Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

txSDR
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Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby txSDR » Sat Apr 11, 2020 3:18 am

Can anyone point me to the best (most shielded, well made) cable to connect my XLR dynamic mic (EV RE-20) to the 1/8" plug on the front of my Anan 7000 DLE MK II? I'm using a cable that I bought from HRO when I purchased my radio, but judging by it's thickness it's not very well shielded if it is at all.

I seem to be getting RF in my TX audio and one of the obvious areas for improvement is the dinky cable I'm using. It's basically a very thin cable with XLR female on one end and 1/8" TRS male on the other end. It came with an adapter at the TRS end that provides a connection for keying the radio that you can use it with or without.

This is the cable I'm using: I can't believe I paid $50 bucks + shipping for it. https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=71-002544

Thanks for any suggestions.
TxSDR
txSDR
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Re: Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby txSDR » Sat Apr 11, 2020 4:04 pm

Thanks for the reply - just reviewed the post you shared.

Anyone have a link to a balanced XLR female to 1/8" male cable with pins 2 and 3 bonded on both ends? It doesn't seem like I can rip apart the cable I bought from HRO to see if it has those two wires bonded on both ends.

I realize that alternatively, I could run my RE-20 into a USB audio interface and feed Thetis transmit audio that way, but for now - with a single i7 laptop that usually runs around 45-50% CPU - I think I should keep running in via the front. USB audio interface is going to add load on my PC on top of everything else is it not?

Ideally, when the doom and gloom is over - and it's safe to spend big bucks on frivolous things like my radio hobby again, I hope to build a very high power PC with dedicated GPU to run my 7000 and USB audio.
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w-u-2-o
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Re: Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat Apr 11, 2020 4:52 pm

txSDR wrote:Anyone have a link to a balanced XLR female to 1/8" male cable with pins 2 and 3 bonded on both ends?
I've never seen one. Your best bet is to buy a professional XLR to 1/4" TRS cable from pretty much anywhere and modify it yourself. Don't buy a cable with molded backshells. Most "pro" audio cables will have mechanical backshells. Unscrew the backshell, solder/resolder as required, add a stereo 1/4" to 1/8" adapter at one end and you will be good. However, one of the Neutrik gizmos will only run you about $30 though, just sayin' ;)

I realize that alternatively, I could run my RE-20 into a USB audio interface and feed Thetis transmit audio that way, but for now - with a single i7 laptop that usually runs around 45-50% CPU - I think I should keep running in via the front. USB audio interface is going to add load on my PC on top of everything else is it not?
It won't hardly make a difference.
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w3frg
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Re: Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby w3frg » Sun Apr 12, 2020 11:41 am

These are available at ComputerCablestore
https://www.computercablestore.com/XLR-Cables-453

Happy Easter
Tom W3FRG
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w-u-2-o
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Re: Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:44 pm

Tom--which one of those cables has the correct pinning and bonding at both ends? And most have molded backshells at the TRS end, so no way to check or modify them.
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w3frg
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Re: Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby w3frg » Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:17 pm

It answers the original request for an XLR to 3.5mm cable.
Somewhere during the many responses, the requirements appear to have changed.

Tom W3FRG
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w-u-2-o
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Re: Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun Apr 12, 2020 5:28 pm

Always pays to read the entire thread of discussion ;)
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w3frg
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Re: Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby w3frg » Sun Apr 12, 2020 6:04 pm

The entire post was read and I submitted what I felt the user originally wanted; Others submitted additional suggestions along the way.
Regarding checking out the pinouts an ol ohm mtr would do the trick.

Happy Easter
Tom W3FRG
Dave30019
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Re: Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby Dave30019 » Sun Apr 12, 2020 9:50 pm

txSDR
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Re: Best XLR to 1/8" cable for mic

Postby txSDR » Tue Apr 14, 2020 2:43 am



He sure does have good info! Thanks for the links. I'm going to build one myself.

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