Topic: Silver clad cable recommendations?

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

If you believe that a cable change can make a difference, it stands to reason that some cable will sound worse.

geometry, materials, and construction all affect the result.  Some silver clad cables will sound like ass just as some copper cables sound like ass.  The only way to really know is to build a prototype cable and try it out in your system.

Hence why I'll be showing it to an engineer before I do anything else.

John, since you are hooked up through a distributor it should be no problem to get a sample of a couple of meters.  Use the sample to build some ICs and see how you like them. 

[John Kelly]

Hence why I'll be showing it to an engineer before I do anything else.

John, since you are hooked up through a distributor it should be no problem to get a sample of a couple of meters.  Use the sample to build some ICs and see how you like them. 

Good idea.  I'll be calling at around 2:30 and I'll let you guys know what happens.

I'm really more interested to see if these will be good mic cables.  I'll probably make some interconnects as well, but if I can make some great sounding, rugged mic cables out of them I'll be making at least 50.

[John Kelly]

Ok, talked to some engineers here and they all agreed that the cable would be great for mics.  So I called my dad to see what he could do - he's going to check on pricing and availability.  There may be a small problem - he has a feeling that the minimum order from Raychem may be 50,000ft.  But if that's the case he can probably order smaller quantities from other distributors who actually stock the cable.

He's also going to check on getting some samples.  I'll keep you guys updated as I know more.

[poorlyconditioned]

Ok, talked to some engineers here and they all agreed that the cable would be great for mics.  So I called my dad to see what he could do - he's going to check on pricing and availability.  There may be a small problem - he has a feeling that the minimum order from Raychem may be 50,000ft.  But if that's the case he can probably order smaller quantities from other distributors who actually stock the cable.

He's also going to check on getting some samples.  I'll keep you guys updated as I know more.

Hi there.  I'm interested in some (raw) cable if you get extra.  I'm sure others would be too.

By the way, the number one thing I'm looking for is reasonably thin cable (1/8" to 3/16", or 2.5-4mm), and *durable* cable.  Something with a cloth/mesh outer jacket would be best.  I'm looking for something that can be used for both mics and interconnects, like active elements, patch cords, etc.

Other vendor/brand suggestions are welcome too.

Thanks,
  Richard

[fozzy]

I still have plenty of BELDEN 1804a minature Silver clad star quad available.  Shoot me a PM if you are interested

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

On the subject of evaluating cable sound.. I really wish I had a consistent music source in my home to do comps.

I think the best thing is to use the cables in your playback system.  If you have balanced I/O in your playback, you can use the prototype mic cables.  This has the benefit of allowing you to also burn in the cables, provided you buy into that.  The problem I have with trying cables as a mic cable is, as you indicated, no consistent source.

Hi there.  I'm interested in some (raw) cable if you get extra.  I'm sure others would be too.
By the way, the number one thing I'm looking for is reasonably thin cable (1/8" to 3/16", or 2.5-4mm), and *durable* cable.  Something with a cloth/mesh outer jacket would be best.  I'm looking for something that can be used for both mics and interconnects, like active elements, patch cords, etc.

Both the miniature belden and the teflon jacketed cable will be tough and both will work for your listed applications.

The big reason for a mesh cover for the teflon cable is because it's white.  IMHO, the belden looks fine undressed.  I'm always undecided about the mesh.  On the one hand, it hides the ugly white teflon.  On the other hand, I expect mic cables to be draped though puddles of rain and beer.  Mesh cover will wick liquid so you really wouldn't want cloth for use in the field.

[it-goes-to-eleven]

I think the best thing is to use the cables in your playback system.  If you have balanced I/O in your playback, you can use the prototype mic cables.

True.  Pre to amp, I am currently balanced.  Though I don't know that my new playback system will be balanced..  One thought I have had is making excessively long cables for testing purposes.  The point being, the length will help reveal the nature of the cable (possibly using different cables for each channel).  Of course the length can cause other issues that wouldn't be a problem in shorter runs.

Both the miniature belden and the teflon jacketed cable will be tough and both will work for your listed applications.

Not to be too picky but.. I could never describe the 1804a as 'tough' (star quad and mini star quad being my reference for 'tough').  The jacket is thin. The conductors are only 28 awg. The shield braid is thin. Shield coverage is only 78%. It is very very flexible with not much 'memory' (unlike the teflon wrapped stuff which can be quite unwieldy) So much so that there is a risk of the cable kinking. I mean, if it is looped and you drop an xlr, I'd be worried about it pulling the cable into a light kink (where mini star quad, for example, will tend to un-kink itself).  I think that combining two cables together and protecting with techflex will go a long way to eliminating some of these concerns.  1804a cable also really likes to soak up "smoke" smell from venues.  Combined with the above, I would avoid using it where it could get stepped on or encounter beer.   Don't get me wrong, I like the stuff 

Also, based on the amount of internal twist (not much, I don't think) and the small conductor diameter, I can't help but wonder whether 1804a is truly appropriate for longer runs.

