xlr cables

**303Lithgow** · 04-05-2012

What should I look for in an xlr cable? I see cables anywhere from $20 for a hundred feet to $100 for twenty feet. I'm thinking the cheapies aren't shielded good enough.

**Farview** · 04-05-2012

Middle of the road ones are fine. The best bang of the buck without giving up quality has always been the ProCo brand stuff. It has the same lifetime warrantee as Monster, without the stupidly high price.

Very good quality stuff too. I still have some mic and guitar cables that I bought in the 80's and I use them every day.

**303Lithgow** · 04-05-2012

Originally Posted by Farview

Middle of the road ones are fine. The best bang of the buck without giving up quality has always been the ProCo brand stuff. It has the same lifetime warrantee as Monster, without the stupidly high price.

Very good quality stuff too. I still have some mic and guitar cables that I bought in the 80's and I use them every day.

Thanks, I see a lot of no-brand cables on ebay.. Makes me wonder what they are made of. I have some 1/8th speaker cables from the 70's that still work fine. I wonder if some of the cheap cables coming out of China will be around in 40 years?

**mjbphotos** · 04-05-2012

Are GLS Audio cables any good? I see Amazon has a bunch of multi-cable packages (rianbow colors, too) right now.

**303Lithgow** · 04-05-2012

I have two Kirlin MP-280-30FT 20 AWG cables that came with a used mic I bought. They seem to do the job. Anyone have any experience with them or the GLS cables asked about above?

**jimmys69** · 04-05-2012

IMO, there is a big difference in whether you are using cables for studio use, or for live use. I would never buy the cheapest, molded jack variety for anything, but anything above that does not actually sound any better. Durability, is the biggest difference. I would never spend $100 for a 20' cable. I can solder a new end on any cable. Screw the lifetime warranty that makes a cable cost 5 times it's value for it.

**303Lithgow** · 04-05-2012

Originally Posted by jimmys69

IMO, there is a big difference in whether you are using cables for studio use, or for live use. I would never buy the cheapest, molded jack variety for anything, but anything above that does not actually sound any better. Durability, is the biggest difference. I would never spend $100 for a 20' cable. I can solder a new end on any cable. Screw the lifetime warranty that makes a cable cost 5 times it's value for it.

I helped a sound guy set up for a concert last year. Everything he had weighed ten times as much anything I had seen before. Some of his longer spooled snakes took two guys to pickup.

**jimmys69** · 04-05-2012

Yep, when you use cables for an intensely demanding live situation, you get heavy duty stuff. For cables in a recording environment, you do not need Kevlar sheathing for a 3' cable. unless you keep cable chewing squirrels in your studio. Shielding is not what costs money. It is name branding and the casing that costs more.

**Paj** · 04-08-2012

The speakerrepair.com (GLS?) mic cables work just fine. Their cables spec as well as any commonly available commercial cable and they will save you a bundle. Mic cables can and should last for decades!

Paj