Michael Miramontes Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I need: 4-pin male XLR to female XLR (connects my power source to my mixer) 4-pin male XLR to 4-pin Hirose (connects my power source to the Nomad) 4-pin male XLR to ?? (connects my power source to my QRX100 that I just ordered) Coiled XLR male to female So, I was curious as to whether its cheaper to buy or DIY. Does anyone have a good/cheap source for parts? Any info would be great. Thanks, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacefivesound Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 XLRs are fairly easy if you can solder. I actually tend to get parts locally because I have a cheap source but I'm sure others will chime in with good places online. For Hirose, the connectors are a pain to find and solder, my suggestion is to buy a hirose-hirose power cable, cut it in half, and solder the bare ends into XLR4s. Then you have 2 cables where the hirose ends have been professionally built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 XLR 4 pin to 4 pin is easy enough. The Hirose is out of my league. I do my own mic n power cables. All others I go to the pros like Forrest at Coffey/Trew LA. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Miramontes Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 XLRs are fairly easy if you can solder. I actually tend to get parts locally because I have a cheap source but I'm sure others will chime in with good places online. For Hirose, the connectors are a pain to find and solder, my suggestion is to buy a hirose-hirose power cable, cut it in half, and solder the bare ends into XLR4s. Then you have 2 cables where the hirose ends have been professionally built. That's a great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewFreedAudio Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 In the long run it is cheaper to buy your own tools and parts. However, the right tools can easily add up. You'll need a very thin soldering iron, alligator clips, various pliers, a small table top vice, shrink wrap, de-soldering tools, and other things that I'm forgetting about at the moment. Hirose connectors are definitely small but not impossible. XLR's are pretty easy. LEMO's are beyond my skill. One good thing about learning how to build your own cables is knowing how to quickly repair or build goofy, custom cables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 There are a few versions of the Hirose HR10 connector that I have used. This one has a set screw and cable clamp that is a pan to use, precise cable prep is key- http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/HR10A-7P-4S%2873%29/HR1584-ND/1095442 This one is setup more like a Neutrik XLR connector, with a chuck/collet type cable clamp...way easier to use- http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/HR10-7P-4P%2873%29/HR1558-ND/896581 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Toline Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 In the long run it is cheaper to buy your own tools and parts. However, the right tools can easily add up. You'll need a very thin soldering iron, alligator clips, various pliers, a small table top vice, shrink wrap, de-soldering tools, and other things that I'm forgetting about at the moment. Basically your going to need this type of setup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Miramontes Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Basically your going to need this type of setup Eric, Can you PM me a quote please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep owl Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I recently bought a coiled headphone extension cable (24' max) at rshack for about $12. Cut the ends off and soldered on XLRs. Probably cost about $20 total instead of $40-$50. Easy build and quality is fine. Nomad's power input is Hirose? good to know if I ever pull the damn trigger on one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Trew Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I recently bought a coiled headphone extension cable (24' max) at rshack for about $12. Cut the ends off and soldered on XLRs. Probably cost about $20 total instead of $40-$50. Easy build and quality is fine. Nomad's power input is Hirose? good to know if I ever pull the damn trigger on one! What was the headphone extension piece used for? Since you mentioned adding XLRs, I'll say that headphone cables are usually not shielded, and audio cables need to be shielded, particularly at mic level. If the headphone cable was used for a power cable, you should consider that headphone cable usually has very small gauge conductors that will have significant voltage drop when supplying 12V to the equipment this group normally uses. Glen Trew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep owl Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 What was the headphone extension piece used for? Since you mentioned adding XLRs, I'll say that headphone cables are usually not shielded, and audio cables need to be shielded, particularly at mic level. If the headphone cable was used for a power cable, you should consider that headphone cable usually has very small gauge conductors that will have significant voltage drop when supplying 12V to the equipment this group normally uses. Hey Glen. Just using the extension as a mic cable for going from boom to recorder input. It is shielded...at least that's what the package said. Probably wouldn't be good for power for the reason you mentioned. Here's a link to it. It doesn't say anything on the website about it's shielding. