I need a few cables built. Just curious as to how easy it is to DIY

[Richard Newton]

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

Mike,

Been learning to solder this year, so far I've soldered about a dozen XLR connectors for my bag(just like Mike Clark's Post#16 ), and I even soldered TA5s on several of my MKE 2/Plats, at this point it takes me a really long time to solder and though it all seems to work with no problems it isn't pretty especially the small stuff, but with practice I hope to get quick and confident enough to repair any cable in the field.

Unless there is some ultra secret Santa's workshop where cables are made by elves(in Florida maybe? Eric are you hiding pointy ears under those cans? ), from what I've gathered it is way more affordable to DIY, plus it's a nice skill to have, and better than having to drop off mics and wait X number of days/weeks to drive down and pick it up from the service dept. on your day off, especially when you live out here.

Tip from a Noob: Put the boot and all bits of assembly & shrink wrap on in the correct direction BEFORE soldering, and plan on taking some Aleve and a nap after your first go at a ta5, better yet take the nap and Aleve before hand .

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

Jim, Thanks for this.

Rich "Hirose scares the piss out of me" Newton

[Glen Trew]

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

John, I'll put it all on the line here and say that you should ground the shells of your male and female XLR audio connectors except in the rare occasion there is a definite reason to not ground them. Particularly when the cables are to be rolled up and put in a general cable bin for whatever use presents itself. Since it is usually not always known what our XLR cables made for mobile location sound production will be used for, I'll dare say that the "rare exception" will never come up for the majority of users of this group. But if you don't ground the shells of general purpose XLR cables, you are likely to eventually have a noise problem.

If making XLR audio cables for interfacing equipment in a permanent installation that is known to have a chassis ground separate from the audio ground, then the case MIGHT be made for a grounding scheme that floats the shell of the some connectors. But I dare say that's not the scenario you have in mind.

Again...ground the shells. Jump the tab to pin-1.

Glen Trew

[rofin]

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.c...1584-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.c...R1558-ND/896581

You're right Jason, the collet type is much easier to assemble although it does require a thin spanner to hold the body while tightening.

As an aside, the set screw version contacts are silver finished and the collet version are gold finished. From experience it seems that silver is the preferred choice for dc connectors / switches etc. as it withstands better the slight arcing involved when connecting to 'switched on' equipment.

Rob