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Author Topic: Microphone cable purchase  (Read 5156 times)

Kim Guibord

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Microphone cable purchase
« on: April 14, 2019, 02:54:34 PM »

Hello everyone:

I am getting rid of my old mic cables and looking to purchase about 30 or so new cables .. A certain manufacturer comes to mind as one of the better choices.. Do you guys have ideas on good quality cables for a good price .. feel free to pm me if you do not feel comfortable listing manufacturers on here .... thanks.
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William Schnake

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2019, 03:23:40 PM »

Hello everyone:

I am getting rid of my old mic cables and looking to purchase about 30 or so new cables .. A certain manufacturer comes to mind as one of the better choices.. Do you guys have ideas on good quality cables for a good price .. feel free to pm me if you do not feel comfortable listing manufacturers on here .... thanks.

For the last 20 years or so we have used cables from Horizon.  The ones we get have held up very well over the years.  2 years ago we purged all of the old and purchased all new.  The old ones had between 18 and 7 years on them.  All of them were still working.

It should be noted the we are a Horizon dealer.  However, I am not trying to sell you anything.

Bill
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Tim Hite

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2019, 03:35:46 PM »

What's cost-effective for you?

What's your definition of a quality cable?

We make our own from Mogami W2549 and Neutrik XX connectors. Our cables are extremely reliable, sound good and handle well at an acceptable price point for our shop.

Many others here roll their own from Canare L2T2 or L4E6 or Belden 8412 cable and connectors from  Neutrik, Switchcraft and ITT Cannon. The bulk cable ranges form 30¢ to $1.25 per foot and the connectors range from $2 to $15 each.


Hello everyone:

I am getting rid of my old mic cables and looking to purchase about 30 or so new cables .. A certain manufacturer comes to mind as one of the better choices.. Do you guys have ideas on good quality cables for a good price .. feel free to pm me if you do not feel comfortable listing manufacturers on here .... thanks.
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Ben Ballard

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2019, 03:46:14 PM »

Cordial CMK 222 Flex with Neutrix XX connectors on the ends.

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

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Jay Barracato

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2019, 03:55:56 PM »

Hello everyone:

I am getting rid of my old mic cables and looking to purchase about 30 or so new cables .. A certain manufacturer comes to mind as one of the better choices.. Do you guys have ideas on good quality cables for a good price .. feel free to pm me if you do not feel comfortable listing manufacturers on here .... thanks.
My first choice has always been the proco or rapco with the thicker butyl rubber outer layer. I just like the way they handle better. A lot of shops had these store branded as well.

I just don't see them listed on either website currently.

With that said, when quick and price effective is necessary, I have a lot of ewi cables from audiopile with both the house ends and the neutrix and never had had a problem with either (other than a few of the house ends going out of round from stage abuse).

I still make about 50% of the ones in my personal collection

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

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Jay Barracato

dave milton

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2019, 04:15:53 PM »

All things considered, including quality/price/durability/handling/etc., it's really hard to beat Pro-Quad cables from Audiopile. 

You can get them with Neutrik connectors or a lesser priced but still good quality option.  Lots of lengths to choose from, blue or black casing, and as always top-notch service when dealing with Mark and Liz.  You simply can't go wrong with these.

I also like the SlimLine cables for those few occasions I need really long cables but want to keep down on bulk.

d.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2019, 04:18:38 PM by dave milton »
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Tom Provenza

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2019, 08:14:18 PM »

Belden 1192A with Black Neutrik x for me. Majority of my cables pushing 15 years of service.
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Tom Provenza

Mark Scrivener

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2019, 09:21:31 PM »

I always roll my own...Black w/ Gold plated contacts Neutrik connectors, and what ever good deal I can get on bulk cable from Belden, Canare, or Gepco. Individual cables, snakes, sub snakes, snake boxes, insert and patch bay cables for the studio, you name it, I make my own.

Pros:
You get exactly what you want
Top quality components that out last the cheap ready made stuff
Cost the same or less as cheap ready made stuff

Cons:
You spend a few hours soldering cable

Rick Powell

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2019, 11:04:49 PM »

Roll my own, Neutrik NC3MXX/NC3FXX black w/gold pins, Canare L46ES. I use blue jacket for 10 ft. shortys and black jacket for 25 footers. I suppose I could've gone black with all of them and get those snap-in connector clips to color-code them.
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Justice C. Bigler

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2019, 01:36:40 AM »

I use blue jacket for 10 ft. shortys and black jacket for 25 footers. I suppose I could've gone black with all of them and get those snap-in connector clips to color-code them.


Meh...I can tell the rough length of a cable just by holding it. 10ft, 25ft, 50ft and 100ft cables all have a very distinct feel and weight. Not hard to tell which are which.
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Riley Casey

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #10 on: April 15, 2019, 09:59:12 AM »

True enough but when you’re looking down into a road case with fifty assorted mic cables color coding by length isn’t a bad thing. 

Say didn’t we just do this thread last week?


Meh...I can tell the rough length of a cable just by holding it. 10ft, 25ft, 50ft and 100ft cables all have a very distinct feel and weight. Not hard to tell which are which.

