While I cannot offer an opinion on the sound of different Neutrik XLRs, since I have never done such a comparison, I find it facinating that such a discussion is so very rare compared to such strong opinions regarding RCAs.
I have gone to them mostly for balanced equipment reasons, but find their locking feature and overall robustness to be an incredible value compared to the ridiculous prices of some RCAs.
It seems everyone says that Neutriks are wonderful, even though they share the same gold-over-nickel plating in the gold versions that gets bashed by subjectivists re the RCAs. I have read only one opinion to use the silver version to avoid the nickel plating. Other than that, only good things about Neutrik XLRs. Funny, even the sellers of such jewelry state how wonderful they are, right next to their hype about their HI $ RCAs having no nickle.
I have gone to them mostly for balanced equipment reasons, but find their locking feature and overall robustness to be an incredible value compared to the ridiculous prices of some RCAs.
It seems everyone says that Neutriks are wonderful, even though they share the same gold-over-nickel plating in the gold versions that gets bashed by subjectivists re the RCAs. I have read only one opinion to use the silver version to avoid the nickel plating. Other than that, only good things about Neutrik XLRs. Funny, even the sellers of such jewelry state how wonderful they are, right next to their hype about their HI $ RCAs having no nickle.
I used Furutech connectors for my projects.
Furutech XLR
The FP-601/602 are about €80 a piece. The FP-702/701 are €15 a piece. The 701 series already has a much better finish than the best Neutrik.
Furutech XLR
The FP-601/602 are about €80 a piece. The FP-702/701 are €15 a piece. The 701 series already has a much better finish than the best Neutrik.
pooge said:
Yeah. Now if only it weren't for XLR's ridiculous size...
I mean seriously, if I were wanting to connect some high powered amplifiers to some rather low efficiency loudspeakers I'd maybe use XLRs. But when it comes to carrying line level signals, I just can't get over their size.
se
SRMcGee said:
3 coat hangers and a ground
Seriously, I've found that a decent pre made microphone cable sounds pretty mint
. I've wondered if RJ45 networking stuff would be suitable to carry low level - If not, how about T-1 bantam cords/jacks. A dual bantam could carry stereo balanced and is cmpact with high quality. Sorry for slightly OT.
A big reason you don't hear a lot of debate regarding XLR connectors is that Neutrik has an excellent product that is inexpensive.
More to the point... I've never experienced the mechanical issues of plug to socket with XLR that I have with RCA. It seems that there is a wide variance in the dimensions RCA connectors, and the nature of the connector lends itself to more issues of physical connection quality.
-David
More to the point... I've never experienced the mechanical issues of plug to socket with XLR that I have with RCA. It seems that there is a wide variance in the dimensions RCA connectors, and the nature of the connector lends itself to more issues of physical connection quality.
-David
SRMcGee said:
Now please try to comprehend what people are telling you. There is no difference or the Neutriks come out ahead! Neutrik have been the standard for ages, and with good reason. If you're really frightened of something that dosn't have any audiophile mumbo-jumbo marketing adhered to it...then go buy something else.
For balanced operation or single ended for that kind of matter, there is zip difference whatever super blessed by virgins cable you may choose.
Focus on making a good soldered joint in both ends and be done, as this is where most fail to make a good cable. See if you can buy a few coathangers (naturally audiophile grade coathangers that is) from Marc.....
Now all this will set you back like 15 usd....but if you feel it's too cheap for your taste, I'll happily rebrand some Neutriks for you and charge you 10 times the price, just email me....I'm very flexible in that respect
Magura
Vogue said:
All their XLR's are basicly the same construction, you can choose if you want silver or gold contacts, makes no difference as far as I'm concerned, and I've used both types for ages by now.
The second choice is if you like nickel plated or black....
The third choice is hov many poles you need....again pick whatever you need...
...oh and you can have them with or without the lock
I like the lock, maybe you don't...in that case, buy the ones without lock Magura
My local pro dealer carries Neutrik as well as some no name brand XLR bulkhead connectors. I gotta be honest - I can't tell the difference. They are EXACTLY the same. I like his cheapo mic cables for interconnects too (as I said before)- only about 5 bucks each.. less than the cost of ends and coat hanger.
The cables in a balanced system seem to be relatively unimportant.
RCAs are a different story!!!! This is why I usually use Ericsson telecom T-1 cable (sometimes Nokia) from the trash at work, and some no name gold plated RCA ends left over from when I was in the car stereo biz.
The cables in a balanced system seem to be relatively unimportant.
RCAs are a different story!!!! This is why I usually use Ericsson telecom T-1 cable (sometimes Nokia) from the trash at work, and some no name gold plated RCA ends left over from when I was in the car stereo biz.
For a compact and cheap alternative to XLR you can use a standard 1/4 inch tip, ring and sleeve connector.
