M
mykie_a
New member
Like the title says...are they the equivalent cable? I can't quite remember. Thanks in advance.
8
8bus
New member
cables
Yes a XLR cables can be used in place of a AES/EBU cable. However you are better off buying some AES/EBU cables if you plan on having that set-up for awhile.
Yes a XLR cables can be used in place of a AES/EBU cable. However you are better off buying some AES/EBU cables if you plan on having that set-up for awhile.
Ford Van
Banned
Just use a "good" quality XLR cable of the shortest length you can get away with and call it good. In a double blind listening test, I doubt that anybody could ever hear the difference between a good quality XLR cable and a "AES/EBU" cable.
Farview
Well-known member
Yes and no. I've done it before and it does work, but an AES/EBU cable is 110 ohm cable with XLR connectors. So, no they aren't the same, yes a mic cable will work. An AES cable will also work as a mic cable or patch cable.
Ford Van
Banned
Errrrrrrrrrrr...the nominal impedance of just about every XLR cable I have ever seen is 110 ohm.
Farview
Well-known member
All the Beldon cable I look up is 40 ohms.
Canare is 88 ohms.
There has to be a reason why you go to their sites and they have a separate section for '110 ohm AES/EBU' cable.
Canare is 88 ohms.
There has to be a reason why you go to their sites and they have a separate section for '110 ohm AES/EBU' cable.
Ford Van
Banned
Interesting.
Well, the AES/EBU standard calls for the cable to be between 88 and 132 ohms. 110 is considered "ideal".
Interesting that many of the more popular cable companies do not list the nominal impedance of their cable.
J
jaybriggs84
New member
I've always wondered how you get 2 different channels in and out of those?
bennychico11
...
How do you get 8 channels down an optical cable? It's just another digital audio transport standard.
The bit stream contains audio blocks (basically a sample of the audio), which contain 192 frames that then divide into two subframes for each channel. Each subframe then breaks down into 32 time slots
J
jaybriggs84
New member
No I mean, the analog in and out of those AES units, they have the 25 pin connections on one end and the other end they have 8 XLR which carry 16 channels, or 4 that carry 8
NL5
Unpossible!
AES units are NOT analog, that is how they do it. It may look like the same connection, but VERY different data is being transferred. That's how. 2 channels per cable.
J
jaybriggs84
New member
well, there is an analog in and out on the back of units like rosetta 800 and lynx aurora in the form of a 25 pin connection. how do you connect your preamp outputs to those
bennychico11
...
with DB25 connectors. Most professional consoles/patch bay panels use these. It's basically a snake with a ton of cables in it that all feed to a single connector. Same signal can pass down them as normal audio cables, they just have a different connector on the end. There's a picture on the Rosetta site of such a cable:
So instead of 8 XLR connectors, you just have to deal with plugging one connector in. Makes it easier. Same thing with the AES out on that unit.
Other units that have a single AES pair typically just use XLR. Professional patchbays....you'll see BNC. Consumer uses both RCA and Optical fiber
J
jaybriggs84
New member
Ah, so it's in the patchbay!
bennychico11
...
not necessarily.
patchbays are not required in studios. they only offer an easy point of access to all your gear. you can easily use that cable pictures with a simple Mackie mixer and XLR to 1/4" adapters
J
jaybriggs84
New member
O man i feel dumb, I was making it so much harder in my head. I was thinking that those 8 XLR cables for in and out were carrying 16 channels, thats what was confusing me.
X
xstatic
New member
For the analog patch points those DB25 cables are carrying 8 analog signals. For the digital (AES/EBU) points on those untis the DB25 connectors are carrying 16 channels.
M
mykie_a
New member
very informative thread fellas . . . thanks.
Farview
Well-known member
It's very important to not confuse the physical connector with the type of signal it's carrying.
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
Excellent post, this is absolutely true.
A mic cable and an AES cable are two different animals. While you can use an AES cable as a mic cable, due to it's wider bandwidth, you shouldn't use mic cable for AES connections.
Will it work, sort of? Yes, but you may be getting some anamolies that are not easily noticeable, but still undesirable.
Same goes for using unbalanced analog cable with RCA connectors for SPDIF connections. The fact that the connectors are the same does not mean they are built for the same function.