50' of cheap cable??

[rgraves]

OK, so I posted a thread a bit ago about getting a pair of stereo mics for piano. Thanks for all the advice everyone gave me, that helped a lot.

So now, I have the problem of the cables. This is kind of a dumb question, but I have a bunch of really nice cables, all mogami and nice and thick and whatever, but my piano is quite FAR from my computer. So, I have mic'd it up in the past with a single mic and connected a bunch of XLR cables together. But even then it was kind of a tight squeeze, not something I want to do anymore.

So I have the 2 mics coming and need to order some cables. Only thing is I forgot how fricken expensive cables can be, and to get like 2 50' mogamis it's gonna be over a hundred bucks easy.

Sooo, here's what I'm wondering, there are some of those musiciansfriend 50' cables that are only about $15 each, and I was wondering if anyone had some advice as far as whether to avoid that at all costs or something. I mean, I've used those cables before in the 10' version, and they were fine. But I'm thinking, 50' is quite long...and I don't want to screw up this recording. I know some people swear by their super expensive cables and some say it doesn't even make a difference, wasn't sure if someone with experience on this would say 50' of cable should still be OK.

By the way, they won't be going near power sources/other cables or anything like that...just along a long living room floor.

Thanks!

 

[hairylarry]

I had the same question

Hi,

I have not tried the musician's friend cables. I did not buy them because when I asked the same question I was told they are built cheap and prone to failure.

The GLS cables were recommended to me. I have tried one of them and I like it very much. The connector is a little tight on some mics but the cables work good and seem to be of good quality. I haven't had the cable very long and I treat my cables like babies so I don't know about the durability from experience.

The GLS cables seem to be as cheap in dollars as MF but there is shipping added when at MF orders over 100 ship free.

I was very pleased with Musician's Friend quantity 10 mic stands. But I think I'm going to try my quantity 10 mic cables from GLS.

http://stores.ebay.com/www-SpeakerRepair-com

They also have longer lengths and smaller quantities.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

 

[MessianicDreams]

why not get TragikRemix to make'em for ya?


check out his thread here for his amazing cable-building deal!


(and tell him that i'll take 50% profit for plugging his cables over here)

 

[rgraves]

why not get TragikRemix to make'em for ya?


check out his thread here for his amazing cable-building deal!


(and tell him that i'll take 50% profit for plugging his cables over here)

Haha, too late...I had already wrote him last night...trouble is that I'm working with a deadline here, and he hasn't got back to me to see whether he will be ordering and completing everything within the next 2 weeks...just trying to explore a backup option...plus I think it still comes out to be quite a bit more to do Tragik versus the cheap musiciansfriend ones. I definately will be trashing the musiansfriend ones once I can afford the nicer ones though...

 

[themaddog]

This company sells a good quality, cheap 50' mic cable that I have used in the past. I can attest to its fine quality.

http://www.pulsartech.net/

They sell a 50 foot XLR for $9.80.

I have a bunch of the Musician's Friends cheap cables. They're not bad, but I've had a few of them fail.

Whatever you do, I recommend mic'ing and wiring your piano consistently. For instance, if you end up buying the Pulsar Tech cable, buy two of them for left and right, rather than using one Pulsar Tech and a string of Mogamis.

-MD

 

[ofajen]

I've been very happy with Gotham mike cable. I think I just bought a 100 m. spool or whatever it was. Just solder up the connectors on whatever length you want. It's good to work with, flexible, reasonably priced and has a good shield.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[scrubs]

http://www.audiopile.net/products/Mic_Instr_Cables/MQ-102/MQ-102_cutsheet.asp

The audiopile ewi quad cable is ridiculously good for the price. Stands up to Mogami (gold) and Monster (p500) mic cables I have in my studio with ease. I've ordered from pulsartech before and the build quality is not as good, imo.

 

[travelin travis]

another thumbs up for the gls cables. good cable and connectors for very little money. a 10 pack of 25' cables is less than $60. connectors are a little on the tight side.

 

[Robert D]

This is a good candidate for roll your own, for sure. I use Canare Star Quad myself.

 

[pikingrin]

This is a good candidate for roll your own, for sure. I use Canare Star Quad myself.

