I need to be a bit cautious... Is this *stereo* cable good for *balanced* signal, or are the pins differently connected on stereo cables vs. balanced mono cables?

I am looking for short (~3 feet) audio cables to connect an Edirol FA-66 audio interface with 1/4'' TRS balanced phone type outputs to my monitors that have balanced female XLR inputs with pin1=gnd, pin2=+, pin3=-.

I have found an 3 feet "Comprehensive EXF Series Stereo 1/4" Male to 3-Pin XLR Male Cable" at bhphotovideo.com
here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=4246&A=details&Q=&sku=133543&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

I am no audio engineer, so I need to be a bit cautious... Is this *stereo* cable good for *balanced* signal, or are the pins differently connected on stereo cables vs. balanced mono cables?

I would interpret the use of the term "stereo" in that description as referring to the most common use of a 1/4 TRS plug. People normally think of those as "stereo plugs" cause you often find them on headphones, etc. In a stereo cable tip is left, ring is right, and sleeve is ground. I'm sure it's wired correctly but when you get it it's easy enough to verify with a multimeter that it is - TRS tip goes to XLR pin 2, TRS ring goes to XLR pin 3, and TRS sleeve goes to XLR pin 1. If you don't have a multimeter in your toolkit yet, you really need one anyway and you can get a perfectly adequate meter from an electorincs store for under about $25 US.

That "Comprehensive EXF" cable and the Hosa mic cable seem to be the type of cables I need.

Now I have three options. Which one of these is best for electrically very noisy environments? Is there a difference really? Or just marketing hype? Should I just grab a cable and be happy, or should I care?

1) Hosa 20AWG (0,8mm) mic cable, balanced, 98% braided copper shield. 10 feet costs about $20.

2) Comprehensive EXT mic cable, balanced, 100% OFC, 100% Microweave bare copper shielding and CFP low loss dielectric, 10 feet costs $15

3) Proel "Die Hard" mic cable, balanced, available locally (but I still need to order other stuff, so this doesn't matter).

Unfortunately I have no clue of what all those shieldings mean in practice. Obviously, I am afraid of marketing hype. "Die Hard series Genuine sound high performance balanced microphone cable OFC..." does not sound very convincing. Too many praises. Is it crap or a good cable? Now, which one gives the cleanest signal to the monitors?

Never heard of Proel but that doesn't mean anything. Either one of the first two should be fine I would think. Are you wiring for mic or line level signals? For mic level signals, a quad cable such as those from Mogami or Canare that has two parallel conductor pairs is generally considered the best choice from a noise immunity standpoint..

Line level, +4dBu

I'm not really willing to pay $50 for a single cable (Mogami) unless I absolutely must. Thanks for the hint anyway. Those quad cables might be of use later, maybe. I'll probably pick either of the two first cables then. That has to wait a day or two though, so more comments are always welcome.