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Is it OK to chain XLR cables?
It’s fine to join mic cables together, but it can place strain on the XLR connectors that could see them come unplugged! So it’s always best to run a single long cable if you can, rather than two or three short ones joined together.
Do microphone cables go bad?
Yes, they do wear out eventually. As pointed out already, the life time depends greatly on use and quality. Even with a cable that seemingly works sound quality may get drastically reduced.
Are shorter mic cables better?
Using shorter XLR cables would give you a cleaner floor, but shouldn’t have any effect on the signal. In a sound system I work with, we normally have 25 ft or 25 ft + 12 ft cables on stage, then a 75 ft snake to the audio console.
How do I know if my XLR cable is broken?
Inspect the opposite connection where the XLR cable is plugged into the mixing board or PA head. Hold the XLR cable tightly and flex the cable behind your hand. If the cable wire has a break or short, this will reveal the spot where the connection is broken or weak. The sound will cut in and out.
Do mic cables matter?
But that would be a big mistake, because the choice of mic cables can make a major difference in the overall quality of any audio system. Using quality mic cables offers multiple layers of shielding, impurity-free copper, better contacts and quad conductors that help to reject noise and interference.
Can you connect multiple XLR cables together?
Joining multiple XLR cables (daisy-chaining) is possible. It provides a solution to not having long enough XLR cables to reach a required distance, from a microphone to a sound source, or another device. Daisy-chaining XLR cables shouldn’t have too much of an impact on sound quality on distances less than 50 meters.
Are there any problems with extending mic cables?
SOS Technical Editor Hugh Robjohns replies: There are no real issues in extending mic cables with more mic cables when necessary — I’m sure we all do it frequently without any problems.
How much does it cost to get a mic cable?
Do a quick online search for mic cables, and you find a ton of options ranging from $5 to $100 or more. So newbies naturally wonder: How much does a decent cable REALLY cost? While everyone has a slightly different answer to this question, standard advice states: Avoid the cheapest ones (like the Chinese ones on Ebay).
What happens when two mic cables are joined together?
And when cables made this way are joined together it doesn’t matter if the shell accidentally touches anything else, since it’s isolated from the cable screen ground circuit. However, the potential downside of this arrangement is that interference pickup could become a problem, as the cable wires inside the XLR plugs have no effective shielding.
Why do wireless microphones have poor battery life?
1. Poor battery life Wireless microphones quickly suck battery life. Think about it, as soon as the wireless transmitter is turned on, it’s sending a signal. The key to a good battery life is to pick the right batteries. If you have to use single-use batteries, check the microphone manual for what the manufacturer recommends.