can i make a balanced instrument cable with Mic-cable-wire ?

E

earworm

New member
a few months ago i ordered 50 meter cable for XLR microphones and a bunch of jacks and plugs...

now i got enough mike cables, but i want more instrument cables,
and i wonder, i just wanna make MONO cables, but balanced would be great.

so can i just buy me the same kinda wire.... with one red, one white and and ground wire in it ?

or is it better to buy real "instrument cable" wire ?

i don't know enough yet about all the impedance...thickness...
i'm still kinda a newbie in the wire-market...

thanx,
earworm
 
yeah, i thought it'd ne allright, but i was just doubting a bit.

so i'm gonna order another 50 meter of cable and start soldering again

thanx
earworm
 
If you are making cables for guitar or bass you are just wasting money making them balanced, and they could affect sound quality. Balanced 1/4" cables are for connecting gear.
 
If you're making instrument cables, you only need one conductor and a braided ground shielding it - that might be cheaper.

I assume the cable with two conductors you're thinking of buying is shielded. If so, and the price is right, just connect both conductors together at each end to the tip connector of the plug - that way if one breaks (which is the usual problem when cables go south) the other one will still be there to complete the circuit.
 
well yeah,
its for connecting gear,

but sometimes a guitarist might wanna use it ...

i'll just make a few instrument cables and a shedload of balanced cables then

great !
 
earworm said:
well yeah,
its for connecting gear,

but sometimes a guitarist might wanna use it ...

i'll just make a few instrument cables and a shedload of balanced cables then

great !
Click to expand...

It won't hurt to make them all balanced cables. You never know when you may need a balanced or stereo cable and then you'll have them. The guitar won't care if you plug in a 1/4" TS or 1/4" TRS plug.

Blessings, Terry
 
still4given said:
It won't hurt to make them all balanced cables. You never know when you may need a balanced or stereo cable and then you'll have them. The guitar won't care if you plug in a 1/4" TS or 1/4" TRS plug.

Blessings, Terry
Click to expand...

great idea ,but watch out coz some guitar pedals just won't work when plugged into a trs cable and while running on battaries because of the normalized jack which switches power off when not jacked in.....
 
Using stereo cables on guitar can really screw things up. The ring won't ground on the instrument side and may connect on the amp side creating an antena for noise from any Rf in the area. Best to go with instrument cables for instruments.
-k
 
well yeah, guess its best to use an instrument cable for an instrument,
but i never work with cheap pedals , i only use 19" rack gear for guitars,
and well, a Marshall jcm900 too...

i'll just do some experiments with all kinds of cables, you guys are a real big help !!

naw.....i'm not gonna stop bothering you .....here's another question:

so i made a bunch of Mike cables, but my XLR plugs have a 4th connector !
i didn't connect that one, cause i wasn't sure what to do with it,
some people told me i should always connect it....to i donno which wire...
and other people told me that in some occasions its not a good idea to connect that fourth PIN or connector...

i hope you know what i'm talking about, if not, then i'll take a picture :)
i think even in the manual of my behringer autoquad its stated that i should NOT use that fourth Pin or connector inside my XLR plugs...

(i hope i'm using all the correct english words....cause seems like my questions always get more complicated than i want...)

anywayz, so ehm, will i need to open up all my Mike cables again to solder that extra 4th thing , or not ... ?

thanx,
earworm
 
Nope, you are all set. That connector contacts the shell. There may be some application where the shells need to be connected, but for mics you are just fine.
 
Do the XLR conectors have three or four posts? If three you are good to go. Just connect the sheild to the case as well as post 1.

Blessings, Terry
 
posts ?

ehm, do you mean PINNS ?

yteah i guess so,

so now one guy is telling me to connect the shield to the case,
and another dude is saying not to do so;..

or.....Don't do it for microphones, and DO it for other stuff....

:rolleyes: hell....i'll just make a few with the shield connected to the case,
and i'll see if i hear any difference in S/N or humm or whatever...

thanx guys, u've been really helpful,

eary
 
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