Microphone cable differences

[k brown]

Neither do I know you.

Do I need to have a website to exist?
BTW I had one, which I closed just a few days ago. However, it dealt only with my musical and sound recording activities.

Don't bother. I have a website, and my wife still doesn't believe most of what I tell her.

 

[Newmarket]

Don't bother. I have a website, and my wife still doesn't believe most of what I tell her.

Boom Boom Mr Roy (this may be a niche UK/Basil Brush reference)

 

[jokeramik]

Can you describe these "capacitive, inductive and resistive factors acting from the outside"?

This is basic electronic knowledge, as you yourself have already discovered.
Best regards

 

[abbey road d enfer]

This is basic electronic knowledge, as you yourself have already discovered.
Best regards

Typical escape strategy...

 

[MicMaven]

It was oddly hard to find XLR cables with right angle connectors. I found a company that makes cables to order.

Yikes! Ouch!

Serving Suggestion: Considering this is a DIY forum, why not replace the original connector with a $5 right-angled connector and save $45? A cheap soldering iron is a good investment!

Rationale: I could never pay $50 for a new cable just to get a right angle XLR connector on one end. That would adversely affect my bourbon allowance! I purchase good quality cables with factory-installed connectors ONLY on sale when they priced way less than bulk cable, and treat them as bulk cable. Some online vendors sell cables as loss leaders at highly discounted prices. I stock up when I see crazy low prices low prices, as I never settle for cheap cable or skimp on cheap bourbon.

Not being critical - just expressing MY take - your mileage may vary. JHR

 

[abbey road d enfer]

It's an old debate.
There was a time when studio engineers and PA hire one-man bands used to solder their own cables.
As business grow, there comes a time when they realize they have more beneficial use for their time.
They may hire low-paid staff, or decide to outsource cables.
Conidering they can be amortized in the first year, it even makes sense financially. Actually, after having been amortized, they can be sold 2nd-hand.

 

[kags]

It's an old debate.
There was a time when studio engineers and PA hire one-man bands used to solder their own cables.
As business grow, there comes a time when they realize they have more beneficial use for their time.
They may hire low-paid staff, or decide to outsource cables.
Conidering they can be amortized in the first year, it even makes sense financially. Actually, after having been amortized, they can be sold 2nd-hand.

It takes way less time to build one mic cable than to run to guitar shack or wait for Amazon. On the other hand, if I need a handful of cables or a bunch of Dsub cables, I'd rather outsource. On the third hand, if I'm the one wiring the studio, then it's paid time for me. Building cables is a bit of a zen meditation, so it has some extra rewards, besides pride.

 

[Newmarket]

Ahh right. Yes. Understood!

Cheers. Yeah - it's an interesting topic imo. My first instinct is to say - no tone control, or volume for that matter. But the passive tone circuit does tend to shift the resonant peak of a passive pickup with significant inductance (and resistance) and dependent on the overall impedance considerations. If this were a e-guitar forum we'd now be discussing Clapton and "Woman Tone"

 

[DFischer]

If this were a e-guitar forum we'd now be discussing Clapton and "Woman Tone"

And since we know tone is "all in the fingers", surely Clapton must have used woman fingers to get that tone. No RLC circuits required.

 

[Newmarket]

It's an old debate.
There was a time when studio engineers and PA hire one-man bands used to solder their own cables.
As business grow, there comes a time when they realize they have more beneficial use for their time.
They may hire low-paid staff, or decide to outsource cables.
Conidering they can be amortized in the first year, it even makes sense financially. Actually, after having been amortized, they can be sold 2nd-hand.

Definitely get all that - but at some point the degree of accumulated mark up tips the equation over. And considering you can make your own cables to a specific desired length and as desired - eg screen to XLR connector shell or not - it's sometimes a good thing to DIY it. Apart from the personal satisfaction.
fwiw I have quite a few XLR Mic cables from a (former) well known supplier. Work fine but aren't properly made imo in terms of cable retention.

 

[Newmarket]

And since we know tone is "all in the fingers", surely Clapton must have used woman fingers to get that tone. No RLC circuits required.

Mmm...not sure where you are going with that comment tbh.
Although - somewhat amusingly - in a historic video interview Clapton refers to the tone being due to the use of the Tone Control to roll off the BASS. Easy mistake to make and cheap laughs but he'll cope (having said much worse tbf).

 

[Newmarket]

Neither do I know you.

Do I need to have a website to exist?
BTW I had one, which I closed just a few days ago. However, it dealt only with my musical and sound recording activities.

