Multiway connectors (budget of course!)

[andysquibb]

Happy new year chaps and chapesses!

 

I've been approached by a church with regards to simplifying their audio setup as part of a major revamp. For security reasons they have to lock the desk and rack away each night for security, which then needs to be set up each time by someone who has a vague idea what they're doing. In order to make it easier for anyone to setup I've suggested putting a break-in and break-out with multipole connector between the desk and multi, and between the desk and fx/insert rack. This way, they would have only two multipole's to connect plus the desk power.

 

I know this is a standard situation used on tours daily, in which case I would spec a socapex-style 37 way connector but.... (here it comes)... money is, as ever, a major consideration. This doesn't have to be mil-spec or touring grade and it doesn't have to be waterproof or rated.

 

The cheapest way I've found of doing it so far is using the socapex stuff on Thomann.de (£35 and £52 for male and female respectively) but is there a cheaper alternative still?

 

I'm also open to purchasing the actual break-in and outs pre made even if it's more expensive than this as this will obviously reduce labour time... again, any suggestions?

 

 

Thanks for any assistance, as always!

[cedd]

CPC do 8 x XLR to 25 way db connectors, with XLR's of both genders, then all you need is a db25 gender changer to join the 2 together. Works out nice and cheap!

[paulears]

The most common ones in my experience are the edacs and the hartings. Edacs take a bit more effort in the larger sizes, but their disadvantage of being a little more fragile isn't perhaps as important if you fit metal covers not plastic, and treat them gently. The hartings are def my favourites - No screwing, just connect and press down the clamps.

 

If the fear is theft of the expensive kit, then a plug and socket is cheap in comparison. Oh yes - pin spacing and physical size inside the Harting make sputting them on less of a problem than the larger circular ones if you have chunky fingers.

[patrick_keys]

You could always try an EDAC connector - they're not quite as robust but may be a little cheaper. You'll still be looking at £30ish per connector though once you've got the plug/socket, backshell and contacts though. Studiospares, Farnell and RS are usually quite good on prices.

[Matt Riley]

In our part of the world (the south!) we've got a lot of companies using the VDM connector to run multis. You normally wouldn't use a socapex connector because they are used for carrying power and can cause issues when you've got inexperienced people confusing lighting/mains connectors with signal. Also, they can only take a total of 12 channels, so they would be pretty useless really. The VDMs are really good though, if pricey and a bit harder for newbies to fit than hartings.

 

Matt

[johnhuson]

Matt, the OP was discussing 37-pin Socapex not 19-pin Socapex. Socapex connectors come in many many variations!

 

I reckon EDACs as suggested by other are probably the cheapest option, but as other have said are less robust than Hartings, VDMs etc.

[mrg198]

Not sure whether you mean the desks kit has to be moved to another room or just locked down with lids. In the case of the latter, cheaper still would be the jigsaw approach and cut a notch in the case to allow the cables to come out. This way you can still put the lids on and lock them without needing to disconnect. Of course if they have to put put in another room then this idea is no good. Is there any way they can be fitted in place and covers locked down over them?

[Simon Lewis]

I'd suggest Hartings give the best cost to robustness ratio... there will always be someone in the church who tries to mate the multipin incorrectly!

 

Regarding security, of course the church wants to minimise opportunistic thefts (and the method discussed here may be very reasonable), but more damage is usually done by the thief and his 18" crowbar. A typical example: instead of unplugging the speakon and undoing the single bolt holding a speaker onto its wall bracket, the whole thing is wrenched off the wall, ripping the cabling back 10m, bending the bracket and removing a square metre of plaster.

Similarly, one church was told by their insurers not to padlock the wooden chest their mics and cables were stored in. The equipment was worth about £250, the chest was a 14th century antique...

 

Simon

[TallMike]

hartings are roadie proof!

[J Pearce]

A church I used to attend in Luton ended up with a multipin system after being broken into and having our rack robbed out.

 

The install company brought a number of options in and harting was the connector that everyone could connect without trouble or misconnection, and the company was satisfied that it was muppet proof. I wouldn't recommend EDAC, and soca is expensive and probably over-specced.

[andysquibb]

Thanks for all your replies.

 

I had considered the Harting connectors, but EDAC hadn't crossed my mind at all!

 

I had seen the 8XLR to 25pin D-type connector in my CPC catalogue but loathe D-sub connectors for being too damn fragile!!

 

In answer to (at least some of) the questions above, the idea is for the desk to be moved from the church into a more secure side room, hence the multiway connectors. They have said that at some point they may consider building the desk into a box to secure but, at least, for the the time being they want to be able to wheel the desk away when not in use.

 

I'm probably going to go down the route of the EDAC, simply taking a short XLR loom, cutting it in the middle and soldering the EDACs there. I know some people have already said EDAC is not ideal but, as always, cost is going to be what this comes down to, and it's still cheap even with the metal cases. Harting is something I might be able to push them to once we've bashed out the rest of the quote.

 

I find it amusing that many people live in the belief that Socapex comes in one flavour... 19pin. I suspect this is because lampies and riggers generally only come across Soca in this format, hence Matt's comment (are you a lampie or rigger Matt?).

 

 

Thanks for all your replies!

 

(Edited cause I can't spell)

[Rob_Beech]

Those D subs aren't as bad as you may think. I've got a few and have experimented with a few monitor looms and the likes and I'm very impressed. Not going to stand the abuse that other multipins will but then again, they're not going to get the abuse that some have to live up to.

 

You do need a coupler to put 2 together, and remember that when you have done so, what is connector number 1 on one side, is connector number 8 on the other, 2 is 7 and so on. But the labelling on them is not easy to read, so despite this I'd recommend relabelling anyway. The great thing is of course, they'll be plugged in all the time so it wont matter too much.

 

To turn them into insert looms, depends on your desk outputs and insert configuration. If like one of my desks you have a separate send and return then 2 sets of looms will give you 8 way send and return, if on the other hand like the remainder of my desks you have a single insert socket then use the jack to d sub lead one end, and a d sub to male XLR the other. then make up the necessary female XLR to 2 jack patch leads for in the rack. It works quite well.

 

I would recommend some separate screws for the D subs, they ship with a normal flat head screw, so I'd invest in some thumb screws if you went down that route.

 

 

That's not to say the other multipins aren't any good, I'd recommend hartings but as the d subs were brought up by someone else I thought I'd put my 2p in about them.

[Matt Riley]

I find it amusing that many people live in the belief that Socapex comes in one flavour... 19pin. I suspect this is because lampies and riggers generally only come across Soca in this format, hence Matt's comment (are you a lampie or rigger Matt?).

 

Yep. I'm a lampie through and through. Our lighting rig at work has got a load of really sweet turbosound, DandB and Martin Audio moving heads on it, and oooh we've got a little midas xl200 to control it all. Blinders are supplied by drawmer, and there's loads of yammie SPX 2k and TC electronic LED battens.

 

Where I come from you get VDM multipins, which look like socapex connectors but for audio. I think there's also DDKs, Dt12s, and Whirlwind mass connectors which look similar. But I've never seen a socapex connector used for line level audio, even though, according to vdc, they do apparently exist! Certainly none of the companies which I've worked with on the south coast have used them, we at the uni certainly don't and it still stands that if you need 3 pins for each channel then you only get a maximum of 12 channels. Which for most of the stuff I do is about 36 channels and 8 returns short of what I need.

 

Each to their own...

 

Matt