Royal Mess of cords- what to separate

[Alanfc]

I have a royal colossal mess o' cords in my small apartment studio setup.

I am in the process of "managing" them, but I want to know what cords are OK to be touching one another and what ones should not .

I have the usual computer monitor , power, extension cords, USB cords, studio monitor, mouse , keyboard, mic cords, pre-amp to compressor to soundcard etc. I got some of that flexible plastic tubing to control the cords but what I really care about is problems I can't hear.

Or,

if I can't hear any extra noise- then is there no problem?. I just don't want to go crazy trying to keep every single cord from touching each other. I need to keep it sane here.

my searches almost got me some answers but not quite. I did read about not running audio/data parallel to 120v lines. When people say "parallel" , do they mean at a distance, not touching, but looking like truly parallel lines? Or does that mean touching and running together?

thanks

[AudioWebs]

My knowledge provides the following helpful advice.

1. Do not allow power cords to cross audio cord. If they absolutely must cross, they should cross perpendicularly as possible. Not parallel.

2. As far as problems you can't hear, that's really the only issue you have is an accumuluation of noise. Nothing is going to cause any sort of physical damage to any of your equipment because of this. It's purely an issue of noise.

Hope this helps.

[Jblount]

Yeah, 110 run in parallel will induce voltage in mic cables. The monitor, mouse, keybord, and usb cables dont carry harmful voltage. So they are ok to bundle with mic, patch, and input cables. Anything you plug in the wall can be bundled seperately. And yes, you will hear the difference of induced voltage on mic cables.

[Alanfc]

Thanks alot guys- this is great news..I'm almost there, but two more combos to ask about

1. Studio monitor cords (unbalanced, but they're Mogami !)

touching each other, touching their own power cords (Yorkville powered YSM1's),

or touching the power cords leading from my pre-amp, external soundcard box, or compressor;

2. patch cords, that run out of my preamp&compressor, can they touch?:
a) each other
b) monitor cords
c) I'm now assuming that we don 't want these patch cords and the power cords for preamp, compressor, soundcard touching, true?

I think that'll cover the rest of my mess

Thanks

[Jblount]

Cables from pre and comp can be bundled together with monitor cables. Just dont put them with the power cords, even if they are 12v wall warts. Sounds like you got it pretty much under control.

[Alanfc]

thanks you guys, this is great
I'm set

[Innovations]

Yes, just to fill in a little on what is going on here, almost every cord in your studio other than power cords are carryin low voltage and/or DC voltage. You power cords are carrying high voltage and alternating current. The insulation o a power cord is designed to protect you from shock, not to stop magnetic fields, so they are surrounded by an oscillating magnetic field at 60hz. Put that paralel to another wire for a significant length and it will induce a similar oscillating current in it at 60hz, or a bass hum.

[Alanfc]

I wonder-
what is considered "insulation" with what we're talking about. I guess this is a electical engineer question but

Is it a layer of Plastic? Rubber? I see my big indutstrial extension cords are rubbery so I wonder. If I have to go close with these incompatible volts/hz's whats a good homemade fix for insulating ?


thanks

[Jblount]

Yes plastic and rubber both are insulators. But their use in electrical cords is to prevent the path of current from diverting from the conductor, IE not shocking you. Most heavy duty cords now have finer stranded wire- (not smaller wire, smaller strands that make up the wire)because voltage travels on the outside of the conductor, thus the smaller the strands, the more surface area to travel along. Another bnefit of ultra fine conductors is more flexibility. Then these conductors, if 110 v, are three (hot, nuetral, ground) are isolated from eachother with rubber. Then usually some rope like fibers to give tension strength are added the whole lengthways ad are wrapped around the isolated conductors. Then a final overwrapping of rubber or plastic sheath goes over that.
So now to your question, what are you trying to insulate? Like innovations said, no rubber or plastic will inhibit a magnetic field from transfering current on things like mic cables. Its like a transformer. You have a certian voltage going in on a wire, its wrapped around a plate that is next to another plate that has the wire going out wrapped around it, but with a different number of turns. Thus magnetic energy is transfered creating a current flow at a different rate. The wires in a transformer never touch. Its the same principal with the power cords running along side mic cables. The current path will create a magnetic field arond the mic cable causing a small current to be induced onto it. Thus creating that dreaded thing we call induced hum, or noise.

[Alanfc]

Hi -thanks

I have two areas which have an audio cable and a power cable coming within 1" of each other, not touching. For a distance of about 3 inches. I don't know how to express that, I mean if you were to look at it and draw a circle around the area they meet, the diameter of the circle would be 3".
They're only sort of perpendicular, but not really running parallel.

Ok am I taking this too far? I taped some packing foam around one of cables in the area where they come close. This is my "homemade fix".... OK I think I am going crazy on this right?

If this is not a potential problem, no need to reply

thanks

[Jblount]

Three inches away is sufficent. The packing foam may be overkill for a problem that it couldnt solve anyway. I think you are ok though.

[Alanfc]

got it
thanks alot