What kind of snakes have you had trouble with?

G

G. Simon

New member
I want a new snake for connecting a Tascam M208 (8x4x2) with an M-Audio Delta 1010, and I'd like to know what kinds you all have used with memorable results (good or bad) - help?

Thanks,
Glenn
 
One memorable experience has been with EWI snakes from Audiopile, because it's a pretty decent snake for not a lot of money.

Another one has been buying a snake made with Belden cable. I don't know what the hell Belden did, but their cable jackets are different now. Very plasticky, they don't coil or lay well, and are kind of stiff. Even the same part numbers I bought twelve or so years ago have been reformulated. Very distressing. :mad:
 
never use a rattle snake.........................................................sorry, your rite, that wasnt funny.

uhhh, anything with molded ends is generally bad news, including HOSA and JADE AUDIO.
 
Bad experience with HOSA snakes that have the plastic molded ends. Good experience with Monster Cable and HotWired snakes.
 
Its probably best to build your own for a couple of reasons: it's cheaper, you can get high quality stuff, and its good experience.

Look for cable from Belden, Mogami, Canare, or Gepco, and ends from Neutrik or Switchcraft. www.markertek.com has good prices.

If you don't want to make your own but want better than the stuff you can get at Guitar Center, talk to xstatic. He quoted me some good prices before I opted to build my own.

Having said that, I have a couple of Hosa snakes that haven't given me a lick of trouble in years, but obviously this isn't the case with everyone's experiences, so YMMV.
 
Adam P said:
Its probably best to build your own for a couple of reasons: it's cheaper, you can get high quality stuff, and its good experience.
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I've found the cost comparison between building your own single cables versus store bought to be different than the cost comparison between building your own snakes versus store bought.

With single cables it is much more cost effective to build your own, in my experience. However, when it comes to snakes I've found the pricing to be a lot closer. If you also factor in time, assuming you feel your time has value, then it is actually the same or less expensive to buy pre-built snakes.

I've done both, and at this point I build my own single cables and purchase pre-built snakes.
 
SonicAlbert said:
I've found the cost comparison between building your own single cables versus store bought to be different than the cost comparison between building your own snakes versus store bought.

With single cables it is much more cost effective to build your own, in my experience. However, when it comes to snakes I've found the pricing to be a lot closer. If you also factor in time, assuming you feel your time has value, then it is actually the same or less expensive to buy pre-built snakes.

I've done both, and at this point I build my own single cables and purchase pre-built snakes.
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I pretty much agree. A way to cut cost/time is to use something like Horizon cable, which has each channel already jacketed. Much less heat shrinking.
 
Ive abused the crap out of Whirlwind Snakes and never had trouble with them. I don't have time to make them myself.

H2H
 
SonicAlbert said:
I've found the cost comparison between building your own single cables versus store bought to be different than the cost comparison between building your own snakes versus store bought.

With single cables it is much more cost effective to build your own, in my experience. However, when it comes to snakes I've found the pricing to be a lot closer. If you also factor in time, assuming you feel your time has value, then it is actually the same or less expensive to buy pre-built snakes.

I've done both, and at this point I build my own single cables and purchase pre-built snakes.
Click to expand...

Very true. Since I just moved and am still looking for a job, I have some extra time on my hands and don't mind it (especially considering I made an 8 channel Mogami/Neutrik snake for around 60-70 bucks).

On a somewhat related note, would the Belden 8450 or 8451 cable be acceptable for making microphone cables? They're both 22AWG (which I know is light) and have a foil shield with drain wire. The 8450 has solid stranding, while the 8451 has 7x30 stranding; otherwise they're the same. I guess what I'm asking is if the light guage and foil shield are appropriate for mic cables or not, because you can get a roll of 1000ft of either one for under $125, which sounds great to me.
 
The problem with foil shield for mic cables is durability. Mic cables get moved around a lot, abused, twisted, yanked, coiled and uncoiled many times. The foil will degrade fairly rapidly under those circumstances. That's why braided shields are used with mic cable.

