Recommended XLR's for Catalysts 12Cs

The monoprice cables are good for the price. Go with what fits your pocketbook. It is going to get written off as a business expense anyways, if this is for a business, not personal use. For the price of the monoprice cables, it is always good to keep some extras on hand, so that if you have a problem during the middle of a set, it does not shut you down because you only have the one set on hand.

Those are all good solutions. I prefer Mogami Gold Quad Neglex, which is what the industry pros use.

No there would not be any difference whether you used the monoprice, or some overpriced POS. It will work the same. The only time that it would not, is if the XLR's were crimped connection vs. soldiered, then you could have issues.

monoprice is all that I use, and have not had any problems with their cables. Now of course the backup battery pack for the iPhone 4 they sell, along with their antenna that was on special recently is another story for another thread.

I have a number of balanced XLR cables from mono price. They are well constructed and a bargain. I recommend them.

Well, if they never failed in the middle of a gig, then you didn’t waste your money. (Although the Markertek cables are just as good.)


The problem with the Monoprice cables isn’t that they aren’t well constructed, but that they use cheap connectors. A lot of people make the mistake of buying cheap balanced cables not realizing that the female connectors are junk, living on borrowed time. Take a look at this picture that compares a cheap and quality connector:




The bottom connector is a Switchcraft, the top is some no-name something-or-another. See the little ball at the business end of Switchcraft? The Switchcraft has two of those, and they are spring loaded. The purpose they serve is to maintain a tight pressure connection in the socket they are plugged into.

Now look at the cheap connector. It has no spring loaded balls. All it has is a couple of what I call "bulging tabs" to ensure a good connection (for lack of a better term - one of them seen here circled in green, between the two dark strips). The problem is that over time the tabs collapse, and you end up with a goose-loose connection that has a lot of flex and give. That in turn wallows out the plug's three sockets, which then can easily make and break connection. So basically, the whole mechanical structure of the connector is compromised.

It’s not a coincidence that every mic cable that’s failed in the band I’ve been playing in the past few years – at least five or six of them – the cable had these cheap female connectors.

(Note: Neutrik doesn’t use the spring-loaded ball like Switchcraft does, but they’re nevertheless excellent connectors. The connectors in the Markertek and Sam Ash links in the first post are Neutrik.)

If you look at the close-up picture of the connectors at the Monoprice link above, you can see they’re using these cheap female connectors.




That said, in a home environment where the cables aren’t being connected and disconnected all the time, the Monoprice cables should be reasonably reliable. But at some point they will indeed fail. When that happens you can just solder on a new Switchcraft or Neutrik connector and be back in business.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

FWIW: I use the monoprice XLR's as interconnects in my HT. They have been installed for 3 1/2 years without a problem. After looking at the pictures and looking one of the spares I have floating around I see what you mean about the connector. I can see why they would not hold up to the abuse a band would put them through. Yet, in a HT environment where they are moved very infrequently they seem to hold up.
Regards

Balanced cables are pretty much foolproof in terms of perfect sound quality. Any old pro audio "microphone" cable is usually a good balanced/XLR cable.

Everyone uses the standard AES/EBU cable and connectors, so there is no difference (unlike unbalanced cables...don't get me started on the pitfalls there...lol).

I make all of my own balanced cables; I bought a 500-foot roll of AES/EBU cable and a bag of connectors and heat-shrink tubing and made a bunch as needed.

I use nothing but the Neutrik XLR connectors with gold-plated pins; I think they are the best, and they cost under $4 each. (Neutrik NC3MXX-B and NC3FXX-B).

If you can't make your own, zzounds has Hosa cables in 10, 25, and 50 feet for very good prices; those are very good cables.

The Canare and Mogami conductors are first rate, and when I had my own PA system I had tons of it, all of it with Neutrik or Switchcraft connectors. Reason - it was tough and reliable and the connectors stood up to a lot of connections over time, because they did a couple of venues at week sometimes. I hate unreliable gear, and I hate fixing things more and I like getting paid because the job went without a hitch. So, well worth the extra expense.

Now my HT build has a ton of wiring and it uses a mix of old cables being re-used (because I have them), some give away RCA leads (for legacy inputs like VCR, cassette) and some inexpensive but decent no name stuff for the rest. Experience tells me this will be fine as the gear never moves and the cables are supported in the rack.

Save your money. At home reliability is not an issue, nor strong construction, and connectors seldom move. The conductors and shielding on the MP stuff seems adequate from other's reports, so what, apart from brand name do you get from the Markertek stuff?

