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Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:06 pm
by simoncastic
Where are you guys buying your mic cable? Looking for some nice balanced cable in bulk - durable and coils well.

And while I'm at it - where are you buying your 3-pin XLR's from? Not fussed about staying with Neutrik etc, as long as they're good quality.

Thanks!

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:37 pm
by Manning
Swamp has been my preferred option in outfitting my place. They import a lot of cheap stuff, but they also do great prices on name brands like Canare and Neutrik. If you email them and tell them you are in the industry, they will probably also give you a "trade" discount (they did for me)

(http://swamp.net.au)

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:50 pm
by Alastair Reynolds
Belden and Neutrick from Madison Technologies.
Buy a roll , plug in the fire stick and get soldering.
Canare or Mogami if you prefer.
Buy quality and you'll only have to buy it once.

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 7:56 am
by Milo
Go to WES for good prices on Neutrik.
With Swamp, be careful: friend bought a multicore with 'Neutrik' connectors, but they turned out to be the 'Nginko Neutrik' made in China (can't remember if I got that name right): many intermittency problems.I don't think Lichtenstein affiliate or endorse this 'offshoot'

Milo

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:34 am
by Linear
I got a roll of Canare LT2S and 100 Neutrik male/female connectors from Markertek in the US.

Very quick and (unfortunately) cheaper than local even with express air shipping.

I prefer canare cable as it doesn't tangle easily and is nice and strong. only downside is that it's got a braided shield so it takes a bit longer to prepare for soldering. That said, I think it's the braid that makes it so flexible.

Chris

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:12 pm
by Kurt
Ningbo Neutrik is part of the Neutrik group. Chinese made, but still Neutrik. I've had issues with the soldering on cheap pre-made cable but the connectors themselves seem fine to me.

http://www.neutrik.com/en/neutrik-group

Milo wrote:Go to WES for good prices on Neutrik.
With Swamp, be careful: friend bought a multicore with 'Neutrik' connectors, but they turned out to be the 'Nginko Neutrik' made in China (can't remember if I got that name right): many intermittency problems.I don't think Lichtenstein affiliate or endorse this 'offshoot'

Milo

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 9:18 am
by simoncastic
Thanks guys!
Unfortunately when I'm in the checkout on Markertek it seems like they don't export Neutrik XLR connectors to Australia (anymore?)... hmm. Very good price though.
Will look into Wes also.
Cheers!

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:09 pm
by Linear
ah great. old-fashioned australian protectionism at it's very finest. thank you, local neutrik importer for stifling competition and creating your own pathetic little mini monopoly.

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:18 pm
by Milo
WES also does Amphenol, which are far from shabby, apart from Neutrik

Milo

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 3:08 pm
by Alistair
Have always been happy with Neutrik and Mogami from Redco. Shipping is a little expensive but if you're buying in bulk it more than makes up for it.

I prefer Mogami over Canare by a long shot, but that is more to do with old prejudices from their guitar cables, not balanced mic cables!

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:33 am
by The Mill
If you want Mogami cable, contact Steve at Innovative Music - the importer (innovativemusic.com.au). He's in Melbourne and one of the friendliest most upstanding individuals in the audio business.

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:08 pm
by Hookemeister
I tend to like the Mogami cable for studio use... it's very supple... easy to roll up.

For live I'd go Canare... it's tougher

Ideally you want a low capacitance cable... the Mogami is lower than the Canare but for short studio runs it won't make much difference.

What is important is good quality XLR's and attention to detail when soldering. A bad solder joint will cause more problems than a cheap cable.

A few tips for begiiners:

Once you've cut the cable to length, put the backshells and cable clamps of the XLR's onto the cable and tie a loop in it so they don't fall off. There's nothing worse than soldering up a mic cable then realizing you forgot the back shells.

Strip the cable, leaving enough length in the signal conductors so that you can slide on about 10mm of heatshrink.

I always lightly file the inside of XLR pins to ensure a good solder flow.

Twist and tin the wires and tin the XLR pins before soldering them together.

Make sure the solder flows onto the XLR pins. To do this, heat the pin and let the solder flow on to it. The solder should follow the concave shape of the pin. If you end up with a ball of solder on the XLR pin then you won't get a good connection.

Once soldered, inspect the solder connection. Slide the heatshrink on and shrink it down

Finally slide the cable clamps into position and screw on the backshells.

Hope this helps.

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:56 pm
by Senad
I used Klotz cable in my last studio build and bought it from Soundcorp in Melbourne. The deal on larger quantity was fantastic. Since then, they stopped selling Klotz but went over to Eurocable. Eurocable is very nice stuff and more affordable too. Not sure if they still sell it, but it's great value for sure.

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:22 pm
by justmull
I use Swamp's ready made cables and never had a problem. Not a heavy user or anything but out of the 15 or so leads overall I've bought I've never had any fail. They sell rolls as well if that's your thing.

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:01 pm
by Enginearing
Senad wrote:I used Klotz cable in my last studio build and bought it from Soundcorp in Melbourne. The deal on larger quantity was fantastic. Since then, they stopped selling Klotz but went over to Eurocable. Eurocable is very nice stuff and more affordable too. Not sure if they still sell it, but it's great value for sure.


Eurocable's "extraflex"?
That's one of my nemeses. The shield is not braided which might be great for the guy who has to terminate a few thousand XLRs but it also means the cable lacks structure and is way too floppy.
If I get given a packer of it on a gig I spend the majority of my untangling them. Hours of "fun".

Re: Where to go for mic cable?

PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 5:55 pm
by berkfinger
If you can get this cable in Australia I would highly recommend:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/sommer_cable_s ... lex_sw.htm

Also built some EDAC looms for my Neotek console with this mulitcore:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/sommer_cable_q ... d87ffdab30

It's super dreamy - doesn't tangle at all and can be rolled any way you like (it doesn't retain any shape). Also extremely easy to work with and specs out well. Don't know if it sounds better than Mogami but definitely doesn't sound worse!