KVR Audio

Mr. Tunes · Post by **Mr. Tunes** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 12:13 am

in college i learned how to solder my own RCA and 1/4" cables, and now i want to build my own. i'm fed up with always buying new cables and needing different sizes. does anyone know what to look out for when shopping for bulk audio cable and the connectors? my concern is i'll be going to an electronics store and i think it will be hard to figure out what's crap and what's not.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 12:16 am

Mr. Tunes wrote:does anyone know what to look out for when shopping for bulk audio cable and the connectors?

Buy Neutrik connectors and decent quality screened cable and you can't go wrong.

Mr. Tunes · Post by **Mr. Tunes** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 1:09 am

thecontrolcentre wrote:
Mr. Tunes wrote:does anyone know what to look out for when shopping for bulk audio cable and the connectors?
Buy Neutrik connectors and decent quality screened cable and you can't go wrong.

cool - thanks. do you build your own cables?

amarule · Post by **amarule** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 1:33 am

Neutrik or Switchcraft connectors.
Belden, Canare, Mogami cabling. Star Quad for mic cabling IMHO is highly recommended.

You'll find far better deals online than in most retail electronics stores, which generally have a massive markup.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 1:42 am

Mr. Tunes wrote:do you build your own cables?

Usually ... altho' recently I bought some ready made microphone cables with Neutrik XLRs from an online shop, because it worked out cheaper than buying just the connectors from my local electronic store.

Mr. Tunes · Post by **Mr. Tunes** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:26 am

amarule wrote:You'll find far better deals online than in most retail electronics stores, which generally have a massive markup.

thanks - do you know any benchmark prices for cabling and the connectors?

politcat · Post by **politcat** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:37 pm

I use George L's for instrument cables. high quality and very easy to put together

http://www.georgelsstore.com/cables.html

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:48 pm

http://www.mouser.com/

amarule · Post by **amarule** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 11:09 pm

+1 on Mouser, i know most of the studios I deal with in the states buy from them.

jouni · Post by **jouni** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 11:29 pm

Neutrik is my choice too. Screened cable and usually the cable also has imprinted 75Ohm somewhere in it. That is good for digital signals as well then if you need cables for coaxial digital.

Mr. Tunes · Post by **Mr. Tunes** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 11:54 pm

i was just out to one of the big electronics stores here and they didn't stock neutrik connectors. the rca and 1/4" adapters went for about $1.50 a piece, and for the "silver lined" patch cable it was about $1.00/foot. so if you add that up a 10 foot cable 1/4"-1/4" would cost about $15 with tax - which doesn't really make any sense cause i could get a stereo pair 1/4"-1/4", 10 foot for about $10 in the music store.

so what am i missing here? is the silver lined patch cable unnecessary? there were other types of cabling that went for about .50-.75 per foot. the adapters that went for .50-.80 looked very cheap. maybe this store just has bad prices?

oh and to clarify - this cabling is to be used for studio use, not live performance. for live performance i would be more inclined to go with premade cables.

jouni · Post by **jouni** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:14 am

If you buy a lot more of those you get them cheaper, plus you can make cables which are just the right length for your studio. No more that extra cable mess. If you need 10cm cable make such, or if you need that 7 meter cable, then make such and not just go with 10 meter stock cable and curse the extra 3 meters in it. And also color coded cables are easier.

Neutrik connectors should be easy to get. Check their budjet series. Should be more fine for home studios where you rarely do a lot of plugging besides the initial installation. http://www.neutrik.com/fl/en/audio/productline.aspx

The cable is sometimes sold as microphone cable too. For example Thomann sells cable for 0,50 euros per meter (around 3.2 feet). Haven't had problems with Thomann cables...

http://www.thomann.de/fi/the_sssnake_sm ... okabel.htm

Mr. Tunes · Post by **Mr. Tunes** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:19 am

Mark Vera wrote:The cable is sometimes sold as microphone cable too. For example Thomann sells cable for 0,50 euros per meter (around 3.2 feet). Haven't had problems with Thomann cables...

thanks for your input. i guess you're right the custom cables will often make more sense if you look at it that way. as for microphone cable, i believe that type of cabling has an extra wire in it and i think that's what you would need for a TRS connector too(stereo 1/4"), right?

P.T. · Post by **P.T.** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 6:27 am

They sell Mogami cable at Guitar Center for 80 or 90 cents a foot. I think a 10' Mogami premade cable with 1/4' plugs sell for about $20.

amarule · Post by **amarule** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 4:14 pm

Don't buy bulk cable at GC, the markup is a rape.

If you only need a couple cables, then buying prebuilt is going to be cheaper. If you're outfitting a small studio, then buying bulk connectors and cable is the way to go.

DIY cables - what to look out for