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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: marc0789 on November 15, 2005, 03:23:19 PM
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so recently, I'd noticed some one channel static. thought it was the old audio magic interconnects, so bought some leegeddys. ok for awhile, problem crops up again. hook the gear up at home, and discover what I think is a bad active cable in one mic, because I got static when jiggling the cable where it exits the cap.
well, a couple of years ago, I got some wire ties at home depot, to avoid tangling. When I unclipped the cables so I could send the bad one into DPA....voila, the static is gone. What I realized is that over the years, due to environmental factors or whatever, the actives were getting severely pinched. you could see deep marks on the actives. seem fine now. so don't do like me....use something other than wire ties. ::) :P
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gaffers
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gaffers
i've used the small black plastic zip ties, not tight, as in the cable can still move around if you give it a good twist. i've never noticed problems, and that is after recently testing all my gear. i can't justify putting tape on these cables, esp. if it is going to be on the cables for years.
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thats why i love that techfkex on the leggeddy's/toddr cables, i have wire ties on mine and they are fine 100%
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You're lucky it wasn't the DPA cables. They're about $275 to repair one.
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yup, I use gaffers on my 4022s and have been happy with the results.
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You're lucky it wasn't the DPA cables. They're about $275 to repair one.
Doesn't
Price
Accurately
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You're lucky it wasn't the DPA cables. They're about $275 to repair one.
Doesn't
Price
Accurately
you get what you pay for :P
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This is what I use to keep my actives from tangling:
http://www.cableorganizer.com/spiral-wrap/
PITA to wrap the cables into the sprial but REAL easy to use and nice to have in the field
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Electrical tape doesn't get as gooey as gaffers, and I find the velcro ties work better than anything. I don't have actives but same shit with a thim mic cable.
Matt
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Electrical tape doesn't get as gooey as gaffers
My experience is just the opposite. YMMV.
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I use the ties that came with garbage bags, not twist ties but the ones that have the slot and the pegs to adjust size. They're wider and stay looser and more flexible than zip ties.
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won't Goo Gone get rid of any stickiness on the cable? or is that bad for them?
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won't Goo Gone get rid of any stickiness on the cable? or is that bad for them?
it will but it is a pia. Maybe there are different types of gaffers tape, but the tecnec stuff I have is no better than duct tape after about a month. Velcro is what I use on all my cables. You can by a roll of 100 velcro cable ties at lowes for about $6 and that will last most people forever. Or they have 5 packs at most home improvement/hardware stores for about $3. Money well spent in my opinion. I use them more for winding cords than for combining them, but same thing.
Matt
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velcro over your gaff tape, and secure it with a zip-tie.
whoa, easy killer!
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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.
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Zip ties on active cables? Holy cow! :o
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.
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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.