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gltech

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2005
Messages
258
Location
Georgia, US
Hey guys, I need to buy 60-80 mic cables. Everything I have now is mogami/neutrik and they've served me well. But I bought them as part of a crazy package deal for next to nothing from a studio closing. It looks like $30+ for these type cables. Is there anything just as good that's cheaper? I DO NOT want to sacrifice sonics or reliability.

I'll spend the money if I need to.

Just curious about stuff like this. About $10 per cable. Lifetime warranty, but that doesn't help you in the middle of a show.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/172109929691

Thanks,
-Glenn
 
gltech said:
Hey guys, I need to buy 60-80 mic cables. Everything I have now is mogami/neutrik and they've served me well. But I bought them as part of a crazy package deal for next to nothing from a studio closing. It looks like $30+ for these type cables.
What length?
Is there anything just as good that's cheaper? I DO NOT want to sacrifice sonics or reliability.
It's been proved many times that the sonic differences are most of the times negligible, even non-existent.
Reliability is an important issue. You have to evaluate the plugs, how well the strain-relief is done.
Another factor is "coilability", and you can't see that from a picture. You have to order samples and judge for yourself.

Aren't you willing to make your cables?  You won't save much but you can make sure the cable and plugs are what you want.

The link you provided has restricted access so I can't see what it is, but in the past I've ordered many of these types of cables for evaluation; very often the immediate problem is coilability, they are stiff as a gardening hose, and the connectors do not provide the kind of positive locking that we expect.

However, some of these are quite good; when Neutrik discovered a company in Ningbo made quite good cables and connectors, they decided to incorporate them, instead of fighting them.

Have you tried Hosa cables?
 
As with everything you have to pay for quality.  I can't imagine rolling your own DIY for that many cables.

Corners will be cut in cheap cables (quality of raw cable and connectors used).

Perhaps approach a local dealer who sells good name brand cables and negotiate a special deal price for that many cables.  Their typical list price is for onsey-twosey, and they would probably have to special order that many.  If the dealer can count on a fast flip, he may be agreeable about reducing the price.

JR

PS: The lifetime guarantees rely upon the reality that most people wont keep receipts and/or pursue replacements years down the road.

 
I would stick with quality name brands, Mogami, canare, belden, neutrik, switchcraft, etc.

You could spend a weekend building them or negotiate a bulk rate to have them made, either a reputable local guy or someplace like redco, pro audio la, etc.

In addition if you get quality up front they will still have value years down the road, both in use and in resale.
 
All the cheap ones tend to be a nightmare to coil.  You'll pay for that in labor over and over again.  The Canare I have that's 25 years old still coils perfectly with no memory effect.  We use 100 foot runs on live events and they are never the problem. 
 
Ok, thanks for all the replies. I guess I'll spend the money.

pucho812 said:
80 cables needed? I would put the coffee on and get rolling. your own. ;)
Pucho, maybe I'm missing something, but these are $28.xx. Oops, well they were 10% off yesterday, now they're $32.63. Even at that, I haven't been able to find prices on bulk cable and connectors that would allow me to build my own for that.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291250538149
 
pucho812 said:
80 cables needed? I would put the coffee on and get rolling. your own. ;)
I agree, it puts the quality of workmanship and choice of components in your hands.

If you can solder, make your own.

If you can't solder, make your own, because by the time you are done, you can solder.

In the mid '90s, I started to see cord failures in my live sound rigs, these were trash cords that others had cast off, "don't throw that out, I'll fix and use it" sort of cords. But any cord failure is unacceptable in the live sound industry, a sure way not to be hired back.

So I started making my own, call me old school, but I would buy a hundred Switchcraft A3M and Fs, and a 1000' spool of Belden 8412 each fall, and spend the winter making up mic cords in my spare time. One spool per year, for several years, until all four rigs had all new cords.

I don't recall having a failure since.

Plus, the local metal club really appreciated buying up my old, but tested cords for 50 bucks a dozen.

FWIW,
Gene

 
Gene Pink said:
I agree, it puts the quality of workmanship and choice of components in your hands.