Yes, I'm talking about the basic old headphone jack. Make the sleeve ground, use metal bodied connectors and you have a 100% screened connector that takes about 1.5 square centimetres of panel space.
If you really want to utterly horrify the boutique brigade use SHIELDED cat 5 cables and RJ45 connectors. For low level signals they are excellent. the characteristic impedance of the cable is only 120 ohms but it really doesn't matter for the cable lengths encountered in the home. Gold plated self wiping contacts, dirt cheap, colour coded ready made cables good for hundreds of megahertz. It's high frequency performance for low current will walk all over any XLR connector. Of course a $5 connector with a $3 cable can never sound better than angel hair litz wire hand woven by virgins.
When connecting your grounds consider earth loops.
I suggest using pair 4 (brown) just in case someone plugs a telephone line or network connection into it.
Inside your equipment you can use larger cables than 24AWG by buying the sockets with small PCBs on them and desoldering the Krone terminal strips.
Yes, I'm talking about the basic old headphone jack. Make the sleeve ground, use metal bodied connectors and you have a 100% screened connector that takes about 1.5 square centimetres of panel space.
If you really want to utterly horrify the boutique brigade use SHIELDED cat 5 cables and RJ45 connectors. For low level signals they are excellent. the characteristic impedance of the cable is only 120 ohms but it really doesn't matter for the cable lengths encountered in the home. Gold plated self wiping contacts, dirt cheap, colour coded ready made cables good for hundreds of megahertz. It's high frequency performance for low current will walk all over any XLR connector. Of course a $5 connector with a $3 cable can never sound better than angel hair litz wire hand woven by virgins.
When connecting your grounds consider earth loops.
I suggest using pair 4 (brown) just in case someone plugs a telephone line or network connection into it.
Inside your equipment you can use larger cables than 24AWG by buying the sockets with small PCBs on them and desoldering the Krone terminal strips.
Hi,
is the star quad mic cable worth chasing when buying cable or ready mades?
Should the shell be connected end to end with a drain wire?
Should we disconnect the screen from the receive end pin1?
Why are the male and female reversed from the standard used in mains plugs? Just to be different or is there a technical superiority to doing it as transmit end is always male and receive is always female.
is the star quad mic cable worth chasing when buying cable or ready mades?
Should the shell be connected end to end with a drain wire?
Should we disconnect the screen from the receive end pin1?
Why are the male and female reversed from the standard used in mains plugs? Just to be different or is there a technical superiority to doing it as transmit end is always male and receive is always female.
Folks:
I've been looking over the Neutrik product line and they seem to have several XLR chassis jacks that would work fine in my next preamp; the question is, is there a qualitative difference between the product offerings? So far, contributors to this thread have dismissed the idea that noticeable sonic differences exist. I am not so sure. Neutrik's NC3FP-B-1 appears to be an entry-level product. The NC3FD-L-B-1 appears to be better (and only marginally more expensive), and Neutrik even offers a "high-end" model -- NC3FD-L-1-HE (which appears in Neutrik's brochures but is difficult to find on the market). Perhaps Neutrik offers these products at differing price points solely because they believe that consumers demand options, and the various models are indistinguishable in performance. I suspect, though, that differences do exist; the question then is, what are those differences and are they worth the variances in cost?
I'm not trying to incite anyone here, but I can't tell if the dismissal of sonic differences between XLR jacks is being made on the basis of real listening experience or an insincere, casual bravado. Some people love to cavalierly reject all things "high end" and others buy into the most expensive offerings in the market just because they can. I'm trying to be pragmatic here. Has anyone actually spent any time comparing XLR jacks?
Regards,
Scott
I've been looking over the Neutrik product line and they seem to have several XLR chassis jacks that would work fine in my next preamp; the question is, is there a qualitative difference between the product offerings? So far, contributors to this thread have dismissed the idea that noticeable sonic differences exist. I am not so sure. Neutrik's NC3FP-B-1 appears to be an entry-level product. The NC3FD-L-B-1 appears to be better (and only marginally more expensive), and Neutrik even offers a "high-end" model -- NC3FD-L-1-HE (which appears in Neutrik's brochures but is difficult to find on the market). Perhaps Neutrik offers these products at differing price points solely because they believe that consumers demand options, and the various models are indistinguishable in performance. I suspect, though, that differences do exist; the question then is, what are those differences and are they worth the variances in cost?
I'm not trying to incite anyone here, but I can't tell if the dismissal of sonic differences between XLR jacks is being made on the basis of real listening experience or an insincere, casual bravado. Some people love to cavalierly reject all things "high end" and others buy into the most expensive offerings in the market just because they can. I'm trying to be pragmatic here. Has anyone actually spent any time comparing XLR jacks?
Regards,
Scott
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