Building a snake

[RideTheCrash]

If you've read my other thread in here on soldering, you'll know I am just starting out. This isn't something I'll be tackling anytime really soon, but I'd just like to know how I'd do it beforehand. I have two cheap snakes I use for going between my board and computer, and they suck. Cheap molded ends and one of the RCAs have already busted off.

So I've decided I would rather build my own so I could have reliability, and also configure some thing's to better match my setup.
Since I own a Delta 1010lt, two of the inputs are XLR and the remaining 6 are RCA. The outs on the card are all RCA. My mixer also only has direct outs, so I would like to be able to wire the cables to the connectors so that it creates a "direct out cable" (tip & ring wired together), because I hate plugging in one click, because I often have to play with the connection lightly for it to work.

So for the snake that runs out my board and into my soundcard...
Two of the cables would be male 1/4" to male XLR. This is because the first two inputs are female XLR, and I'm tired of bulky adapters. The remaining 6 would be male 1/4" to male RCA. I've read on how to wire the ring and tip together to create the direct out cable, but that was for 1/4" > 1/4" cables, so I'm not sure how it works for going to XLRs and RCAs.

And is there a specific cable I need to buy for these requirements? Remember, this is just for my knowledge to refer back to when I am ready to get into this project...I just like knowing what I need and how to do it beforehand.

Thanks guys...sorry for the length.

 

[RideTheCrash]

bump 10 chars

 

[Adam P]

You can get the parts you need from www.markertek.com Just search under "bulk cable" and "connectors and adaptors", both under "Interface Solutions". Get Neutrik connectors for sure. If your budget will allow it, I'd get Mogami cable (about $2.50 per foot for 8 channel multi-pair), but if not Belden and Canare work wonderfully too.

As for making your inserts into direct outs, I would use a small piece of wire to connect the Tip and Ring on the 1/4" end, and connect one of the two snake wires to that, and on the other end, connect to Pin 2 for XLRs, and whichever terminal isn't the ground on RCAs (I'm guessing the center pin, but I've never worked on RCA cables). The shield will go to Pin 1 on XLR and the shield connection on the RCA. The other wire in the snake cable should go untouched, since your cables are unbalanced, you only need one conductor plus shield, and this cable has two conductors plus shield. I'm not sure if you should short Pin 3 to ground on the XLR or not...someone else will have to chime in on that one.

Here are some part numbers:

NYS352: Neutrik RCA male ($.79 ea)
NP3C: Neutrik TRS male ($2.90 ea)
NC3MX: Neutrik XLR male ($1.64 ea)
MG-2932: Mogami 8-pair audio snake cable ($2.56/ft)

By my math, you'll need about $30 for all of your connectors, plus $2.56 per foot, however long you want your snake to be. You can do a 7 foot Mogami/Neutrik snake for under $50, and if you ever need to reconfigure its as easy as removing the connectors and putting different connectors on.

 

[RideTheCrash]

Okay, so the cable does have two conducters and a shield? Just checking. I don't know if I'll se markertek.com, I've searched the site and it seems great with good prices, but I don't want to go through the whole ordering online/shipping/going through the border to Canada thing. It's a pain. I think there is a place downtown here that sells that kind of stuff though, but I'm still trying to figure that out.

If I don't go through markertek.com, the person at the place downtown asked if I needed "mono or stereo cable". I'm assuming mono has one conductor and stereo has two conductors. So I could just buy the "mono" cable because my stuff is unbalanced anyway, and I don't need the second wire?

Anyway I did a very rough diagram, but only for the XLR. As for going to the RCA, I'm not sure what the inside of one looks like, so I'll attempt that later:

 

[Adam P]

That's how I would wire it, unless you need to additionally short Pin 3 of the XLR to one of the others, but I'm not sure which you might need to connect it to. When I said "leave the second wire untouched" I just meant that you don't need to connect one of the two conductors to anything on either end; you just need to use one conductor plus the shield, that's all. You'd probably have a tough time finding a multipair cable that's only one conductor plus shield, and it probably wouldn't be much different in price from a two-conductor multipair. Using the two-conductor also gives you the ability to upgrade should you ever change your equipment.

I would guess that the person you spoke to meant single conductor when he said "mono cable", though, that might make me a bit wary of how helpful that person is going to be.

I would contact Markertek and inquire about shipping to Canada (I didn't notice that thats where you're located). Their domestic US shipping is ultrafast, and very cheap, but I don't know how that would change going over the border. If not, perhaps see if the store you went to could order you the part numbers I posted above in the quantities you need? It will cost a bit more initially, but it'll have lasting quality that makes it well worth the initial up-front cost.