DIY XLR Cables

[Wandering Ear]

Louw,

The manuals to all our professional gear list their pinouts so you can wire any cabling necessary.

http://wanderingear.net

[Eric Toline]

Hi folks.  I love DIY and the satisfaction of using an effective creation.

 

  Does anyone know of an online site/page with schematics for soldering up different connectors and cable arrangements?

 

  Here are some cables that I need to make up (from the previous threads I have a fair idea of which cabling to use):

 

1. 10 pin Hirose (male) to Neutric SC8 (m; pull quick release plug)    (I need a looong loom extension)

 

2.  XLR (f) to  TA-3 (f)   ...line level

3.  XLR (f) to  TA-3 (f)   ...mic level

 

  Any notes on the required resistors to achieve either number 2. or 3. ?  

 

It's always easier to buy ready- made,  but I prefer bumping my head and learning along the way.

 

  Thanks for a great thread!

For the XLR to TA3, mic or line level is determined by what you're connecting them to. Be aware that the pin numbers are different between them. Pin placement on an XLR is as follows:

1 2

3

a TA3 is

1 3

2

For the 10 pin Hirose to the 8 pin Neutricon using the Sound Devices wiring convention it's

Hirose: pin 1 L+, 2 L-, 3 R+, 4 R-, 5 Return R, 6 n/c, 7 Return L, 8 n/c, 9&10 grounds.

For the 8 pin Neutricon it's:

Pin 1 Return L, 2 Return R, 3.L+, 4 L-, 5 L&R grounds, 6 R+, 7 R-, 8 Return ground.

A wiring tip for the Neutricon, it's easier to solder the pins on the individual wires before inserting the pins in the pin block. Once you put the pins in the block they CAN NOT be removed.

Good luck, Eric

[podgorny]

 Does anyone know of an online site/page with schematics for soldering up different connectors and cable arrangements?

 

 

 

The Rane Sound System Interconnection Guide is what you want.

http://www.rane.com/note110.html

 

 

Regarding the question of whether to tie shield to connector, there is no debate. You do not tie shield to connector, unless there is some specific reason to.

 

And for those considering star quad, it has been mentioned already - capacitance is a problem (both between conductor and shield and conductor to conductor) , which leads to HF loss - and considering how much HF is lost from windscreens and hiding lavs, I'll do what I can to make sure I don't lose any more. So unless you are running long cables in areas with lots of EMI, you're better off with standard 2-conductor cable.

 

I am a Rapco/Horizon dealer, and have been using their multipair cable for installations, but for mic cables, it's hard to beat Gotham (although the Mogami and even Redco stuff is totally fine).

[studiomprd]

" Regarding the question of whether to tie shield to connector, there is no debate. "

 

" So unless you are running long cables... i"

of course the longer the cables, the more the capacitance is an issue...

for long runs, I prefer line level.

Edited June 14, 2013 by studiomprd

[podgorny]

" Regarding the question of whether to tie shield to connector, there is no debate. "

 

 

Rather, I should have said it isn't UP for debate. If a manufacturer chooses to tie shield to chassis, that's their choice. For making cables, it's better to wire pin-to-pin, and only stray from that arrangement for specific reasons.

 

 

" So unless you are running long cables... i"

of course the longer the cables, the more the capacitance is an issue...

for long runs, I prefer line level.

 

 

The point is that the likelihood of RF problems increases with longer cable runs, so the loss of of high end might be preferable to the noise.  And YES if you can put the preamplifier close to the microphone, that is always preferable, but not always practical.

[Eric Toline]

The only connection that I know of that requires the shield to chassis connection is the TA3 Mix In connection on the Sound Devices 442 and perhaps other SD units with a Mix In connector.

Eric

[Wandering Ear]

The only connection that I know of that requires the shield to chassis connection is the TA3 Mix In connection on the Sound Devices 442 and perhaps other SD units with a Mix In connector.

Eric

All Zaxcom transmitter inputs require the sheild and ground connector to be connected to the shell too.

http://wanderingear.net

[ChrisH]

Tying the shield to ground is important for rf rejection on the inputs of recorders. Also any device that ties it's chassis to ground will benefit from shield to shell jumper on cables that plug in to it. I usually use star quad for runs under 50 ft and regular 2 conductor shielded xlr for longer cables, this pretty much eliminates capacitance issues. Mogami makes the nicest small diameter cable. The difference between braided and served shields is that served shields are less durable but more effective (99%) while braided shields are more durable but only about 95% effective.