+1

If you know how to use a soldering iron, definitely make your own. Canare is good stuff for the money but if you want Mogami, by all means, get Mogami. I don't think you would need any of the quad mic cable if you're just putting it along the floor and all. Redco Audio has Mogami (2552, the stuff they use for most of the cables in musician's friend) for 29 cents a foot. I got some cables and connectors about 2 months ago, had no problems at all with the order and it only took about an hour and a half to put all 14 of my cables together when I got the shipment in.

 

[thajeremy]

dont ever....ever.....EVER buy Musicians Friend cables...I purchased the 10 pack of 20' cables TWICE.....i had several crap out pretty quick....the second batch had 2 duds right out of the box...

 

[travelin travis]

i think it's a good idea to good a decent soldering iron and some good solder for repairing cables whether you intend to build your own or not. doing so will save you money, time, and trouble in the long run.

 

[Adam P]

Definitely make your own out of Mogami or Canare with Neutrik ends.

 

[Farview]

The musicians friend cables are shit. Just about any name brand (proco, hosa, etc...) will be fine for the job, but the no-name stuff is just useless.

 

[dgatwood]

Sooo, here's what I'm wondering, there are some of those musiciansfriend 50' cables that are only about $15 each, and I was wondering if anyone had some advice as far as whether to avoid that at all costs or something.

From my experience, they're great for the money. Don't expect to be able to abuse the heck out of them, but for a semi-permanent installation, even the worst cables should pretty much last forever. The jackets also aren't great---they feel like recycled rubber, making your hands stink/taste bad---but again, for a semi-permanent installation, who cares?

When you get them, start by opening up the ends and inspect them for any broken wires and/or cold (not shiny) solder joints. If everything looks fine, great. If not, take out the soldering gun and re-melt the solder.

The one thing that bugs me for the MF cables is that on both ends, the metal shield isn't grounded. In a high EM environment, if you plug two of them together, you're going to get significant hum because those ungrounded chunks of metal are going to basically act like an antenna. This is easily solved in thirty seconds with a spool of small gauge stranded copper wire, a soldering gun, and solder, though....

 

[SRR]

I have a small gaggle of the pulsar techs, they haven't failed me yet, and you can take the conectors apart re solder if you ever have the need.

 

[boingoman]

Get Canare over Mogami if it's gonna get abused.

 

[Farview]

From my experience, they're great for the money. Don't expect to be able to abuse the heck out of them, but for a semi-permanent installation, even the worst cables should pretty much last forever. The jackets also aren't great---they feel like recycled rubber, making your hands stink/taste bad---but again, for a semi-permanent installation, who cares?

When you get them, start by opening up the ends and inspect them for any broken wires and/or cold (not shiny) solder joints. If everything looks fine, great. If not, take out the soldering gun and re-melt the solder.

The one thing that bugs me for the MF cables is that on both ends, the metal shield isn't grounded. In a high EM environment, if you plug two of them together, you're going to get significant hum because those ungrounded chunks of metal are going to basically act like an antenna. This is easily solved in thirty seconds with a spool of small gauge stranded copper wire, a soldering gun, and solder, though....

Let's see: crappy cable, cheap connectors that won't lock into a 57, so poorly manufactured that you need to check for bad connections right out of the box, AND the shield isn't even hooked up!!!! What a smokin' deal!!!

 

[dgatwood]

Let's see: crappy cable, cheap connectors that won't lock into a 57, so poorly manufactured that you need to check for bad connections right out of the box, AND the shield isn't even hooked up!!!! What a smokin' deal!!!

You don't have to check for bad connections out of the box; I've never found a bad one yet. My point was that if you're exceptionally paranoid, you should check.

The shield not being hooked up is pretty common on XLR cables. In fact, I don't think I've ever bought a cable (any brand) that had the connector's housing shielded. While that's a good idea if you're using it to connect two pieces of gear together, it's non-optimal for use with microphones in multi-cable runs. Again, though, it's not just MF cables that don't connect the housing....

I've never had any problems with the MF cables latching into anything. I did, however, have trouble with my Shure brand mic cable requiring unusual pressure to make it latch into a Shure microphone.... Ahem....