Chaining XLR cables

[svilay]

Hello DVX Users

Has anyone ever tried to connect 2 male/female XLR cables to get one longer cable? That is connecting the male end of a 20' cable into the female end of another 20' cable to get a 40' cable. Would there be any significant lose of signal shielding at the interconnect? Another other forseeable problem?

thanks

[Bischofftep]

Heya:

This probably should be in "audio," but here's my understanding.

First, there is always some signal degradation at any connector. Oxidation contributes to this, which is why so much fuss is made over gold-plated connectors: they resist oxidation so much better and are good conductors. So, if you get a good, high-quality coupler then there should be no problem.

By their nature, XLR cables are balanced, so you shouldn't notice any cable length problem or hum, etc. unless your coupler actually only passes signal on 2 of the 3 pins for some bizarre reason.

[joachim]

provided that you are using good cables with good XLR plugs, you can extend Mic-Cables almost infinitely.
The trick is, that on balanced cables interferences get cancelled out as the signal is phase-shifted on the two
wires in the cable.
When you go to a rock/pop concert, they run a multicore, which is basically a bunch of Mic-Cables from the stage to the mixing desk at the rear and such a multicore can be 100 - 200 m long.

[svilay]

Thanks for the input guys. You're right, I should have put his in AUDIO. Didn't even look because I'm so used to just going to just a few forums.

[kai]

You should have no problem as long as they're good cables.

[ullanta]

I'll confirm that it should not be a problem with good cables.

However, as a not, balanced cables do not prevent all signal degredation and allow infinite cable lengths. They reduce it. There are still plenty of reasons to keep cable lengths shorter given a choice. I'll go into these if anyone really wants...

But my suggestion is, especially with the DVX for which you should be using an external preamp if possible, is to preamp BEFORE the long cable run if possible. Signal degradation is much less of an issue for line-level signals than for mic-level signals. So, instead of going mic -> cable 1 -> cable 2 -> DVX (or preamp), go mic -> cable 1 -> preamp -> cable 2 -> DVX if possible.

However, in a pinch the double-cables into the DVX should yield reasonable results if you'r mics are properly balanced...

-Barry

[svilay]

Excellent info guys. I have an M-Audio Audio Buddy dual channel mic preamp that I used with a digital recorder. I was going to sell it, but I might reconsider. The only problem is that the preamp power adapter needs an AC outlet. Don't really like carrying around a lot of accessories anyway.

[Unclemort]

30 ft. length cables are widely available............As a full time musician I find 20 ft. cables useless and must agree that even an extra 5 ft. really comes in handy a lot as a videographer! So I only use 25-30 ft. cables anymore and only premium! I like Horizon cables!