Connecting two mic cables together...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Myriad_Rocker
  • Start date Start date
Myriad_Rocker

Myriad_Rocker

New member
I ordered some custom cables recently. They're awesome cables, I love them. Just one prob. I didn't account for some twists and turns and it's a bit short to make it to my vocal closet. However, I ordered two. They're very high quality...gold tip, all that.

So....can I connect them together without any ill effects?

If it's gonna hurt my quality, I'd rather just break down and buy another cable. However, I'm trying to save some bucks 'cause I'm not rich.
 
Last edited:
thats the whole idea of having balanced cables is for longer runs. the connection of the two should make no difference in your application
 
You'll be fine. And next time you can save money by not bothering with the gold plating. It causes more problems than it solves.
 
thats the same thing as when you plug into a snake cable.....just pluging 2 cables together....
 
In radio there is "connector loss." It is proportional to signal frequency and the number of connectors. It is generally small, but is a factor.

Audio signals are much lower frequency are therefore not as succeptible to connector loss. I would surmise that there is a negligable amount of loss through a mic connector.

Having said that, I've never experienced any appreciable loss by connecting two mic cables together. Very long runs can cause losses, but there is plenty of gain on most pre's to overcome this.
 
Farview said:
You'll be fine. And next time you can save money by not bothering with the gold plating. It causes more problems than it solves.
Click to expand...

Well, I didn't pay extra for the gold tips. That's just what they had.

So...what problems do gold tips cause?
 
different metals, when touching, will react with each other and cause corrosion. So any time you have a gold connector plugged into a nickel connector (or brass, whatever) for a long time, you run the risk of it fouling the connector.

Anyway, it's either connected or it isn't.
 
Farview said:
different metals, when touching, will react with each other and cause corrosion. So any time you have a gold connector plugged into a nickel connector (or brass, whatever) for a long time, you run the risk of it fouling the connector.

Anyway, it's either connected or it isn't.
Click to expand...

Oh...well, both tips on the cables are gold so I guess I'm good to go.
 
Keep the contacts clean and you shouldn't have any problems. With 1/4 inch cables, about 20-30 ft. is a maximum length, but XLR cables can be strung together for much longer applications without much concern about signal loss or noise. If you are laying the cables on the floor (especialy concrete and some types of carpet) and get a hum you can wrap the connectors with plactic wrap or just place something under them to eliminate the hum.
 
Apparently the middle east conflict was started by someone connecting 2 mic cables together. :p
 
Dani Pace said:
With 1/4 inch cables, about 20-30 ft. is a maximum length, but XLR cables can be strung together for much longer applications without much concern about signal loss or noise.
Click to expand...

Just wanted to note that this limitation is for high-impedance situations like instruments with magnetic pickups like electric guitar, etc. Mixers and many other pieces of line-level gear can easily handle long runs without response being affected, even if using 1/4" connectors instead of XLR, because of the low impedances involved. If the connections are balanced, the same noise-reduction happens as well,
 
Boingoman, thanks for the add on. I guess I was thinking mostly about instrument and mic cables.
 
Kevin DeSchwazi said:
Apparently the middle east conflict was started by someone connecting 2 mic cables together. :p
Click to expand...


Yeah, one was gold, one was nickel and shit hit the fan.
 
2 Mics In One Channel Or Vise Versa?

QUESTION, Now can you connect 2 mic's to one channel with one Y cable or use two mic's in two channels with one Y cable?

Tricky? :)
 
You can use a Y cable to conect 2 mics to 1 chanel, but if you have 2 chanels why would you want to? You will be much better off to use a seperate chanel for each mic.
 
Boomersrec said:
QUESTION, Now can you connect 2 mic's to one channel with one Y cable
Click to expand...
You could. I wouldn't.

Boomersrec said:
or use two mic's in two channels with one Y cable?

Tricky? :)
Click to expand...
Ummmm...I think you mean one mic in two channels? There's no reason to do that. There are several ways already in the signal chain to be able to do that electronically.

G.
 
Splitting a mic into two inputs can be very helpful for monitoring, for one, and some people have limited setups for another. A simple mic split could be a cheap problem-solver for lots of people. :)
 
No, I do mean 2 mic's in one channel, I really coundn't understand putting one mic in two channels. But becouse of limited mic imput space. Wondering how it would be more helpful for monitoring, plus it takes an extra imput space. Thanks to you all. and God Bless

Rev. Daniel Lundquist
BOOMERS
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top