greetings all.
as far as induced RF noise, AKG used a triaxial cable for the MK46's. if you lost the shield, you would definately be able to introduce noise into the system. as far as wear and tear, i found that the method of assembly of the body>cable and cable>cap increases or minimizes damage to the cable. i hold the cable end and spin the body /cap onto the cable end. also, i would be leery of using anything
the 451 & 480 series of mics are the most difficult to seperate as they have no bias ring in the bodies. for those series of mics, my first plan is to investigate the cap>umbilical>xlr to deck/pre option first. that is why i indicated that samples would be built first so that they could be passed around and we can discuss sonic issues. also, as a byproduct of this portion of the project, the bias circuitry needed for the caps might get fitted to the body end of the 480 umbilical so we can test sonics of that as well.
hope this helps
neil