XLR, making cables.

[Ben Langfeld]

That is the expensive stuff, stuart. You don't NEED starquad, nor do you need Van Damme, but if you have the money then go for it - it's an improvement. If you want dirt cheap, get this: http://www.terralec.co.uk/audio_cable/micr...le/20111_p.html

[stuartm]

Found this as well

 

lhttp://www.vdctrading.com/products.asp?SubSectionID=2

 

http://www.terralec.co.uk/audio_cable/micr...le/20111_p.html - thats more our price

[Ben Langfeld]

Or this :Pp

http://www.vdctrading.com/products.asp?SubSectionID=2

 

No

[stuartm]

Thanks Ben

[Simon Lewis]

Or this :Pp

http://www.vdctrading.com/products.asp?SubSectionID=2

 

Sorry, but that isn't really useful as a general purpose mic cable that's going to be handled a lot, since it is foil screened and has a small diameter with a "skinny" outer sheath. It is designed for installation work, where it won't get flexed or moved too much.

 

Use something like this , but buy good connectors (e.g. Neutrik).

[boatman]

Ouch, more expensive than I thought - thanks for the link though, will have to try to convince the school for the money.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

Would this work:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchB...t&R=0368643

 

That one would be fine but, unless your school has an account with RS, you won't be able to buy from them.

 

As Andrew C suggested, you would be much better going to CPC for this cable. It's available in several colours.

 

You should read the Soundcraft cables page carefully before you start. Remember that the cable screen is connected to pin 1 on the 3-pin XLR, which unfortunately isn't shown on that page.

 

Edit: Added link to Soundcraft page.

[Andrew C]

You don't NEED starquad, nor do you need Van Damme, but if you have the money then go for it - it's an improvement.

I posted a link in the 4th post in this thread to Van Damme that is cheaper than this stuff. Is no one reading this thread in their haste to post?

 

Edit:- Apart from Boatman!

[stuartm]

I'm reading, just learning at the same time.

 

I dont think we need an account with RS as they are going to reimburse us when we buy it.

[bruce]

If you don't have an RS account, they won't sell to you. They are a trade supplier.

 

The CPC stuff boatman suggests isn't the best quality cable in the world, but is perfectly adequate for most purposes. I've got a couple of drums of it in the garage, and use it for most general purpose interconnects. For heavily-used mics, you may want to go to a better grade of cable, simply because it is thicker and handles better, but for most amateur and semi-pro purposes, that may be overkill.

[Andrew C]

I dont think we need an account with RS as they are going to reimburse us when we buy it.

RS only sell to account holders, as do CPC. Your school will have an account with one of them. Talk to a science or CDT technician. It is easy to set up an account with CPC, but you'd need credit or debit card or access to a parent / teacher with one.

[stuartm]

Thanks Bruce and Andrew.

 

Will look into setting up an account, if not trust debit card to order some stuff.

 

Just to check I only basically have to solder the three cores to the three pins

 

I found a guide somewhere I think.

[berry120]

Just to check I only basically have to solder the three cores to the three pins

Yup, that's all the soldering there is to it - but make sure they're good solder joints, otherwise they may be prone to coming unstuck...

[Chris L]

That Terralec stuff is more bedget end, but would work ok. If you have a bit more money to spend, Van Damme cable is very highly regarded by most people as fairly indestructable and noise free.

For budget cable I use: http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.asp...;moduleno=62366 - 45pish/m on 100m reel.

I've never had a problem with this stuff as far as cheap cable goes.

 

HTH

Chris

[paulears]

There's little point setting up an account with RS for just the odd purchase - RS are also known for wide range, good tech spec availability and not cheapness. The school you are ding this for will also be able to claim the VAT back, which you won't - making buying via you 17.5% more expensive than buying it direct. Virtually every school has an RS account - if you're doing computer science at uni, then your own place could maybe get it for you?

 

 

Please for give me for saying this - but you don't seem to have much of a clue about what you're doing - so I'm sure many of us are wondering how you got involved with making up cables when you're not sure what they're for.

 

Nowadays, XLRs are rarely found on loudspeakers - which you've mentioned.

 

Soldering XLRs is quite easy with practice - BUT the techniques you will have to use do depend on the exact type of cable and the brand of plug.

 

Cheap XLRs have nasty contacts you have to solder to, too little heat and you get a dry joint, too much and the entire insert melts out! Some cables have screens that need a bit of care to tease into something you can solder, while others are much easier and have a drain wire and conductive plastic screen. This isn't common - but can fox you. Speakers usually need 2 or 4 core cable - not 3, so it's different. The usual connector now is a speakon - so you need more than one type. The comms cables are usually standard mic types, so 3 pin XLR is the name of the game.

 

Plenty of people have tried to guide you here, but to be honest, a bit of Googling would have provided quite a lot of the answers. You may well be a bit out of your depth - so if we can help we will, but try to really think and give us the full facts, or we have to guess what you're up to.

[stuartm]

Thanks Paul, I think all our speakers run off speakon (I'm not being very clear) but we have some portable things which run of XLR.

 

Its mainly just for general sound bits and cans, we need to run the cans around the pros arch from SR to SL so we need quite a length.