Pseudo-balanced cables . . . how much???

[n o i s e f l e ur]

So I need to get some pseudo-balanced cables to hook up unbalanced synth outputs to the balanced ouputs of my interface . . . and on checking online I see SoS are out of stock (no longer carry?) and the alternatives thrown up by Google seem to be in the range of £40 a pop.

Say it isn't so! (To be fair they look like decent quality cables, Neutrik connectors etc)

Anyone have a line on more economical alternatives?

Cheers!

[Sam Spoons]

Talk to http://orchid-electronics.co.uk or make your own. £40 sounds seriously overpriced to me.

[n o i s e f l e ur]

Good man Mr. Spoons!

Yeah, it does seem a tad on the steep side no? It's this place, for ref;

https://www.designacable.com/catalog/ca ... ed/id/217/

Of course, the fact the site has "design" right there in the name's probably worth a few quid extra just on the magickal strength of the word alone. The kit does look competent at least. I probably should have included that the price was per pair, which I'm sure has quite a large bearing on whether they're exorbitant or not.

I'll have to make a quick inventory of my specific needs and shoot Orchid a message then. Thanks Sam .

[Hugh Robjohns]

IMHO £40 a pair is a little pricey but not madly so.

Making these cables properly to genuine professional standards is very fiddly work.

The SOS ones use a surface-mount resistor and capacitor and are built uniquely for us by the Neutrik UK distributor to ensure they are of the highest quality and reliability.

Although this type of cable doesn't seem to be available from any mainstream commercial suppliers, some of the bespoke cable-makers will do them to order, although few build them correctly in my experience... If you're handy with a soldering iron they can be done DIY, but it's a real challenge to get both the capacitor and resistor in there!

Oh... and bear in mind that pseudo-balanced cables are only of use with synths that have grounded power supplies. If used with synths that have double-insulated supplies (most of those with wall-warts) it will usually make unwanted noises worse!

[ConcertinaChap]

And in defence of Designacable they do make very good cables. I have some of their mic cables and I can't fault them.

CC

[Sam Spoons]

£40 for a pair doesn't sound too unreasonable (I'd assumed a single cable) when a decent mic cable costs at least £10-15.

[Peevy]

+1 for designacable. Fast delivery, excellent quality and great options for customisation, length, colour, boot colour etc.

If buying in pairs, I order one with a blue boot and one with a red boot to easily distinguish left and right.

[Hugh Robjohns]

The BBC tradition is red and green for left and right, same as navigation lights on ships and planes.

Hosa cables often use grey and orange. Hi-Fi uses white and red, and there are probably several other 'standards' floating about, too...

[Drew Stephenson]

Which has just led me to think that, in live sound, designating one side of the stage port and the other starboard could help prevent a lot of left/right/audience-view/stage-view confusion.

Admittedly probably just to replace it with port/starboard confusion instead...

[John Willett]

The BBC tradition is red and green, same as navigation lights on ships and planes.

But you have to be careful.

Red and Green - Red = left and Green = right.

Red and any other colour - Red = right.

[Kwackman]

The BBC tradition is red and green, same as navigation lights on ships and planes.

But you have to be careful.

Red and Green - Red = left and Green = right.

Red and any other colour - Red = right.

I hope you don't take up flying or sailing as a new hobby!

[Aural Reject]

+1 for designacable. Fast delivery, excellent quality and great options for customisation, length, colour, boot colour etc.

Yep - I've got some of theirs, alongside getting other custom stuff from Direct Cable Systems.

[Mike Shand]

Is it certain that these designacable “pseudo balanced” cables have the resistor and cap as in the SOS ones? I can’t see any mention of it on their website and they sound as if they are just floating screen.

[Sam Spoons]

The BBC tradition is red and green, same as navigation lights on ships and planes.

But you have to be careful.

Red and Green - Red = left and Green = right.

Red and any other colour - Red = right.

I hope you don't take up flying or sailing as a new hobby!

Already did (as an old hobby) I usually stick to Red is Right as I only have one set of Red/Green colour coded cables and they are short XLRs usually used to connect the mixer outs to the sub x-over inputs. It does grate slightly doing it though.......

Is it certain that these designacable “pseudo balanced” cables have the resistor and cap as in the SOS ones? I can’t see any mention of it on their website and they sound as if they are just floating screen.

