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3. Re: Microphone cabling - Another question?!

Subject: 3. Re: Microphone cabling - Another question?!
From: "Greg Simmons" simmosonics
Date: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:51 am ((PDT))
--- In  "John Moore"
<> wrote:
>
> Remember- I said I was new at this... So, let's say I purchased the
> following items (in order of connections, from pre-amp to mic's):

It's a bit more intuitive to follow the signal flow, therefore
beginning at the mics and working towards the preamps. So:

1) Mics to 5-pin cable:
Y cable: 2 female 3-pin XLRs to 1 male 5-pin XLR

2) Two-channel multicore
50-100 foot microphone cable, terminated with female 5-pin XLR at one
end (microphones in) and male 5-pin XLR at the other end (out to
preamp).

3) 5-pin cable to preamps:
Y cable: 1 x female 5-pin XLR to 2 x male 3-pin XLRs

That's all you need, but it might be *more* than you need. If you are
not using a microphone with a 5-pin XLR output, it might be smarter
to simply terminate the 50-100 foot cable with two 3-pin XLRs at each
end and label them appropriately. That would save four additional
XLRs in the signal path, reducing cost, weight and complexity. Any
half-smart audio electronics expert or studio technician could build
that for probably not much more than it would cost to get that 5-pin
Y cable custom made (after all, it's the same thing using a longer
length of cable and with one more XLR fitted). The finished cable
would almost certainly be cheaper than buying all those separate
items listed above.

In addition to the 5-pin stuff I have described here, I have a 10m
length of two-channel Mogami terminated with two 3-pin XLRs at each
end, for times where there is no real benefit in using the 5-pin
system. It is still one cable to run rather than two, I just have to
keep my wits about me when connecting left and right channels. It
also allows me to add another 10m to my 5-pin system, if necessary,
by adding it to one of the Y cables. I try to avoid doing that, but
if 35m isn't long enough, it's a necessity.

- Greg Simmons






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