A really really stupid question...

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takk

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Can I connect two XLR cables end to end to make one long XLR cable? I have 2 15' XLR cables, a mic, and a guitar amp that's 25' away from my pre.

Is there acertain distance where the source is just too far away and sound quality goes down?
 
This is not a stupid question at all. And yes, you can do it with no problem. I've done it myself. It's when you get into lengths of more than 100 feet where you'll notice diminished performance.
 
if its a balanced signal you shouldn't encounter a problem with sound quality over long runs. it would have to be insanely long like Mad says to really get a drop in quality. unless you have bad connectors or something somewhere along the line.

and remember, there's no stupid questions, just stupid people. ;)
 
takk said:
Thanks. I feel better now.
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Could be worse.. you could have serious problems with spelling!!! (check out delema!) The only problems with long cables are interference with other lines nearby. As was mentioned eariler, balanced cables deal with this well, not so well with un-balanced. Try to keep your mic cables away from power cables if at all possible, and you should be just fine!
 
for balanced cable the limit is supposedly like 500ft... ive never done one that long but i have done 300 without any problems.... high impedence maxes out at 45 ft...
 
And don't forget

to try not to run ac power cables alongside your mic and instrument cables. Try to make them cross at as close to 90 degrees as possible to minimize interference.
 
I run cables in the club that I work up to 50 meters and link them together if I need to... no issues at all. Get more issues with the mics + mic stands than I do with cables! :P
 
If you notice a slight hum, it may be the conectors. Should this happen it is easy to fix, raise the conectors off the floor a little, a piece of wood, plastic or whatever you have will work. The only time I ever had this problem was on concrete floors. I now wrap the conectors with plastic wrap when I link them together. I've linked 4 with no problems, just be sure to use decent cables.
 
Dani Pace said:
If you notice a slight hum, it may be the conectors. Should this happen it is easy to fix, raise the conectors off the floor a little, a piece of wood, plastic or whatever you have will work. The only time I ever had this problem was on concrete floors. I now wrap the conectors with plastic wrap when I link them together. I've linked 4 with no problems, just be sure to use decent cables.
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I've had massive hum chaining cables in certain environments. Worst is school theaters with light dimmers. Hum city. To fix this, make sure that the jacket on every cable is grounded. Otherwise, it acts like a passive radiator antenna element, AFAICT.

This applies double if you have to use a matching transformer at either end. The jacket near that absolutely must be grounded. :)
 
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