Post pics of the wire nest.

[jake-owa]

How do you home studios take care of ugly wires? In a pro studio there are troughs and panels to hide them but most of us can't just dig up the floors of our mom's basement. So what do you do?

 

[frederic]

The right way is to use steel conduit for the electrical, and large diameter conduit for the snake cables, PVC is okay and easier to assemble, but grounded steel might help shield the cables. Keep distance between power, audio and control (RS422, midi, etc) cables. Where they have to cross, perpendicular is good.

Another option is to put power in steel conduit, and audio on hangers behind the equipment. Personally, I like this option when snakes aren't used, or behind the gear patch changes is anticipated.

Rack mounted stuff:

http://www.ortronics.com/USA/products/images/partnumbers/400px/60400057.jpg

These also work:

http://www.cabletiesplus.com/Zaback_details.cfm?TieID=2

You can also homebrew this stuff, one can screw metal coat hangers on the wall behind your gear at waist level or just below the table top, and sling the cable snakes over the hooks. This is good when you don't have 3000 balanced feeds

Another option is to run two 2x4's from the table to the back wall perpendicular to the wall, and string two steel rods between. Tie the cables to the rods/dowels/etc.

A friend of a friend of a friend who had an old barn studio used a wide, 100 year old wooden ladder suspended on posts between the wall and the console table. Beautifully stained and clearcoated, matched the rest of the wood in the room. Cables simply laid underneath it with wire ties.

There's a lot of ways to do cable management both professionally and homebrew. Just make sure whatever you do, its secure, not impossible to remove, and doesn't put any weight of the wiring trunk on the ends, jacks, etc. ALWAYS support the wire, not the ends.

Unless you really, really like soldering

 

[Track Rat]

I tie all my wires with a running stitch with a type of string called wax rope. It makes a nice looking bundle.

 

[junplugged]

I just stop using stuff and go solo....

 

[frederic]

I tie all my wires with a running stitch with a type of string called wax rope. It makes a nice looking bundle.

TrackRat,

I will schedule you the weekend after the 15th, for lacing duty. I will provide wax rope, beer and pizza of your choosing.

 

[mixmkr]

damn trackrat...you keep showing your wiring, I am going to have to keep showing mine!!

 

[frederic]

damn trackrat...you keep showing your wiring, I am going to have to keep showing mine!!

I'll have to scan my sketch of what my wiring will be, I haven't had a chance to do it up right in Visio... since the console table goes from wall to wall, I'll be installing behind it several long posts from the table to the wall, and mounting on top of that several 6" diameter PVC pipes cut in half lengthwise, and laying the snakes along those "trays". Even going to drill small holes on the edges to put wire ties through. I was thinking of long velcro strips, but I haven't found a cheap supplier of velcro in 18" lengths (or thereabouts). I have time as the insulation will arrive tomorrow sometime.

Of course its going to rain all night, and tomorrow, so the plywood and the insulation will be soaking wet.

But the breeze through the house is nice at the moment. My studio is actually cool!

 

[knightfly]

I prefer these for semi-permanent, you can fish wires out without having to un-tie/re-tie, etc - run them down each side of the rear of a rack, one side power, etc, the other side audio. Comes with a snap-on cover, cut to length with a hacksaw/dull butterknife, etc...

http://www.spctechnology.com/prodinfo/specs/TA-382.PDF

Not real cheap, but very re-usable... Steve

 

[Michael Jones]

My tables have these... "skirts" that come down the backside against the wall. There's a name for them... I can't think of what they're called. Basically they are there so that you wouldn't be able to see an.... ummm.... ungarded secretary.

I have hooks screwed into those and the cables tie to the hooks.

 

[knightfly]

They're called "pussy panels" - or, when the girls are around, "Privacy Panels", sometimes "Modesty Panels" :=)

 

[Michael Jones]

Modesty Panels!
That's what I was thinking of.
I like pussy pannels though, never heard that one before.

 

[Light]

A combination of zip ties, e-tape, cable looms, tie line, and carful layout of the placement. As a stage hand, I have a certain amount of professional pride involved, as well as a keen understanding of what a pain in the ass it is to be slopy about this stuff. (you try pulling a bad 12 gauge downsnake out of a pile of twenty that have not been layed out neatly.)


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[jake-owa]

Ok, I knew that about making power lines and MIDI/mic lines perpendicular but some of those conduits seem pretty involved for a home studio. I just try to tie audio lines and power lines seperate and keep them from running the same lines. I (as you know from the other thread) zip tie them to screws. I thought of hooks but drywall screws worked so...

Nice tie job Track Rat!

Mixmkr, that's the kind of mess I'd like to never be lost in again.
Everytime I wire the studio I get a little better. This translates to less wasted zip ties. I have spent many nights troubleshooting a knot. This way I can get on my back with a flashlight and get things out like a mechanic/surgeon.

 

[Track Rat]

Something I've done that makes trouble shooting easier is to tag all audio lines (actually, any cable no matter what it carries) on both ends with "near end/far end" info. That way any line you look at, even if it's unplugged and dangling, says where it was plugged and where the other end is and what it SHOULD be plugged into and the same info is at the other end of the cable. Just some light colored electrical tape and a fine point Sharpie marker is all it takes.

 

[frederic]

Something I've done that makes trouble shooting easier is to tag all audio lines (actually, any cable no matter what it carries) on both ends with "near end/far end" info. That way any

I use a brother labeler, which "prints" black lettering on 3/8" wide white labels of any length, then wrap it around the cable ends.

This way if the cable changes function, I can change the labeling.

Which I don't do often enough

 

[junplugged]

I really like the colored double sided velcro strips, but they are a rip off, way too expensive for a little wire tie. I tried to get them wholesale, but I got no response. I think the stuf also comes in large spools it also has a slot on the end so it can stay on one end of the cable. I found them in Staples and Radio shack used to have them. they priced themseleves out of the market maybe. Anyon have a good supplier of this stuff?

 

[frederic]

they priced themseleves out of the market maybe. Anyon have a good supplier of this stuff? [/B]

The local home depot near me had an empty spool on their wire rack for double sided velcro, so they normally stock it. Unfortunately they didn't have a sign with pricing next to it so I'm not sure what it costs.

This is a smaller package:

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDU...elceffdfgidgmk.0&MID=9876&frmSearchStr=velcro

But what I saw was a steel spool on a bar with the by the foot electrical wire. probably less costly because there is no packaging.

 

[frederic]

Here is the same stuff, cheaper off the web:

http://www.systemsstore.com/Merchan...&Product_Code=HLS-15-R0&Category_Code=panduit

And Velcro Wholesalers:

http://www.textol.com/

http://www.hookandloop.com/

http://feinersupply.com/

Hope that helps,

 

[junplugged]

T Y

...
And Velcro Wholesalers:

Hope that helps,...

Frederic, Great links, thanks for the info, i'll be hooked up now. I only had one left.

 

[junplugged]

That's odd one place says 24 yard roll for $162 and the other is only $15.55. I'll have to email them both for a firm quote.