Personally I cannot take anyone seriously unless they have a website (not simply a FB page) ; a Podcast (because there are not enough of those ) and (last but not least) Instagram presence. TiKTok optional.
Now if you check my "Socials"...Oh I haven't really thought this through - although there may be a photo on FB from Eastbourne Pier.
And for anyone in reach of Eastbourne the Cover artists playing outside the bar at the end of the pier are always worth a visit with a great ambience. And the Bandstand is a Top Venue if the Tribute Band is to your taste (weather permitting).

 

[amplexus]

Cheers. Yeah - it's an interesting topic imo. My first instinct is to say - no tone control, or volume for that matter. But the passive tone circuit does tend to shift the resonant peak of a passive pickup with significant inductance (and resistance) and dependent on the overall impedance considerations. If this were a e-guitar forum we'd now be discussing Clapton and "Woman Tone"

I'f actually pulled the tone control out of one of my basses and one Tele. It absolutely has a very audible impact- of course better or worse woul dbe entirely subjective. I haven't pulled the volume controls out, but I have gone to 1Meg pots in a couple basses that "should be" 250K and it significantly opens up the top end, very unsubtle. I like it in those places, but wouldn't try it with my strat

 

[amplexus]

Mmm...not sure where you are going with that comment tbh.
Although - somewhat amusingly - in a historic video interview Clapton refers to the tone being due to the use of the Tone Control to roll off the BASS. Easy mistake to make and cheap laughs but he'll cope (having said much worse tbf).

I'm not sure if he intended it or not BUT G&L had a treble roll off and a bass roll off in their Legacy guitars (I own one), and I love it. I actually did the same circuit in my Les Paul-rolling off the bass on the neck pickup makes for some really fun lead tones that you wouldn't get easily otherwise!

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I'f actually pulled the tone control out of one of my basses and one Tele. It absolutely has a very audible impact- of course better or worse woul dbe entirely subjective. I haven't pulled the volume controls out, but I have gone to 1Meg pots in a couple basses that "should be" 250K and it significantly opens up the top end, very unsubtle. I like it in those places, but wouldn't try it with my strat

No doubt about the audibility of the tone pot, even wide open.
I replaced the tone pot in one of my Telecasters with a Fender TBX, which, in the full CW position puts 1Megohm in series. It makes a significant difference, more than one may think when considering the effects of the volume pot loading and the cable capacitance.

 

[moamps]

Now I remembered another good brand of microphone cables - Musiflex (I believe many here have not heard of it). The interesting thing about these cables is that they do not have a metal shield, but a conductive plastic shield and a copper drain wire, which means that the cable is very flexible.

 

[MicMaven]

As business grow, there comes a time when they realize they have more beneficial use for their time.
They may hire low-paid staff, or decide to outsource cables.

Not so fast, old man! Notwithstanding this IS a forum for Doing-It-Yourself, it appears you are no cost accountant! I advance the following rebuttal IN GOOD HUMOR:

It all depends on the relative cost of labor. The custom cable costs $50. A connector costs $5 and it takes only ten minutes to replace one connector with another. Doing it yourself saves $45 of the cost of a $50 custom cable. As Ben Franklin observed, "a penny saved is a penny earned." In effect, one "earns" $45 by doing it himself, or having an employee do it.

The $45 saved in 1/6 of an hour translates to an hourly rate of $270, which means one pays the custom shop at the rate of $270 an hour to replace an XLR connector. No rational businessman would pay $270 per hour for such a simple task. A rational businessman would hire an employee to complete the task for one-tenth of that cost, or, even better, do it himself at "no cost" over his lunch hour or during half time of the big game on Saturday afternoon. When working, I billed $250 per hour for my time. Even so, it would make good financial sense to do it myself on a coffee break, as I would, essentially, break even at comparing my hourly rate against rate the effective hourly cost of the custom cable.

In fact, I followed my own advice to great advantage. I operated my professional office with NO employees for nearly a decade, employing optical character recognition (OCR) and computer speech recognition software to supplant a secretary. Employees are, if you pardon a crude, yet effective expression, "financial parasites." A professional must work longer and harder, and charge more per hour, to pay their salaries in addition to his own. Replacing employees with technology can be a very cost-effective trade. I comfortably retired on my 50th birthday by leveraging technology against the cost of labor, eliminating employee salaries, employment taxes, unemployment tax, worker health insurance, worker injury compensation insurance, and more; working smarter, not harder, managing fewer client matters and keeping more of my hourly fee for myself. In other words, I was able to keep the share I would have otherwise paid for support staff.

