elenore19 said:
So I want to find something that will be like, I plug in the microphone cable into one side and then on the other side of the wall I could plug another mic cable into.
You really don't want to do that. If such a thing exists, I'd be surprised, but if it did, the jack would be on the wrong side of the wall.
The right way would be either to set up a
port through the wall or put a jack panel on both walls with a short hard-wired cable between then.
elenore19 said:
So I have a place where I can get the plates, but I'm wondering about the wiring. Like, what types of wires will I have to have? Where could I get a hold of that wiring? Would I be able to install it pretty easily by myself? Yeah..I have a bunch of questions on that. If anyone has any information that'd be sweet. Thanks
Audio cable is pretty cheap and easily available from a number of places. I'd probably direct you towards Markertek. They're one of my favorite vendors for that sort of thing.
As for your wall plates, that gets expensive pretty quickly. You might want to consider building your own if you have more than a couple of cables. I'm still in the process of building one for my studio---it's set up, but I have it mounted in a crude, temporary fashion. I plan to trim about 10 inches off the top of the plate and build a box around it before I'm really done, but it works for now.
Anyway, you start with an aluminum door kick plate. You can get one from Home Depot for about $10. Then, get a metal chassis punch that's the correct size for XLR plugs for about $40.
Note that male XLR connectors and 1/4" connectors are small enough to be drilled. For male XLR connectors, be sure to put the metal plate between two boards and clamp it together. You could probably use a high speed wood bit since aluminum is relatively soft.... Female connectors pretty much require a punch to avoid making a horrible mess.
Get yourself some cheap XLR jacks and some installation-grade XLR cable. I'd recommend Belden 8451. It's inexpensive and really thin, so you can pass a dozen cables through about a one inch hole in the wall.
Cut the plate in half. Punch the plates with as many holes as you need. Take some wood and build some trim to space it out form the wall about three inches. Mount the jacks in the plates, then wire them to each other, then fasten the plates on the wall.
I figure doing it this way will be about $3.50-$5.50 per jack cheaper than those plates (depending on the XLR jack brand), so the tools pay for themselves after you exceed four jacks per side, and it gives you more flexibility in terms of being able to mix and match jacks and configure the panel the way you want.
Mine is set up with 16 Neutrik combo connectors (XLR and 1/4" in the same jack) on the panel end with Switchcraft XLR and Neutrik 1/4" connectors on the other end of a pair of cables. Those would be particularly good solution for you, since you would have the flexibility of passing through just about anything that way. You'd want to use the combo connector on the studio side and a male XLR connector and female 1/4" jack on the control booth side.
