Know of Any Shielded Cables Worth a Damn?

[BOOM BOX]

Long and short of it is that I'm working on a little project that's going to require me soldering some XLR connections together. The question is simple: do you know of any shielded cables that are worth a damn and I can get in spools?

[The Flying Sloth]

All shielded cable is worth a damn over unshielded but the most worth a damn cable out there is from Mogami, will cost you a pretty penny but it's technically the best. 

[BOOM BOX]

35 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

All shielded cable is worth a damn over unshielded but the most worth a damn cable out there is from Mogami, will cost you a pretty penny but it's technically the best. 

Well obviously Shielded is the way to go when talking about audio cabling but I didn't even bother to look at Mogami until you brought them up. Thank you, I'll look into it.

 

Edit: after some consideration and reminding myself that I'm allergic to money Imma go for some of Mogami's wire. Thanks my dude.

[The Flying Sloth]

If you're looking for connectors to terminate the wire with Neutrik are the industry standard, not Ningbo Neutrik (that's the Chinese manufactured subsidiary) but just plain Neutrik. Will be about 7 bucks a connector from memory but don't quote me on that.

[BOOM BOX]

5 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

If you're looking for connectors to terminate the wire with Neutrik are the industry standard, not Ningbo Neutrik (that's the Chinese manufactured subsidiary) but just plain Neutrik. Will be about 7 bucks a connector from memory but don't quote me on that.

I was actually looking at Switchcraft's M&F connectors on sweetwater but of course, no one puts up reviews to help discern quality from trash but I'll keep Neutrik in mind as I go along. Thank you. I'm sure in about a month or so you'll see the final product somewhere on here or reddit.

[The Flying Sloth]

2 hours ago, BOOM BOX said:

I was actually looking at Switchcraft's M&F connectors on sweetwater but of course, no one puts up reviews to help discern quality from trash but I'll keep Neutrik in mind as I go along. Thank you. I'm sure in about a month or so you'll see the final product somewhere on here or reddit.

Keep me posted

[kasugatei]

Aside Mogami, which I agree about as a great choice, other great bulk cable manufacturers are:

Belden, Klotz, Cordial and Canare. Cables from any of those makers are reasonably priced and you will find at least one of those probably anywhere in the world. 

Sometimes I use Techflex sleeving above wire and that makes that cable a tank. Great for guitar cables or cables which are going to be stepped on a lot etc. Con is that it makes cables significantly stiffer. 

 

Regarding the connectors, Neutrik (Made in Liechenstein ones) and Switchcraft are great. I personally use Neutrik in 90% of the cases, but I like to use those pancake Switchcraft 6.3 mm when I need to squeeze lots of stuff on a small surface like pedalboards. For XLR I prefer Neutrik because of the construction. Nothing wrong with Switchcraft, but IMHO modern design of the Neutrik is better and much easier to solder. In usage both are virtually indestructible. 
 

6 hours ago, The Flying Sloth said:

Ningbo Neutrik

Haven’t seen that name for a while. Usually Rean Neutrik branded are Chinese ones. Not nearly as good as Liechenstein ones. However for the price are decent IMHO. 
 

[The Flying Sloth]

1 minute ago, Niksa said:

Haven’t seen that name for a while. Usually Rean Neutrik branded are Chinese ones. Not nearly as good as Liechenstein ones. However for the price are decent IMHO. 

Neutrik really are an interesting case, they have so many subsidiaries going by the same name with highly varied build quality then they still have their budget brands like YongSheng and Rean.

Honestly, I've not ever had an issue with cheap XLR cables or connectors besides the literal bottom of the barrel stuff like this but if you're going to be using the cable on a daily basis it's a good idea to have well designed and built connectors. Many cheap Neutrik clone cables have extremely poor solder quality and it can be a good idea to check up on connections before putting them into rotation.