Microphone cable differences

[pasarski]

I soak my cables in liquid vaseline so that electrons flow smoother (much better than olive oil which goes rancid and makes the cables smell bad).

 

[Newmarket]

I soak my cables in liquid vaseline so that electrons flow smoother (much better than olive oil which goes rancid and makes the cables smell bad).

I use a blend of Balsamic Vinegar and extra virgin twice pressed Olive Oil from the Douro Valley...oh... Hang On... I'm getting confused with Bread here aren't I ?

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Interesting. In my limited experience that's true. Higher frequencies giving a "Bee in a jamjar effect" Although if micing a typical amp you don't get much out of the speaker above that ?

Probably because there is not much above that. Guitar speakers all have a restricted HF response.
There was a time (70's) when some amps had horn drivers; combined with the trendy fuzz effect, it resulted in unbearable bee-buzzing sound.
Many current acoustic guitar amps have a HF driver.
When used with an electric guitar, the result is far from acceptable. Some manufacturers include a switch that disconnects the HF driver for use with an electric guitar.
Paradoxically, many bass amps have HF drivers. However, their response does not extend to the upper limits of audition.

And you can usually safely hpf at 150/200 Hz in most cases to avoid "mud'.

That would be the case if the amp's controls can't remedy. There are amps with limited tone controls, but an amp with typical 3-band EQ. should be able to get a reasonably "un-muddy" sound.

 

[Newmarket]

That would be the case if the amp's controls can't remedy. There are amps with limited tone controls, but an amp with typical 3-band EQ. should be able to get a reasonably "un-muddy" sound.

Oh yes wrt EQ/Amplifier capabilties. I was thinking about DI signal or where the amp has not had the low end cut out. A question about what sounds good on its own (or at least to the guitarist) Vs what fits the mix esp wrt not 'fighting' with bass, kick drum and the low end of keyboards.

 

[Elksonic]

We found no difference. Despite all of us actually expecting there to be at least some difference - feeling we should see something relatively clear like when we swap long guitar cables.

We ended up choosing only on the basis of workabilty and mechanical feel - ease of stripping and soldering, bend diameter. (mogami was it)

This has been my experience as well. The build quality and construction of the cable is extremely important especially if you are building your own cables. I have also noticed a difference in quality of XLR connectors. There are many "knock off" versions available these days. I'm currently upgrading all of my mic cables to Switchcraft AAA3MZ and AAA3FZ connectors mainly for their quality and mostly for ease of installation.

 

[Walrus]

I have noticed small yet significant differences in mic cables over the years...it was always the no-name probably made=in-china cables that sounded a bit restricted....mogami, canare or belden brilliance sounded similarly good. I also remember once a 50 year old Belden 8412(?) cable had that restircted sound...due to aging, or due to type of insulation materials..I think insulation around conductors was rubber. I noticed the above during various system tests/troubleshooting. I think if I had the money and the need I'd do a super test but that would require a band and about 4 hours.....different mics, different cables on the mics, careful notes and then recording individual instruments as well as making a mix. A really good test is impractical. Simple testing against a good brand name cable can weed out the chud.

A few years ago, one of the assistants brought a U87 and its original screw-on swivel mount/cable to the workshop with the complaint that the mic was noisy.
I plugged in to my test amp and sure enough it had low level white noise.
Took the mic off and tried it with a short lead, and it was perfect.
Aha, I thought, dodgy cable! So I replaced it.
Test again, still noisy. Hmmm...
I decided to measure the resistance between the XLR pins and found a few hundred k 'short' across any 2 pins.
Turned out it was the original ITT/Canon female insert in the swivel mount. The rubber had deteriorated in a similar way to how the
Hellerman sleeves in SSL's do, and was getting enough of a current flow (to ground) from the phantom to produce noise.

 

[craigmorris74]

I have the MK67 kit attached to a U87ai. I read several people who said the sound improved significantly with a new cable (the one induced with the kit is a super long, ugly, and cheap). So I built a new 15 ft cable out of Gotham cable and nice connectors. Tested it out on acoustic guitar and vocal, and heard no difference. To confirm, I measured both with a pink noise source and they were identical.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I have the MK67 kit attached to a U87ai. I read several people who said the sound improved significantly with a new cable (the one induced with the kit is a super long, ugly, and cheap). So I built a new 15 ft cable out of Gotham cable and nice connectors. Tested it out on acoustic guitar and vocal, and heard no difference. To confirm, I measured both with a pink noise source and they were identical.

That's the problem with rumours. One person spreads it to thousands. Inversely, it takes a thousands bearers of the truth to convince a credulous mind.

 

[JohnRoberts]

That's the problem with rumours. One person spreads it to thousands. Inversely, it takes a thousands bearers of the truth to convince a credulous mind.

Back in the 80s I wrote a magazine column disabusing popular audio myths. Many of these same myths are still going around today.

I blame marketers trying to create merchantable differences between SKUs where none exist. Of course this wouldn't work if the customers didn't drink the kool aid.

JR

 

[SubSpec]

I have the MK67 kit attached to a U87ai. I read several people who said the sound improved significantly with a new cable (the one induced with the kit is a super long, ugly, and cheap). So I built a new 15 ft cable out of Gotham cable and nice connectors. Tested it out on acoustic guitar and vocal, and heard no difference. To confirm, I measured both with a pink noise source and they were identical.

