dumb newbie question

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ryan79

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Hi. Ive just bought a Tasman us 122 mk II and an sm57 for recording my guitar.

Now I bought the mic 2nd hand so its got no leads with it. Ive found out that I need an XLR balanced lead. I was about to buy a cheap one when I noticed the description said it was a `Mono` lead. Ive also seen that you can buy dearer ones that say `Stereo` lead.

Now as ive only got one mic at the moment this shouldnt matter as it wont be stereo anyway will it ?

What about when I get two mics. Does it matter if I buy cheap leads ?

Or am I just over complicating things : )
 
ryan79 said:
Hi. Ive just bought a Tasman us 122 mk II and an sm57 for recording my guitar.

Now I bought the mic 2nd hand so its got no leads with it. Ive found out that I need an XLR balanced lead. I was about to buy a cheap one when I noticed the description said it was a `Mono` lead. Ive also seen that you can buy dearer ones that say `Stereo` lead.

Now as ive only got one mic at the moment this shouldnt matter as it wont be stereo anyway will it ?

What about when I get two mics. Does it matter if I buy cheap leads ?

Or am I just over complicating things : )
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Firstly, it's neither a dumb question nor a matter of overcomplicating things. It's understandable if you see mono and stereo leads to wonder at the difference and which you ought to get.
Personally, for mics I buy solid but cheap leads (whether it's XLR to jack or male to female XLR) and all of mine are mono. I don't know for sure but I would think a stereo lead would only be of use if whatever you're recording into has a stereo input {say, for a stereo track on a DAW} and you particularly want this, for whatever reason. It sounds like you just want to record your guitar so a mono lead is fine. Try a cheap one to start with and if it doesn't work out to your satisfaction, consider it the price of an education.
 
Often the "cheapness" aspect is in the connectors and the assembly... the cable will be fine.

Treat any reputable brand with a bit of care and you'll get years of service. I've never had a mic lead die.

If you want to swing your 57 around your head past your cabinet to get an interesting whooshy / phase effect, then you might want to go for something a bit more robust, but otherwise, a basic balanced lead is fine.

Don't worry about stereo - almost all recording you'll ever do will be mono tracking, often multiples, which you will then arrange in a panned field and master as "stereo"....
 
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