wirralmatt Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I want to start making my own XLR cables rather than buying them. I am using Neutrik connectors because I know the quality is good. I am struggling to work out what cable to buy though. I am looking to buy a 100m reel of cable and I will be making cables no longer than 10m from it. Could anyone advise me on what might be the best cable to buy? Thanks Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Connectronics Musiflex is my favourite. Easy to work with, flexible and lasts forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 ..... and musiflex works really well with the neutrik IDC plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirralmatt Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 That was easy!! Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Something I too have been looking in to as I'm needing to replace a fair bit of my aging cable stock. How happy are people with IDC connectors? I've always soldered in the past but would welcome anything that can help speed the process up! I'm going to be making an initial batch of 10 10m XLR's.I'm still weighing up making my own Vs buying. Benefits being the ability to heatshrink mark the cables, and a slight reduction in cost. It's also a nice project to have sat in the locker at work for the quiet weekend shifts! Has anybody tried the Studiospares Europa cable? I think it's the stuff they use in their own budget cables - they certainly seem very flexible. I bought a few from Plasa last year and quite like them, but it'd be nice to have a branded connector on them. Buying the cable in bulk and using it to make my own might be the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I was very sceptical when I first used them - which was to get DMX on 3 pins where soldering would have had to be done up a cherry picker - Even with the cable being mic cable, the results were really good. I had bought an awful lot of them for the job and made up pile of audio cables. This was probably ten years ago, they've been mixed in with my other ones and not one has ever caused any problem at all. The only thing to remember is that they are one-shot. If you pry out the pins and use them again, they are no good, the pins need to align properly when the chuck forces them through the insulation, and removing the spikes from the old cable bends them just enough to ensure they don't line up properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I can never make the numbers work when I look at making my own cables. I'm wondering if there's some secret supplier of cheap cable and connectors that I've not come across. I think the problem is that I'm just not buying in enough bulk! Let's say I want to make 10 x 10m leads. Connector pricing from CPC, cable pricing from the link above (I could probably shop around a bit more on connectors, but there can't be that much in it at these quantities). 100m of cable with 10 of each type if IDC connector works out at £153.20 including VAT. £15.32 per cable. Then we turn to the Studiospares catalogue and find that if we buy in a quantity of 10 or more, we can get their professional XLR lead with neutrik XLR's and sommer cable for £15.76 including VAT. Really got to ask myself, for the sake of a few pence, is it really worth the hassle? Yes I get to heatshrink my cables as I want them, but other than that I really can't see it as being worth the effort. I'm sure if I was buying a fair few more metres of cable, or a few hundred connectors, the price per lead would tumble, but I just don't think I could face that much time making up cables! What do other people do? Is there a good source of a reasonable price XLR lead? I really like the cheaper studiospares ones, but do favor the Neutrik connectors. How do the Thomann "cordial" ones stack up? They've got Neutrik connectors but their own cable - which is an unknown quantity. Be really interested in some recommendations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Really got to ask myself, for the sake of a few pence, is it really worth the hassle? Yes I get to heatshrink my cables as I want them, but other than that I really can't see it as being worth the effort. I agree with you on the economics of making cable. The only time we've done it recently is if we've cable left over from an installation, or if we've managed to get a ridiculously cheap deal on something. Our solution to the heatshrinking issue was to track down some 3:1 ratio clear heatshrink. (RS stock it, CPC don't). It will go over the XLR connector if you remove the shell, but will shrink enough to grip the cable reasonably well. So no resoldering required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilflet Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 If you dont need them in any specific time iv done quite well out of ebay.Theres quite often cable bought for installs, unused, that people view as already paid for and want shot of.Iv had 100m rolls for as little as £9 (that was red, iv had black for 15-20). That puts the cable in a 10m down to £1-2 rather than £10, makes it far more economical but not great for "I need it in 2 days" situations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Sorry to revisit this one, but I'm at the stage of buying some cable now and have a couple of options. "Why the change of heart?" I hear you say. I remembered that out in the shed I had some old looms given to me by a friend. I had need for some 8 way multicore for a project using EDAC's on my radio mic racks, and in this pile were some jack - XLR looms. Having used the cable for the EDAC project I was left with a pile of Neutrik XLR's - 15 pairs. Now I've got these for free it seems slightly more worthwhile making up my own cables. I was originally going to go for the Musicflex above, but am considering two other options, based largely upon price. The first is the Sommer SC Stage 22 seen here. It's a fair chunk cheaper than the musicflex, and if I'm not doing IDC connectors then the neat drain wire isn't quite as useful, so it's worth considering. The second option is a bit of a wildcard. Studiospares' own brand Europa cable found here. I've had some of the studiospares own brand XLR leads from their stand at Plasa a few times and have always liked them. The cable's really nice and flexible and I believe it's the same stuff sold on a drum here. The slight let down for me on their ready made cables was always the connectors used (never had a failure mind!) which clearly won't be a problem in this instance. The question really, what do people think? I've seen the recommendations for the musicflex above, but can't find much on the Sommer stuff. It's not their most expensive brand - is it still going to be ok? I have first hand experience of the Studiospares stuff, but over a short period of time and they've not seen that much work - are they going to last? Anybody using them regularly out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Musiflex is fine for making up soldered versions - and the drain is easier to solder than trying to tease together random screen strands. I have used the Sommer cable - not quite the same, I think but spec wise very similar, and it's decent stuff - but the braid is very fine, and strands were easy to leave dangling - so I used heat shrink on the visible part to keep the chance of shorts down. Musiflex seems very immune from bends, being very flexible. If you want an alternative to Musiflex, I use Canford HST, but it's a bit more expensive - 85p/m plus VAT. It also comes in similar colours - and I like violet. Makes spotting mine mixed in with others far easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Out of all the cables I've used, Canford's HST is the nicest to make up cables with. I tend to use Van Damme mic cable because I can get it a little cheaper, but HST is my preferred cable. I've had some early versons of musiflex perform badly in certain RF environments? Not sure if it was the gear or the cable, but it did put me off it somewhat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Quite a few years ago there was a data sheet from Studiospare comparing types of screening and Musiflex types (conductive plastic) were shown to have less effective screening. The only time I've noticed was when using adaptors that short one conductor to ground unbalancing it - and plugged into a Strat, the results were not good. Never had a problem normally though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 What's the thinking on using bright orange cable? It's just that Canford appear to have a lot of it pretty cheap! I've never been a fan of garish coloured mic cables - all of mine are black. That said, it would (as Paul points out) help identify them. Just not sure how it'd look strewn across a stage, or going to mics on stands in a more serious gig. Be great in an orchestra pit where visibility is probably more important when musicians start putting their chairs on top of my cables!A couple of hundred meters of HST for a hundred quid is pretty tempting! I've still got plenty of serviceable black cables if I need to be more subtle. Might be a good option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Orange might take a bit more cleaning, I certainly avoid white power cables for that reason. This is my favourite inexpensive black mic cable at the moment: http://www.thomann.de/gb/cordial_cmk_222_sw_mikrofonkabel_100m.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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