Mic Cable Outlets?

[bubbagump]

as you tightened the barrel down it has a self locking mechanism.

Hrm, I would double check as I have been using those for years and no ratchet or locking mechanism so far as I have ever encountered... unless they changed the design?

Heh, audio is funny, we can even disagree on connectors. Neutrik is certainly a solder necessary connector just in case anyone got the idea they weren't.

 

[cusebassman]

If only I had better soldering skills (at the moment I have none)... those Neutrik connectors are about 2-somethin a piece, and even Mogami can be had for pretty cheap / foot.

Perhaps its something I should look into, even as my current cable needs have been met by redco

 

[cusebassman]

So, in searching for bulk Mogami cable, I came across what is called the StarQuad cable, which appears to have four separate wires, and then the fifth shielding ground wire (which is wrapped around the whole mess).

But it looks like on redco that you can use this for a standard balanced mic cable - is the whole principle really that you are simply sending the signal over 4 wires (2 in phase and two 180 degrees out)?

 

[cusebassman]

Jesus... Canare Starquad is cheaper by far than Mogami - is it comparable in quality?

 

[bubbagump]

Canare Star Quad is all I use. Look at the cut sheet here with a balanced wiring diagram. Long story short, the shield goes to pin 1, I send the two white to pin 2, and the two blue to pin 3. It has slightly higher capacitance than Mogami (which is the huge buzz word on why to buy one mic cable over another, though low impedance signals are hardly effected by capacitance in the lengths we use in the studio) ... but for the cost difference... you'll never hear the difference and it is dead quiet even around dimmers and I have several dimmers in my place. I always recommend Star Quad to home studio folks as you never know when the neighbors are going to turn on a hair dryer or the wife turns on the fluorescent light bolted to the ceiling in the basement... right under the floor where your cable is.

http://www.canare.com/files/Cat11_p35.pdf

I love nothing more than to spend a Saturday morning with a pile of connectors, some Canare Starquad, a hot soldering iron, some espresso, and my favorite PBS cooking shows. Makes for a good morning. Soldering cable is so incredibly easy and you get such a better product, you owe it to yourself to at least give it a whirl.

 

[cusebassman]

Canare Star Quad is all I use. Look at the cut sheet here with a balanced wiring diagram. Long story short, the shield goes to pin 1, I send the two white to pin 2, and the two blue to pin 3. It has slightly higher capacitance than Mogami (which is the huge buzz word on why to buy one mic cable over another, though low impedance signals are hardly effected by capacitance in the lengths we use in the studio) ... but for the cost difference... you'll never hear the difference and it is dead quiet even around dimmers and I have several dimmers in my place. I always recommend Star Quad to home studio folks as you never know when the neighbors are going to turn on a hair dryer or the wife turns on the fluorescent light bolted to the ceiling in the basement... right under the floor where your cable is.

http://www.canare.com/files/Cat11_p35.pdf

I love nothing more than to spend a Saturday morning with a pile of connectors, some Canare Starquad, a hot soldering iron, some espresso, and my favorite PBS cooking shows. Makes for a good morning. Soldering cable is so incredibly easy and you get such a better product, you owe it to yourself to at least give it a whirl.

Excellent advice - and you are soldering all wires to both ends of the connectors, for mic cables - not dropping the shield at one end? Just makin sure It seems to be the case with all the mic cables I have now, and I've never had problems before, but I am just hearing now for the first time about dropping shield (at which end I forget - I beileve the connection to the preamp's side).

 

[cusebassman]

I'm happy that I didn't buy a ton of mic cables through redco, as now I am contemplating trying my hand at making some with the Canare -especially since the StarQuad is about 35 cents / foot

 

[bubbagump]

I am not sure what you are asking... so here are two answers.

All wires on both ends. Do not drop the shield on either end.

I do not attach the shield to the chassis/case terminal. You are just asking for trouble doing that. Solder the lines from pin to pin and that is it. Let the equipment you are connecting to tie to the chassis. See here for more info:

http://www.rane.com/note110.html

They claim that most equipment is not properly grounded and that often you need to drop one end of the shield, but I haven't run into this situation yet and it is never the case with microphones... only with balanced line level sources. Worst case if you find a unit that is a noisy pig with the shield connected on both ends, snip the shield connection on one end end of the cable. But again, I have never found this necessary with quality gear.

Another good one: http://www.vandenhul.com/artpap/wiring1.htm

 

[cusebassman]

I am not sure what you are asking... so here are two answers.

