XLR Cable wiring question at DVinfo.net

Aaron Pinto · March 8th, 2007, 05:44 PM

Hey everyone, I have a quick question regarding some XLR cables I purchased.

I have several Male to Female 8" right angle XLR cables and I can't get any of them to work with my RODE NTG-2 mic using phantom power. However, if I throw a battery in the RODE and turn off phantom power, the cables work fine.

I noticed that the cable on these said "professional low-noise speaker cable" so I opened up the connector on one end to see if it was shielded at all. There are only two wires in the cable with the red connected to pin 2 and the black connected to pin 3. Pin 1 is jumpered to pin 3 (the black wire).

Now, I am by no means a pro when it comes to audio but should pin 3 and 1 be jumpered like they are? I thought each pin would have it's own dedicated wire. Is this why phantom power is not working? Are these wires pure crap or am I missing something? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Ben Lynn · March 8th, 2007, 05:54 PM

Yes, the cable is mis-wired. If you cut the cable and peel back the layers you should have two cables (some brands have four) in rubber and one cable that's not covered at all, it's just twisted wire. The two cables in rubber go to pins 2 and 3. The single cable that's not shielded is the ground cable and it connects to pin 1. Pin 1 should be jumpered to the connector ground, not pin 3. Try that and it should get you going.

Ben

Aaron Pinto · March 8th, 2007, 05:58 PM

Thanks for the quick reply Ben. I peeled the wire back a little but there are only two insulated wires. I'm assuming that since they used a speaker wire for this, that's all I'm going to find. There is no third wire for ground. You get what you pay for I guess. I may just go grab some wire at Radio Shmack and put the proper stuff in.

Ben Lynn · March 8th, 2007, 07:08 PM

Streo wires for xlr cable? That's a good one. Yes, radio shack would be a good option. Maybe even just buy a 15ft xlr from them and cut it down to the length you need replacing the radio shack end with the 90 degree end.

Good luck!

Ben

Steve House · March 9th, 2007, 04:53 AM

Doesn't sound like you have shielded cable there are all. Order some of the good stuff from Full Compass, Markertek, et all. Look for shielded mic cable from brands such as Canare or Mogami. Quad cable is the best stuff but for short runs conventional cable is just fine.

Aaron Pinto · March 9th, 2007, 11:08 AM

Yeah, I'm just going to grab some mic cable at Radio Shack locally. These things are so short that I don't need anything high-end. The seller refunded my money for selling me speaker cable with XLR ends so I'll go get some mic cable later today and switch them out... mmmm I love the smell of solder :)

Thanks for all of the info. It's nice to confirm that I'm not entirely crazy.

Steve Leverich · March 9th, 2007, 01:44 PM

Hopefully whatever was supplying your phantom power isn't already toast - connecting pin one to pin three of an XLR would short the phantom power to ground. Depending on how well-designed your phantom power circuit is, it may have decided to "let the smoke out" during this experiment - I hope I'm wrong, but be aware that if your device doesn't work with phantom any more this may be why... Steve

Aaron Pinto · March 9th, 2007, 01:52 PM

I was afraid of that myself when I opened up the connection and saw how it was wired. Thankfully my phantom power still works.

Steve Leverich · March 9th, 2007, 02:44 PM

Really glad to hear that - hope you've scratched that place off your "go to" list... Steve

Aaron Pinto · March 9th, 2007, 02:56 PM

Yup. And I recommended they pull those cables from sale before they have a customer who ends up trashing expensive equipment. I should have just bought the connectors and cable myself in the first place and built my own... it's more fun anyway :)

Brad Tyrrell · March 10th, 2007, 11:25 AM

Noticed on one of the web pages that there's no particular consensus when using XLR as "speaker" connections. I guess I'd better check for a "mic cable" rather than "speaker cable" label next time I buy. Thanks for the tip.

Ty Ford · March 11th, 2007, 11:45 AM

Depends a lot on whether the speakers are powered or not.

If they are NOT powered, you're actually feeding electricity from a power amp to a speaker, like an old, traditional stereo system with a power amp and speakers. That's usually 2 conductor, no shield.

There are a lot of powered monitors on the market. They usually take a balanced XLR line level or mic level input. In that scenario, you want to use a standard two conductor with shield cable with XLRs (sometimes a TRS) on each end.

