[artears]

I have a question and if it sounds stupid, please bear with me

.

I happen to have a 2 conductor shielded cable, which does not contain any additional drain wire, it has the braided shielding though. I will start a DIY project and the instructions suggest that the drain wire should be connected and soldered at one end for some connections. I tried to twist the braided shield into another single wire which will serve the purpose of the drain wire at one end. However, the braided shield is too delicate to work and I did not have any success so far. Is there any way that I can use this wire that I have for my purposes? Any tricks? Or should I buy another cable containing 2 conductors and a drain wire as well?

Thank you for your time, I appreciate any information.

Have a nice weekend.

 

[Steve Eddy]

Personally I think shielding is over-rated.

Might want to try making an un-shielded cable.

se

 

[artears]

Do you recommend that I connect only one conductor to the ground of the connection without the drain wire and forget about the instructions regarding soldering the drain wire?

I already have the cable, it is matching the specifics of the instructions without the bare drain wire in it though... The cable will be used for the connections in a tube amp project by the way...

 

[Steve Eddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by artears /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you recommend that I connect only one conductor to the ground of the connection without the drain wire and forget about the instructions regarding soldering the drain wire?

I wouldn't really recommend it.

I assume you're trying to terminate the cable with RCA's? If so, what kind? Some RCA's have a strain relief clamp that's part of the ground which could allow you to just clamp over the shield at one end, and attach the ground lead as you would normally do it.

se

 

[artears]

Sorry for the late reply. I could not check both the instructions and the forum for the past few days. The cable will be used for RCA-volume control, volume control to the input triodes and between power switch and power entry module.

I understand that I need to pull the braid apart to be able to twist it into a bundle on one side, however this turns out to be a difficult thing to do, since the braid is very delicate...

 

[audiowize]

Drain wires and shielding are not overrated! Those who poo-poo drain wires probably haven't dealt much with small signals, and certainly aren't going to help you create a circuit that is quiet enough for headphone use.

If you have the braided shield and no drain wire, you will need to strip back a little more outer jacket than you thought, then push back the braid and do a little bit of cutting so that you can move the braid out from around the twisted pair, then have a stranded drain wire.

It is much better to get STP with a foil shield, as the foil shield will ensure a solid core drain wire.

 

[Steve Eddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiowize /img/forum/go_quote.gif Drain wires and shielding are not overrated! Those who poo-poo drain wires probably haven't dealt much with small signals, and certainly aren't going to help you create a circuit that is quiet enough for headphone use.

Probably haven't dealt much with small signals?

Let's see, the output of the Dynavector DRT XV-1t is 0.35mV.

Does that qualify as a "small signal" in your book?

And what headphone amplifier has the 60dB of gain that the Manley Steelhead has?

If an unshielded cable between the Dynavector and the Steelhead is more than quiet enough even when using 104dB speakers, then yes, I still say shielding is largely over-rated.

Most noise issues are the result of the self-noise of the equipment itself or to interchassis currents, neither of which shielding of the cables can help.

se

 

[jageur272]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koyaan I. Sqatsi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most noise issues are the result of the self-noise of the equipment itself or to interchassis currents, neither of which shielding of the cables can help. se

On a practical level, I've spent a lot of time with studio equipment and long (>15') runs of cable MUST be shielded or they pick up radio (and the last thing anybody wants is to hear NPR playing through their monitor). I wouldn't say that shielding is the number 1 priority, however, the lack of shielding doesn't make a cable useless.

Regarding the OP however, a drain wire acts as an antenna when connected only to one end. Some cable manufacturers have "drains", but just twisting off a little on both ends and soldering that to your ground pin should do fine (you only need[b/] 1 conductor + shield if you want to do it this way).

 

[audiowize]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koyaan I. Sqatsi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Probably haven't dealt much with small signals? Let's see, the output of the Dynavector DRT XV-1t is 0.35mV. Does that qualify as a "small signal" in your book? And what headphone amplifier has the 60dB of gain that the Manley Steelhead has? If an unshielded cable between the Dynavector and the Steelhead is more than quiet enough even when using 104dB speakers, then yes, I still say shielding is largely over-rated. Most noise issues are the result of the self-noise of the equipment itself or to interchassis currents, neither of which shielding of the cables can help. se

I have seen plenty of noise issues caused by unshielded cables. Even inside a component, proper shielding of signal and "noisy" power supply lines is certainly the way to go. Are you using unshielded interconnects between your turntable and your phono preamp?

 

[Steve Eddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiowize /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have seen plenty of noise issues caused by unshielded cables.

And I've made and sold many unshielded cables and have not encountered any noise issues to speak of due to the cables being unshielded.

Hell, look at Kimber. They've sold many more cables than I ever will and most of their cables are unshielded.

Quote:

Even inside a component, proper shielding of signal and "noisy" power supply lines is certainly the way to go.

I have no control over how people's gear is wired internally. And that's not the issue being discussed here anyway.

Quote:

Are you using unshielded interconnects between your turntable and your phono preamp?

Not mine. The system belongs to Peter Clark of Redpoint Audio. And yes, the interconnects I made for him that are being used between his turntable and the phono preamp are unshielded.

No noise problems with them at all.

se