Help with Mic Cables

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zackformula

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I need to get some new mic cables. Should I go with Monster or Mogami or is there something of similar quality for less? Are they worth the price? The bad part is I need cables at least 35 ft. long, and that will get expensive, especially in a high end cable.
I have an AT4040, SM57 and will be getting Studio Projects C4's and a good bass drum mic. Right now I have 2 Proco Mastermike cables.

Can anybody offer me suggestions or advice on cables?

Thanks
 
I tend to avoid the high cost cables. For my use, they don't represent a good value. Opinions will vary here.

I tend to buy low cost 20' mic cables from Musicians Friend. They cost about $5. I have a number of them and have never had a problem in any shape or form. If I need a longer cable, I connect 2 20' cables together. That is a more flexible approach many times.

If your cables get a lot of rough use, then buying heavier duty cables and connectors might be a good choice.

Ed
 
Thanks.

For my ideal recording set up in my house, I will need 50 ft cords (for drums only). My drums are in the basement but my equipment is upstairs (don't want my pc/recording equipment in the basement).

What cords can anyone recommend for this purpose? I want something good but not the most expensive.

Also, I read through some other threads and I'm wondering,
are the 50 ft cords going to effect the sound that much?

Thanks again.
 
Probably not at all if setup correctly. You probably want a direct box at the drums and send each mic output to a direct box. Then the output of that goes over long mic cables to your mixer.

This is the way most public PA systems are setup using a snake to carry the mic cables. A typical snake is 100 to 200 feet and works well for this. Single cables work the same way.

The direct box converts your mic signals to a balanced low impedance form, which is much better at rejecting noise along the way.

Ed
 
Ed, so do I need short mic cords to the direct box and then long cords from the direct box to the mixer? Is this done with one direct box or do I need one for each mic? This sounds interesting. Is this a common practice for recording? Any recommendatoins on direct boxes?

Thanks
 
You would need one direct box for each mic that does not have XLR connector. Those with XLR connectors can probably go directly upstairs to the mixer with a long extension cord.

Some mics have a different 1/4 straight jack (like a guitar cord) and these would be best run through a direct box.

I tend to think in terms of instrument outputs from guitars and keyboards, which are almost always 1/4 straight jack orriented. Most mics probably have an XLR cable.

Ed
 
OK, I think I'm confused. If all of the mics have XLR then do I need a direct box at all? Or can I just run 50 ft. mic cords directly from the mics to the mixer?
What kind of mic cords would you suggest?

Thanks
 
If all are XLR, then you probably only need the cables.

I tend to buy low cost cables from MF. They work well for me. Higher cost cables sometimes are thicker and have heavier duty connectors. However if these cables are mostly going to stay in position, the heavy duty part might not make much difference.

Heavy duty stuff can be an advantage for traveling bands, where gear is moved a lot and gets more abuse.

Ed
 
Ed Dixon said:
If all are XLR, then you probably only need the cables.

I tend to buy low cost cables from MF. They work well for me. Higher cost cables sometimes are thicker and have heavier duty connectors. However if these cables are mostly going to stay in position, the heavy duty part might not make much difference.

Heavy duty stuff can be an advantage for traveling bands, where gear is moved a lot and gets more abuse.

Ed
Click to expand...

Just want to point out that with cables, the difference between cheap and expensive is not about light duty and heavy duty.......it's about sound quality.

RD
 
cool, thats what I'm wondering, how much difference do the expensive cables make (sound wise)? what's a good one that I can get in 50 ft., without spending a million dollars?

Is there a big difference in quality between gold and silver pin?

Are 4 conductors needed or will 2 suffice?

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but thanks for your help.
 
For 50ft cables I would use 4 conductor cable. You could get by no problem with 2 conductor, but 4 cunductor is better for longer runs of 50ft or more. I highly recomend buying bulk cable and making your own. It's fairly easy, and if you choose to go this route you can build very high quality 50ft cables for less than 25 dollars each. Quality tends to become much more important with long cables becasue longer cables means more noise, more signal loss, and more of a chance of breakage. I suggest using cables at least proco in quality. Only buy hosa as a last resort. You won't regret buying mogami, canare or belden; they are worth the money. Monster is overpriced. There should be no reason to use a direct box unless you are using cheap plastic mics with unbalanced connectors.
 
zackformula said:
Thanks.

For my ideal recording set up in my house, I will need 50 ft cords (for drums only). My drums are in the basement but my equipment is upstairs (don't want my pc/recording equipment in the basement).

What cords can anyone recommend for this purpose? I want something good but not the most expensive.

Also, I read through some other threads and I'm wondering,
are the 50 ft cords going to effect the sound that much?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
When using balanced XLR mic cables you can have long runs without problems... but I'd get a snake too if I was you.
 
I've seen people use two DI boxes to switch the signal up and down again, ready for the pre. Not had enough experience to know if this is best, but I remember learning the technique in a book by the SOS editor ...
 
thanks everybody,

DJL, what kind of snake do I need?

thanks
 
thanks DJL, so let me get this straight, the box would go in the room with the drums and the mics plug directly into the box, correct? then I run the snake cords and plug them into my mixer? (forgive me I'm new)

Does this diminish the need for super high quality cables since the mics are plugging into the snake first? Wouldn't I get better quality by going straight from the mics into the mixer?

thanks for your patience
 
If I were to buy some of:
Canare L-4E6S Star Quad 4-Conductor Microphone Cable
could I use this to make:
XLR to TRS and/or TRS to TRS etc....?????
 
Unless you need loads of channels I would think a multicore to be a bit expensive for your needs. A few decent cables may be fine for you ... however, DJL's suggestion is of course right if you are thinking about laying more than half a dozen wires round your building....
 
noisedude, sorry, but is a multicore the same thing as a snake? just want to get my lingo straight. I'm going to need only 4 long mic cables (for drums). so do you suggest just going direct to my mixer with 50 ft. cables? what would some decent ones be?

thanks
 
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