All wires on both ends. Do not drop the shield on either end.

I do not attach the shield to the chassis/case terminal. You are just asking for trouble doing that. Solder the lines from pin to pin and that is it. Let the equipment you are connecting to tie to the chassis. See here for more info:

http://www.rane.com/note110.html

Thanks for all the help - I guess based on the Rane website, I am confused about one thing. Down at the bottom, it appears that cable #1 has nothing connected to chassis (which you said), but it also only has the sheild connected to the shield pin #1 on the female side of the cable. According to your post (if I read correctly), you attach shield to both shield pins, correct?

 

[bubbagump]

Yes, connect the shield at both ends. They are showing to drop the shield on one end and that is in the case of connecting balanced line level sources (like a mixer into a power amp for example). We are dealing with mics here which requires the shield to be connected at both ends on pin 1. The Rane article was probably not the best to send you to for this purpose.

 

[SRR]

http://www.neutrik.com/Secure30/get...ia_1638307886.pdf&contentType=application/pdf

 

[cusebassman]

Yes, connect the shield at both ends. They are showing to drop the shield on one end and that is in the case of connecting balanced line level sources (like a mixer into a power amp for example). We are dealing with mics here which requires the shield to be connected at both ends on pin 1. The Rane article was probably not the best to send you to for this purpose.

All cleared up, thanks

 

[cusebassman]

http://www.neutrik.com/Secure30/get...ia_1638307886.pdf&contentType=application/pdf

Also handy - and as usual, it wasn't anywhere near as confusing as I was making it

 

[SRR]

You might want to make something like this, just plug your connectors into it when soldering, they stay put, makes your job easy. I have a male to male adapter when I need to solder the female ends.

 

[cusebassman]

Ooh snazzy. Just as a note to the OP and for my own edification, I bought some cable from redco on Monday, it shipped yesterday, and is arriving today. What service!




...and no, I don't work for / own redco - just sayin, they're speedy, especially for short orders (it was a matter of 6 cables) - more might take more time, but probably not by much.

 

[stetto]

Ooh snazzy. Just as a note to the OP and for my own edification, I bought some cable from redco on Monday, it shipped yesterday, and is arriving today. What service!

Yeah, that's one of the little things I demand from a vendor in order to get my repeat business. My cigar store online ships within an hour of my orders...I ordered the 10-pak of GLS cables from Orange County, and they shipped it Tuesday, instead of Monday (I ordered on Saturday), and the shipping seemed a little steep, 'specially for UPS ground...I'm in no hurry for them, as it was an afterthought to pick them up in the first place, but for future consideration? Yep...

...and no, I don't work for / own redco - just sayin, they're speedy, especially for short orders (it was a matter of 6 cables) - more might take more time, but probably not by much.

I have a few vendors that bend over backwards, even for little ol' me...Gerry at TotalMedia is an angel for that kind of personal service...No, I don't work for him either...

Eric

 

[bubbagump]

Redco does seem to get it. Their prices are quite excellent for what you are getting and the fact you can absolutely custom build the cable down to the connectors and cable itself is really nice. If I wasn't such a nerd in rolling my own, I'd use them myself.

 

[stetto]

You might want to make something like this, just plug your connectors into it when soldering, they stay put, makes your job easy. I have a male to male adapter when I need to solder the female ends.

Heh heh...I just yesterday picked up the XLR jack and converter to make one of these jigs...As I was tooling around the garage looking for wood stock to build it with I found a piece of formed metal with the perfectly cut hole to install the jack--Came off an old flourescent fixture...

Eric

 

[stetto]

Just an FYI, the GLS cables I received yesterday had what I thought were Neutrik NC FX and MX connectors. The ONLY difference is that the GLS connectors have no brand mark on them (and were less expensive).

I know this might start a debate, but when price is an issue, the GLS Chinese made connectors appear to be comparable...Switchcraft connectors still look a lot more sturdy though...

Eric

 

[bubbagump]

Have you compared the the Chinese generic Neutrik look alikes to a real Neutrik? They are quite different. No rubber boot on the Chinese and they usually have some screwy plastic self crimping cable locking mechanism. Then there is just build quality... the Neutrik are simply heavier. Still hate Switchcraft. (Debate, what debate?) And at the end of the day.. no one will hear the difference on the record. "Damn hell, I think I hear Neutrik on that there recording!"