Regards,

Ty Ford

March 8th, 2007, 05:44 PM	#1
Aaron Pinto Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 52	XLR Cable wiring question Hey everyone, I have a quick question regarding some XLR cables I purchased. I have several Male to Female 8" right angle XLR cables and I can't get any of them to work with my RODE NTG-2 mic using phantom power. However, if I throw a battery in the RODE and turn off phantom power, the cables work fine. I noticed that the cable on these said "professional low-noise speaker cable" so I opened up the connector on one end to see if it was shielded at all. There are only two wires in the cable with the red connected to pin 2 and the black connected to pin 3. Pin 1 is jumpered to pin 3 (the black wire). Now, I am by no means a pro when it comes to audio but should pin 3 and 1 be jumpered like they are? I thought each pin would have it's own dedicated wire. Is this why phantom power is not working? Are these wires pure crap or am I missing something? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

March 9th, 2007, 04:53 AM	#5
Steve House Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,742	Doesn't sound like you have shielded cable there are all. Order some of the good stuff from Full Compass, Markertek, et all. Look for shielded mic cable from brands such as Canare or Mogami. Quad cable is the best stuff but for short runs conventional cable is just fine. __________________ Good news, Cousins! This week's chocolate ration is 15 grams!

March 11th, 2007, 11:45 AM	#12
Ty Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Baltimore, MD USA Posts: 2,337	Depends a lot on whether the speakers are powered or not. If they are NOT powered, you're actually feeding electricity from a power amp to a speaker, like an old, traditional stereo system with a power amp and speakers. That's usually 2 conductor, no shield. There are a lot of powered monitors on the market. They usually take a balanced XLR line level or mic level input. In that scenario, you want to use a standard two conductor with shield cable with XLRs (sometimes a TRS) on each end. Regards, Ty Ford __________________ Ty Ford's Audio Bootcamp Field Guide Ty Ford's Audio Video Blog

March 8th, 2007, 05:54 PM	#2
Ben Lynn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bloomington, IL Posts: 636	Yes, the cable is mis-wired. If you cut the cable and peel back the layers you should have two cables (some brands have four) in rubber and one cable that's not covered at all, it's just twisted wire. The two cables in rubber go to pins 2 and 3. The single cable that's not shielded is the ground cable and it connects to pin 1. Pin 1 should be jumpered to the connector ground, not pin 3. Try that and it should get you going. Ben

March 8th, 2007, 05:58 PM	#3
Aaron Pinto Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 52	Thanks for the quick reply Ben. I peeled the wire back a little but there are only two insulated wires. I'm assuming that since they used a speaker wire for this, that's all I'm going to find. There is no third wire for ground. You get what you pay for I guess. I may just go grab some wire at Radio Shmack and put the proper stuff in.

March 8th, 2007, 07:08 PM	#4
Ben Lynn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bloomington, IL Posts: 636	Streo wires for xlr cable? That's a good one. Yes, radio shack would be a good option. Maybe even just buy a 15ft xlr from them and cut it down to the length you need replacing the radio shack end with the 90 degree end. Good luck! Ben

March 9th, 2007, 11:08 AM	#6
Aaron Pinto Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 52	Yeah, I'm just going to grab some mic cable at Radio Shack locally. These things are so short that I don't need anything high-end. The seller refunded my money for selling me speaker cable with XLR ends so I'll go get some mic cable later today and switch them out... mmmm I love the smell of solder :) Thanks for all of the info. It's nice to confirm that I'm not entirely crazy.

March 9th, 2007, 01:44 PM	#7
Steve Leverich Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Albany Oregon Posts: 173	Hopefully whatever was supplying your phantom power isn't already toast - connecting pin one to pin three of an XLR would short the phantom power to ground. Depending on how well-designed your phantom power circuit is, it may have decided to "let the smoke out" during this experiment - I hope I'm wrong, but be aware that if your device doesn't work with phantom any more this may be why... Steve

March 9th, 2007, 01:52 PM	#8
Aaron Pinto Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 52	I was afraid of that myself when I opened up the connection and saw how it was wired. Thankfully my phantom power still works.

March 9th, 2007, 02:44 PM	#9
Steve Leverich Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Albany Oregon Posts: 173	Really glad to hear that - hope you've scratched that place off your "go to" list... Steve

March 9th, 2007, 02:56 PM	#10
Aaron Pinto Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 52	Yup. And I recommended they pull those cables from sale before they have a customer who ends up trashing expensive equipment. I should have just bought the connectors and cable myself in the first place and built my own... it's more fun anyway :)

March 10th, 2007, 11:25 AM	#11
Brad Tyrrell Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Morristown, New Jersey Posts: 249	Noticed on one of the web pages that there's no particular consensus when using XLR as "speaker" connections. I guess I'd better check for a "mic cable" rather than "speaker cable" label next time I buy. Thanks for the tip.