No options that are cheap I'm afraid. The switchcraft plugs used by best-tronics are worth the investment though. They are solid steel and will last forever. You get what you pay for. (Trust me, Hosa is just BAD NEWS and I only use them when it's an emergency.)
I checked mouser.com to see if they had them cheaper. Only marginally so. Best-tronics bust buy them in high volumes. With the cost of cable, the shipping and the hassle of soldering them yourself, $26 for a single custom best-tronics MIDI cable is actually a decent deal. I spent $80-90 on 4 cables, and that's when components were cheaper.
