Mic cables for your whole studio!

notredamer0789

notredamer0789

Nashville Rocker
I've been looking to "uniform" my studio a bit and I was going to go ahead and get all new cables when the taxes came back and maybe a few more stands. My question to you guys is... What do you think is the best all around mic cable that could be affordable enough to furnish the whole studio (12-20 cables)? I have just random cables now and I'm finding that they are going dead more and more often. I like Monster's lifetime "warranty" (notice the quotes..), yet they can get really pricey for the longer ones. I'd also ask about stands, but I've been down that road before and, for me, the best has been plain ol On-Stage Single Boom Telescoping Stands... I think I picked up like 5 at a time in a bundle for like $200 :D Any input would be helpful, plus it's always good to know, maybe I'll find something I haven't thought of.
 
If you're handy with a soldering iron, roll your own from Belden 1800F. Mic, line, AES/EBU -- Fantastic quality cable and reasonably priced.
 
Ok, you know, I knew that would be easier and cheaper, but for some reason I didn't think to do it! Do you have anymore details about it? Where to buy the parts from?
 
CathouseSound- Proudly A B f'n M.

There's so many good options-choices in solid, quality wire rubber and steel. It's actually a real easy thing to do- Anything but Monster here.

Cheers :)
 
So what do you guys think is the cost effectiveness of making your own cables. Say I wanted to make $100 worth of xlr balanced mic cables vs. buying a top name brand of the same amount..
 
It's absolutely more cost effective to make your own. A set of male and female Neutrix XLRs is around $4.50. Cable is 40-70 cents a foot, depending on where you get it, how much you get and what kind it is (as an example, Markertek is selling Mogami Neglex 2549, considered to be one of the best, for 68 cents a foot). A store-bought 25 foot Mogami cable that uses 2549 and the black/gold Neutrik NC3*X series connectors is $50. You can make one for less than $25 in parts and 15-30 minutes of your time. Not to mention, knowing how to fix busted cables and make custom cables or adapters on the fly as needed is an invaluable skill.
 
notredamer0789 said:
So what do you guys think is the cost effectiveness of making your own cables.
Click to expand...
It depends on what value you put on your time.

In materials, buying a spool of wire and a couple of bags of connectors is much cheaper than buying them pre-made. Of course you have to add the cost of the tools, if you don't already have them; soldering station, wire cutter/stripper. But those are things any studio should have as part of their basic equipment list anyway. Ans Adam said, just the ability to be able to perform your own repairs with such tools is immesurable.

The biggest cost in DIY cabling is in time. Only you can decide what that is worth to you. It's never free, but it may be worth the cost in lifetime to you to save the money, or it may not. It's for you to decide whether spending a few hours performing the tedious job of making cables is worth saving a few dozen dollars.

And that's assuming, of course, that you're any good at soldering. It's not hard, but some folks just don't yet have the technique down, and get frustrated fast while making connections that will wind up going cold on them and giving them headaches down the road. If you know your way around a soldering iron, though, a solid, well made DIY connection is hard to beat.

G.
 
Thank you guys so much for all of the input, we (my friend and I) have all the tools necessary and he has plenty of knowledge (I have a bit) on soldering. I guess my next question is...

Where would I purchase all of the necessary items (excluding tools, soldering items...)? I've tried to look around for wire and connectors, yet I can't find a dedicated site that sells this stuff. Plus, I don't know what I'd need. I just want to make balanced xlr mic cables. I have several Mogami cables now, so I'd like to get that quality of wire.
 
Markertek and Redco are two of the more popular ones that I'm aware of, at least on the eastern side of the US (both in the eastern NY/CT area).

For connectors, they Neutrik NC3MX (male) and NC3FX (female) are basically your ubiquitous XLR connectors. They're inexpensive and easy to solder due to having cups to hold the wires in place. Just make sure you put the chuck and the strain relief on the cable before you solder the connector on! Switchcraft XLR connectors are also very common, but I've read that they're a bit more difficult to work with (can't confirm or deny this though, as I've only ever worked with the Neutriks).

For cable, you can get good cable made by Mogami, Canare or Belden. Your Mogami cables probably are made with their 2534 quad cable, which just means that it has two conductors each to connect to pins 2 and 3 (instead of just one conductor). Canare Starquad is another popular quad cable. Quad is slightly more of a hassle to work with but not prohibitively so. I made my mic cables with the Neutrik connectors and Canare L-2T2S cable which is a standard two-conductor cable instead of a quad, but one day I lucked out and found on eBay someone selling 300 or so feet of mic cables handmade to various lengths using Mogami 2534 and Neutrik connectors. I think I paid $150 for the lot or something ridiculous like that, so that kind of set me up for mic cables.

If you want to make XLR-TRS cables (every studio needs them), Neutrik's NP3C is an excellent TRS connector that's easy to work with.

Oh yeah...my favorite thing about making your own cables? The variety of colors you can get them in. Useful for color coding cables by length or use, or just for something more interesting to look at then dull black cables.
 
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