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XLR cable quality questions

Oct 17, 2007 at 10:36 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 33
infinitesymphony

infinitesymphony

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In an RCA cable, it's been recommended to look for crimped connections rather than soldered ones, but are there similar things to look for with XLR cables?

Are there solderless XLR cables?

Neutrik and Switchcraft are popular for XLR connectors, but are there any other, better alternatives?
 
Oct 21, 2007 at 3:35 AM Post #2 of 33
No balanced lovers around here?
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Oct 21, 2007 at 12:22 PM Post #3 of 33
I have been using the ridiculously, cheap "Mogami Digital Audio Cable AES/EBU Neutrik Gold 5'" for the last 2years. At $16.00 a cable (ebay) it was worth a listen, after Iron_Dreamer turned me on to them. I never left. The Pro cable of choice is good enough for me and my backup rig.

Lossless>Mogami>Headroom Desktop Balanced>K701/XLR stock
 
Oct 21, 2007 at 12:37 PM Post #4 of 33
Thanks for the info!

That's probably a good point... Balanced has enough noise rejection characteristics of its own that any decently-constructed cable should do the trick.

A fair number of studios use Mogami because it works and is inexpensive, but a greater number buy cables and connectors in bulk from Belden and Canare, and Neutrik and Switchcraft, and just make their own. This is looking like a more attractive option for me, since I'll be needing different lengths of microphone and instrument cables at some point.
 
Oct 22, 2007 at 2:22 PM Post #5 of 33
DIY on the XLR cabling is the way to go. All the info needed to start doing this is found in the DIY section here at Headfi.

Running balanced cabling is also the way to go, if and where you can. Compared to single-ended, balanced runs are less noisy and are more tolerant of longer runs. IMO the impetus for $300/meter cable silliness is a response to minimizing cabling losses of single-ended topologies.
 
Oct 22, 2007 at 3:19 PM Post #6 of 33
The company I trust (thanks to a recommendation by Voltron), uses DH Labs Silver Sonic XLR connectors for what it's worth.
 
Oct 30, 2007 at 3:48 PM Post #7 of 33
Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Are there solderless XLR cables?


Neutrik makes a line of solderless XLR connectors called EasyCon (P/N's NC3FEZY-B for female and NC3MEZY-B for male with black housings and gold contacts).

I just received some that I'm going to try out with Canare Star-Quad.
 
Oct 30, 2007 at 9:16 PM Post #8 of 33
Quote:

Originally Posted by jack1960 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Neutrik makes a line of solderless XLR connectors called EasyCon (P/N's NC3FEZY-B for female and NC3MEZY-B for male with black housings and gold contacts).

I just received some that I'm going to try out with Canare Star-Quad.


Interesting... Let me know how it goes.
lambda.gif
 
Nov 5, 2007 at 8:31 PM Post #10 of 33
As far as I can tell, those have been discontinued by Neutrik. There is no mention of "Easycon" or "idc" on the German parent or US subsidiary web site, and some Google links to "NC3FEZY" on vendor sites return the standard X or XX series plug.

I'm going to have to make up some soon, and I think I am going with XX series connectors--the design seems to be better and they don't cost more.
 
Nov 6, 2007 at 1:14 AM Post #12 of 33
Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Any updates on using the Neutrik solderless connectors?


I'm not able to get them to work with the Star-Quad cable as there doesn't seem to be any way to properly align two wires per contact (and I doubt that they are designed for two wires) while fastening the cable rentention piece. It's probably best to use a 2-conductor cable such as Belden 1800F or Canare DA-202.

The EasyCon XLR's are currently available at Markertek and PartsExpress. Assembly instructions are available on the Neutrik web site.
 
Nov 6, 2007 at 5:22 AM Post #13 of 33
Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm going to have to make up some soon, and I think I am going with XX series connectors--the design seems to be better and they don't cost more.


I spent some time looking through Neutrik's site about a week ago and those are the ones I settled on, too... NC3MXX-B/NC3FXX-B. The X series was hugely popular and these are the next in line, so they should be good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asr /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Yes. Behold the ultimate, and last, XLR connectors you'll ever set eyes on: http://www.furutech.com/produ_1.asp?...Cache=60236.36

biggrin.gif



Leave it to Furutech.
tongue.gif


I'm willing to believe that the Furutech FP series could have better performance, so I definitely appreciate the recommendation. But at $64.95 per connector, my wallet doesn't appreciate it.
biggrin.gif
 
Nov 6, 2007 at 10:29 PM Post #14 of 33
Quote:

Originally Posted by jack1960 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The EasyCon XLR's are currently available at Markertek and PartsExpress. Assembly instructions are available on the Neutrik web site.


Would you possibly have a link to those instructions? Any docs that I can find on the EasyCon's are just drawings of the assembled connectors, and apparently I couldn't think of the right search terms on the Neutrik USA site or the German site, either.

Seems strange that searching on the term "EasyCon" gave no results--that's what made me think that the ones available here are the remaining stock of a discontinued item.
 
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