Those of you who own this microphone know that the stock cable is very cheaply made and too short to use on a "real" microphone stand. The solution is simple: build your own replacement cable! I built mine with about $25 in materials and a couple hours of time (it would've been much faster if I hadn't been taking pictures for this thread
). First and foremost: USE NEUTRIK CONNECTORS. I haven't found any XLR connectors that are as well-constructed and easy to solder. They're an industry standard for a reason.
Since you're going to cram two balanced cables into the NC5FX (five-pin XLR) connector, I suggest going with military-grade silver-plated copper wire with Teflon insulation and exterior wrap (Mil-Spec 27500). The Teflon insulation is thinner than foamed polypropylene (or pretty much anything except Kapton, which you do NOT want to use in the field because it's both fragile and hydrophilic). Get some like this:
I got ~25 feet of this cable for $14 shipped. It's more flexible than I'd imagined and seems fairly durable. Be sure to get cable with stranded main conductors (19/32 is what I got) and braided shielding (not flat). 24 AWG is both the smallest cable I'd recommend for microphone use and the largest I'd use in this application. Now that you have your cables, you'll need something to hold them together as a unit that isn't electrical tape wrapped around them every six inches.
That's where Techflex (Flex-o-pet) comes in. I used the 1/8" size on my cable and wouldn't suggest that you use anything larger. The two cables combined are pretty much the "middle" of the Techflex's expansion/contraction. Getting the cables through the Techflex takes time but the "inchworm" technique for getting them through -- both cables at once -- is easy enough to learn.
You have to open the Techflex in front of the cable and push the cable into the opening you've just made. The Teflon wrap will just slide through. It's actually harder to explain than it is to do. But, as I mentioned, it's tedious work. I'm glad that I only had to do ~13 feet. Note the red heat-shrink tubing which designates the right channel's cable.
You'll want to start with the NC3MX (three pin XLR) ends. Just trust me. Here's the left channel's NC3MX; soldered up and ready for final assembly. If you look closely, you can see that there are two layers of 2:1 heat-shrink on the cable here. The base layer is 3/32" and the top is 1/4". It was necessary to add girth to the cable because the NC3MX connector wouldn't "grab" the thin cable with just one layer.
The heat-shrink assortment I bought contains four-inch lengths, which is more than enough "spread" for my PMD660's inputs. Shown above are the NC3MX connectors being held "even" by the PMD660. With some tension on the cable, the first layer of heat-shrink has been applied to hold them in that position. The second layer (to the right of the photo) will hold the Techflex in place and reinforce the "Y" in the cable.
My RatShack butane-powered iron (on medium/high heat) makes a decent hot-air source for shrinking the tubing. After everything cools down a little, it's time to tighten the Techflex (working toward the NC5FX end). Just work it down over the cables until it's good and tight. It'll coil better if you keep the cables flat (side-by-side with no twisting) inside the techflex. So do that. You'll probably end up with some excess Techflex at the end. Hold it nice and tight and cut it with your (low heat) soldering iron or hot knife; about 1/2" from the end of the cable (which is as far back as you need to strip the cable). Also; at this point you should cut the cables to a perfectly even length (which makes it easier to solder the grounds together).
Here's the NC5FX end, laid out and ready for insulation removal and soldering. Put the cables through the back of the Neutrik connector one at a time. If you used heat-shrink to mark one channel or the other, put that cable through first. Once the cables are through, you can put the heatshrink on in the order it'll be used in. Make sure that you put the connector end on before the heat-shrink and work it over the Techflex. Note that the Techflex is still "loose" until after the connector is soldered on. Also bear in mind that both shields are not going to fit into the connector's solder terminal. You'll need to trim about half off of each, then twist them together. Once everything is soldered, you can get the Techflex and heat-shrink lined up appropriately and shrink it down.
It's all soldered together now, with the first piece of heat-shrink holding the Techflex down. The second piece of heat-shrink is intended to be "stress relief". That should help the cable to not "kink" at the microphone connector (which, I think we'd all agree, is important). It's definitely starting to look like a cable now...
The pin-out of the five-pin connector is as follows:
Pin 1: Ground
Pin 2: Left Pin 2
Pin 3: Left Pin 3
Pin 4: Right Pin 2
Pin 5: Right Pin 3
Here's my finished ~13-foot cable, coiled up with a Velcro cable tie (which are available pretty much anywhere and are money well spent). I didn't have time to do much with it tonight except check the resistance of the cable (according to my cheapo multimeter, the resistance is zero). I plan to make some semi-empirical recordings (same source, same position, different cable) with the two cables tomorrow. It's probable that there will be links to short FLAC files here if anyone's interested.
Good luck building your own cable for your RODE NT4!
Topic: DIY Guide: Cable replacement for RODE NT4 (Read 9262 times)