"Gareth Magennis" wrote in
message

I'm with George on this. I have just run over a Neutrik
XLR in my car about 20 times and I can't break it. How
about someone with a truck doing the same thing? Oh,
George has already done that.

I figure that a heavily-loaded fork lift with steel wheels rolling over a
XLR end on a concrete or heavy steel-plate floor, might cause the plastic on
a Neutrik crack. Probably bend the metal, too.

I've got images of bored roadies lining mic cords up on the floor and then
taking bets on who can steer the fork lift straight enough, long enough, to
nail the most connectors.

Just wait - Neutrik will come out with XLRs with a heavy titanium shell that
protects the threaded insert.

I don't see any need to get upset about it; or making up wild stories (a
bulldozer? I'd like to see that one...maybe on soft ground, but....) to
support my decision.

jak

bulldozer at Poags Hole AMA hillclimb(same place the motorcycle ran over my
wires)
out of now where this d-6 came rumbling through to recut the start finish
area on the hill
www.poagshole.com
george

George Gleason wrote:

bulldozer at Poags Hole AMA hillclimb(same place the motorcycle ran over my
wires)
out of now where this d-6 came rumbling through to recut the start finish
area on the hill

Never had a bulldozer, but I have had cranes, Genie lifts, remote trucks,
generator trucks, an ATM truck sliding down a hill of mud with people
chasing after it, beer trucks, riding mowers, and horses all run over
cables.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
George Gleason wrote:

bulldozer at Poags Hole AMA hillclimb(same place the motorcycle ran over
my
wires)
out of now where this d-6 came rumbling through to recut the start finish
area on the hill

Never had a bulldozer, but I have had cranes, Genie lifts, remote trucks,
generator trucks, an ATM truck sliding down a hill of mud with people
chasing after it, beer trucks, riding mowers, and horses all run over
cables.
--scott

what scared me was the same bulldozer smashed over a length of energized
6/4 feeder cable as well
hindsight is always 20/20
we now have a piece of angle iron acting as a cable cover
george

"Gareth Magennis" wrote:

I'm with George on this. I have just run over a Neutrik XLR in my
car about 20 times and I can't break it.


That's not how they break. You gotta reach for your coffee while
holding a mic, a stand and a cable. When the cable slips between your
fingers and falls to the floor, THEN it will break.

The other way to break them is to plug them in really fast 'cause the
drummer was late and you're on the air in six minutes. Spin the
connector to line up the pins and the catch snaps.

It's interesting that driving a tank over them won't break them, 'cause
just stepping on them sure will. Maybe it has something to do with
weight distribution.

At least that's been our experience. We've ruined scores of 'em in just
seven or eight years of live TV. I don't think any other brand would
have been any better, but I can personally refute any claim that the
Neutriks are somehow impervious to damage from normal use. We work 'em
hard, maybe harder than a typical studio, but we don't have any tanks or
trucks in the studio and ours still break regularly.

--
"It CAN'T be too loud... some of the red lights aren't even on yet!"
- Lorin David Schultz
in the control room
making even bad news sound good

(Remove spamblock to reply)

George Gleason wrote:
I don't see any need to get upset about it; or making up wild stories (a
bulldozer? I'd like to see that one...maybe on soft ground, but....) to
support my decision.

jak

bulldozer at Poags Hole AMA hillclimb(same place the motorcycle ran over my
wires)
out of now where this d-6 came rumbling through to recut the start finish
area on the hill
www.poagshole.com
george



Yup, soft ground, indeed. Try the same thing on a concrete floor...or
fill the roadcase a little too full and slam the lid on one.

They'll all break.

jak

On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 18:26:32 -0600, jakdedert wrote:

George Gleason wrote:
I don't see any need to get upset about it; or making up wild stories
(a bulldozer? I'd like to see that one...maybe on soft ground,
but....) to support my decision.

jak

bulldozer at Poags Hole AMA hillclimb(same place the motorcycle ran over
my wires)
out of now where this d-6 came rumbling through to recut the start
finish area on the hill
www.poagshole.com
george



Yup, soft ground, indeed. Try the same thing on a concrete floor...or
fill the roadcase a little too full and slam the lid on one.

They'll all break.

Most of the time I've had them break from inexperienced theatre tecs
doing the get-out.
Things like winding the multicore by just pulling from the stage end, or
getting bits of set dropped on them.


jak

Scott Dorsey wrote:
Walt wrote:

I'm probably talking about the original X model. I try to dig up an
actual example.

The XX is definitely less prone to breaking than the original X model. But
they can still break.

I am going to refrain from making any comments about Teamsters today. Because
some of them are careful guys.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."


I keep seeing these Neutrik "X-HD Series" connectors, but have never
ordered them. Are they any stronger, or just more parts to break? Did
these replace the "Mill Spec" Neutrik?

I thought Canon had abandoned the little screws for a Neutrik knock
off, i've seen a few of these floating around.

It was good day when Neutrik got rid of that threaded strain relief
crap, and the little screws.

Lorin David Schultz wrote:
"Gareth Magennis" wrote:
I'm with George on this. I have just run over a Neutrik XLR in my
car about 20 times and I can't break it.


That's not how they break. You gotta reach for your coffee while
holding a mic, a stand and a cable. When the cable slips between your
fingers and falls to the floor, THEN it will break.

The other way to break them is to plug them in really fast 'cause the
drummer was late and you're on the air in six minutes. Spin the
connector to line up the pins and the catch snaps.

It's interesting that driving a tank over them won't break them, 'cause
just stepping on them sure will. Maybe it has something to do with
weight distribution.

At least that's been our experience. We've ruined scores of 'em in just
seven or eight years of live TV. I don't think any other brand would
have been any better, but I can personally refute any claim that the
Neutriks are somehow impervious to damage from normal use. We work 'em
hard, maybe harder than a typical studio, but we don't have any tanks or
trucks in the studio and ours still break regularly.

The only failure I commonly see, and it is endemic to all XLR
connectors with metal bodied, is that the male end gets driven over,
stepped on, dropped from height onto hard surface, and the shell is
knocked out of round enough to no longer plug in.
I've found Neutriks no more or less durable than other brands from
reputable makers. There are cheap chinese XLRs out there that rather
than bend, the metal cracks and shatters. But they are nameless
connectors that show up at local shops in the dollar bin.

--Dale

Dale Farmer wrote:

The only failure I commonly see, and it is endemic to all XLR
connectors with metal bodied, is that the male end gets driven over,
stepped on, dropped from height onto hard surface, and the shell is
knocked out of round enough to no longer plug in.
I've found Neutriks no more or less durable than other brands from
reputable makers. There are cheap chinese XLRs out there that rather
than bend, the metal cracks and shatters.

In an emergency, there might be an advantage to this. If the shell
shatters, you don't have an oval peg that you're trying to put in a
round hole. You can plug in the insert without the shell and use it
until someone trips over the cable and pulls it out.

I used to like acetate tape better than mylar back when I had tape
decks that didn't handle tape very gently because rather than
stretching out, it would break cleanly.