Budget Multicore Help

[maestro_hanson]

Hi

 

I'm looking at making a budget multicore out of shielded cat5 cable. I need two sends and two returns and I was wondering how to wire the pin 1's. As the cable only has one shield is it ok to wire all the pin 1's to the one shield or will that create problems?

 

Would it be better to get 2 shielded cables and have one cable for sends and one for returns. Could the pin 1's be connected to the same shield in this case?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[dbuckley]

Are all the sends and returns at the same level, preferably line level?

 

If not (ie you mix mic and line on the same cable) then that will probably end up badly.

 

Yes, common the pin 1s.

[maestro_hanson]

Are all the sends and returns at the same level, preferably line level?

 

If not (ie you mix mic and line on the same cable) then that will probably end up badly.

 

Yes, common the pin 1s.

 

What is the difference between mic and line level? (Sorry fairly new to this). The cable is to go from the stage with two mics to the mixer then from the mixer's outputs back to side stage to the amps if that helps.

[Pete McCrea]

About £50 will get you a small Multicore on a drum, 6 sends and 2 returns at 40m IIRC from CPC. Might be worth a look at that as a known good and working option

[maestro_hanson]

About £50 will get you a small Multicore on a drum, 6 sends and 2 returns at 40m IIRC from CPC. Might be worth a look at that as a known good and working option

 

Thanks, that would be perfect but I'm in Australia and the shipping would be too much. I'm trying to get this as ablsolutely cheap as possible. About $75 Australian dollars (around £50) is my absolute maximum budget and that includes shipping costs etc.

[Tezzachs]

Might sound like a stupid question but have you tried the likes of eBay?

[maestro_hanson]

Might sound like a stupid question but have you tried the likes of eBay?

 

Nah its not a stupid question. Its the first place I tried though. I cant find anything for under the budget. I've been looking for about 3 weeks now hoping to find something cheap but eveythings easily over $100AUD (around £65). Everything just seems to be so expensive here in Australia.

[timsabre]

 

What is the difference between mic and line level? (Sorry fairly new to this). The cable is to go from the stage with two mics to the mixer then from the mixer's outputs back to side stage to the amps if that helps.

 

Mic level is a very small electrical signal - line level is a much larger signal. The danger is that the larger line level signal will interfere with the smaller mic level signal and cause trouble.

However I think it will work ok - and if it doesn't, your idea of a separate cable each for sends and returns will work.

[maestro_hanson]

Mic level is a very small electrical signal - line level is a much larger signal. The danger is that the larger line level signal will interfere with the smaller mic level signal and cause trouble.

However I think it will work ok - and if it doesn't, your idea of a separate cable each for sends and returns will work.

 

Ok thanks, that makes sense. Would it work alright if I connected the pin1's of only the sends or returns and just left the other one un-connected?

[timsabre]

Ok thanks, that makes sense. Would it work alright if I connected the pin1's of only the sends or returns and just left the other one un-connected?

 

Wouldn't make any difference. It's coupling between the two twisted pairs.

[jamesperrett]

Having had experience of the problems that are caused by putting mic level sends and line level returns together, I would strongly recommend that you use separate cables. If your mic inputs are sufficiently good at rejecting interference you might get away with a single cable but, with the low price of cat5 cable, it isn't worth the risk.

 

James.

[dbuckley]

Yeah, everything James said.

 

Cat5 works just fine for audio line signals, but having mic and line in the same cable is bound to end badly. Seperate cables much better, and have a bit of space between them.

[maestro_hanson]

Ok thanks. I think I'll go with two cables

Should I still go with shielded or would two unshelled cat5's do?

 

 

 

[dbuckley]

Shielded.

[Ashley R]

My question is, is the Cat5 cable rugged enough to be able to be rolled out, unrolled say a couple dozen times, be trampled on etc, without any of the cores breaking? I mean it is generally designed for installs (even the multi stranded stuff aint up to hard use, only designed for the server room patches etc.)

 

Even at $75, just the connectors is going to eat away about $25, for cheapish connectors.