DIY Balanced Cables

[goskers]

Hello all,

I would like to make some good quality xlr ended cables but am not sure how much cable quality and design have on the effect of balanced cables.

Could some people give some rec's for raw cable that can be used in the making of really good quality balanced cables.

Thanks

[TacoD]

I would use some shielded microphone cable from "prefer" in combination with some descent connectors.

[JoshK]

I have heard it said to use mic cables for balanced IC's. I ordered up some to try and I have a pro audio parts shop across the street from my work that I can source a bunch of stuff from. I have made my own silver, occ copper, etc single ended cables before but never balanced. I never really liked silver cables long term and have grown to think that well designed cables rather than esoterica is all that really matters. I imagine the mic cables should work out fine but I'll report back when I have some more empirical results.

[DIY_newbie]

I made some really nicealanced interconnects using Partsexpress Dayton Pro Microphone Cable and Dayton nickle plated Cable mount XLR connectors..

The XLRs are real nice, strain reliefed, gold plated connectors, very solid metal housing.

--Chris

[goskers]

I purchased 100ft of the Dayton Pro mic cable from PE about a week ago. It seems to be of decent quality but I know there is always better

[JoshK]

Great minds think alike. I too bought 100' of hte Dayton pro mic cable when it was on sale last week.

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Doesn’t get any better than Canare Star-Quad cable! It also comes in a variety of cool colors.

The Star-Quad stuff can be a bear to work with; the standard two conductor version is more user-friendly.

Markertek.com sells them both.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

[Jam_Master_J]

I've worked with Star-quad and it's good stuff. I made two RCAs for my CD player-> PIMETA headphone amp. Really good stuff, solid and sounds good. Since then I've been using 20gauge silver-plated with teflon dielectric since I have 1000 feet of it, and braided cables look nicer IMHO. But Star-quad is good stuff, especcially for the price.