I need to install two wall plates with connectors and run cables through a wall and crawl space. I'll be running line level signals (and also MIDI, but that is dead easy) It is not a very long run, maybe 20 feet. But we can't run the wires on the floor. They are going to have to go in a big plastic conduit. This is in a small home project studio. Some signals are balanced some single ended. Equipment to be connected is computer Firewire audio interface box, digital piano line level out, stereo amp, powered monitors and head phones. I think I need a bundle of 8 cables (four stereo pairs)
I'm undecided about the kind of connector. It will be either 1/4" TRS or XLR.
I'm also undecided about the kind of cable. Standard mic cable looks good but the small #24 wires likely have a lot of DC resistance. I like Cat5 network cable too, reading it's specs it seem to be ideal and good enough even for video. I'm looking to buy a 250 foot spool of some kind of cable to be used for interconnects and patch cables.
I'm mostly worried abut the single ended stuff and noise
I'm undecided about the kind of connector. It will be either 1/4" TRS or XLR.
I'm also undecided about the kind of cable. Standard mic cable looks good but the small #24 wires likely have a lot of DC resistance. I like Cat5 network cable too, reading it's specs it seem to be ideal and good enough even for video. I'm looking to buy a 250 foot spool of some kind of cable to be used for interconnects and patch cables.
I'm mostly worried abut the single ended stuff and noise
I Would Run 3 CAT5e (or CAT6e) and 2 Good Co-Axial (Like TV-Cable Clable).
You can get Clean modular Connector on both ends and make yourself a Nice looking Cat5 Cable Interface. You would then run all the cable from one Electric housing to another.
Cat 5e should be fine with all your Digital and Speaker- Audio need.
Coaxial for Analogue signal.
Leviton has a line of such mudules decribed above.
Leviton HOME 5e Standard Connectors - Buy from OneStopBuy.com
Leviton QuickPort 6-Port Wallplates OneStopBuy.com
P.S: Thoses links are just googled ones. you might get better pricing elswhere.
Regards
MArc
You can get Clean modular Connector on both ends and make yourself a Nice looking Cat5 Cable Interface. You would then run all the cable from one Electric housing to another.
Cat 5e should be fine with all your Digital and Speaker- Audio need.
Coaxial for Analogue signal.
Leviton has a line of such mudules decribed above.
Leviton HOME 5e Standard Connectors - Buy from OneStopBuy.com
Leviton QuickPort 6-Port Wallplates OneStopBuy.com
P.S: Thoses links are just googled ones. you might get better pricing elswhere.
Regards
MArc
This was actually my first idea. Then I thought, what about impedence bumps at each end and I'd also be doubling the number of connectors.
With Cat5 the patch from a computer audio interface to a powered monitor is this:
1) 1/4" TRS
2) 1/4" TRS,
3) RJ45
4) RJ45
5) 1/4" TRS
6) 1/4" TRS
Compare that to my current system that uses one 25 foot cable laying on the floor
1) 1/4" TRS
2) 1/4" TRS,
The number of connectors triples. If I use mic cable rather then cat5 I'm "only" doubling the number of connectors. Of of course the big advantage of cat 5 is that each cable has four pairs inside and the cable is dirt cheap and I have a lot of it already in place.
Does it matter? That is the big question
I would (and have) used the Canare plenum rated cables. Balanced or unbalanced, as you need.
Belden is also just fine. Or west Penn wire if you are on a tight budget.
All this can be found at Markertek.com and similar shops.
Belden is also just fine. Or west Penn wire if you are on a tight budget.
All this can be found at Markertek.com and similar shops.
20 feet is not long at all, our church uses cables > 100feet long. The lower the source and load Z the less noise pickup. Look at the rat nests in most studios.
just ensure your send buffer has an output impedance less than 1ohm and has an output resistor between 10r and 51r.
In the balanced version ensure these output resistors are matched to better than 0.05%.
Ensure the receive end has an impedance greater than 10k and preferably ~50k.
The balanced receive end should have common mode impedance >1M and again matched to better than 0.05%, including any loading/filtering capacitors.
Twisted pairs, twisted star quads, screened twisted pairs, screened twisted star quads. Any of these will do the job.
In the balanced version ensure these output resistors are matched to better than 0.05%.
Ensure the receive end has an impedance greater than 10k and preferably ~50k.
The balanced receive end should have common mode impedance >1M and again matched to better than 0.05%, including any loading/filtering capacitors.
Twisted pairs, twisted star quads, screened twisted pairs, screened twisted star quads. Any of these will do the job.
Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 is well-suited to this app if you're willing to spend a little more (they're not "high end" priced)
You could also screen the conduit, there's some kind of paint that can be used in guitar control cavities but I reckon it's just mixed with conductive material like lead
I've seen that stuff, but why paint a conduit when they make metal conduit for about the same price as plastic.
But surprisingly metal conduit does not provide much shielding.
The LC-1 stuff appears to be for single ended RCA cables used for consumer audio interconnects. However I did look at the site and they also sell Belden 1800F which look like it could work well.
I've always wondered why a DIY, self build system would use RCA connectors. People here talk like they can hear the difference between different brands of capacitors, You think those same people would be building their gear to use XLR interconnects. I can understand if you bought the equipment. Home electronics uses RCA but if you are building it it has whatever yo want.
Might not be magnetic like brass, however cable shield-braiding is magnetic and hence removes electromagnetic interference to ground.
Oh yeah, I forgot to say if you screen the conduit ground it.
brass is magnetic? I guess that depends on how you define "magnetic". But you'd have to define it such that every conductor is magnetic
Second, no one make seild braids from brass. It's either coper or tinned copr or aluminized polyester.
coax shields for a couple resons (1) they are coaxial so and cary opposing current, the current in one cancels the field generated by the other. This effect is symmetric, if a generated field is canceled and the effect of an ambient one is also (2) the shield being conductive is (mostly) equal-potential and therefore there is no e-field inside.
Shielded cable - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If you have a low impedance source terminating single ended RG-6 coax with like 82 ohms works great or if balanced the impedance of the balanced wire, typically 120-600 ohms, also works great. Either of these will allow runs of 1000 feet or more with indistinguishable signal quality loss. Impedance must me matched up though. Keep single ended cables twisted together.
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