[sharktopus]

I would not change the balance between the left and right channels, doubling the wire changes the awg and larger wire conducts more easily. e.g. 14 wire gauge doubled becomes 11 awg, 26 awg becomes 23 or so. (I am not googling this answer so those numbers might be off just a tad.) It should be safe to use two wires to each ground post as long as the shield is not connected to said ground.

So does the third pin just chill out unconnected to anything then?

 

[Paladin79]

It really depends on what configuration you are trying to wire. Are you going to use an XLR for each channel or is one xlr going to have left and right channel? I believe you asked how to wire the three pins and shield using five wires.

You are wiring two balanced cables it sounds like. You can certainly wire two to positive, two to negative and drain to ground. Without knowing the equipment, I would not hook up the shield to the case, you can hook the ground wire to the shield, only one line is really going to chassis ground then so in effect you are just bridging the shield and ground. Use the diagram below, case is optional. Doubling the wires on the positive and negative will not hurt.

 

[Paladin79]

 

[Paladin79]

If wiring a single xlr for stereo, then I would not put more wires on the left channel than the right channel or vice versa.

 

[Whitigir]

That is correct. I simply wire short both (1 and NC) of the grounds and connect to chassis ground. Much easier
On the RCA to XLR build, the shield and the ground is together. I don't recommend making such cables unless you know for sure that your amp is true balanced out, meaning that it can take SE input and split it into balanced output. I also don't recommend shielding here, because that make it more susceptible to attracting noises and induce it into your audio signals. If you want to shield it, perhap only using isolated RCA body shield away from Hot-Cold signals and the XLR connector with Metal body and NC to shield the cables and isolate it away from chassis ground. I say just use wires and connect to the correct terminal for a simpler adapter.

 

[rekun]

hello guys, I just re-cabled a pair of beyer t51p for the first time because one side went silent.
Bought some UPOCC Litz 24 awg wire and made myself a 4 strands cable.
But then, I found that the headphone becomes very bass heavy. It was on the heavy side to my taste before the repair so it's now boom boom boom.
I can't tell if the bass went stronger or the mid and treble faded. Tweaking equalizer does help but normally I don't use it.
I know cables change the sound but the change is so drastic I can't help to suspect I screwed it up.
The sound is full, so no bad contacts/solder joints I guess?
Is there any other ways I could have screwed up in the progress?

 

[Whitigir]

hello guys, I just re-cabled a pair of beyer t51p for the first time because one side went silent.
Bought some UPOCC Litz 24 awg wire and made myself a 4 strands cable.
But then, I found that the headphone becomes very bass heavy. It was on the heavy side to my taste before the repair so it's now boom boom boom.
I can't tell if the bass went stronger or the mid and treble faded. Tweaking equalizer does help but normally I don't use it.
I know cables change the sound but the change is so drastic I can't help to suspect I screwed it up.
The sound is full, so no bad contacts/solder joints I guess?
Is there any other ways I could have screwed up in the progress?

No, the cables either work, or it doesn't. Bad solder joints will bring sound cutting in and out when you try and move the cables. Cables and wires materials, even the geometry will affect your sound. It is common for copper to boost bass, how drastic ? Only you can tell, but if the cables doesn't have sound cutting here and there, you are safe

 

[rekun]

No, the cables either work, or it doesn't. Bad solder joints will bring sound cutting in and out when you try and move the cables. Cables and wires materials, even the geometry will affect your sound. It is common for copper to boost bass, how drastic ? Only you can tell, but if the cables doesn't have sound cutting here and there, you are safe

If I was blindfolded and someone told me it's a pair of beats I would believe it. <--
Mid and treble are muffled. Not as protrude as a pair of beyer should.
I guess I learned a lesson here that what a cable can do to the sound. I toyed with tens of aftermarket cables for iems before, they do differ but only slightly. Solid silver wire in the future for me then

 

[Paladin79]

Thanks for jumping in Whitigir on the XLR question, it is not always easy to answer a question without knowing the equipment or what a person is trying to accomplish.

 

[sharktopus]

Thanks for the help, and sorry about being less than specific. I was trying to make a pair of basic xlr interconnects like you would used for balanced pro/stage audio equipment. Straight xlr to xlr. Is there any specific advantage/disadvantage to jumpering pin 1 and the chassis lug on the xlr connector? Currently, I just have the shield go to pin 1 on each side.

 

[sharktopus]

Also, as a side note, I just found this great article detailing wiring diagrams for a whole slew of balanced and single ended interconnect cables: http://www.rane.com/note110.html

 

[Whitigir]

Shield only to pin 1 will introduce a lot of noises. That is IME, not sure how to explain it scientifically to you

 

[Paladin79]

Also, as a side note, I just found this great article detailing wiring diagrams for a whole slew of balanced and single ended interconnect cables: http://www.rane.com/note110.html

Excellent info, I have read that before but it has been a while. One of my diagrams appears to have been borrowed from there by someone else.

I have dealt with this type of thing for years and on occasion I still have to tell audio people to lift a shield at one end to see if the hum disappears. Some things can be tricky to answer and if some of my answers seem obscure, that is not my intention.

 

[Speedskater]

Shield only to pin 1 will introduce a lot of noises. That is IME, not sure how to explain it scientifically to you

In pro audio, the cable shield only connects to pin #1 (not the shell). Because in pro audio the shell might come in contact with metal at a different potential. That's covered in standard AES54. But theoretically also connecting the shield to the shell is good.

All XLR chassis connectors need to have pin #1 attached to the chassis at the connector. Some hi-fi equipment mistakenly connects it to the audio circuit common.

 

[Paladin79]

There is AES3 as well as AES54 1,2 and 3 so normally I have to concern myself with types of cable and application. The original question on here had to do with star quad cable and I knew it was going to get tricky at that point, sometimes it is just best to keep it simple with three wires.