Multicore cable...

[untune]

Hope it's ok to post this in this section as it's not strictly bass related, but I need a 16 way balanced loom and thought I might be better off making my own as opposed to paying roughly the same for a lower quality one. I've no problem soldering cables and connectors but I'm wondering if anyone has cable recommendations - I know to get cable with the foil shield ie something akin to this stuff [url="http://www.studiospares.com/cable-miniature-/sommer-isopod-so-f22-instkabel-33mm-dia/invt/546700/"]http://www.studiospares.com/cable-miniature-/sommer-isopod-so-f22-instkabel-33mm-dia/invt/546700/[/url]

The thing is they also offer multicore cables with 8/16/24/32 pairs and the sheer amount is bloody confusing! I can't tell if each individual pair is shielded or what and my eyes hurt from looking through them all!

What's the best option - a multicore cable from the get go or lots of individual ones then just whack some heat shrink round them all?

[bremen]

[quote name='untune' timestamp='1353419866' post='1874756']
Hope it's ok to post this in this section as it's not strictly bass related, but I need a 16 way balanced loom and thought I might be better off making my own as opposed to paying roughly the same for a lower quality one. I've no problem soldering cables and connectors but I'm wondering if anyone has cable recommendations - I know to get cable with the foil shield ie something akin to this stuff [url="http://www.studiospares.com/cable-miniature-/sommer-isopod-so-f22-instkabel-33mm-dia/invt/546700/"]http://www.studiospa...ia/invt/546700/[/url]

The thing is they also offer multicore cables with 8/16/24/32 pairs and the sheer amount is bloody confusing! I can't tell if each individual pair is shielded or what and my eyes hurt from looking through them all!

What's the best option - a multicore cable from the get go or lots of individual ones then just whack some heat shrink round them all?
[/quote]

Definitely multicore (I tried individual and really, really shouldn't have).

I used this, individually shielded and easy to work with:

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/cordial_cms_16_studiocore.htm"]http://www.thomann.d..._studiocore.htm[/url]

edit: the Studiospares stuff you linked to is what I initially tried. It's great for smaller bundles, looms and individual connections within a rack, but extremely bulky and clumsy if you try and bundle 16 together for any length.

Edited November 20, 2012 by bremen

[flyfisher]

[quote name='untune' timestamp='1353419866' post='1874756']
What's the best option - a multicore cable from the get go or lots of individual ones then just whack some heat shrink round them all?
[/quote]

I'd say it depends on the length of the loom. A metre or two and you could probably get away with the heatshrink option, but for anything else then I reckon multicore is the way to go.

[BigRedX]

For a 16 way loom of more than a couple of meters you are best off with a proper multicore cable rather than a snake of individual leads. The only issue is with how you terminate each end. Breaking out into individual leads tends to be a weak point both electrically and mechanically.

What is this cable going to be for? Live use?

[untune]

I've pretty much decided that the multicore is the way to go - thanks for the info bremen and flyfisher btw, I couldn't get on to reply with the site being down yesterday and all.

BigRed - The breakout is my concern too - but this is literally going to be to link my audio interface (MOTU Ultralite) to a balanced patchbay in my rack, it's too much faffing to keep plugging/unplugging cables into the back of the interface and it's risky because I might catch the firewire cable! Plus with a few effects and units in the rack now i need a quicker way to run things in/out of channels when mixing etc. So naturally durability isn't a massive factor because it's never going to move, and there only needs to be about 2 metres maximum due to the physical distance of the units. The individual cables will be going to standard TRS jacks at each end

Cheers folks

[flyfisher]

Multicore will be fine for what is effectively a fixed installation because you'll be able to ty-rap the cable (not too tight!) and fully support it so that the weight of the multicore does not hang on the individual cores and connectors. Just make it long enough so that there are no tight corners and none of the split-out individual cores are stretched in any way. In fact, because it's a balanced system there's no real need to minimise cable lengths at all (within reason of course).

Sounds like a nice system you're putting together.

[untune]

I thought so, I may even put the patchbay at the bottom so avoid any cable hang, and yeah it's only a short distance, not quite 50m cables I'll be running

Thanks, it's born of necessity really - quite a few bits of outboard gear have amassed over the years and most don't get used - I'm making an effort to get everything set up so that it's easy to use, I'm getting tired of tripping over/swapping cables and need to be able to just plug in and record when an idea strikes! Besides I quite enjoy running sound through various bits of gear to see what will come out the other side

[untune]

Heads up gentlemen, a BCer has kindly offered me some spare multicore that he has lying around - will this be ok for the patchbay application? Not foil screened but I can't imagine it'd be a problem?

[url="http://www.canford.co.uk/Products/20521/31-462_CANFORD-HSJ-CABLE-12-pair-Black"]http://www.canford.co.uk/Products/20521/31-462_CANFORD-HSJ-CABLE-12-pair-Black[/url]

Cheers

[BigRedX]

That looks OK. You'll need to sleeve the individual leads when they break out of the multicore and then heatshrink over the top where it becomes separate cables.

Personally for a 2m run in a permanent installation situation, I'd have used individual thin foil screened installation cable and just cable tied it together, but if you're getting the cable free then go for it.