Cables

[Sanchez]

Sorry if I sound a little uneducated here (which is true) but I wanted to know why in the Triaxis manual it says to used shielded cable for the guitar lead and to hook the preamp to the effects unit and back and to the poweramp but it says to use Unshielded cable for the speakers and for the switches???

I must admit I have no idea what shielded and unshielded cable is.

I have also heard people use the term ballanced and unballanced cables. Are they the same as shielded and unshielded cables??

So to clear it all up what are the correct cables to use??

Thanks

Sanchez

 

[Tuna141]

Here's a very simplified explaination...

A shielded cable has a conductive "shield, that is grounded and essentially keeps outside electrical noise from getting to your amp, where it would be amplified and sound very bad. Shields are usually made of either copper that is braided around the signal carring conductor of the cable, or a foil that surrounds the conductor.

A speaker wire, does not require a shield because the signal has already been amplified by your amp (it's at a higher voltage than the signal going into your amp), so any stray noise will not be heard through your speakers. Due to the higher voltage/power coming out of your amp, speaker cables require larger gauge wire than is required at the input of your amp.

You should always use unshieled cables to connect your amp to a speakers, and connecting speakers together. You should use shielded cables for any inputs to your amp or effects, mixer, etc. For your footswitch, you can usually use either shielded or unshielded cable (doesn't carry an audible signal, so noise isn't a consideration here)

Balanced cables have a second conductor that helps cancel noise. Because of this, balanced cables will usually be a little quieter than unbalanced, and are usually used for longer cables runs. There are impedance factors involved too, but this is the basic jist of it.

If you are unsure exactly if you have a speaker cable (non-shielded) or an instrument (shielded) cable, here's a quick and easy check. Simply unscrew the cap/strain-relief of one end of the cable and inspect the connections to 1/4" plug. One wire will be soldered to the center of the jack (signal) and the other connection is the key. You will most likely see a shield or drain wire soldered to the outer connection of the plug if the cable is shielded. Also, the outer cable jacket is usually have some text stating if it is an instrument (shielded) or a speaker cable - be sure you look there first.

 

[Sanchez]

So what would be the outcome if I Just used unballanced cable for everything? Something like Canare GS-6 Instrument Cable.

I'm planning to make my own cables and want to make sure I know what cables and connectors to order.

Is Mogami W3103 2cond. Speaker Cable the kind of ballanced/unshielded cable you are talking about for my speakers and switched?

Sanchez

 

[ylo]

Low impedance balanced cables are used for studio microphones, for example most condenser mics. Another term for this is "differential," meaning that the mic has a separate positive and negative signal wire as well as a ground (note the three pins). The amplifier (usually a mixer board) generally has a differential operation amplifier IC at the input, which only responds to the difference in voltage between the positive wire and negative wire. Radio frequency interference or other induced electrical noise usually appears on BOTH signal lines, and is not amplified because the instantaneous difference is zero volts for these signals.

There are a few low impedance guitars with balanced outputs on the market, for example the original Les Paul Studio (as I recall, anyway), but not many. If you want to use low impedance balanced cable, you can add opamps (active electronics) or a transformer to your guitar. The advantage of this is that you can run a really long guitar cable without treble rolloff or picking up radio stations etc. Of course all stompbox effects units are designed for unbalanced cable.

Summary:

Balanced, shielded: for microphones and for professional line-level mixing equipment designed for balanced connections.

Unbalanced, shielded: guitar or line level signals, cheaper vocal mics. DO NOT USE FOR SPEAKER CONNECTIONS, CAN FRY YOUR AMP OUTPUT TUBES.

Unbalanced, unshielded: Used for speaker connections (mostly). Heavier is better for speakers. Just make sure you use a cable designed to connect amp head to speaker, label it and keep it separate from regular guitar cables.

 

[Tuna141]

Unbalanced will be fine for everything. The Canare GS-6 you mentioned looks like a good choice for your instrument and rack interconnection cables, and the Magami W3103 would be a great choice for your speaker cable, and it is 12AWG, which is nice and heavy/thick.

As for the footswitch, the 12AWG speaker wire will work fine, but may be a little overkill (you can get away with a smaller wire -say 16-18AWG).


I've been thinking about making some more cables myself, and found a site that seems to have a decent cable and connector selection (including Mogami & Canre) and good pricing: http://www.redco.com/

Good luck...

 

[Sanchez]

So because the switched don't carry a audio signal there is no reason to use good cable?

I have some ready made cables that I have been using for my current amp and g-major which I know are not great quality cables but I assume they will be plenty good for the switches. I have 3 of them so that should cover that.

So by the sounds of it I need to now concentrate on getting the best quality cable for the rest of it.

I too was looking at redco.com but there are so many different plugs to choose from which one is the right one??? :shock:

Also, how do you put them together? Do you need to solder the cables on or do they screw together?

Sanchez

 

[Tuna141]

The switch cable carries no audio, so it doesn't have to be shielded (but it won't hurt if it is), nor does it have to be a very heavy gauge. Yes, you can use your crappy/noisy instrument cables for your foot switch. I usually do the same thing for all my footswitches - might as well put those crappy cables to use rather than throw them out.

I really didn't look that closely at the connectors listed on the Redco.com site. I assume that they sell both types (solder & screw-in types). When I make my cables, I will use solder connections.