maximum mic cable lengths

stonewall40 · 10th February 2006

Hey all, quick question, I'm about to buy a stage snake to record drums in different rooms in the house.

Aside from unracking the pre's and sitting them next to the drums, what would be the maximum safest distance you could run a mic cable (or snake) without signal degradation?

I did a search, couldnt find any specific info.
Thanks for your help!

Rick Sutton · 10th February 2006

Your situation shouldn't provide any problems with cable length. With balanced, low impedence lines 200' is no problem. I've read discussions that claim much longer cables runs are ok, but I know from my experience that a 200' run is fine. Steve Remote in the remote recording forum has extensive experience with long cable runs and could tell us where the limitations start to arise in the longer runs. Unless the home in question is Windsor castle, you'll probably be in the 100' - 150' range.

stonewall40 · 10th February 2006

very cool, thank you sir! that helps alot.

I was worried when I heard/read some comments on loosing HF content on longer cable runs past 100-150'

So it's a 100'snake I'm after now....

Thanks again!

tINY · 10th February 2006

If you run SM57s or something similar and you have tranformer coupled inputs. You _might_ start hearing a bit of HF loss at around 150 - 200 feet.

This has not been my experience.....

-tINY

10th February 2006	#1
stonewall40 Gear maniac Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 150 Thread Starter	maximum mic cable lengths Hey all, quick question, I'm about to buy a stage snake to record drums in different rooms in the house. Aside from unracking the pre's and sitting them next to the drums, what would be the maximum safest distance you could run a mic cable (or snake) without signal degradation? I did a search, couldnt find any specific info. Thanks for your help!

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10th February 2006	#2
Rick Sutton Lives for gear Joined: Feb 2003 Location: Atascadero, CA Posts: 4,057	Your situation shouldn't provide any problems with cable length. With balanced, low impedence lines 200' is no problem. I've read discussions that claim much longer cables runs are ok, but I know from my experience that a 200' run is fine. Steve Remote in the remote recording forum has extensive experience with long cable runs and could tell us where the limitations start to arise in the longer runs. Unless the home in question is Windsor castle, you'll probably be in the 100' - 150' range.

10th February 2006	#4
tINY Gear Guru Joined: Jul 2004 Location: Orygun Posts: 10,233	If you run SM57s or something similar and you have tranformer coupled inputs. You _might_ start hearing a bit of HF loss at around 150 - 200 feet. This has not been my experience..... -tINY