Topic: don't do this with your actives.......

[BC]

Electrical tape doesn't get as gooey as gaffers

My experience is just the opposite.  YMMV.

I have found that they both get pretty gooey over time.

I use double sided velcro strips, from either the hardware store or walmart (can't remember where I got it from). They are fairly soft, and have the rough part on one side and the soft side on the other. Wrap tightly around the active cables and they stay pretty snug, won't crimp the cables because of the give in the material.

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Zip ties on active cables?  Holy cow! 

For bundling already made cables (especially actives), I suggest wide rubber bands glued together with contact cement. 

If you've read my 'crazy schoeps active project' thread, you know I've soldered these things up myself.  I'll tell you.. I hate soldering actives. They're small.  The solder connections are *extremely* critical (much more so than regular ICs).  A mistake can be ugly..  Soldering up a pair of actives is 16-20 solder joints. At least I now have access to parts from Posthorn.

I'd be careful about using goo gone. I wouldn't worry about it much with regular cable jacket (star and mini-star). Keep the fumes away from your capsules. If using it near the capsule end, I'd remove the capsule first.  I'd avoid using any solvent on mini DPA mics (406x).  Those little cables are very sensitive to solvents and it can impact their elasticity (maybe use heavily diluted alcohol).  One gotcha with 1804a.. The jacket is thin and unique. It likes to pickup and hold cigarette smell much more than any other cable. So I'd be careful using solvents on it.

I've done a fair bit of looking into different cable types for actives. I initially cabled my project with Canare mini star quad because I couldn't get a good alternative at that time.  Decent stuff, very tough. I was going to switch to 1804a but now I'm not so sure.  1804a is very delicate cable. The coverage provided by the shielding is somewhat limited so it is prone to develop handling noise. The jacket is very thin and light. Bending the cable sharply can open up the shielding and cause noise.

I recently obtained some schoeps active cable. The construction is extremely sturdy, even more so than miniquad.  It is tough stuff. 3 conductor.

The diameters:

1804a: .115" dia
schoeps: .155" dia
miniquad: .185" dia

I plan on posting some pics of the cable construction when I have some time.

I think only jk labs and nbox use 1804a for active cables.

[mhibbs]

The guy I bought my Schoeps actives from went the electrical tape route.  It's been on there for at least 3yrs w/out coming off or sliding around and turning gooey.