really short XLR to 1/4 cables

Patryk_Rebisz

Patryk_Rebisz

Veteran
It seems the shortest one can get are 1.5ft. I know i can make one myself but recent attempts turned out quite ugly so i'm looking for a source of really (about 12" or less) short XLT to 1/4 cables for my MixPre to Zoom H4 connection.
 
Okay... so you're going from balanced XLR to unbalanced 1/4". If you solder your own, jump XLR pins 1 and 3 together and then wire them to the sleeve of the 1/4" TS, while wiring pin 2 to the tip of the 1/4". That's the short way to do it (pun intended).

You might want to call Trew Audio (trewaudio.com) or Markertek (markertek.com) and see what they will do. I believe both will make custom cables.

The reason I asked about which Zoom you have is that the original H4 could take -10dB line level through the 1/4" inputs. With the H4n, they improved the pre-amps for the XLR inputs, but they wired the 1/4" ins for instrument level (hotter than mic level, but still not able to take line level).

So, there you go.
 
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Patryk_Rebisz said:
So... Are you recommending that i can just go XLR to XLR and not even bother with 1/4??
Click to expand...

The original H4 had lousy pre-amps, but was a great line-level recorder. If you go XLR>XLR, you need to switch your MixPre outputs to mic level, but that means that you're using the noisy pre-amps of the H4. I had an H4, and I took the Tape Out to dual 1/4" with a Y-cable... but you're wanting to use that output for your camera at the same time. So your best be it XLR>1/4" TS.
 
Most professional audio places like Location Sound, Trew Audio, Gotham Sound, Coffey Sound, and Pro Sound Services can make you a custom cable if you can't find what you need off the shelf.
 
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