Cabling between an Alesis mixer and Mackie Active's?

[blackseicento]

Hi There,

First post here, and i'm an IT tech so please be gentle 🙂

I'm working in a school that currently has an Alesis MultiMix4USB Mixer with L+R 1/4" outputs. The school wish to purchase a pair of Mackie Thump TH-12A active speakers that have an XLR input.

I'm stuggling to find 1/4" to Male XLR cables longer than 6M, ideally I need cables around 25M long, is that possible or is there an issue with quailty past a certain point?

Any help gratefully received!

 

[JonSnell Electronic]

Have a look at CPC | CPC - Over 100, 000 products from one of the worlds leading distributors of electronic and related products. if there are none there, they are easy enough to make. XLR is pin 1 = ground. Pin 2 = Hot. Pin 3 = Cold (balanced line). The ¼ jack is; Tip = Hot. Ring = Cold and Sleeve = Ground. Purchase a roll of cable, a couple of jacks and a couple of XLR female plugs and there you are.

It is acceptable to use an XLR to XLR extension but I would make a pair of leads or purchase a "Stage snake", that will give you as long as you require.

 

[JonSnell Electronic]

Try this.
PLS00407 - PULSE - XLR MULTICORE, DRUM, 8WAY 6/2 | CPC

 

[chris661]

XLR will daisy-chain. Get a jack to XLR and then just fill the rest of the length with XLR.

Definitely no need for the multicore linked above.

 

[blackseicento]

Thanks for the help guys, will I get noticeable sound degradation if I extend the cables, say daisy chain a couple of 15M XLR's?

 

[chris661]

I wouldn't expect so.

If you want to be really sure, check if the mixer outputs are balanced or not. If they are, get a balanced jack to XLR cable. That should take care of potential signal problems.
Even if the outputs are unbalanced, I wouldn't expect any issues - think of how long guitar leads can be, and they're being driven by pickups.

Chris

 

[conanski]

Thanks for the help guys, will I get noticeable sound degradation if I extend the cables, say daisy chain a couple of 15M XLR's?

Not at all, the balanced outputs of a mixer like this can drive hundreds of feet of cable, and if you search around you will find XLR cables in lengths up to 100ft.