Schoeps active cable - any issues?

[liuto]

Since there are a lot of Schoeps users out there I wanted to ask if any of you have experienced signal degradation with active cables. Schoeps advise to use no longer cable runs than 20m from capsules to the CMCs. I am going to purchase a pair of KC10 cables (10m). It seems to be a very nice solution for small ORTF, MS and similar setups. Are the problems I might face higher susceptibility of RF only or is it better to use active cables only when absolutely necessary because there are also noticable sound differences?

Best regards
Hermann

[Jim vanBergen]

I have only used shorter cables for television broadcasts. I THINK that the signal from capsule to mic preamp is unbalanced, hence the need for a short cable and the possibility of EMF or RF interference. In all honesty, I'd contact the factory on this topic and speak to their engineering department for accuracy on the reason behind this, but with this diverse group of users you may get all the right responses! Good luck!

[DSatz]

Hermann, the issue is that active cables (like all other Schoeps active accessories) are unbalanced. They operate at low impedance, so there should be no loss of high frequencies or signal-to-noise even with a 20-meter active cable. But given the increasing use of cell phones, etc., it is generally best if any unbalanced connections are kept to the minimum necessary length.

I've never had any audible RFI while using Colette active cables or extension tubes, and most of my recording work has been in cities--Boston and New York--with many potential sources of interference. I've heard RFI breakthrough in my recordings only three times that I can recall; in none of those instances was I using Colette cables or extension tubes (in fact, two of the three were with other microphone types that can't use active accessories).

--best regards

[liuto]

Many thanks for your responses!
Best regards
Hermann