Radio Shack Cables %$!##!!!!

A

Aren

New member
Talk about a piece of shit...
I just built a phantom powered ECM, plugged it in using a Radio Shack cable, and viola, major buzz.
Obviously, I thought something was wrong with my assembly, so I started checking the circuit, etc. No problems!
Then, from some reason, I decided to try a different cable. Quite as they come. Tried a different Radio Shack cable - buzz.
That's really strange. These cables work with my dynamics and with my MXL mic just fine, but nonetheless, what a piece of shit!

:mad:
 
Just this weekend, I had to justify spending $70 on cables to my wife when she knows I can get "the same thing" at radio whack for around $20. :rolleyes:

Carl
 
Actualy, if you solder your own cables, you can get good quality cables for a lot cheaper than that.
The cables I use (the non-Radio Whack ones) were about (currency conversion...) 60 cents a meter.
Cheaper than RS....

Oren
 
yea i had some radioshack cables and i thought saomething was wrong with my pre, then i bought some cables from my music stores i think there called NEUTRIX, but anyway, the sounds was 200 percent better, no more buzz.
 
It ain't just Radio Shack. Same thing happened with my B.L.U.E. Cranberry. Worked fine with my Studio Projects mics, but when I plugged in a different condenser, it buzzed like a swarm of bees at high gain settings. I took the connecters off and found that one of the shields was not connected. Of course, once I fixed it, it was way better than RS due to the upgraded materials, but as far as quality control goes, they're about the same. Heck, they're probably both made in the same far-east factory (B.L.U.E. admitted to having the Cranberry imported, BTW).
 
One thing you for sure want to do is always use wire made with oxygen free copper. You won’t notice any difference at first, but, as time marches on and the copper oxidizes, the sound will deteriorate.
 
arcaxis said:
Hey Aren,
I like building stuff (basically 'cause I'm cheap)!! Can you elaborate a little on the ECM you built and what you are using it for.
Click to expand...

Hey Arcaxis,

I actually built a bunch of them (and actually got to sell a couple) for various usages. One is for the violinist in my band, for live use. It just a capsule mounted on a piece of cable (reinforced with some shrink wrap), which is mounted directly on the violin, with a little battery-powered power supply that she can wear on her belt.
I'm also making one for my accoustic guitar (better thatn any piezo pickup I've ever heared) and a few for general use (like ECM-8000, mounted in little metal tubes.
For capsules it's best to use Panasonic WM-61, which have a ruler flat response (20-20000), and cost like 2.50 at Digikey, but you can use just about any capsule you took from an old cell-phone handsfree earpiece, a computer mic or an old tape recorded.
For power supply, you can make a battery powered one, or a phantom powered one.
Here are schematics for a phatom powered, balanced circuit.
The two capacitors closest to the capsule can be substituted with 2.2.u capacitors to minimize bass response (if you're using it for live use, or for recording concerts).

Code: 
                         - 10u +

    +---------o-------------||------o-----------------  HOT    (2)

    |         |                     |

    |         |-                    |

    |      CAPSULE                 22k

    |         |+                    |

    |         |       -    10u  +   |

    |         o-------------||------|------o----------  COLD   (3)

   2k2        |                     |      |

    |        2k2                    |     22k

    |         |                     |      |

    |         o--330R---o----o------o------+

    |        +|         |    |+

    |        10u       2k2  10u

    |        -|         |    |-

  --o---------o---------o----o------------------------  GROUND (1)
 
For a battery powered, unbalanced mic, use this circuit:

Code: 
                        |+V DC supply
                       /
                       \  2.2K resistor
     mike              /
     _____             \      ||
     |   |-------------+------||--------> Output signal
     |   |                    || 2.2-10 ufd cap
     |   |---------------+ 
     -----               |
  (Ground tab is       ----- Ground
   common to case)      ---
                         -

'll send some pictures later.
 
Here's the capsule on a wire.
I know the quality is not great... It's a very cheap digital camera.
 

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The phantom powered suppply box (circuit):
 

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And last but lot least....
That's the bux from the outside
 

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Hi Arcaxis,

No, it's not a Neumann, but it's usable enough. Good for accoustics, room mics, and basically everything.
The cost of the whole thing (with casings and everything) is about 10-12$ per mic (here. I bet it's less in the states).
You can finish a pair in an afternoon. Actually, the only thing that really takes time is making a hole in the chasis big enough for the XLR plug to fit in. Tell me if you find a better way than just drilling a million times.
Be creative on your mounting techniques. PZM comes to mind...
Good luck!

Oren
 
BTW, they cut through metal, wood, fiberglass, steel, and sheetrock. You can use them all over the house for all kinds of projects.
 
The step bits are good if the material you are drilling through is fairly shallow. And they are anywhere from 25-30 dollars. The hole saw can be used for many other projects. Ace hardware usually carries things like that. Or you can get the spade bit which is a little messier, but does the same job.
 
Thats true, they are good for shallow plastic project boxes, or for when you got to make a bunch of holes for a patch pannel.
 
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