[el_matt0]

hey, i need to make 2 interconnects for between a zhaolu and a b22. i need females on one end and males on the other. now obviously pin 1 on one goes to pin 1 on the other, and the same for pin 2, but ive seen a variety of different options pertaining to the ground. firstly, whats a good type of cable to go with for something like this, quad star, or should i twist my own outta silver or something? if i went with quad star, do i need to hookup the ground on both sides, or could i go with 2 wires for each +/- signal, and then use the twisted shielding for ground (either on one or both sides, ive seen both).

 

[threEchelon]

A good cable design for an XLR cable would be a twisted pair of silver wire with some type of braided copper shield that is spaced off from the conductors.

 

[el_matt0]

ok, so braided shielding, but not twisted and connected to the ground..i assume i can just leave the grounds open on both connectors when just making interconnects then?

 

[el_matt0]

i shouldnt go w/ something pretwisted? is braiding your own out of silver and sheilding it yourself better than going with coax or some other pre-shielded cable? still wondering about the grounds too..left open?

 

[el_matt0]

anyone? or would it be just as suitable to go with something like this:
http://www.takefiveaudio.com/mall/shopexd.asp?id=718
in which case i would use one wire for +, one for -, and...leave the grounds open or twist shield to both grounds?

 

[el_matt0]

http://www.vandenhul.com/artpap/wiring1.htm

do i want to hook-em up like that? in WHICH case its probably ok for me to go with any of those preshielded/twisted "interconnect" cables, like i linked above, with 2 wires + shield? or would it be better still to do it myself like echelon said?

 

[el_matt0]

^ someone please? ive searched to no avail

 

[mminutel]

You definitely need to be more patient and not bump your thread every hour. Anyways, if you want to be lazy and buy something preshielded then that is your prerogative, but the general consensus is that silver plated copper or plane out pure silver is a lot better. I use SPC because it is cheap, but if you want to spend ~50$ on one cable then you get what you pay for. I have not done an XLR, so I cannot explain the ground/signal thing, I am trying to figure it out myself.

 

[scooot]

An easy Google search brought this up:
http://colomar.com/Shavano/xlr_cable.html
Plus theres a Wikipedia article on XLR connectors showing how to wire them up also.

Take your time with something like this, stop and think it through instead of going full speed and asking before thinking, if you miss something due to not putting in enough of your own research you might accidentally turn $400 worth of components into a smoking mess.

Not meaning to come across as condescending or anything, just trying to give you some knowledge that I learnt the hard way

 

[Fitz]

As mminutel says, it's really not appropriate to bump your thread so often.

Since you're using these for short patch cables and not something like mic cables, they'll work fine as long as you get pins 2 and 3 connected on both ends. Pin 2 connects to the normal phase signal, and pin 3 to the inverted phase signal. If you go with making your own cable, you can add in a third wire for ground (pin 1), but it's not really necessary and won't have much benefit since it won't actually be shielding the cable, and it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle to try to add your own braided shield. If you have shielded line/mic cable though, then you'll want to go ahead and connect it to one or both ends of the cable. The presence or absence of shielding probably isn't going to make any difference for you with just two short runs, unless you get some major RFI where you live.

 

[threEchelon]

Yes, shielding doesn't do much for XLR cables, and can actually make the sound worse if the shield is close to the wires (from what I've read. I don't have the equipment to test balanced cables.), but the B22 boards want a Ground from the signal input. Could the power supply ground be used instead?