Audio Specials

[Pete Alcock]

Matthew,

 

The "specials" I use most often are these:

 

A different take on a Y-split (made using a male-female XLR barrel from CPC):

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/petealcock/MonitorSplit.jpg

 

And a multi-connector parallel box (made using Penn "MSB" bits, again from CPC):

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/petealcock/Splitters.jpg

 

I have 4 of these; 2 straight parallels Female/Male XLRs + Jacks (all connectors together), and 2 with 1:1 transformers. These get used as laptop interface, feeds to video crews, eliminating occasional hums, and as a DI for stuff like keyboards.

 

+1 for the converticon to Jack lead - good idea.

 

How many should you have? depends entirely on the size and type of gig's you're doing, and how often you forget to pack the right leads (or forget to ask the client if anything else needs to go through the PA).

 

PA.

[Wilflet]

 

How many should you have? depends entirely on the size and type of gig's you're doing, and how often you forget to pack the right leads (or forget to ask the client if anything else needs to go through the PA).

 

PA.

 

one more than you ever need and/or one fewer than breaks the container their in.

[S&L]

not a cable special as such but I never head out to a gig without my XLR rat sniffer and sender http://www.soundtools.com/xlrsnifsend.html

it was a sod to get hold of and I ended up importing via Australia but it paid for itself first gig out and shut up one musician who is apt to blame the sound engineer for faulty snakes rather than check his own cables!! It makes it posssible to check a snake in situ in seconds - takes around 2 minutes to check all cables in a 12 way snake.

I also have a load of jack to XLR converters (all types) in the transit box that carries snake and stage box and sits on stage, while my folding toolbox carries yet more of the same at my FOH position.

[Bazz339]

One thing that I decided was a very good idea after reading about in on here, that no one has yet mentioned in this thread, is a box of 'connector to terminal strip' adaptors for each type of (audio/data!) connector that you're reasonably likely to encounter, so that you can make up an adaptor as required if faced with something surprising.

 

As for how many do you need, I'd say go on past experience and throw in a few more to be safe.

 

Something surprising usually dealt with via wire cutters in my case however the selection of cables I carry usually gets round most things including DIN and Skart.

 

Small rig 16 way desk doing corporate but hiring in bigger when needed I used to have

 

10 MXLR to TRS

10 FXLR to TRS

10 MXLR to 1/4" JK

10 FXLR to 1/4"

 

3 FXLR to 2X MXLR

3 MXLR to 2 X FXLR

 

4 Balancing boxes with

1 X 1/4" and FXLR in 1 X 1/4" & MXLR out passive transformers can be used either way.

 

Several insert leads TRS to XLR XLR to 2 X MXLR with an FXLR TO FXLR sex change which copes with different desks send return arrangements.

 

6 Phono to Jk

6 FXLR to Phono

6 MXLR to Phono

 

and most of my kit plugs up without using any of it.

 

It is over the top but I have never run out, I always worked on the basis it was easier to hire in equipment than getting the right cable and having spent time touring where where the end of the cable was was where the speaker went have never liked to be tight on cable.

 

Given the cheap price of XLR to jack adaptors I would consider buying short XLR to XLR cable and Jack to XLR adaptors now.

 

Hard to give advice on how many without knowing size of rig/gig/usage, which may have been detailed but I have missed.