[John Kelly]

Ok, talked to some engineers here and they all agreed that the cable would be great for mics.  So I called my dad to see what he could do - he's going to check on pricing and availability.  There may be a small problem - he has a feeling that the minimum order from Raychem may be 50,000ft.  But if that's the case he can probably order smaller quantities from other distributors who actually stock the cable.

He's also going to check on getting some samples.  I'll keep you guys updated as I know more.

Hi there.  I'm interested in some (raw) cable if you get extra.  I'm sure others would be too.

By the way, the number one thing I'm looking for is reasonably thin cable (1/8" to 3/16", or 2.5-4mm), and *durable* cable.  Something with a cloth/mesh outer jacket would be best.  I'm looking for something that can be used for both mics and interconnects, like active elements, patch cords, etc.

Other vendor/brand suggestions are welcome too.

Thanks,
  Richard

If I can order in reasonable quantities I will *definitely* offer some up here, but I'll wait until I get a price first.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Not to be too picky but.. I could never describe the 1804a as 'tough' (star quad and mini star quad being my reference for 'tough'). 

Better to be picky now than after building cables.

The miniature belden cable I have seen seemed like it would be tough enough for most of our uses and similar to the canare mini star quad cable.  It sure seemed to be tougher than the cable used in the neuman actives.  I'll have to see if I can find out what that was.  I only saw it on the spool and decided I didn't want to spend the money at the time.  If it wasn't the 1804a, there must be a similar belden cable that is more resiliant.

Too bad it collects stink.  I didn't know that.  Between that attribute and techflex wicking beer, you'd eventually have cables that smell like a spool of wook.

[Genghis Cougar Mellen Khan]

Too bad it collects stink.  I didn't know that.  Between that attribute and techflex wicking beer, you'd eventually have cables that smell like a spool of wook.

 
 
Classic...

[John Kelly]

Well I found out those Raychem cables are obscenely expensive - $1/foot with a minimum order of 5000 feet.  But apparently they're that expensive because of a special jacket they have around them.  I'm looking into some other options and I'll let you guys know if I can find anything.

[John Kelly]

On Monday I'm going to get a copy of the entire Raychem cable line catalog.

Anyone still interested in this stuff?

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

How much are you looking for?

I can send you a length of this stuff I have and you can try it.  If you don't dig it you can reuse the connectors later.  If you do dig it, I can give you the name of the guy who has it.  I think he has a lot more.  And there is always that link I posted above for >$1/ft.

[John Kelly]

How much are you looking for?

I can send you a length of this stuff I have and you can try it.  If you don't dig it you can reuse the connectors later.  If you do dig it, I can give you the name of the guy who has it.  I think he has a lot more.  And there is always that link I posted above for >$1/ft.

I'll probably be ordering 1000 feet just for myself. 

Which stuff are you referring to?  The cable from ebay?

[it-goes-to-eleven]

I'm still looking for good silver clad for ICs, mic cables, etc.. But I'm stuck on the audio quality bit and knowing that 'silver clad' != good sound.  I also feel that you can't read the specs for a cable and know that it will sound better than cable that was specifically engineered and tested for use as mic cable, etc.

Another factor.. The quad connect that is good for mic cables may not be ideal for ICs.

Then there is the whole inductance issue. The 1804a has very fine 28awg conductors.  That low inductance is a somewhat different approach compared to many of the cables in use.  I've wondered how it would work for ICs.

I'm also still trying to settle on some good RCAs for IC projects.  My instinct is that the heavy RCAs with lots of metal mass aren't a good idea.  I wonder if some of cheap ones that are mostly plastic wouldn't actually be better than a lot of those. Obviously, you can spend pretty goofy money on RCAs.  That's especially true if you want to build a few cables to compare. I find it very ironic that we only spend about $2 on XLRs.  Granted, those are balanced cables so the characteristics are different. But I don't think the balanced config changes that connector issues all that much.

I have a bunch of cables to make (rca-rca IC, rca-xlr IC, mic cables)...  FWIW, schoeps active cable is some pretty trick custom stuff and it is not silver clad.