making your own cables. good brands

  • Thread starter Thread starter dassy
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dassy

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Hi,
Im starting to replace ALL my cables in my home studio, since this will be expensive I wanna save as much moola as possible and make my own.

HOWEVER- high preformance and high quality are most important.

so do you guys have any suggestions of cables you use that your absoulutly happy with and are not to expensive? (BTW-hosa and monster is outtta the picure for me, i havent been happy with them in the past)
 
The best quality, and in my opinion the best value for the money, is Mogami cable with Neutrik connectors. If you are comfortable with your soldering skills, buy raw cable, and a bunch of connectors, and make your own. If you are not comfortable with your soldering skills, buy pre made cables.

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
By the way, you want the Mogami 2534, four conductor mic cable. You solder the two blue conductors to post number 2, and the two white conductors to post number 3, and the ground to post number 1.

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
"(BTW-hosa and monster is outtta the picure for me, i havent been happy with them in the past)" - At least the man has taste :=) Whichever brand of raw cable you get (assuming you're going to roll-yer-own) you should consider using 110 ohm AES digital cable, at least for your -10 unbalanced stuff. The length of cable a signal typically goes thru by the time it gets to where it's finally going, cable capacitance can rob enough high's to cause you to turn up the treble (and noise) - digital cable has typically less than 1/3 the capacitance per foot of normal audio cable, so rolls off treble MUCH LESS than audio cable.

I second the Neutrik connectors, check out musicemporium.com for good prices on NP2C and NP3C connectors. ( TS and TRS, respectively) You may have to get their phone # from the web and call, but it's worth it. I haven't bought any in a while, but last time I did they were about $1 cheaper per connector than most places... Steve
 
musicemporium.com

I went to that website but couldnt find any connectors. also were can i get prices on Mogami cable with Neutrik connectors?
 
I second the Mogami Quad if you aren't gonna shell out the bucks for Monster Studio Pro 1000 (yes, I AM a HUGE Monster SP1000 fan....my blind tests between it and many other brands with another engineer convinced my ears that it just plain sounds better than the others.....). The Mogami Quad is a sweet sounding wire, and affordable.

I can see the Neutrik for any interconnects in the racks, but I can tell you right now, you will be sorry for not using regular ol' Switchcraft cannon ends for your mic cables. I have NEVER had to replace one, yet, I have replace about 60% of my Neutrix connectors for mic cables. The plastic housing's do not hold up well, and for a stinkin' connector that cost's more than the Switchcraft, I just can't see paying it. I made this mistake on a very large transformer isolated splitter snake I built. I will never except in an emergency buy another Neutrik in my life. In fact, when I have to replace my Neutrik connectors after the plastic housing breaks, I always do it with a Switchcraft connector. There is NO sound difference between them. NONE! With the Switchcraft, about once a year you may want to tighten the strain relief screws. Keep up on that, they will last a life time.

Ed
 
SONUSMAN

I did a search online for the Mogami Quad but cant find were to buy em, do you know a great place with good deals on these and the connectors to you were talkin about?
 
I second the motion to use switchcraft.

In a battle to the death my switchcraft ends would crack the skull of those toting nutrik cable ends. With my switchcraft, mogami numchucks I would rain supreme:D unless Sonusman entered the ring with his switchcraft sp1000 chucks....:eek:

Whaaaaaaaaa!!!


F.S.
 
what kind of cables are the mogami quads? i seen on the site it says mic.

is this the same as instrument cable? what about speaker?
 
dassy said:
what kind of cables are the mogami quads? i seen on the site it says mic.

is this the same as instrument cable? what about speaker?
Click to expand...

If it says mic cable it is for microphones (shielded), Instrument cables are 2 conductor shielded cables.

Never ever use shielded cables for Speakers or visa versa.

F.S.
 
If you are going from your board to powered monitors, than mic cable would work, but you NEVER want to go between a power amp and a speaker cabinet with mic cable, and not just because it is shielded. Mic cable is way to thin to be used as speaker cable. Most speaker cable is 12-16 gauge, and mic cable is 22-26 gauge. Completely different stuff.

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Very true. I should have mentioned the guage of the wire. unscrew the case off of a speaker cable and a signal cable and you will notice quite a difference in the size of the wires. You can pop an amp using signal cables for speaker wire, and you will get the most powerfull feed back you ever heard out of a guitar if you use a speaker wire to connect it to the amp.


Someone help me here. Aren't the resistance levels different?? or am I day dreaming?

Later


F.S.
 
cool

alright so i got my monitor/recorder picked out, im goona go with the mogami quad's.

but what are some great brands for going ffrom the amp to the speakers, and going from the guitar to the amp and pedals?
 
for live I really like my carvin cables for speakers. I don't know allot about them but they are very well built.


F.S.
 
Sonusman - you said - "I can see the Neutrik for any interconnects in the racks, but I can tell you right now, you will be sorry for not using regular ol' Switchcraft cannon ends for your mic cables. I have NEVER had to replace one, yet, I have replace about 60% of my Neutrix connectors for mic cables. The plastic housing's do not hold up well, and for a stinkin' connector that cost's more than the Switchcraft, I just can't see paying it. " -

I agree totally, especially for XLR's - The question dealt with studio wiring, not live sound, or I would not have recommended Neutrik for 1/4" either. I've not used Neutrik's XLR's, and now thanks to you I won't bother. However, for ease of wiring in "gentle" applications, the Neutrik NP2c and NP3c phone connectors are much faster for me to make up, and I like their strain relief method better than the standard Switchcraft phone plugs.

For stage use, I prefer the ($$$) Switchcraft #170 phone connectors. Their strain relief is re-usable without worrying about breaking it off after the 3rd or 4th time, since it's a rubber grommet with a screw-down collet. For some larger diameter cable, I've had to remove the rubber grommet temporarily and drill the body slightly, then chamfer the rear so it doesn't nick the cable, but the added robustness is worth it. Doesn't take too long if you do 100 at a time on a drill press. I don't remember EVER having one of the 170's fail in live sound applications, but then I've never had some idiot run over my cables with a forklift. Probably a good thing, I doubt prison life would appeal to me...

As far as cost, the Neutriks are available for about $3 in lots of 100, where the heavy duty Switchcraft 170's are about $5 in lots of 100, and about $8 each in lots of 1-9. I haven't priced the standard Switchcraft phone plugs recently, since I either use the 170 or Neutriks depending on application... Steve
 
I've seen in musician`s friend that they have some 6 feet Mogami cables with Neutrik connectors but they go for $30, I think this is too steep for a cable. How cheaper could they get if I got someone to make the cables for me?
 
About $8-9 for cable and connectors, plus whatever labor. If it's a business and not an over-worked friend, $50 an hour for labor would add about $12.50 per cable, so roughly $21 per 6 foot cable. Less if it's a smaller place, a moonlighter, or a friend... Steve
 
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