Topic: Some Basic Cable Questions

[stevetoney]

In this world of live recording, what defines the term 'quality' when it comes to cables?

How important is the quality of the cables to the sound of a recording?

Is the main issue one of ensuring sound quality or cables being field tough?

How much does a person reasonably need to spend?  (I guess reasonable is a subjective term, but lets just assume 'real good quality' but not 'best ever made'...just trying to get a feel for what I NEED to spend to buy good cables that will get the job done.)

Of course, there's an entire forum devoted to making cables, so if you have some basic soldering ability, can 'quality' cables be made on the home workbench to save significantly?

BTW, I _KNOW_ these questions have been asked a million times, but dang I've spent at least a few hours looking and just can't seem to find a thread that asks the basic noob questions.  Forgive me if I didn't end up in the right place.

Also, FWIW, I'm building my rig from the mics up...MBHO 603a actives to a modded UA-5 into a JB3 to start.

Thanks for any help.

[JasonSobel]

In this world of live recording, what defines the term 'quality' when it comes to cables?

How important is the quality of the cables to the sound of a recording?

Is the main issue one of ensuring sound quality or cables being field tough?

How much does a person reasonably need to spend?  (I guess reasonable is a subjective term, but lets just assume 'real good quality' but not 'best ever made'...just trying to get a feel for what I NEED to spend to buy good cables that will get the job done.)

Of course, there's an entire forum devoted to making cables, so if you have some basic soldering ability, can 'quality' cables be made on the home workbench to save significantly?

BTW, I _KNOW_ these questions have been asked a million times, but dang I've spent at least a few hours looking and just can't seem to find a thread that asks the basic noob questions.  Forgive me if I didn't end up in the right place.

Also, FWIW, I'm building my rig from the mics up...MBHO 603a actives to a modded UA-5 into a JB3 to start.

Thanks for any help.

what cables people use is a very subjective sort of thing, and you'll hear a lot of different opinion.  a lot of people here like to use silver-coated copper cables.  I've always been very happy with Canare star-quad cables.  if you've got some soldering skills, it's not hard to make your own cables, and you'll definitely save yourself some money.  (I always buy parts from markertek.com.  they've got the cable and the XLR connectors).  alternatively, there are several members here on the board who make fantastic custom cables, and if I weren't making them myself, I'd definitely buy from a member here.  it's usually cheaper than buying cables from a large compnay, and you're supporting a member of our community.

in terms of cost, if you make your own star-quads... the cable is $0.42 a foot. (http://tinyurl.com/2n9o2c)  say 30 feet for a pair of 15 foot cables.   that's $12.60 on the cable.  and if you go with straight XLR connectors, that's $2.25 per female XLR and $2.19 per male (http://tinyurl.com/2v9xzc).  so for two of each that's $8.88.  Total, that's just over $21 + shipping.  and assumes that you already of a solder iron and solder, etc, etc.  not bad for a quality cable   (if you want right-angle connectors, those are considerably more expensive.  think $8 or $9 per connector).

I'm sure other people will chime in with other options.  but if you're ready to DIY (and there are a couple of threads here that take you through making your own cables step by step), Canare star-quads is a great place to start.

[Nick's Picks]

yup.
what he said.

another good source for parts, though just a tad more expensive is parts express.  they are handy as they accept paypal as a payment method.  they are located in IL, so priority mail shipping is pretty much 2 days to anywhere.

the neutrik parts are the standard, but dont be afraid to look around.  the new neutriks...sort of suck, imo.  The switchcraft RA XLRs are the best in terms of construction quality.

cable is the biggest part of the equation.  star-quad, mogami, ramteck ...etc, all of these are great cables.  industry standards.
the silver clad stuff is way different in terms of look/feel and they sound a different as well.  Sometimes way better, sometimes not.  depends on the rest of the gear.
ebay is a great place to find a short length of it.  All you need is any old 2 conductor, shielded cable.  20-24awg is where you want to be.
http://tinyurl.com/22o3jm  prime example.
this is a 3 conductor wire..  just as good.

[thegreatgumbino]

Fozzy built his own DIY silver cables for the MBHO 603a mics.  The "active" or "extension" cable with the mini xlr connector.  You might shoot him a PM if you have any specific questions.  He's an extremely helpful & knowledgeable individual, and a good guy taboot.

[rePat]

yup.
what he said.

another good source for parts, though just a tad more expensive is parts express.  they are handy as they accept paypal as a payment method.  they are located in IL, so priority mail shipping is pretty much 2 days to anywhere.

the neutrik parts are the standard, but dont be afraid to look around.  the new neutriks...sort of suck, imo.  The switchcraft RA XLRs are the best in terms of construction quality.

cable is the biggest part of the equation.  star-quad, mogami, ramteck ...etc, all of these are great cables.  industry standards.
the silver clad stuff is way different in terms of look/feel and they sound a different as well.  Sometimes way better, sometimes not.  depends on the rest of the gear.
ebay is a great place to find a short length of it.  All you need is any old 2 conductor, shielded cable.  20-24awg is where you want to be.
http://tinyurl.com/22o3jm  prime example.
this is a 3 conductor wire..  just as good.

Slight correction, Parts Express is actually in Ohio   Lucky for me one of the stores is located between my house and my girlfriends house, so I go by there all the time.  Believe me its hard resisting the temptation to stop!  MCM Electronics is right around the corner also, but they don't have a showroom/store AFAIK.

[stevetoney]

Thank you all for your responses.  I appreciate it alot!

[ShawnF]

I was just going to chime in about RA XLR connectors at MCM, and Pat mentioned them.  They do have a showroom at the warehouse in Springboro, btw.

Anyway, these aren't Neutrik, but would likely serve.  The list price is $6.09 each, but the current sale flyer has them at $2.99 ea.
http://www.mcminone.com/search.asp?keyword=27-1465&btnSubmit.x=7&btnSubmit.y=6

They have RA male XLR connectors, too, naturally, and they do carry the Neutrik line as well.

[Nick's Picks]

Those are Hosa connectors.  Or, GLS audio, which might be the real manfacterer.
they are dirt cheap on ebay.  search for right angle XLR.

the quality of construction w/these is not nearly as nice as the neutriks or switchcrafts.  yet I feel that they don't change anything sound wise, and are CONSIDERABLY lighter than either of the others I mentioned.
as w/any other plug, the silver wire goes right onto the silver contact PIN.  the rest of the signal cares not about the housing its in.