| Home recording and general music post from the archived Yabb Recording Website Message Board. Some of the info here may be outdated but many of the audio recording and home studio tips are still good. Note: The only tags I made and attempt to convert are italics, bold, center and underline. So if you see some gibberish surrounded by brackets, just ignore it.
Recording Website Archived Yabb board Post
Febuary 2001 Yabb Message Board Archive
Subject: Cable construction
by XPESRX | 04/09/01 at 13:49:33
Hey! I am getting ready to run the audio wires inside the walls of my new studio. How are audio cables made? I ask b/c it is cheaper to buy cable from home depot than from Mars Musicians Planet! I just want to make sure I have the right shielding, etc....
Subject: Re: Cable construction
by JR#97 | 04/09/01 at 14:41:26
Depends on whether you're running balanced or un-balanced lines.
Subject: Re: Cable construction
by xpesrx | 04/09/01 at 14:58:57
I will be running both low z and hi z. I am talking about running cables from the wallplates within the walls of the studio. So for 1/4 I will be using one and for XLR the other.
Subject: Re: Cable construction
by Puke | 04/09/01 at 19:27:18
Dude,
First of all (unless home depot has changed all of a sudden) DO NOT GET YOUR AUDIO CABLE FROM HOME DEPOT>....They do not have any cable you want, believe me. Second. Except for speakers, you should probably get cable that you want for balanced,...and use that for the unbalanced as well.
There are a few reputable cable's that are good. The heavier duty ones like belden 8412, etc., are more for touring because they are tougher than nails. HOWEVER<, generally, the flimsier pure copper types are what are used wiring studios. Mogami and Canari come to mind. You don't necessarily have to get mogami quad (or anybody elses quad, for that reason.). I have used about a roll of quad in the past, but to be very honest, I can't hear a difference between quad and the regular type (although I would imagine, if you had a 100' lenght of each, you could probably hear the difference.) If you keep your runs short, you will not hear the difference. A lot of my stuff is class A and i can not find a situation where I hear it. (But my runs are all as short as possible).
BUT< Beleive, me, there is a HUGE difference between cheezy cable and decent cable. ALWAYS>.
I remember replacing just the 6" ribbon wires from the faders to the channels in a mixing console--with regular mogami taken from a snake end....and unbvelievable difference.
I've got an old roll of switchcraft studio wiring cable (from the 70s)..way to much to use. If you are near L.A. email me and I'll either give you some or sell you some ultra cheap. I'll never use it all.