XLR cable,,, how long is too much

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eofeapr

Well-known member
This one's easy,,, (I think)

just need to know how far I can go with XLR from mic to cam (straight.. no interface) and avoid attenuation??

Also is it OK to link up cable. My spider senses tell me the best route will always be a solid line but if I string together good quality lines am I OK ??

thnx
joe
 
You can run balanced audio cables hundreds (sometimes thousands) of feet without signifigant loss. Linking cables is fine as well. Don't worry about it.

Just an example:

Recording studios (including mine) typically feed balanced audio from a remote room (10's - 100's of feet) into a patchbay, which might then itself patch into another piece of gear ( maybe another 30-50 feet of cable if you count patchbay internals and the patchcable ) before it finally hits a preamp. They don't use fancy audiophile wire either, but that is another story :)

The same is true for many concerts where the mics are on stage and the mixer (and preamps) are 20-30 rows back. They run the balanced audio all that way in giant snakes.
 
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Thank your much for your response, I'm doing a recital in a high school next month am making sure I know what I'm doing...

Since your a pro I'd like an opinion on micing the stage. The acts are valet and tap routines and the the girl I'm doing it for is specific that tap audio is a big sell with the parents;
That said I'm looking at Electrovoice 635a which is a cheap ENG that I read somewhere is not bad for stage mic. Am thinking one near the house speakers should suffice.

And for the tap I'm thinking an inexpensive 'pressure zone' like the Crown Sound Grabber II PZM. They are 130.00 US for two and I thought It would be nice to set these right on the stage floor 1/3 of the distance apart.

What say U


thnx
joe
 
eofeapr said:
That said I'm looking at Electrovoice 635a which is a cheap ENG that I read somewhere is not bad for stage mic. Am thinking one near the house speakers should suffice.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't mic the house speakers. I mean, you can, but I don't recomend it. I don't think they'll be blasting very loud for a tap recital so at least the speakers won't be distorting. (hopefully...)

If you can, get a line level off the house sound board. You might even be able to get the sound guy to let you plug your PZM into his snake, through his board, then get line level into the recorder.

Just ask him to send you sound on an aux send. If he can't (or doesn't know what you're talking about) just do it the way you're thinking. It'll work fine.
 
PZMs are definitely the way to go for tap (I am a pro at live sound and have done a fair amount of sound for dance stuff). However, be aware that for the other non-tap numbers where you really don't want to hear the feet hitting the floor all the time, they'll be useless... all that is to say, make sure that they're in a separate channel so you can adjust them in post as needed. Also, if I were you I'd put them on a piece of thick foam or a small pillow so that they're not right on the stage. That will allow you to accentuate the sound of the tap plates hitting the stage while cutting down on the dull thuds and hollow sounds of the feet hitting the stage.

As far as micing the house speaker, I'd echo the above response--avoid it if at all possible. Try to get a run off the board from the aux sends (I'm assuming this will be your music track). Many sound guys will be picky about what they'll let you do as far as audio runs or plugging your PZMs into their snakes, so I'd recommend getting there MUCH earlier than you think you need to, or, better yet, hook up with the sound guy now and get this stuff ironed out before you show up.
 
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