Beginner cabling info

joey2000

joey2000

New member
Realizing I needed to improve my knowledge here, I bounced around and found this, thought it was a good recap:
Recording Studio Cables: All You Need to Know | Ledger Note

They're quite wrong with their "That's really all you need to know about recording studio cables" bit, but again, IMO it is a good intro.

Those who know this front and back, agree and anything else to add? I'm thinking more info about which to use and how/why for instance.

Also a little aside about RCA maybe ;)
 
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The "All About Analog Studio Cables" seems like a decent section to focus on. Balanced is preferred, but you may not have the gear to take advantage of it. I couldn't afford to buy new gear for quite a while, so I'm not sure if you can financially afford garww's advice.

RCA is basically (unbalanced) TS as described in the article.

Many items come as digital to digital over USB (audio interfaces, midi controllers), so that's a pretty common sense thing unless you have an older computer which may not have the latest USB 2.0 or 3 ports. If your computer is that old, you need to upgrade anyway. Firewire is still popular and viable, but unnecessary since there's usually USB varieties that offer the same effective functionality.
 
I have one major gripe about that article. It's been written for a specific group - the sort of thing a college lecturer would produce for their students, but in the attempt to make it easy to digest, the digital side has been kind of blended together. MIDI, USB, Firewire - but then digital audio is simply left as optical, no mention about balanced EBU, 100 Ohm distribution and then BNC cables suddenly pop up because they are used to supply synchronisation. So it's not wrong, but incomplete and prone to being confused. The ethernet is mentioned and it's tagged with 'latency' - giving people the impression that you don't get any - well you don't get latency from cables anyway - analogue or digital, but no explanation of the causes of latency - it mentions power over ethernet, but with every manufacturer using ethernet for their stage boxes, and then like Behringer, also using it, but a different format, for their personal mixers - it deserves a little more explanation. Somebody reading it could get the wrong understanding of quite a bit of it.

The last paragraph just made me smile.
As you can see, once you have the full picture laid out in front of you it's not remotely as big of a deal as it seems. Just remember, you have analog and digital cables. Within analog you really only need to know about XLR and TRS/TS. XLR is for mics and is balanced. TRS is balanced and stereo-capable while TS is unbalanced and mono. You can transform an unbalanced signal to balanced through a D.I. box. For digital cables, the large majority of people will only ever use interface cables of either USB or Firewire and maybe a MIDI cable but probably not. That's really all you need to know about recording studio cables!
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Really? How about screening, how about single core vs multi-core. Surely in a studio of any size, some mention of patchbays is needed - very few studios do not have them. No mention of cable maximum lengths - as in guitar high impedance, medium impedances for say keyboards, and of course lengths on firewire/usb - which foxes many people.

It's useful, but not comprehensive enough for the claim that it's all you need to know.
 
I would just say balanced offers advantages. Recently I got some noise in a setup disaster using unbalanced, but I can't remember this as a big problem. I usually catch it before recording and am usually much neater in hooking things up. I'm much, much more wary of optical cables and jacks

Could of been two synths sitting right next to each other, but wiring has to take a tight path from the mixer, over two outlet strips and a 120 to 220v transformer, to the effects and disk recorder
 
Use balanced on any equipment that can handle it. If forced to use unbalanced, keep the runs as short as possible and avoid running alongside electrical cabling.

Something I'd strongly suggest: Invest in a medium decent soldering iron, the connectors you'll need and a reel or two of cable (depending on what types you need. Audio connectors are one of the easiest ways you'll find to learn how to solder (there are lots of Youtube tutorials so I won't go into detail here). This way, you'll know the quality of the cable and connectors, you can make things exactly the length you need and you'll save money (unless you buy cheap cables which won't last anyway.

