Snake (oil) recgarding snake cables/mults?

Hey Guys,

A friend of mine has some 24 core cable that he wants to make a snake/mult box with. The cable itself within the sleeve only has a piece of thin paper/foil separating each core, so whne he fans it out he will need to heatshrink each core. Which lead me to thinking, is it not a better option to go for a better screened cable, some like the Mogami have each core inside of a plastic sleeve, within a thicker plastic sleeve, does this not lead to better screening or isolation from RF/Noise? So much of it is snake oil these days but just wondering if anyone with more knowledge cares to chime in on it?

Thanks in advance!

Matt

typically foil shields (instead of wire shields) would be used for fixed installs - there is a drain wire in it in constant contact with the foil and it is fine for install applications but maybe not the best for a snake....that being said I have made and used them for snakes that work fine still after 5-10 years...

For a Stage Snake or one that is going to moved around a lot braided shield is best.  No need for overpriced mogami(monster cable).  Check out gepco, belden or Canare.

I think without a good visual aid it's hard to picture the type of wire you're talking about.  In all the rooms I've put together I've opted for for the Mogami or Redco which is foil shielded within each numbered line.  So each numbered line contains two insulated conductors, a drain (gnd) and a foil shield.  There is no shielding around the whole bundle.  But since they are all twisted within, perhaps it acts as a sort of secondary shield.  

I haven't had any issues with noise, and we're in a fairly busy semi-industrial area.  The longest run I've got is probably about 60 feet or so.  Not sure if this is any help.

Thanks Guys,

I said the same thing, I just didn't want to be talking out of my @SS. I said it would be better for a fixed install, but if he is planning on using it 'live', getting a tougher shielded cable, with individually wrapped cores will be stronger/more resilient, and MAY be better from potential interference/induction issue.

Thanks

Matt

Matt

I know that cable (I think), locally made in Randburg. Great for studio, but not right for live work I would say.

Peter

Foil wrapped doesn't last long if it's used for live...

I bet the shielding is just as good, if not better. But the foil will crumble and separate one day.

I have several multi's with "unsuited" cable. As these don't see daily use, I guesstimate I'll have to replace them in a decade or so.

cyrano said:

Foil wrapped doesn't last long if it's used for live...

I bet the shielding is just as good, if not better. But the foil will crumble and separate one day.

I have several multi's with "unsuited" cable. As these don't see daily use, I guesstimate I'll have to replace them in a decade or so.

Click to expand...

Since the last post was over 9 years ago, its almost time to replace your multi again...  ;D

JR

It's all good and fine to poo-poo snake cable getting old, but what if it runs out of electrons?  Well, what then?

That's why every few years I hook up all my cables to fresh, new 9V batteries to recharge the electron supply.

Works like a champ!

To make the process quicker I was thinking of switching to 12V car batteries.  I mean, that's like 3 more Volts so it should last like, let me see... 9X12...carry the one...plus or minus 3db....over 2 times the square-root inverse of the hypotenuse....  Yeah, like 3000% longer.

Wonder if I can sell these to audiophiles?

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Yeah, I'm done with all you 'know-it-all', "I used to build gear that people actually used because I went to some Liberal Elite Center for Higher Indoctrination and can use Ohm's law", that will never work because of some 'theory' of physics 'nay'-sayers.  I'll send you an invitation to my yacht fleet, NOT!

Sorry, I must've missed a round of my medication....

Remember:  Audiophiles are to audio what pedophiles are to children!

I gotta go lay down, the room's staring to spin, and not in that nice way...

James

I worked at a snake/cable manufacturer for 6 years. Every snake we shipped in that time, and prior, was using Belden foil shielded pairs as you described (I think they called it BeldFoil). Fanouts would be shrunk when assembling the snake. We didn't stock IJ wire until I started working there, and even then it was used very rarely, and only by request.

I would bet the overwhelming majority of snakes used in the US use wire like this.

We shipped 56 and 64 channel snake systems using this wire to the biggest sound companies in the world. People you've heard of, and in the years I worked there, I remember no issues at all.

It's fine.

Matta, is there a drain (ground) wire with each pair inside the foil shielding?

Foil provides 100% electrostatic shielding, braid only 95% in the best case. A good option is carbon+braid since it provides 100% shielding and remains supple enough. The only drawback is increased capacitance.
Audio multicores with foil shield all have a drain for connectibility. Data cables offten don't.

abbey road d enfer said:

Foil provides 100% electrostatic shielding

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Foil breaks easily when in constant use in a Live situation.
Foil likes to be fixed and not moved around

Whoops said:

Foil breaks easily when in constant use in a Live situation.

Click to expand...

That is true for aluminium foil, not for metallized mylar foil. Metallized mylar foil results in lighter, better-shielded, cheaper cables. The only drawback is "feel"; the cable does not coil as well as "French-braided".

abbey road d enfer said:

Metallized mylar foil results in lighter, better-shielded, cheaper cables. The only drawback is "feel"; the cable does not coil as well as "French-braided".

Click to expand...

Thanks, gonna check that out