length of microphone cable

[ernesto]

I just got a rode videomic and a boom pole for my audio kit, but still need to get the cable to plug the mic into the camera. I'm in high school and have no money, so I need the cable to have a male mini jack so I can plug it into my little 1/6" DV camera.

So there's two options I've found. A 20' cable for like $7 or a 10' cable made by Rode that costs like $25. Is there going to be a difference between the sound coming out of those cables?

Thanks,

Ernesto.

 

[ptalsky]

Ernesto,

It is very hard to comment on the possible difference in sound quality coming from each of the cables without understanding what kinds of cables they are. Generally, a cable is a cable and it will move the sound from your mic to your camera. But, if you go with a less/inexpensive cable, you have to be very careful around power sources and other possible interference. And, power can come in strange places. I recently was acting on a shoot where they were using cheap cables that were running on the floor, and they were picking up electrical interference because the room was wired electrically in the floor.

Suggestion: I'm not sure if he's still doing it, or if he has time, but MattinSTL makes great cables for reasonable prices. Contact him privately to get his pricing. Or, if you're handy with a soldering iron, make them yourself. (I'm not handy with solder, other than to make a really nice blob of solder, so I buy my cables). Canare and Mogami are well thought of brands of cable, but they are more expensive.

That was the long answer, here's the short: Given your equipment, other than watching for electrical interference, you probably won't hear any difference regardless of the cable.

Phil

 

[Huy Vu]

10 feet sound too short for the boom, assuming that fully extended the pole is already 9-12 feet. I recommend going with at least 20 feet of cable.

 

[tigeba]

Balanced cables can easily span hundreds, if not thousands of feet without suffering signifigant signal loss. Don't scrimp on your boom cable, it can never be long enough usually