Seriously, you might even find you enjoy it. I like my afternoon soldering session, mug of coffee by my side and my favourite radio station playing.
 
garww said:
Just buy some Apogee cables, and then, buy hardware that fits
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:rolleyes:


Pinky said:
The "All About Analog Studio Cables" seems like a decent section to focus on.
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Actually that's where I started. The intro stuff frankly I doubt is of any interest to most. Blah blah.....just tell me what I need and how to use :)

RCA is basically (unbalanced) TS as described in the article.
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Actually this area of this article was lacking IMO. For ex first he says unbalanced is no big deal if you keep the lines "short" meaning 1-3'. Then he says they're fine "unless you're running a 25 foot long guitar cable on stage." I know that was just a number he grabbed, but it's misleading. So what about lines between 3-25'? wtfo? Also I found his "You won't use speaker cable, RCA jacks..." comment...interesting. Then why do some AIs/mixers have RCA jacks?

Many items come as digital to digital over USB (audio interfaces, midi controllers), so that's a pretty common sense thing unless you have an older computer which may not have the latest USB 2.0 or 3 ports. If your computer is that old, you need to upgrade anyway.
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You're not kidding. Even many older computers have at least USB 2 and most newer ones have USB 3. Conversely, he's wrong about "Any interface you use will likely feature the newest version of USB or Firewire." Even a lot of newer AIs/etc I'm seeing are only USB 2 (although that is more than enough for most people).


rob aylestone said:
you don't get latency from cables anyway - analogue or digital, but no explanation of the causes of latency
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Probably because the article is about cables. :)

Surely in a studio of any size, some mention of patchbays is needed - very few studios do not have them.
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I quite disagree. I'd bet a lot of home studios don't have them.

No mention of cable maximum lengths
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There was, but as I mentioned above, it was weak.

It's useful, but not comprehensive enough for the claim that it's all you need to know.
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Yeah pretty much how I saw it. On a 2d look this article isn't quite as good as I thought. :o He needs more info/emphasis on what you'd use and why and less unnecessary techie talk. It's hardly "all you need to know."
 
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joey2000 said:
Actually this area of this article was lacking IMO. For ex first he says unbalanced is no big deal if you keep the lines "short" meaning 1-3'. Then he says they're fine "unless you're running a 25 foot long guitar cable on stage." I know that was just a number he grabbed, but it's misleading. So what about lines between 3-25'? wtfo? Also I found his "You won't use speaker cable, RCA jacks..." comment...interesting. Then why do some AIs/mixers have RCA jacks?

You're not kidding. Even many older computers have at least USB 2 and most newer ones have USB 3. Conversely, he's wrong about "Any interface you use will likely feature the newest version of USB or Firewire." Even a lot of newer AIs/etc I'm seeing are only USB 2 (although that is more than enough for most people).
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For the 3-25 foot it would depend on the equipment in the room, and how close to it the cables get, etc. They also fail to mention dirty power (or maybe they did and I missed it?).

If you need more than a handful of inputs simultaneously, then ramping up throughput supported by firewire and USB3 would be beneficial. The reason many interfaces we discuss on this forum are USB2.0 and they're adequate is because many of us are doing one instrument at a time, and doing electronic or virtual drums (so don't need 4-8+ mic inputs).

I'd agree that the article has a lot of holes, some just a speck some gaping.
 
GOING BACK TO THE PATCHBAY MENTION and the posters recent mixer post, the mixer and other switching devices can act as a patch bay
 
"so I'm not sure if you can financially afford garww's advice." Quite! I don't think Garww 'gets' noob and Home Recording! Most newbies are impecunious as well as uninformed. But, on the article...

# If you asked me I could write a book....# And I dare say there are several plus millions of words written in thousands of magazines over the years.

The RCA cable is a 'foot in both camps' example. Favoured of course by the hi-fi brigade it finds its way on lots of low end interfaces and other analogue devices but it is of course very commonly found as the S/PDIF digital connector. Much handwringing has been written about the fact that such connectors are not of 75 Ohm impedance? This however matters little so long as the CABLE is 75R and is fairly short.

Yes, I agree with the general opinion. Rather arrogant to say 'Last word, ALL you need to know about audio cables'!

(Oh! And you DON'T need an inverted feed for a balanced system)

Dave.
 
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