Alec Spence

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #11 on: April 15, 2019, 11:34:31 AM »

And, were you in the UK, the gold standard would be from VDC - Van Damme Tour Grade Classic XKE mic cable with Neutirk XLRs - either make them yourselves, or order pre-made from VDC.  There's really no other sensible choice unless you drop to a myriad budget options.
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Bob Stone

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2019, 11:56:00 AM »

True enough but when you’re looking down into a road case with fifty assorted mic cables color coding by length isn’t a bad thing. 

Say didn’t we just do this thread last week?

Except I don't want anything but black cables running along the floor. This isn't a backstage networking patch panel, it's mic cables that are visible.
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Dave Garoutte

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #13 on: April 15, 2019, 12:57:39 PM »

We bought a 600' roll of Canare starquad and a pile of Neutric ends, I think from Markertek.
The cables we ended up with, including labor, cost about the same as mid-range music store cables.
We used blue cable to keep them from walking away.
No one has ever complained about the color.
The lengths are labeled on one end.
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Steve Litcher

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #14 on: April 15, 2019, 01:16:35 PM »

If you get any type of a professional discount with any national equipment retailer, you can get Rapco/Horizon Road Hog cables with black Neutrik connectors for less than $1/foot.

I enjoy building my own cables as much as the next guy, and do it when necessary, but... when I can get an assembled, ready-to-rock cable with a warranty for under $1/foot, I'll take that deal all day long.

For reference, my cost on a 25-foot RoadHog XLR-XLR cable is around $18 out the door. All I had to do was ask if they had some wiggle room on pricing, and that was it. We had 150+ RoadHog cables; none ever had any issues nor gave us any problems.

Steve Garris

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #15 on: April 15, 2019, 02:01:29 PM »

For cheap & easy these work fine as others have noted. I had only 2 go bad this past year, one I fixed easily.

https://www.audiopile.net/starline-microphone-cables
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Greg Harwood

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #16 on: April 15, 2019, 03:53:40 PM »

All things considered, including quality/price/durability/handling/etc., it's really hard to beat Pro-Quad cables from Audiopile. 

You can get them with Neutrik connectors or a lesser priced but still good quality option.  Lots of lengths to choose from, blue or black casing, and as always top-notch service when dealing with Mark and Liz.  You simply can't go wrong with these.

I also like the SlimLine cables for those few occasions I need really long cables but want to keep down on bulk.x

Pro_Quad cables from Audiopile are nice.  I've been using them for years and have had no problems with any of them.  I get them with Neutrik connectors.

d.
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Justice C. Bigler

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #17 on: April 15, 2019, 04:23:04 PM »

If you get any type of a professional discount with any national equipment retailer, you can get Rapco/Horizon Road Hog cables with black Neutrik connectors for less than $1/foot.


Dang, those are some pretty expensive cables. I just bought a 656 foot spool of Canare L4E6S and built a bunch of cables. I spent less than half of that for the cable and Neutrick connectors.
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Peter Kowalczyk

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #18 on: April 15, 2019, 05:55:56 PM »


Dang, those are some pretty expensive cables. I just bought a 656 foot spool of Canare L4E6S and built a bunch of cables. I spent less than half of that for the cable and Neutrick connectors.

... yeah, but whats your time worth?  I can't justify the time to make plain XLR cables anymore.  I'll build custom adaptor thingies, but I buy Rapco NM1 from Mr. Pyle here when I need standard XLR cables. 
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Steve Litcher

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #19 on: April 16, 2019, 01:46:33 PM »

... yeah, but whats your time worth?  I can't justify the time to make plain XLR cables anymore.  I'll build custom adaptor thingies, but I buy Rapco NM1 from Mr. Pyle here when I need standard XLR cables.

Yep, that was my point. I love to solder and build/fix things, but when it comes to cables, no thanks. The Rapcos use NC3MXX connectors and are really well-built. For under $20 per 25-foot cable, assembled, I'll happily pay that all day long. Four years of use, 80-shows per year, 150+ cables, zero issues.

Frank Czar

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #20 on: April 16, 2019, 04:23:15 PM »

Hey Guys,

I will second the Rapco HOG series cables. I have over 300 in inventory and some are going on 20 years old and I can count the failures on one hand and they were probably caused by me or someone on the crew.
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Sean Zurbrick

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #21 on: April 16, 2019, 05:13:37 PM »

Another vote for EWI (Audiopile.net). I have some of the quads, but most are just regular "Starline" with the standard connectors. I can't recall a failure in 15 years.

https://www.audiopile.net/SLMA
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Rob Spence

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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #22 on: April 16, 2019, 07:28:48 PM »

Another vote for EWI (Audiopile.net). I have some of the quads, but most are just regular "Starline" with the standard connectors. I can't recall a failure in 15 years.

https://www.audiopile.net/SLMA

+1
I have dozens of Starline cables. Only failure in 10+ years was a crushed shell.



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Re: Microphone cable purchase
« Reply #22 on: April 16, 2019, 07:28:48 PM »


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