Audio Cables [advice required]

[JohnG]

Much, MUCH easier to install a false floor.  ?  With adequately earthed conduits spaced in a criss-cross fashion.

Then power can run its course and likewise sigal cables. No "gentle wrapping" required.

Tsk! Simples.  ?

[synkrotron]

False floors, cable trays with lots of separation, would love to be able to do that. I just ain't got the space.

I've been up since the crack of dawn cutting down as much on cable lengths as possible. I have been kidding myself that I might need some long cables so, for instance, I have been using three metre long cables to connect stuff in my little rack.

At the dentist as I type. When I get home I have to power up and check everything works.

I will post some before and after pictures, just for laughs

 

[JohnG]

False floors, cable trays with lots of separation, would love to be able to do that. I just ain't got the space.

T'was meant in jest, Synkrotron. But then ...

Pah!

You just lose a couple of inches of headroom.

Now, you didn't know you measured headroom in inches, did you? You always thought it was measured in dB. ?

We live and learn.  ?  Hopefully.

[synkrotron]

4 hours ago, JohnG said:

Hopefully

Not lately John... Goes in one side and out the other. I'm only 59 this year but my capacity for learning new stuffs is definitely on a downward trend...

[synkrotron]

Some pics of my endeavours today.

Before:-

After:-

Rear of the rack (after):-

And the twenty metres of cable I removed:-

 

Not helped to reduce that computer noise... I have yet to order some balanced cables and a power conditioner.

[iRelevant]

On cables. I found that the quality of what is available for purchase have sunk to new lows in recent years. I bought some cheep patching cables from a fairly reputable online dealer, lowest price, but was shocked with the quality ... or lack of it. I couldn't believe the would tarnish their brand by selling such crap. Cables have gone from being smooth and flexible rubber, to harder and harder plastic types. The last batch I messed with, I spent an eternity trying to figure out problems with a patch bay setup ... just to realize that the cable was broken out of the box ... cheap deteriorating plastic that you can see crack marks on as you start bending them more than 90 degrees. Stiff rigid shit.

The best way is to get the cables from a shop where you can inspect them IMO, alternatively make them yourself. There still is quality cables available by the meter, and quality DIY solder type of plugs. I go for Neutrik type of plugs, they seem more robust for soldering. It's very time consuming though, and sometimes ends up with questionable quality due to out of practice soldering skills.

I also have had good experience with the HOSA brand of cables, mostly snake type of varying lengths. Sometimes I just buy a 1 m snake, and split it up for the individual color coded cables. Median type of flexibility on them, thin, but have a feel of acceptable quality to them.

[craigb]

Many of the internal snakes in my back-of-the-rack picture above are Hosa.  Worked fine for me!

Although I do make fun of them (deservedly so), I ended up with a LOT of Monster cables because I got a secret heads-up that my local Guitar Center was going to have to sell their current stock for 20% of the usual (never discounted) price and all because Monster was changing the packaging!  I pretty much bought what they had left.  At 100% (or even 60%) they're way over-priced, but at only 20% they were well worth it!

[Gswitz]

12 hours ago, iRelevant said:

Median type of flexibility on them, thin, but have a feel of acceptable quality to them.

Thin is good when you are lugging them around.