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[Steve Litcher]

I've been browsing through legacy PSW posts about bulk microphone cable, drum looms, and whatnot, but I haven't found the answer I was looking for.

I realize that looming cables for drum kits is a polarizing subject... that said... I'm looking for some bulk microphone cable that offers:

- Flexibility/Pliability
- Excellent RF rejection
- Fairly easy to work with
- Durability
- Smallish total OD

I need to make a drum loom that will allow me to quickly/easily connect 13 drum mic cables to my DX168 stage box. I have a Whirlwind Drum Drop, but I just bought a DX168 and want to park it behind the drum riser, run a CAT5 to my DM32 and call it good.

I'm comfortable with the soldering iron so no worries there, but I've never dealt with Quad cable before. Of all of the mic cables I've built, every single one has used Mogami 2549, which I think is just a tad too "thick" (overall OD) than what I'd like to use for this scenario.

Flexibility, pliability, durability, and small OD are my biggest wants.

What should I be looking at?

[W. Mark Hellinger]

A 13 channel snake cable will be difficult to source... the next up likely channel count snake would be 16ch... which will likely be cumbersome. I'll suggest two snake cables... maybe an 8ch and 6ch.

I suggest sourcing snake cable that has individually jacketed channels for ease of assembly... otherwise you'll be adding a lot of shrink tube, and shrunk-down shrink tube generally is considerably less flexible than typical jacketing.  A textured foil shield snake will likely be the best for noise rejection, but spiral shielding on the individual channels will likely be the best to work with.

And I suggest just making one 8 ch. for now and see how you like it... over individual mic lines... as I suspect there's a good chance you'll opt to go back to the individual mic lines... maybe... depending.

[Weogo Reed]

Hi Steve,

To clarify, do you want to bundle 13 mic cables of varying length?

For my use, a braided shield is more important than quad cable.

Take a look at Gepco XB401.

Good health,  Weogo

[brian maddox]

Hi Steve,

To clarify, do you want to bundle 13 mic cables of varying length?

For my use, a braided shield is more important than quad cable.

Take a look at Gepco XB401.

Good health,  Weogo

^^this

I've experienced actual benefit from quad cable exactly zero times [admittedly that i KNOW of], but man has it made my life more difficult quite often.  There was a time when it offered significant potential benefits, but i think that time has passed.

[Steve-White]

Hi Steve,

To clarify, do you want to bundle 13 mic cables of varying length?

For my use, a braided shield is more important than quad cable.

Take a look at Gepco XB401.

Good health,  Weogo

+2 on this - build exactly what you want.  You can bundle it with Scotch 77 tape or heat shrink tubing every 8" or so.  Making your own you can get the breakout lengths and locations exactly where you want them.  Probably building two would simplify things for setup, routing and teardown, make 'em both 7 channel so you have a spare line.

[Steve Litcher]

Oh yep - my bad!

I want to *build* my own cables of varying length and put them into a loom (or looms... I like the idea of 2 looms for ease). The bulk cable that I am seeking will be:

- Flexible, pliable, durable
- Heavy RF rejection
- Smallish OD

This is for a touring application; I'll build all 13 cables to length for the drum set, loom them, and will carry a few spares, "just in case."

[Brian Adams]

I'd also recommend Gepco XB401. It's small but durable, with a braided shield. I can't imagine a 13 channel loom with anything much larger, it would be a monster!

The last drum loom I built, I used braided sleeving with heat shrink at the joints. It works well, looks nice on stage, and it's held up over time.

If I do it again I'll put a little hot glue over the joints before I heat shrink them. I've done this on some other cables to keep the heat shrink from sliding around and it definitely does the job. This hasn't been a problem on this drum loom, but it has been a problem on some other projects I've done.

[Dave Pluke]

- Flexible, pliable,

As Weogo and Brian have alluded, Quad cable won't tick those boxes.

Dave

[Nate Zifra]

I highly recommend TechFlex for your looms.  The F6 linked below is slotted so you can take off the shelf cable and loom it without having to solder on connectors.

https://www.cableorganizer.com/f6-wrap-around/

[Mike Caldwell]

Check out Canare L-2T2S it has a very tight braided shield, the smaller diameter version is L-2E5.
Most of my cables are made with L-2T2S. You do need to use a small pick to unbraid the shield.

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