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4. Re: Microphone cabling

Subject: 4. Re: Microphone cabling
From: "Greg Simmons" simmosonics
Date: Tue Sep 9, 2008 7:44 pm ((PDT))
--- In  "Wil Hershberger" <>
wrote:

> I see that Neutrik has water
> proof 5 pole connectors for outdoor use (NC5FX-HD and NC5MX-HD).

I believe these (or an earlier version) were used throughout the set
of the movie 'Titanic', where there was lots of water involved. No
problems were reported by the audio crew. I have considered getting
these, but that might be for my next generation of cables (if I ever
need them).

The biggest problem I find is not water, but dirt. I spend a lot of
time recording in the Himalayas, and the grains of dirt here are much
finer than I find in Sydney. They get into everything, including the
smaller holes of a 5-pin XLR, and are very difficult to get out. But
if you don't get them out, and continue to plug and unplug the cable,
they cause internal damage(e.g. stretching the diameter of the
socket, scratching off the gold plating exposing the metal beneath
for oxidising, etc.) that ultimately results in connections that
crackle when you move the XLR around. This is less of a problem with
the 3-pin XLRs because the socket holes are bigger (easier to remove
the dirt particles) and there is a lot more contact area in general.

This may not be a problem if you're doing everything on your own, and
you're very careful not to let the disconnected XLRs touch the
ground. The problem I have is that I am often recording in villages,
with well-meaning locals who are very keen to help but are
technically 'unsophisticated'. So, as soon as I start packing up they
go for the cables because winding a cable seems like something they
can do without touching the relatively expensive technology.
Invariably, one end of the cable gets dropped and/or dragged along
the ground, and I've got to spend a lot of time with a can of
pressurised air or similar and/or a lot of patience trying to clean
it out. Sometimes I also have to wipe off goat, chicken or (horror of
horrors) buffalo dung, but that stuff rarely gets inside the holes or
on the pins. Cleaning a 20m long cable that has been dragged through
a pile of buffalo dung is one of life's more *interesting*
experiences, methinks.

I have considered tying little cloth bags with draw strings to the
end of each cable, that can be slipped over the XLR and drawn closed
as soon as I disconnect it. But a better idea would be to make a set
of sealing plugs using the inserts from XLRs, with the pins and/or
metal sleeves removed and any holes on the rear filled in with
silicon or resin. These could be tied to the ends of the cables with
short lengths of fishing line or similar, and would provide excellent
protection.

- Greg Simmons




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