Star Quad multicore for 50m box-to-tails run?

[BlueShift]

Ok,

 

so im gonna be running a 50m multicore with tails on one end and a box on the other. there will be 32 mic feeds going down this multi. I know I _can_ just use regular balanced multicore cable, but how much better would something like starquad be for this job? starquad multicore cables arent much more expensive but are obviously designed to maintain the quality of mic level signals.

 

any thoughts?

[James]

I assume you know why starquad is better at noise rejection than two core balanced cable?

 

Therefore you know in what enviroments you need the extra noise rejection that starquad gives and in what enviroments you can get away with the cheeper two core cable,

 

I don't know in what enviroment you intend to use this cable.

 

James

[paulears]

I really wish I'd kept the old ex-bbc starquad 7 core mult I had. At the time I sold it, I wanted more ways (always though 7 was very odd). Trouble was it was really good at getting rid of (or reducing greatly) dimmer noise from older thyristor dimmers.

[BlueShift]

I assume you know why starquad is better at noise rejection than two core balanced cable?

 

Therefore you know in what enviroments you need the extra noise rejection that starquad gives and in what enviroments you can get away with the cheeper two core cable,

 

I don't know in what enviroment you intend to use this cable.

 

James

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

yes and yes,

 

the multicore will be run in a warehouse, accross the roof and down to the stage. at the desk end the power and signal will all be seperated. along the way the cable will pass 4 power cables perpendicularly and thats all. the room however, does have an induction loop (running under the floor). I would have thought a standard balanced multicore (with an overall double foil screen as well as the individually jacketed and screened cores) would be fine, but if there is any doubt I will run starquad.

 

thanks

[david.elsbury]

I understand that there can be a problem with long starquad runs (PS, isn't "Starquad' a trademark or something?) becuase of the increased capacitance of the cable. Personally the multi I would specify would be 110ohm digital signal cable, with both individual foil and braid, and overall foil/braid. This of course isn't a cheap option, but I don't know what starquad multi costs either.

[Simon Lewis]

Starquad does offer increased noise rejection, but the capacitance can cause more problems elsewhere.

 

Generally, it is better to choose low capacitance cable for long runs, unless your drive electronics are particularly good at driving capacitive loads at high frequencies.

 

Characteristic impedance is not an issue at audio frequencies and the cable lengths in question

[david.elsbury]

Right, fair point regarding the impedance, but the digital cable I have seen is better shielded than the regular stuff, so that's why I suggested it. Fair nuff.

 

David

[BlueShift]

so the bottom line is that we'd be better off just getting a low capacitance balanced audio multi (I had looked at sommer mistral stuff which has a conductor to conductor capacitance of 65 pF/m and a conductor to earth capacitance of 130 pF/m)

 

Thanks