[Constantin]

Tying the shield to ground is important for rf rejection on the inputs of recorders. .

And indeed Sound Devices specifically recommend it to overcome rf problems in certain blocks. I wonder though, is there a possible downside other than the extra work?

Starquad cables only exhibit HF loss at pretty long runs, you can safely do at least 100ft. Given the many problems with EM interference on a typical set, I would highly recommend starquad cables. I rarely need cables longer than 100ft so I don't see a problem there

[John Blankenship]

For location sound, with anything but an extremely long cable run, the tiny percentage of HF loss due to Star Quad capacitance is insignificant compared to the damage that induced noise from the jungle of electrical rigging we encounter on set can do.

When's the last time 20kHz was your primary concern on a location?

[Wandering Ear]

When's the last time 20kHz was your primary concern on a location?

Dialog tracks and center channels are usually rolled off well below that.

http://wanderingear.net

[Ken Wilkinson]

+ 1. At least it's nice to know that folks will go to great lengths to maintain the highest quality recordings, even if it makes no difference downstream.

[Louw Verwoerd]

Thank you, Eric.  

Your help with those pin arrangements are worth gold to me right now!

   Wandering Ear, your site is on my shortcuts list : )

 

All the best

[Wandering Ear]

Thank you, Eric.  

Your help with those pin arrangements are worth gold to me right now!

   Wandering Ear, your site is on my shortcuts list : )

 

All the best

 

Awesome!  Maybe I should post more on it

[rmac]

On 5/21/2011 at 8:02 AM, Eric Toline said:

 

 

As a heads up when using Canare Star Quad, for maximum interference protection the blue pair must go to pin 3 (negative) and white pair to pin 2 (positive) of the XLR connector.

 

Eric

 While an old thread, it’s fairly long and the above comment generated some discussion. Thought I’d note Canare’s May, 2023 video in which it says, at 3:25, that it doesn’t matter which pin you assign to which color provided that you’re consistent:

 

 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

It doesn't matter as long as you're sure you'll never modify the cable after you finish.

If you want to prevent errors in future repairs or modifications, it's better to follow established conventions.

[rmac]

2 hours ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

It doesn't matter as long as you're sure you'll never modify the cable after you finish.

If you want to prevent errors in future repairs or modifications, it's better to follow established conventions.

 

Read the debate. There wasn’t even uniformity of colors between jurisdictions, let alone an established convention. Some of the posts are interesting. Glen Trew helpfully explains the why while effectively saying what the Canare video says. Myself, I don't have to remember. I have a wiring spreadsheet.

 

Anyway, I didn’t note the video in order to revive the debate 13 years later 🙂

[Derek H]

I think the more (potentially) consequential debate is to ground the shell or not. 
 

 

[Matthew Steel]

On 3/23/2024 at 8:16 PM, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

It doesn't matter as long as you're sure you'll never modify the cable after you finish.

If you want to prevent errors in future repairs or modifications, it's better to follow established conventions.

 

Agreed that it doesn't matter which color conductor is "hot" and which is "cold" as long as it is the same on both ends.  If they are different then you will have a polarity reversal.  Which will also (generally) sound indistinguishable by itself but cause problems when combining coherent signals.

As for me, "established conventions" is as simple as, there were about a hundred star quad cables in our inventory when I arrived here, and whoever built them chose to wire them "blue is 2."  So I wire all new cables that way as well.

 

On 3/24/2024 at 12:07 AM, Derek H said:

I think the more (potentially) consequential debate is to ground the shell or not. 
 

 

 

I leave the shell unconnected.  The cable shield is still connected to pin 1, so the cable is still shielded for most of its length.  But where two cables meet, because the shells are not connected to anything they cannot act as a true shield.  As a result there is a small unshielded area that is susceptible to RFI/EMI and is a potential source of noise.  In practice, I have never encountered a situation where I think this is significant.

 

On the other hand, a shell that is connected to shield is susceptible to introducing ground loops into a system if it touches "grounded" objects that are at slightly different potential.  The most notable example I have encountered of this was when a microphone had a significant buzz every time the shell touched a metal part of a building.  In that case, floating the shell made the noise go away.