Bottom line - considering the big picture, soldering a new connector over the lunch hour yourself may be substantially more profitable than paying $50 to the custom cable shop.

N'est ce pas, mon ami?

Conidering they can be amortized in the first year, it even makes sense financially. Actually, after having been amortized, they can be sold 2nd-hand.

Again, you are no cost accountant.

I suspect you meant to say "write off" in the tax year of acquisition. One "amortizes" or "depreciates" an asset over a longer period, usually multiple years.

Besides, if one fully writes-off or depreciates an asset, and later resells it for cash, the proceeds of sale are "depreciation recaptured" and TAXED as regular INCOME, and are, occasionally, subject to capital gains TAX. Add the cost of having your accountant or CPA figure it, and you may better just scrap it or donate it to charity.

Once again, it is not as cut and dried or as simple as some may suggest !!

All in good fun - and yet sorta serious, too. Happy trails to you. James

 

[Newmarket]

Now I remembered another good brand of microphone cables - Musiflex (I believe many here have not heard of it). The interesting thing about these cables is that they do not have a metal shield, but a conductive plastic shield and a copper drain wire, which means that the cable is very flexible.

I recall a range of "...flex" cables from the past - Musiflex ; Studioflex ???
I have some somewhere. Yes cables with a CP shield only are super flexible and nice to drape / handle.
They are less effective at screening than "proper" metal shields but that may not be an issue in a given usage.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Not so fast, old man! Notwithstanding this IS a forum for Doing-It-Yourself, it appears you are no cost accountant! I advance the following rebuttal IN GOOD HUMOR:

It all depends on the relative cost of labor. The custom cable costs $50. A connector costs $5 and it takes only ten minutes to replace one connector with another. Doing it yourself saves $45 of the cost of a $50 custom cable. As Ben Franklin observed, "a penny saved is a penny earned." In effect, one "earns" $45 by doing it himself, or having an employee do it.

The $45 saved in 1/6 of an hour translates to an hourly rate of $270, which means one pays the custom shop at the rate of $270 an hour to replace an XLR connector. No rational businessman would pay $270 per hour for such a simple task. A rational businessman would hire an employee to complete the task for one-tenth of that cost, or, even better, do it himself at "no cost" over his lunch hour or during half time of the big game on Saturday afternoon. When working, I billed $250 per hour for my time. Even so, it would make good financial sense to do it myself on a coffee break, as I would, essentially, break even at comparing my hourly rate against rate the effective hourly cost of the custom cable.

In fact, I followed my own advice to great advantage. I operated my professional office with NO employees for nearly a decade, employing optical character recognition (OCR) and computer speech recognition software to supplant a secretary. Employees are, if you pardon a crude, yet effective expression, "financial parasites." A professional must work longer and harder, and charge more per hour, to pay their salaries in addition to his own. Replacing employees with technology can be a very cost-effective trade. I comfortably retired on my 50th birthday by leveraging technology against the cost of labor, eliminating employee salaries, employment taxes, unemployment tax, worker health insurance, worker injury compensation insurance, and more; working smarter, not harder, managing fewer client matters and keeping more of my hourly fee for myself. In other words, I was able to keep the share I would have otherwise paid for support staff.

Bottom line - considering the big picture, soldering a new connector over the lunch hour yourself may be substantially more profitable than paying $50 to the custom cable shop.

N'est ce pas, mon ami?




Again, you are no cost accountant.

I suspect you meant to say "write off" in the tax year of acquisition. One "amortizes" or "depreciates" an asset over a longer period, usually multiple years.

Besides, if one fully writes-off or depreciates an asset, and later resells it for cash, the proceeds of sale are "depreciation recaptured" and TAXED as regular INCOME, and are, occasionally, subject to capital gains TAX. Add the cost of having your accountant or CPA figure it, and you may better just scrap it or donate it to charity.

Once again, it is not as cut and dried or as simple as some may suggest !!

All in good fun - and yet sorta serious, too. Happy trails to you. James

I don't quibble about semantics with non-native english speakers. Abbey speaks better english than many Americans, and better french than me.

JR

 

[soliloqueen]

It's an old debate.
There was a time when studio engineers and PA hire one-man bands used to solder their own cables.
As business grow, there comes a time when they realize they have more beneficial use for their time.
They may hire low-paid staff, or decide to outsource cables.
Conidering they can be amortized in the first year, it even makes sense financially. Actually, after having been amortized, they can be sold 2nd-hand.

Admittedly, I just ship my few mics with retail mogami cables. i'm lazier than i am interested in saving money