A drain wire style cable that would be okay for mic cables is made by Connectronix. It's called MusiFlex. It has a conductive plastic shield, and is extremely flexible. MusiFlex is great cable, I love it. I think the only time to avoid using it would be in situations where you would know that you'd be dealing with a seriously intense RF problem, like if you are doing a gig next to a TV station transmitter. In normal circumstances MusiFlex will be fine. I've never once had RF interference problems using it.
 
i got a hosa snake (i think it had packaging for another brand, maybe livewire?, but the cable clearly says "hosa") for $10 at guitar center. i told the manager there who was in a HUGE rush for some reason that i thought i saw it in musicians friend for $15 so he said "fine, i'll go down to $20" (it was for some reason $40 new??), so i told him i'd just wait to buy one and he said "hows $10 sound?". for $10 its not gonna break my heart the day it stops working... actually it'll be a blessing cause i can finally upgrade my snake!
 
Adam P said:
Very true. Since I just moved and am still looking for a job, I have some extra time on my hands and don't mind it (especially considering I made an 8 channel Mogami/Neutrik snake for around 60-70 bucks).

On a somewhat related note, would the Belden 8450 or 8451 cable be acceptable for making microphone cables? They're both 22AWG (which I know is light) and have a foil shield with drain wire. The 8450 has solid stranding, while the 8451 has 7x30 stranding; otherwise they're the same. I guess what I'm asking is if the light guage and foil shield are appropriate for mic cables or not, because you can get a roll of 1000ft of either one for under $125, which sounds great to me.
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22 gauge is relatively beefy for mic cable. Multicore regularly runs 24, and sometimes 26, which are even smaller. You are dealing with voltage, not current, so the gauge is less important.


I wouldn't use 8450 or 51 for mic cables. Solid copper wire is a pain in the ass, for obvious reasons. It's basically phone wire.
Those are very small diameter cables, mostly used in permanent installs or where they won't be moved a lot, like in the back of racks. They have a very thin stiff outer jacket, are fairly easily damaged, and don't coil well.
 
treymonfauntre said:
i got a hosa snake (i think it had packaging for another brand, maybe livewire?, but the cable clearly says "hosa") for $10 at guitar center. i told the manager there who was in a HUGE rush for some reason that i thought i saw it in musicians friend for $15 so he said "fine, i'll go down to $20" (it was for some reason $40 new??), so i told him i'd just wait to buy one and he said "hows $10 sound?". for $10 its not gonna break my heart the day it stops working... actually it'll be a blessing cause i can finally upgrade my snake!
Click to expand...

:D Next time I need something at GC I will go there when it's near closing time. Maybe I will catch a sales person in a hurry to go home.
 
SonicAlbert said:
The problem with foil shield for mic cables is durability. Mic cables get moved around a lot, abused, twisted, yanked, coiled and uncoiled many times. The foil will degrade fairly rapidly under those circumstances. That's why braided shields are used with mic cable.
Click to expand...

That was my big concern. Thanks.

Edit: Thanks to Easychair, too.
 
SonicAlbert said:
A drain wire style cable that would be okay for mic cables is made by Connectronix. It's called MusiFlex. It has a conductive plastic shield, and is extremely flexible. MusiFlex is great cable, I love it. I think the only time to avoid using it would be in situations where you would know that you'd be dealing with a seriously intense RF problem, like if you are doing a gig next to a TV station transmitter. In normal circumstances MusiFlex will be fine. I've never once had RF interference problems using it.
Click to expand...

Aaahh...thank you. I have an 8 channel drum loom I made from this stuff who knows how long ago, and I have always wondered what it was. Someone gave me the cable, and the markings had long since been rubbed off. It has lasted almost ten years through very hard live use, 100 shows a year, and only recently has started to become unreliable. Time to find a dealer and check it out vs. my favorites in terms of sonicness. I really dig how flexible the stuff is.

As a side note, from my experience and talking to cable companies shields are unimportant for 99% of the people out there. :eek: And foil shields aren't as delicate as people think. Multicore snakes use foil/wire shields, even on the fan ends, and don't suffer. Foil is mostly just much lighter and thinner than a braided shield.

A braided shield mostly protects the inner conductors better physically against crushing in a single mic than a foil shield, which is more important than 100% shielding. It also allows protection like cloth, etc. to be in the cable as the drain is the shield, shield and drain aren't separate like in foil wire. A durable mic cable with a foil shield would need a much thicker jacket, or a much less flexible one.

That's one reason given to me by the guys at Belden for the thin stiff jacket used in install cables. No braid to protect the signal conductors against crushing or sharp bends, or crushing from strain relief in connectors. And putting protective insualtion in the cable would most likely interfere with the shield/drain connection.
 
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