If you can solder, make your own.

If you can't solder, make your own, because by the time you are done, you can solder.

In the mid '90s, I started to see cord failures in my live sound rigs, these were trash cords that others had cast off, "don't throw that out, I'll fix and use it" sort of cords. But any cord failure is unacceptable in the live sound industry, a sure way not to be hired back.

So I started making my own, call me old school, but I would buy a hundred Switchcraft A3M and Fs, and a 1000' spool of Belden 8412 each fall, and spend the winter making up mic cords in my spare time. One spool per year, for several years, until all four rigs had all new cords.

I don't recall having a failure since.

Plus, the local metal club really appreciated buying up my old, but tested cords for 50 bucks a dozen.

FWIW,
Gene

Thanks Gene, I'm pretty handy at soldering, but don't have a lot of free time. I'm just mainly still wondering if I can even buy bulk cable and connectors and beat that price of $32 for 25 footers. I haven't been able to find any source so far that would allow me to do that.
 
pucho812 said:
you can but you gotta buy in bulk....

I am lucky being here in L.A. some of the used electronic shops sell xlr's for 1.00(USD) each...

Ok, so that's $2 per unit, but what can you buy the cable for? I don't see anywhere I can buy the cable for much less than $1-per-foot, no matter the qty. DIY is only attractive to me if I can make 25s myself for $10 or so. If they cost me $25 to make, I'll pay the $30 for the ones already made. So I guess I'm curious about your cable source/pricing.

Thanks,
-Glenn
 
gltech said:
Thanks Gene, I'm pretty handy at soldering, but don't have a lot of free time. I'm just mainly still wondering if I can even buy bulk cable and connectors and beat that price of $32 for 25 footers. I haven't been able to find any source so far that would allow me to do that.
As far as price, including your time, probably not. But you will far surpass the quality available out there by DIY. To me, that was much more important then the overall cost per cable.

As I recall, 15-20 years ago, a 1K' spool of the most robust mic cable known to man, Belden 8412, was about $450. The Switchcraft A3M's about $1.90, the A3F's about $2.40, both in 100qty. So, a 25' mic cord would be $11.25 in wire, and $4.30 for connectors, $15.55 plus assembly time per cable. This is more money than most pre-assembled cables at the time, but since "I, me, myself, I" built the damn things, gave me the confidence that they were not going to fail.That was far more important to me, the best possible quality cords possible, the overall cost per cord was way down on the list of spec's.

I haven't ordered from them lately, but I would get these bulk deals from Rapco in the US.

Gene


 
+1 to what Gene said.... Rapco is a great company, I used to sell their stuff.  Rapco brand cable is also very good and much more affordable than better known brands
 
If buying components to DIY look out for counterfeits or knock off connectors.

Probably not worth counterfeiting raw wire but I'd stick to known brands. 

I'm with you on the time thing, but probably a good meditation replacement if not in a rush.

JR
 
gltech said:
Ok, so that's $2 per unit, but what can you buy the cable for? I don't see anywhere I can buy the cable for much less than $1-per-foot, no matter the qty. DIY is only attractive to me if I can make 25s myself for $10 or so. If they cost me $25 to make, I'll pay the $30 for the ones already made. So I guess I'm curious about your cable source/pricing.

Thanks,
-Glenn

Markertek has canare star quad cable at  about 50 cents a foot

http://www.markertek.com/product/l-4e6s-bk/canare-l-4e6s-star-quad-microphone-cable-by-the-foot-black
 
I built a cable on redco.com, 30 feet of Canare star quad, Neutrik gold conns for $35.
Guaranteed that if you order 30 of them they will be less than $30. Including shipping.
I like the colored boots and cables to differentiate lengths, and make troubleshooting easier.
Mike
PS: do not waste time and $$ on Hosa. Only for hobby studios or desperation situations.
 
Stick with quality brands, but check the prices for all of them.
Quality wise I have used all this brands with exactly the same results.

Gotham, Vandamme , Kotz, Belton , Canare

For XLR connectors I only use Neutrik
 

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