Does anyone make a mike cable that can be used to send the XLR outputs
of 2 mikes in ORTF into one cable and then spread the signal back out
at the mixer. I've found that running 2 mike cables is inconvenient
in practice. I'd like to convert them to a single cable.

Thanks muchly,

Norm Strong

On Sun, 09 May 2004 16:13:59 GMT, "normanstrong"
wrote:

Does anyone make a mike cable that can be used to send the XLR outputs
of 2 mikes in ORTF into one cable and then spread the signal back out
at the mixer. I've found that running 2 mike cables is inconvenient
in practice. I'd like to convert them to a single cable.


The cable's easy to find. Can you do the soldering?

CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm
"Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect

Does anyone make a mike cable that can be used to send
the XLR outputs of 2 mikes in ORTF into one cable and then
spread the signal back out at the mixer. I've found that running
2 mike cables is inconvenient in practice. I'd like to convert
them to a single cable.

All you need is a four-conductor shielded cable.

You might also considering taping together two regular cables. If you lay them
out neatly on the floor, it shouldn't take too long.

Does anyone make a mike cable that can be used to send the XLR outputs
of 2 mikes in ORTF into one cable and then spread the signal back out
at the mixer. I've found that running 2 mike cables is inconvenient
in practice. I'd like to convert them to a single cable.

Thanks muchly,

Norm Strong


I've built some for people on this newsgroup

I use them all the time myself.

If you would desire one, contact me for a quote.

Richard H. Kuschel
"I canna change the law of physics."-----Scotty

All you need is a four-conductor shielded cable.

You might also considering taping together two regular cables. If you lay
them
out neatly on the floor, it shouldn't take too long.




That will work fine but the"Y"ing tends to be really messy. I use four
conductor for Stereo microphones and use an adaptor to split.

I prefer individually insulated lines for a two pair snake.
Richard H. Kuschel
"I canna change the law of physics."-----Scotty

In article bNsnc.57049$0H1.5567890@attbi_s54 writes:

Does anyone make a mike cable that can be used to send the XLR outputs
of 2 mikes in ORTF into one cable and then spread the signal back out
at the mixer.

What you're looking for is a two-channel mic snake. I'm sure that
Markertek or Whirlwind would make a cable assembly for you if you
didn't want to hunt up the cable and deal with the fanout.

Belden 1902A would probably be good for the job.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Richard Kuschel wrote:

All you need is a four-conductor shielded cable.

That will work fine but the"Y"ing tends to be really messy.
[...]
I prefer individually insulated lines for a two pair snake.

Please explain the difference to one that is very far from beeing a
soldering expert but happens to have a soldering iron within reach and
at least understands what it does in principle...:-)

sincerely
Lars


--
lars farm // http://www.farm.se

William Sommerwerck wrote:

Does anyone make a mike cable that can be used to send
the XLR outputs of 2 mikes in ORTF into one cable and then
spread the signal back out at the mixer. I've found that running
2 mike cables is inconvenient in practice. I'd like to convert
them to a single cable.


All you need is a four-conductor shielded cable.


Better to have two individual shielded pairs, which will minimize interchannel crosstalk (particularly if your mic and/or preamp are not truly balanced.)

Royer and Schoeps (among others) use a standard pinout for an XLR-5 on which many of us have standardized for our balanced stereo cabling.



Assuming you want a flexible shield for portable use, here are a few:

Canare L-4E3-P http://www.canare.com/l4e3p.html
Mogami W2930 http://www.mogamicable.com/mogami_ca.../standard.html
Belden 1902A (no direct link, search from http://bwccat.belden.com/)

normanstrong wrote:
Does anyone make a mike cable that can be used to send the XLR outputs
of 2 mikes in ORTF into one cable and then spread the signal back out
at the mixer. I've found that running 2 mike cables is inconvenient
in practice. I'd like to convert them to a single cable.

Yes, look for 2-pair snake cables. Mogami, Canare, Gepco and Belden all
make it. Gotham makes it, as well as a siamese mike cable which I like
a lot.
--scott

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

"normanstrong" wrote ...
Does anyone make a mike cable that can be used to send
the XLR outputs of 2 mikes in ORTF into one cable and
then spread the signal back out at the mixer. I've found that
running 2 mike cables is inconvenient in practice. I'd like
to convert them to a single cable.

