[Bubblejuice]

  Do as Buke said and get some star quad microphone cable or standard microphone cable and get the wires from that if need be lol. It is hard to find 24 awg ofc sold by itself in spools. I would send you some but you did not say if you are in the states. If not in the states look for Mogami or Canare star quad and get the 24 or 26 awg wires from that and you will have decent inexpensive wire.

Oh ok! Aren't microphone cables super thick though?
 
Yeah, I'm in the US, in Arizona (I put AZ, sorry I didn't make that clear 

). 
 
Like this one?
 
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Mogami/WG253400656-Bulk-Quad-Mic-Cable-Black-Sold-Per-Foot.gc
 
Does that bring all three little cables inside?

 

[buke9]

Oh ok. I was jus wondering since I have some GE speaker wire I bought at Walmart to connect some bookshelves to my CD player. It's fairly thin.  It's probably not a big issue considering this is just an extension, but then I realized it probably wouldn't fit the connectors (since you mention it). 

Yeah, I'm in AZ. I would definitely appreciate that, I'm still new to this (and hi-fi audio in general). I am starting to just a little. I made a tiny 3" cable out of scrap parts to connect my JDSlab O2 with my Scarlett 2i2 (I posted it on the Custom cable display thread). I'm sure my next one will come out better. I'm starting out with shorter length cables like this extension and what not. 

Oh yeah, I did notice the wrap was really thick on the speaker wire.  So there's no "headphone" specific wires out there? (Other than the pretty expensive silver/Cryo-copper ones sold by custom cable manufacturers, I guess).

Like I said most here use microphone cable by Belden or Mogami plus others. It is not real expensive but you can a lot for some wire that is for sure. BTG audio has some wire that is not outrageous if you want to make a braided cable with no paracord or other coverings.

 

[Paladin79]

  Oh ok! Aren't microphone cables super thick though?
 
Yeah, I'm in the US, in Arizona (I put AZ, sorry I didn't make that clear 

). 
 
Like this one?
 
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Mogami/WG253400656-Bulk-Quad-Mic-Cable-Black-Sold-Per-Foot.gc
 
Does that bring all three little cables inside?

There are little wires inside, quad mean four, thus four wires and a ground. Normal microphone cables has two small wires and a ground. Sorry I did not see the AZ reference till later. If what you see there is expensive I will send you some free if you like. You can PM me your address and such.

 

[Bubblejuice]

  There are little wires inside, quad mean four, thus four wires and a ground. Normal microphone cables has two small wires and a ground. Sorry I did not see the AZ reference till later. If what you see there is expensive I will send you some free if you like. You can PM me your address and such.

No no, I don't want to cause any burden. Plus, if you sent me free wire, I would insist on paying shipping, so it'll probably come out the same. No point in making you waste your supply. But I really appreciate it! 

 
If this Mogami wire is good, then I'll go ahead and get some! Now... if I get a Quad wire, would that just mean that I wouldn't use 1 of the wires? or do I connect two wires to ground or something?
 
Also, how much wire do you recommend is ideal for a project. Meaning, if I want to make a 2 foot cable, how much wire should I buy, from your experience making cables (In case of mistakes, or having to cut ends, etc)?

 

[Paladin79]

  No no, I don't want to cause any burden. Plus, if you sent me free wire, I would insist on paying shipping, so it'll probably come out the same. No point in making you waste your supply. But I really appreciate it! 

 
If this Mogami wire is good, then I'll go ahead and get some! Now... if I get a Quad wire, would that just mean that I wouldn't use 1 of the wires? or do I connect two wires to ground or something?
 
Also, how much wire do you recommend is ideal for a project. Meaning, if I want to make a 2 foot cable, how much wire should I buy, from your experience making cables (In case of mistakes, or having to cut ends, etc)?

You can use just three wires unless you are building a balanced cable. If they will sell you three feet you would have more than enough but it is silly to buy such a small amount and pay shipping when 8 feet might be the same shipping cost. Using three wires you can have left channel, right channel and ground. It is a common ground. If you do a braid, three feet would probably get you close to two feet of actual cable.
 
You can see the specs of that cable at the bottom of their page, that will help you a lot. I know the company in that add fairly well, they are close to me lol.

 

[Bubblejuice]

  You can use just three wires unless you are building a balanced cable. If they will sell you three feet you would have more than enough but it is silly to buy such a small amount and pay shipping when 8 feet might be the same shipping cost. Using three wires you can have left channel, right channel and ground. It is a common ground. If you do a braid, three feet would probably get you close to two feet of actual cable.
 
