Question about microphone cables and shielding

A

AlexNOR

Active member
Hi guys

I have a question for someone more knowledgeable then me about audio cables and shielding: When the microphone cable have two pairs of wires or more, should those pairs be individually shielded or is it sufficient to have one common shield covering all the wires?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm about to make some 5-pin xlr stereo cables, and the cable I have has one braided shield around all four wires. Is that sufficient, or should I get a hold of a cable with individually shielded pairs?

Not sure if this matters, but the cable will also be used to carry either a single mono signal or a dual mono signal as well as stereo.


- Alex
 
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Some multi-pair cables (like Star-quad) have a common shield and would work in your scenario. OTOH, snake cable typically has individual pair shields (for the 'exposed' fan ends).
 
This is a somewhat controversial topic.
And the answer depends on facts not in evidence.

The issue is SEPARATION, or "crosstalk" between the pairs.
It depends on how well balanced are the source and destintion gear.
It depends on signal levels and impedances.

Specifically, for MAXIMUM SEPARATION you need individually shielded pairs.

HOWEVER, for most Real-World applications with identical or "natural stereo" signals, it won't made any discernible difference.

In a Perfect World with perfectly balanced source and destination, you could even run UNCORRELATED signals through the two pairs and expect no discernible crosstalk.

And even here in the Real World, if you are running the SAME signal (dual mono) through the two pair, it won't make any material difference.
And even running stereo through two pair which unshielded from each other will result in crosstalk that not worth worrying about. At least IMHO. "Golden Ears" will dispute that.

I have ten 50-ft stereo cables made from Canare miniature "star-quad" and 5-pin XLR connectors.
I use them for microphone co-incident pairs or for my stereo single-point microphones (Shure VP-88, Sony ECM-MS5, Rode NT-4).
And I use them for stereo line-level feeds, also.
I have never discerned ANY problem using "star-quad" cable (where the pairs are NOT shielded from each other) for stereo.
 
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My experience is the same as Richard's. The usual advice given on multicores, for example, is never run DMX down an audio multicore. The harmonics and hard edge waveforms will be a problem. I do it routinely and have never had an issue with that either - and it's certainly more unfriendly than a second audio source.
 
+1 for the Canare Star-Quad in both full size and miniature.

I use the full size for all my mic cables and the mini for my between-devices connections.

Yeah, I've NEVER had a problem with it in 20-years of using it. (Damn I'm old..)
 
Thanks everybody for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

It's very reassuring that you've all had great success using cables without separately shielded pairs. The cable I have is the Klotz Starquad. I don't know how it compares to the Canare Starquad, but I've been told that Klotz and Mogami is what everybody use around here so I'm sure it's fine.

Thanks again guys. Much appreciated!


- Alex
 
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