I made my own with Belden 1509 (2-pair "snake") and 5-pin
XLR connectors. Plugs directly into either my Shure or Sony
stereo mics and you use the "Y-breakout" that comes with the
mic to split back to two conventional XLRs for plugging into
the preamp/mixer, etc. I've even used "star-quad" cable as
two interleaved pair for stereo mic use.

Belden 1509C is US$190 for 500ft at Markertek, and connectors
5-pin male (A5M) US$ 5.99 and 5pin female (A5F) at IS$ 7.62
Likely better prices if you shop around.

Also made some other "Y-breakout" adapter cables with XLR,
1/4 inc h TRS, etc. connectors for those long stereo line level
runs, etc, etc.

Richard Crowley wrote:

I made my own with Belden 1509 (2-pair "snake")

Just a caveat that this cable uses an aluminum foil shield.


and 5-pin
XLR connectors. Plugs directly into either my Shure or Sony
stereo mics and you use the "Y-breakout" that comes with the
mic to split back to two conventional XLRs for plugging into
the preamp/mixer, etc.

Precisely, I find them very handy to have around.



connectors
5-pin male (A5M) US$ 5.99 and 5pin female (A5F) at IS$ 7.62
Likely better prices if you shop around.

I'd recommend A5ML and A5FL for their larger bushing sizes.

Kurt Albershardt wrote:

connectors 5-pin male (A5M) US$ 5.99 and 5pin female (A5F)
at IS$ 7.62
Likely better prices if you shop around.


I'd recommend A5ML and A5FL for their larger bushing sizes.

Looks like those are now special-order items. I've got a few left in my parts box but am wanting to make some more stereo cables myself.

Anyone interested in splitting a bunch with me? If a few of us want sets of ten, we could probably make this work.

Richard Crowley wrote:
I made my own with Belden 1509 (2-pair "snake")

"Kurt Albershardt" wrote ...
Just a caveat that this cable uses an aluminum foil shield.

Bzzzt! Wrong part number. I used Belden 1902A
"Super Flexible High Performance FleXnake" 2-pair
cable. All copper (conductors + braided shield).

Kurt Albershardt wrote:
I'd recommend A5ML and A5FL for their larger bushing sizes.
Looks like those are now special-order items. I've got a few left
in my parts box but am wanting to make some more stereo cables
myself.

Anyone interested in splitting a bunch with me? If a few of us want
sets of ten, we could probably make this work.

You can put me down for 10 each.

(Nix numeral to reply.)

This is completely off-topic, but...

Are you related to the actor who did Mr. Ed's voice?

"William Sommerwerck" wrote ...
This is completely off-topic, but...

Are you related to the actor who did Mr. Ed's voice?

Assuming you are addressing me?

IMDB says "Allan Lane" did the off-camera voice.
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0054557/combined

No relation that I know of. Rumor is that our family is
related to Karl Malden and Peter Bogdonavich, however.

On Sun, 9 May 2004 16:20:53 -0700, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

This is completely off-topic, but...

Even further off topic trivia question of the day:
What kind of animal was Mister Ed?

Chris Hornbeck
"Life outside the social, interpersonal realm is like the actor's existence
offstage, ultimately too wispy and ephemeral to perceive."
Saul Austerlitz on Jacques Rivette

Chris Hornbeck wrote:
Even further off topic trivia question of the day:
What kind of animal was Mister Ed?

A talking one.

- Logan

On Mon, 10 May 2004 04:54:44 GMT, Logan Shaw
wrote:

Even further off topic trivia question of the day:
What kind of animal was Mister Ed?

A talking one.

Of course, of course. But he wasn't a horse. Or a he.

Chris Hornbeck
"Life outside the social, interpersonal realm is like the actor's existence
offstage, ultimately too wispy and ephemeral to perceive."
Saul Austerlitz on Jacques Rivette

In article 1gdjin1.1kj0xqoe7jf9cN%mail.addr.can.be.found@www .farm.se writes:

That will work fine but the"Y"ing tends to be really messy.

Please explain the difference to one that is very far from beeing a
soldering expert but happens to have a soldering iron within reach and
at least understands what it does in principle...:-)

You understand that that basic principle is to pick up the end that's
cool, not the end that's hot?