Not sure what came stock, but regardless of sound change, can't beat Gotham's GAC-7 in terms of usability. So many 7-pin cables are crap, the abomination that came with my recent Lewitt purchase is among the worst feeling cables I've ever encountered. Anyway, I won't derail us into the topic of meaningful differences in cables

 

[tonycamp]

Not sure what came stock, but regardless of sound change, can't beat Gotham's GAC-7 in terms of usability. So many 7-pin cables are crap, the abomination that came with my recent Lewitt purchase is among the worst feeling cables I've ever encountered. Anyway, I won't derail us into the topic of meaningful differences in cables

for a guy who has about 500ft of GAC-7 in use, I gotta say i do NOT like its memory due to it's cheapish outer insulation, i much prefer a cable that just lays where i put it, if i could find a softer more supple silicone clad cable that performs well id go that route

edit: as far as "claims" of better...meh, blind testing for yourself is proof, everything else is wind.
I've had guys chomping at me over a $5,000 power cables claiming miracles even after i explain to them that their magic cable is connected to a wall outlet that has a 500' roll of 14-2 romex wire thats shared ground/unshielded running back to a service entrance panel that also isn't grounded properly fed off a neighborhood shared step down transformer on a telephone pole, even after using the analogy of "it's like hooking a fire hose nozzle to a garden hose" they STILL DON'T GET IT

 

[pmfalcman]

(...) even after i explain to them that their magic cable is connected to a wall outlet that has a 500' roll of 14-2 romex wire thats shared ground/unshielded running back to a service entrance panel that also isn't grounded properly (...)

Sadly you all were mistaken. There were a crucial element missing - a 200 euro worth wall power outlet, designed specifically for audio. Without it 5000$ cables cannot function properly.
Ask anyone.

 

[Recording Engineer]

for a guy who has about 500ft of GAC-7 in use, I gotta say i do NOT like its memory due to it's cheapish outer insulation, i much prefer a cable that just lays where i put it, if i could find a softer more supple silicone clad cable that performs well id go that route

Indeed! I’ve over 500ft. of Sommer tube mic cables in use and so far, it’s the only way to go for me. I still have 3 Gotham GAC-7 in use and they drive me up the wall every time I pull them out!

I’m still waiting to find cheap IEC cables that lay where I put them; for all my tube mics! Think I may have found a solution, but still a good $500 investment!

 

[rock soderstrom]

Indeed! I’ve over 500ft. of Sommer tube mic cables in use and so far, it’s the only way to go for me.

+1 for the Sommer tube mic cable. Good quality, reasonable price, it is easy to lay and doesn't behave like an anaconda (in its puberty).

https://www.thomann.de/de/sommer_ca...vZZtvRnaoSVoFBfksTzUIhVib_uyyQ44aAtMLEALw_wcB

 

[granger.frederic]

Sadly you all were mistaken. There were a crucial element missing - a 200 euro worth wall power outlet, designed specifically for audio. Without it 5000$ cables cannot function properly.
Ask anyone.

You forget the silver in wall wires and the electric high tension links as well...
we could also ask the provider to install silver wires straight to the nuclear power plant...

 

[pmfalcman]

You forget the silver in wall wires and the electric high tension links as well...
we could also ask the provider to install silver wires straight to the nuclear power plant...

Nuclear?! Nuclear??! Are you mad, sir? Only coal! Nuclear fission creates unpleasant, harsh electricity while coal gives nice, warm, analog feel to the current.

 

[MicMan]

The only difference in mic cables I've noticed (..and, of course, 'cables' also means the plugs and sockets on the ends of them..) is in using long-ish cables (60ft or more) for digital mics - like the Schoeps SuperCMIT. Analog mics seem unaffected by whatever brand of ordinary cables are used, but mics which send digital signals, although working well enough with ordinary short cable runs, need more stringently-manufactured 110 ohm AES/EBU cabling.

But, as with anything else, there are moderately-priced 110 ohm cables and silly-priced 'out-of-this-world-specially-priced-really-super-duper-exquisite-quality' cables, which are more fantasy cables than actually making any difference, as far as I can tell.

I've a load of assorted ex-BBC analog cables, and - although supplied by Canford at Canford's prices - they're no different from the same brands easily available on Amazon. Good enough for the BBC? ..Then good enough for me.

 

[Tubetec]

I compared some Belden 8214 and found the capacitance between each conductor and screen to vary quite a bit , it could effect the cables abillity to reject unwanted sources of noise effectively , even though that noise might be well above the audio frequency range doesnt mean it wont have an effect on the sounds we do hear .

 

[BRTBRT37]

The connection schemes are different for every device and must be checked before making such experiments. Often a combined XLR and TRS socket is intended for having the mic on XLR and any line source on TRS. Otherwise - such as with the TEAC DR-680 XLR and TRS both are intended for microphone input. There are 2 reasons for that: There is only space left for TRS sockets for microphone 5 and 6 and therefore the other sockets are wired the same - all providing phantom power both on TRS and XLR when switched on. On the other hand - as an example: The ZOOM H6 provides phantom power only on the XLR pins but not on the TRS. There may be more different layouts!

If the difference in sound persists after taking care of that then you should rub both cables with snake oil starting by the microphone side.

 

[doorunrun]

Anyone care to comment on Belden 8402 which I think is a classic mic cable with brown Hypalon jacket?
Kind of expensive these days from what I see.