Chaining microphone cables

jakromm · 31st October 2007

Does sound quality suffer alot if I were to chain my 2 30 foot cables together to make a 60 foot cable? I have a live performance I need to record saturday and I only have 4 - 30ft cables, and I need 2 cables 50+ feet and I'm cheap...

theblotted · 31st October 2007

as long as the XLR connects are high quality, and the soldering job is a good one, shouldn't make that much of a difference.

of course, assuming that it's a balanced signal. if it's unbalanced, forget 60ft.

jakromm · 31st October 2007

Yes sir, XLR, high quality doubtfull :P I don't even know what kind they are...

fifthcircle · 1st November 2007

As long as your connectors and cables are fine, you'll be fine. I chain cables all the time. I try to avoid it, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

--Ben

bishopthomas · 1st November 2007

Each connection adds a point of failure, but, as others have pointed out, if you use quality cables then you'll be fine. Make sure the XLR's do not have broken locking tabs.

ScottTunes · 1st November 2007

If it helps, I've chained three 50 footers together in a pinch. I sort of built my own 6 ch snake with returns for FOH amps this way. Though hardly noticeable, your highs will diminish as the distance lengthens... But I didn't notice a great change comparing 30' and 150' [edit: using quality parts on the custom-made 50 footers, btw]

Testing123 · 1st November 2007

Just make sure nobody got clever and lifted the ground on one end of the cables!

-Keith

**Remoteness** · 1st November 2007

Excellent.

I'm with you folks on these points

Quote:

Originally Posted by theblotted

as long as the XLR connects are high quality, and the soldering job is a good one, shouldn't make that much of a difference.

of course, assuming that it's a balanced signal. if it's unbalanced, forget 60ft.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fifthcircle

As long as your connectors and cables are fine, you'll be fine. I chain cables all the time. I try to avoid it, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

--Ben

Quote:

Originally Posted by bishopthomas

Each connection adds a point of failure, but, as others have pointed out, if you use quality cables then you'll be fine. Make sure the XLR's do not have broken locking tabs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Testing123

Just make sure nobody got clever and lifted the ground on one end of the cables!

-Keith

Jim vanBergen · 3rd November 2007

perfect application for a proper test set (such as Terrasonde/Sencore, or my favorite Minirator & Minilyzer) to measure continuity, polarity, and voltage over frequency. When I link multiple XLRs I always test them like this.

I also test all my XLR cables this way in advance when the gear is being prepped for a gig anyway...

31st October 2007	#1
jakromm Gear maniac Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 244 Thread Starter	Chaining microphone cables Does sound quality suffer alot if I were to chain my 2 30 foot cables together to make a 60 foot cable? I have a live performance I need to record saturday and I only have 4 - 30ft cables, and I need 2 cables 50+ feet and I'm cheap...

31st October 2007	#2
theblotted Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,304	as long as the XLR connects are high quality, and the soldering job is a good one, shouldn't make that much of a difference. of course, assuming that it's a balanced signal. if it's unbalanced, forget 60ft. __________________ "You can imagine where it goes from here." "He fixes the cable?"

1st November 2007	#4
fifthcircle Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 3,323	As long as your connectors and cables are fine, you'll be fine. I chain cables all the time. I try to avoid it, but sometimes you don't have a choice. --Ben __________________ Benjamin Maas Fifth Circle Audio Long Beach, CA http://www.fifthcircle.com

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1st November 2007	#5
bishopthomas Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,565	Each connection adds a point of failure, but, as others have pointed out, if you use quality cables then you'll be fine. Make sure the XLR's do not have broken locking tabs.

1st November 2007	#6
ScottTunes Gear addict Joined: May 2007 Location: Left Coast (El Aye) Posts: 403	If it helps, I've chained three 50 footers together in a pinch. I sort of built my own 6 ch snake with returns for FOH amps this way. Though hardly noticeable, your highs will diminish as the distance lengthens... But I didn't notice a great change comparing 30' and 150' [edit: using quality parts on the custom-made 50 footers, btw]

1st November 2007	#7
Testing123 Gear Head Joined: Nov 2007 Location: CT, USA Posts: 66	Just make sure nobody got clever and lifted the ground on one end of the cables! -Keith

3rd November 2007	#9
Jim vanBergen Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2005 Location: New York Friggin' City Posts: 2,562	perfect application for a proper test set (such as Terrasonde/Sencore, or my favorite Minirator & Minilyzer) to measure continuity, polarity, and voltage over frequency. When I link multiple XLRs I always test them like this. I also test all my XLR cables this way in advance when the gear is being prepped for a gig anyway...