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103866 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Trew Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Hey Glen. Just using the extension as a mic cable for going from boom to recorder input. It is shielded...at least that's what the package said. Probably wouldn't be good for power for the reason you mentioned. Here's a link to it. It doesn't say anything on the website about it's shielding. http://www.radioshac...oductId=2103866 A shield would have been apparent when installing the XLR connectors. You can unscrew the connectors and take a look at the conductors to see if one of them wraps around the others (which would be a shield). Then the question is how affective the shielding is. Affective shielding is not important for headphone use. With mic level signals in particular, the shielding can be very important. Glen Trew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmahaAudio Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 I've gotten some very nice cables at good prices from www.redco.com If they don't have what you need listed in their "custom cable" section give them a call on their toll-free number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Being able to make and fix cables in the field can make you the hero. Last year I fixed a video tx with a tealight and my Leatherman. We know it isn't rocket science, but that director thinks I am a god now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmassey Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 For YEARS I too have often bought hard to build cables, cut them in half and soldered on the easy connector. I barely even do mini jacks and plugs anymore and Hirose and the like are out of the question. cleve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 If you're new to making cables, or just rusty, you might be interested in this book. In fact, I think it's been mentioned here somewhere: Audio Wiring Guide How to wire the most popular audio and video connectors By John Hechtman http://www.focalpress.com/books/details/9780240520063/ Won't make you as good as Eric or other wizards of wiring, but will probably get you off on the right foot. Jim "used to make all sorts of cables as part of my job, now pretty rusty" Feeley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Two cables I won't try to solder myself are TA5's and Lemo's. Much too tricky for my fat fingers. Eric definitely does things the right way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Miramontes Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Eric advised me to try someone local so I'll wait for Drew at Audio Department to get back to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep owl Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 A shield would have been apparent when installing the XLR connectors. You can unscrew the connectors and take a look at the conductors to see if one of them wraps around the others (which would be a shield). Then the question is how affective the shielding is. Affective shielding is not important for headphone use. With mic level signals in particular, the shielding can be very important. Glen Trew Yeah, it was shielded. Aside from the package saying so, my eyes told me when I stripped it. Effectiveness? Maybe questionable. Although, I've shot a ton of content for Walmart with it and had no kind of issues whatsoever. It's entirely possible that the shielding really comes into play when crossing stingers. If that's the case, this cable will never do so. It's purely to go from my CCR exit, down my arm, and straight into my recorder. Maybe there are other things I should be worried about with it though? Oh, and I'm planning on stopping by Trew/Coffey someday soon. One of the rental techs there is a friend and we've been chatting about messing with a NOMAD for a few minutes. Looking forward to it. I usually go to LSC because it's close to me but I really want to check out your shop too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johngooch Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Rewiring entire cart and putting in a patch panel. I am going to assume that it is important to solder all the chassis( shell) pins to ground/shield pin--number 1? I went thru all of my cables that i have in my inventory and found an inconsistency, some were soldered and some were not. Standard practice to solder them? Sounds like a stupid question but this the first time that am starting from ground zero. Using all canare starquad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundslikejustin Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Rewiring entire cart and putting in a patch panel. I am going to assume that it is important to solder all the chassis( shell) pins to ground/shield pin--number 1? I went thru all of my cables that i have in my inventory and found an inconsistency, some were soldered and some were not. Standard practice to solder them? Sounds like a stupid question but this the first time that am starting from ground zero. Using all canare starquad. Sadly there's no right or wrong answer. Some people connect all grounds to shell, some people do it at one end of the cable only, some people have drop-in ground lift connectors/adapters/cables to use when needed... I'm not sure there's a definitive answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Toline Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Soldering the shields/ground to the shell might help with a/c induced hum but you run the risk of shorting out all gear connected to a bad a/c ground especially if you're using more than one a/c feed to your cart from different circuts. If you're powering your cart from battery power only you'll be fine as you are....but....any connection to an a/c powered unit such as a monitor feed to VV could create problems with grounded shells. FWIW my advice is unconnect all grounded shells in in the patch bay so you have consistancy and no easy path to gear. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Reineke Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 I've been making and repairing cables for many years, The TA and Hyrose connetors will dirve you to drink. Most of the 'usual supect' pro shops will have cable stock and connectors. I usally get the cable and parts from http://www.markertek.com/ who has an extensive inventory of even hard-to-find items. Sheided or not, I'm not sure I would be conforatable using a cable from the Shack O' Shame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johngooch Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Thanks Justin and Eric. I knew there was no one size fits all answer. My cart is DC only- i use a powermax which gets plugged in but that is it. Ungrounded shells is probably the way i would go. john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Waldron Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Basically your going to need this type of setup Where is your cup holder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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