If it were me, I'd pull bare wire and attach neutrik connectors myself because it's a lot easier pulling unterminated cable through holes and I'm comfortable soldering wire. Actually, this is exactly what I did. I don't think Neutrik connectors are necessary for a HT, but if I'm going though all the trouble of providing my own labor I usually opt for good components. Yet, all my XLR interconnects are monoprice. I've had zero problems with them.

All my HDMI cables are monoprice. I find them so inexpensive I keep them 'in stock' with various lengths and gauges. I also stock monoprice HDMI port savers in various configurations. I hate buying or moving a component and paying retail price at BB for an HDMI cable because I don't have one, ouch.

If you are not able to terminate the cables yourself or don't have some one to do it for you, monoprice XLR are fine for HT.

Don't believe a word of what he says in post 17, he'll come home one day and rewire it all in mogami and neutriks after having an aspie OCD moment just so it looks pretty.

These cables from Orange County Speaker are good budget mic cables. They use Neutrik knockoffs rather than Switchcraft knockoffs. You can always buy the bulk cable and real Neutrik connectors and make your own. The cable itself is pretty good, especially for the money. The Mogami cable is still the best of all mentioned.

Chance of something happening to the cable inside the wall is pretty slim unless you drive a nail or run a screw through it, in which case the brand isn't going to matter. For your inwall runs I'd use some inwall rated Belden et al. STP, not a bunch of runs of mic cable.

For general use any, including the Monoprice, will do fine.

For more critical applications featuring heavy use where they must stand up to abuse and repeated use absolutely go with Neutrik connectors and Mogami Neglex 2534 cable. Second go with the Canare Star Quad cable.

As far as a comparison of Switchcraft and Neutrik,...well, there is 'none'! I wish I could get the time back that I have literally spent changing out flaky Switchcraft for Neutrik connectors. And don't even mention Switchcraft 1/4" phone plugs.....

From the strain relief to the machined/diecast rather than crimped internal construction, Neutrik rules.

Oh, and I would be remiss not to mention the Neutrik EMC (NC3MXX-EMC) connectors also address pin1 problems - meaning they guarantee a continuous RF-shield connection while simultaneously avoiding ground loops as well as including a cable shield-Pin1 connection which includes EMI suppression!!!

This improvement, in addition to basic build quality, make these a 'no brainer'! Ignore the problem at your own risk!

Pin1 Revisited

Cheeky cow. Must remember to password lock the 'puter.

There is a grain of truth in what she said though. The plan was to wait until my brother had come and done the carpentry to build in the next rack. It must be 'right' or it'll bother me.

She only knows what Mogami and Neutrik are after I rewired all her instrument racks for her after she bought the Fairlight III.

Otherwise +1 to whoaru and dragon.

If the Markertek stuff makes you feel better because of the in wall, it's worth the extra, which you'll forget soon enough

I have had the same experience. That's why I refer to the connectors as "Switchcrap".

Yes the Monoprice XLR cables are both excellent and also extremely great value.

But you need to understand that XLR interconnect cables are mandatory in the sound biz for these reasons: 1) extreme long cable runs of over 100+ feet (so XLR runs with higher voltage) and 2) durable connectors that can be reliably pushed in/out many many times without problems/failing and 3) durable wires that can be run over repeatedly by heavy equipment being moved about on wheels and 4) great shielding.

In my own experience there is zero sound quality merit for home use of XLR interconnects.

FWIW I've used the Monoprice XLR interconnects (and also another slightly higher priced brand with no detected difference between the two) and think the Monoprice are within an eyelash of being as good as others; so if you're gonna buy into the whole XLR interconnect thing then start with Monoprice XLR cables as you'll blow away the least money.

Of course the problem is that you need to make a short handed decision (with little to no actual 1st hand experience) and put them into the walls of the room/house that you're building?

Talk about tough decisions.

FWIW *all* of my XLR cables now sit in a storage box unused.

I use these Coaxial Digital Audio Cable (Belden 1694A) for all of my analog RCA cable needs, as well as my coax digital cable needs: http://www.bluejeancable.com/store/d...udio/index.htm

Friendly low price. Easy to think that they can't be that great. But in fact they are great. Anything better will likely cost a small fortune with at best extreme minor sound quality improvement. Without question the Canare RCAP RCA connectors (none better and with few peers) are great, great shielding, and the Belden 1694A coax is rated for in-wall installation.

Call up bluejeancable on any question; their 800 number support people are very competent in my experience with talking with them on 3 or 4 occasions.

Other than the question of which cable has better sound quality.

Actually, the only difference is that XLR cables can carry a balanced connection...the one thing you didn't mention.