I think that what's meant by "Y"ing is splitting the two shielded
pairs that come out of the same jacket into two neatly insulated
cables to go to the individual microphones (rather than a stereo mic
with a single connector.

When you strip off the outer jacket of multi-pair cable, you're left
with (in this case) two pieces of cable with no insulation over them.
What I'd do is put a piece of heat-shrinkable tubing over each one,
and where they meet back at the overall jacket, put another piece of
heat-shrinkable tubing to protect the split point. But the "pros" can
do this a lot neater, perhaps even mold a rubber "blob" that fuses the
whole thing together.

This is a point where a little stress can cause an abnormal amount of
wear on the cable and it needs a little mechanical protection.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Chris Hornbeck wrote:
On Mon, 10 May 2004 04:54:44 GMT, Logan Shaw
wrote:

Even further off topic trivia question of the day:
What kind of animal was Mister Ed?

A talking one.

Of course, of course. But he wasn't a horse. Or a he.

A horse is a horse, of course, of course.
--scott


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

Mike Rivers wrote:

Please explain the difference to one that is very far from beeing a
soldering expert but happens to have a soldering iron within reach and
at least understands what it does in principle...:-)

You understand that that basic principle is to pick up the end that's
cool, not the end that's hot?

Absolutelly, learned by trial and error (the tin melts much quicker if
you hold the cool end;-)

I also understand what a balanced cable is. At least in principle...;-)
I do have problems with where the shields fit... Both in principle and
practice. So, I have yet to figure out the difference between a
"four-conductor shielded cable" and a "two pair snake" ...

one said:
All you need is a four-conductor shielded cable.

another responded:
I prefer individually insulated lines for a two pair snake.

i asked:
Please explain the difference [...]

.... and that is what my question refered to. The question still stands.


sincerely
/Lars


--
lars farm // http://www.farm.se

Lars Farm wrote:

I also understand what a balanced cable is. At least in principle...;-)
I do have problems with where the shields fit... Both in principle and
practice. So, I have yet to figure out the difference between a
"four-conductor shielded cable" and a "two pair snake" ...

one said:

All you need is a four-conductor shielded cable.


another responded:

I prefer individually insulated lines for a two pair snake.


i asked:

Please explain the difference [...]


... and that is what my question refered to. The question still stands.


Cables are made in all kinds of configurations. "Four-conductor shielded"
implies one shield around two pairs (if the conductors are twisted into pairs),
whereas "two-pair snake" implies two individually-shielded pairs with connectors
on both ends (otherwise it'd be "cable" not "snake").

The individual shielding is the usual choice for a snake (at least for audio)
because it reduces crosstalk between pairs.

The advantages of putting all the conductors into one shield are reduced cost,
smaller diameter, and slightly less capacitance.

In article none ** none ** (you know who you are) writes:

I do have problems with where the shields fit... Both in principle and
practice.

In principle, they should be connected to the chassis ground on both
ends. In practice you might be able to reduce hum by disconnecting the
shield at one end or the other, which indicates that there's another
problem, which may or may not be worth solving correctly.

The practice is to connect the shield at both ends. If you don't hear
enough hum to bother you, leave it alone. If you hear hum, disconnect
the shield at one end. If the hum gets quieter, leave it disconnected.
If it gets louder or doesn't change, reconnect it and try the same
procedure on the other end.

So, I have yet to figure out the difference between a
"four-conductor shielded cable" and a "two pair snake" ...

A shielded pair cable is two wires with a shield over both of them.
Four conductor shielded cable is four wires with a shield over all
four of them.

A "snake" is a bundle of shielded cables.

So a "two pair snake" is a bundle that consists of two shielded pairs.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Cables are made in all kinds of configurations. "Four-conductor shielded"

implies one shield around two pairs (if the conductors are twisted into
pairs),
whereas "two-pair snake" implies two individually-shielded pairs with
connectors

on both ends (otherwise it'd be "cable" not "snake").

Plus, The two pair snake has 6 wires in it (hot, cold, ground x2) rather than
the 4+ground that the 4 conductor cable has.

Much neater to wire.




Richard H. Kuschel
"I canna change the law of physics."-----Scotty