morristech Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Hi all, Having been just about scraping by with a multimeter for the past 6 months I feel like it's about time I purchased a dedicated cable tester. My first thought was the SoundTools XLR sniffer/sender, but I've had an influx of jobs where I really don't want to make a fool of myself in the very near future, and it currently only seems to be available shipped from the USA. Are there any similar alternatives which might make it here a bit faster? If not, then any particular recommendations for standard cable testers? Cheers,Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Behringer link for XLRs, it's intermittient lights are invaluable! studiospares link for sheer versitility and number of cables it can test. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I'd second the Behringer suggestion - the LEDs are great for finding dodgy cables (they lock on if an intermittent connection detected). There's also a tone generator and phantom power detector. Another really useful feature, which for me makes it perhaps more useful than the studiospares one, is that the XLR and jack connectors are on the top rather than on the side. It's great for when you're soldering up cables - use it instead of a vice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceecrb1 Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I'd second the Behringer suggestion - the LEDs are great for finding dodgy cables (they lock on if an intermittent connection detected). There's also a tone generator and phantom power detector. Another really useful feature, which for me makes it perhaps more useful than the studiospares one, is that the XLR and jack connectors are on the top rather than on the side. It's great for when you're soldering up cables - use it instead of a vice! Another vote for the Behringer CT... I've had my berry* tester over 5 years, may be 6... Great tool.. Keep meaning to get a second one... One for the tool kit and one at home in the workshop... They are actually really great "universal" connector holders for when souldering.... souldered hundreds of connectors during a year long OB truck build with mine... Its nice and weighty to not move around and will hold most connnectors that you will soulder on a daily basis.... But mostly what it will do is hold cheap chinease XLRs "in line" when souldering.. some of the cheap ones can melt the plastic and the legs end up wonky.... seating them in its oposite gender will keep them straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamplighter Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I'd also go for the Behringer, but find this one from CPC useful as it does speakons as well as XLR. It is also very rugged and suprisingly cheap.Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Are the CPC and Studio ones the same as those that flooded the market about 2 years ago and people had a bunch of issues with build quality? Did that get fixed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I would still order the Rat Sniffer, it'll be worth the wait! I have one that I use alongside other cable testers similar to the ones in this thread. The Sniffer is great to have in your pocket at a gig, as a quick way of verifying that a line is working OK. If you don't get three green lights, replace the cable(s) and leave them aside for later investigation. Great if you are throwing things up in a rush. As long as you have phantom power present you only need to worry about one end of the cable. However, I find the sniffer a bit cumbersome for testing cables more thoroughly back at a workbench. It's a lot easier to read two rows of LEDs than the slightly cryptic colour combinations that the sniffer shows up when cables are miswired. Plus you will probably want to test more than just XLR cables, and it's handy not to need to have a whole bunch of adaptors around. One other advantage of the Universal style testers is that you can, in a pinch, run a signal through them and use it as an adaptor. So if your gig is in the toilet for want of a TRS-XLR or and XLR5 - XLR3 jump, this could just save the day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamplighter Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Are the CPC and Studio ones the same as those that flooded the market about 2 years ago and people had a bunch of issues with build quality? Did that get fixed? I've had mine for a couple of years. used regularly, no issues.Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy jim Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I have the Rat Sniffer/Sender combo, and it's so useful. I also use it in combination with a pair of DMX 5<->3 to test DMX cables, especially when you've already got everything in and rigged and you want to find a DMX issue. That said, I have the Millenium tester available from Thomann and it's also been invaluable... BOTH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morristech Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Thanks for all the suggestions, they are very much appreciated! I'm thinking the Berry is the way to go for now, I can see the intermittent lights being particularly useful, and it looks fairly compact compared to the others. The ability to use it as a soldering stand is an added bonus! I will order The Sniffer in the near future, I'm slowly building up my toolkit as I'm working more and more. At least my tax is going to be low this year! Has there ever been a universal sniffer/sender with a selection of connectors on? It always struck me as a good idea but I've never seen one. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I've had the Behringer unit for years now - works a treat. And the intermittent detection feature is no gimmick, having had a few intermittent faults easily detected. I also love the fact it runs off 2 x AA batteries, much better than PP3s which all the rest seem to take. And cheap! My only three minor issues are:- would be perfect if it also did Speakons- best to store it in a pouch - when left on it's own in a kitbag, I've occasionally found it switched on. Though the batteries seem to last forever.- I think I discovered it's cable-length limit when testing a possible issue with our installed snake. 40m of snake, plus 2 x 10m XLR cables to return from one end of the snake to the other for testing, it just showed (I think) all lights flickering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morristech Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 One other advantage of the Universal style testers is that you can, in a pinch, run a signal through them and use it as an adaptor. So if your gig is in the toilet for want of a TRS-XLR or and XLR5 - XLR3 jump, this could just save the day... I never thought about using a universal tester as a converter, I can see that saving the day! I've had the Behringer unit for years now - works a treat. And the intermittent detection feature is no gimmick, having had a few intermittent faults easily detected. I also love the fact it runs off 2 x AA batteries, much better than PP3s which all the rest seem to take. And cheap! My only three minor issues are:- would be perfect if it also did Speakons- best to store it in a pouch - when left on it's own in a kitbag, I've occasionally found it switched on. Though the batteries seem to last forever.- I think I discovered it's cable-length limit when testing a possible issue with our installed snake. 40m of snake, plus 2 x 10m XLR cables to return from one end of the snake to the other for testing, it just showed (I think) all lights flickering. Just ordered one, I think I can deal with the minor shortcomings for 20 quid and the savings on PP3s! I may open it up in time and see if it's possible to convert a pair of them to make a DIY sender/sniffer type thing...? Sorry if I'm not making much sense, tiredness is getting the better of me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 No-one has mentioned Cablejog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Those cable jog ones do look great! The big plus for me is that they do RJ45 without having to remove the ethercon shell. That's so useful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclg Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Another vote for the Behringer.As someone else said, it only lacks Speakons.Had mine for 2 years and still hasn't needed a new battery!S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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