You can see the specs of that cable at the bottom of their page, that will help you a lot. I know the company in that add fairly well, they are close to me lol.

Oh, yeah that makes sense. I mean it says it's available to pick up at a near by guitar center, so I'll just do that. But I'll order 8 ft anyways since I think I'll be making more soon enough.
 
How would you make a balanced cable with the 4th wire?
 
 
Haha I'm not sure what any of the specs mean lol 

 I'll just have to take your word for it that it's the right one. 

 

[Paladin79]

  Oh, yeah that makes sense. I mean it says it's available to pick up at a near by guitar center, so I'll just do that. But I'll order 8 ft anyways since I think I'll be making more soon enough.
 
How would you make a balanced cable with the 4th wire?
 
 
Haha I'm not sure what any of the specs mean lol 

 I'll just have to take your word for it that it's the right one. 

On a balanced cable the left and right channel each have their own separate grounds, thus four wires. Look at headphones with wires going to each cup. You can then use a balanced amp and keep everything separate, the theory being the sound will not bleed over like it might on a three wire cable with each channel sharing the same ground. As I said, that is the theory. Some things are easier to measure than to hear. Sometimes when you are dealing with expensive equipment, you can pay a lot for small improvements. If you progress in this, you will learn to decide what is right for you. 

 

[buke9]

Oh, yeah that makes sense. I mean it says it's available to pick up at a near by guitar center, so I'll just do that. But I'll order 8 ft anyways since I think I'll be making more soon enough.

How would you make a balanced cable with the 4th wire?


Haha I'm not sure what any of the specs mean lol :etysmile:  I'll just have to take your word for it that it's the right one. 

If you don't have a balanced amp no need for a balanced cable.

 

[Paladin79]

If you don't have a balanced amp no need for a balanced cable.

Buke is right, if your amp output shares a solid ground, you have to use a connector with that same arrangement so your cable is not balanced anyway.

 

[Bubblejuice]

If you don't have a balanced amp no need for a balanced cable.

Haha true, I guess having a spare cable is never bad

 

[Stegosaurus]

"Paladin79" You also want to do twisted pair. Read up on that if you get a chance. Strand count is a factor too and can affect flexibility and conductivity.

So is one to use a twisted pair for each channel and a twisted pair for ground? Then, each twisted pair is insulated by paracord; braided to the "Y", where the two channels go to there respective sides? Where does the ground terminate? Ahhhhhh!!! Once I get it Ill be golden! Hahaha.

 

[Bubblejuice]

"Paladin79" You also want to do twisted pair. Read up on that if you get a chance. Strand count is a factor too and can affect flexibility and conductivity.

So is one to use a twisted pair for each channel and a twisted pair for ground? Then, each twisted pair is insulated by paracord; braided to the "Y", where the two channels go to there respective sides? Where does the ground terminate? Ahhhhhh!!! Once I get it Ill be golden! Hahaha.

Wait, so you mean you need to use 2 wires for each channel? 

 

[Paladin79]

"Paladin79" You also want to do twisted pair. Read up on that if you get a chance. Strand count is a factor too and can affect flexibility and conductivity.

So is one to use a twisted pair for each channel and a twisted pair for ground? Then, each twisted pair is insulated by paracord; braided to the "Y", where the two channels go to there respective sides? Where does the ground terminate? Ahhhhhh!!! Once I get it Ill be golden! Hahaha.

This is going to get complicated. First of all, are you doing a three wire braid, four wire braid, or star quad with each channel separating out? Is there a shield involved?
 
If dealing with star quad, the wires are properly twisted and shielded. When you get down to each channel and each ground, twist them there. They have no shielding otherwise, twisted pair is a form of shielding. Did I just help or confuse you more? lol

 

[Paladin79]

  Wait, so you mean you need to use 2 wires for each channel?

In effect yes but you are using a common ground when using trs connectors. The ground is shared by each channel. On balanced, each channel has its own ground.
 
I have a long day tomorrow and need to get some rest. Hey I see Allanmarcus is around, perhaps he can jump in since he is closer to your time zone. 

 

[Stegosaurus]

Tom...I'm more confused then ever....haha. I am wanting to do a 3 wire braid. I totally deconstructed the star quad all the way down to the 4 wires.