Microphone cable

[Wayon]

I am installing mic cables in the wall. There are quite a few choices. Some have 2 conductors and some have 4. An XLR cable has 3 pins. So with the 2 conductor, that would be hot and cold and the sheild? And how does the 4conductor work?
One more - mic cables typically run the signal from male to female. Can you run the signal the other way? My thinking here is if I want to run a headphone send back out to the main room.

Thanks

 

[witzendoz]

Mic Cables are 2 cores and shield. If it's a multicore cable it will have multiples of 2 cores with each pair having its own shield. The 4 core shielded cable is for multiple line level signals such as 2 stereo signals, 4 mono signals, 2 sends 2 returns, etc , etc. I would not use it to try to get 2 mic cables as there could be cross talk and phantom power problems.

Do not use shielded cable for headphones as there is a resistance that builds up within the cable (there is a technical name for this but I'm not that technical). I either use twin mains flex or another thing I have used for multiple headphone sends is multi core security cable, come is 4 core or 6 core, both of these types of cable are cheap to buy.


Cheers
Alan.

 

[Wayon]

Ok. But I am still confused because manufacturers have this 4 conductor cable that they call their "premium" mic cable.

Mogami has a 2 conductor shielded cable that also has a "drain wire".

Wtf is a drain wire?

 

[Richard Monroe]

No clue about the "drain wire". The 4 conductor mic cable is called a quad cable, and is supposed to reduce radio frequency interference. I expect one of the technogeeks will jump in and explain whether it is just marketing hype or the real deal. Although biased, here's the claim:

http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=504

I have been using B.L.U.E. Kiwi quad cables for years, and they rock, but I don't claim to understand the alleged advantages of quad configuration.-Richie

 

[witzendoz]

Wtf is a drain wire?

A drain wire is basically an earth wire, it is not sleeved (plastic coated) and makes contact with the shield. What it does is that it is easier to solder to the plugs that it is to solder shield, especially when the shield is a heavy type.

I have never used a quad mic cable and have never had the need, what I would expect is that you would solder the shield as the earth and solder 2 wires to each of the pins both ends. Any tech on line that actually knows? It may improve noise reduction and signal level over a very long run.

Cheers
Alan

P.S just found this bit of information from Whirlwind cable site, so heres the answer:

Whirlwind Quad cables feature WI3F and WI3M XLR connectors soldered to premium Canare Starquad cable. A cross-section of the cable shows these four conductors arranged as two pairs in an "X" configuration. The result is a microphone cable that resists induced noise in the most severe environments.