I'm sure it's a question they'd be happy to answer. If you're dubious an email to Jon at Orchid would get you exactly what you need at a very reasonable price in my experience.

[n o i s e f l e ur]

Well chaps, what can I say? I ask, and I receive. So I reckon I'll say thanks - and peace be upon you!

Seriously though, great info and a much needed contemporary perspective supplied. It's been bloody years since I had to get new leads and had no idea where current pricing is at, or what constituted "reasonable" for quality stuff . . . and that's the other part of the equation, in that this is the first time I'm even attempting to pay attention to the quality of the cabling, so that alone brings a little sticker-shock.

Glad to hear Designacable are alright actually, as aside from my own ignorance on pricing they seemed fairly legit on the quality front, and not absolutely silly audiophile balderdash. Just a little spendy compared to my previous cheapskate habits!

Cheers Hugh for the deeper detail on PSUs. You can add to that our discussion from the other thread on stepdown transformers and the fact I've a few US/JPN units the grounding of which is a mystery to me. So I expect it won't be a one-size-fits-all situation with the PB-cables and I may need different strategies for different kit.

Or an actual full-studio grounding plan. It should be stressed that I'm not encountering any issues at present, even using unbalanced lines - but I haven't hooked everything up in anything close to a finished state yet so thought it might be prudent to get some PB cables since I need cables anyway. I'll grab some balanced while I'm at it and hope I cover my needs with some to spare.

Scary though . . . even my modest setup's looking like a fair old whack of cash, especially when I add in decent MIDI cables too.

Ya know, sometimes I wish I had a cheaper interest . . . like amateur motorsports or yachting or something.

[Aural Reject]

Scary though . . . even my modest setup's looking like a fair old whack of cash, especially when I add in decent MIDI cables too.

Ya know, sometimes I wish I had a cheaper interest . . . like amateur motorsports or yachting or something.

I feel your pain...I’ve just done my first stock check for years after adding bits piecemeal...turns out I’ve got about £2k worth of shockmounts

[n o i s e f l e ur]

Don't get me started on shockmounts. I would like, but cannot currently afford, shockmounts.

I looked at the prices . . . with mounting shock.

[ConcertinaChap]

Shockmounts are easy. You only have to remember one word: Rycote.

CC

Edited to add PS: OK, Rycote shockmounts aren't cheap either but they're not expensive when you compare them to some (I might mention Neumann here ...) and they jolly well work.

[Sam Spoons]

Ya know, sometimes I wish I had a cheaper interest . . . like amateur motorsports or yachting or something.

Even a modest one of these costs more than the National Debt of a medium sized country

[John Willett]

I hope you don't take up flying or sailing as a new hobby!

You *really* have to be careful if you take up sailing.

Remember - Red and Green - Red = left and Green = right.

In the UK, Europe (and most of the world I believe) harbour beacons are marked red on the left when ENTERING the harbour.

In the USA beacons are marked red on the left when LEAVING the harbour - the opposite.

If you are unaware you could be on the rocks.

[Sam Spoons]

Another good reason for not visiting then

[jimjazzdad]

I hope you don't take up flying or sailing as a new hobby!

You *really* have to be careful if you take up sailing.

Remember - Red and Green - Red = left and Green = right.

In the UK, Europe (and most of the world I believe) harbour beacons are marked red on the left when ENTERING the harbour.

In the USA beacons are marked red on the left when LEAVING the harbour - the opposite.

If you are unaware you could be on the rocks.

All of the Americas and most of Southeast Asia are in IALA (International Association of Lighthouse Authorities) Region B so, as you note, buoys are marked red on the left when LEAVING the harbour. I use the mnemonic "Red right returning" (from the sea). I assume the IALA regions have different marking schemes to help people who are like Columbus to avoid repeating his mistake. As the Tom Lewis sings in his great shanty Marching Inland:
"Columbus he set-sail to find out if the world was round,
He kept on sailing to the West until he ran aground,
He thought he'd found The Indies but he'd found the U.S.A.,
I know some navigators who can still do that today."

PS: I use the Neutrik XLR colour rings on my mic cables and follow the same protocol as Hugh and the Beeb. But when I use those unbalanced RCA twin cables that are coded red & white, red always goes to the right channel...go figure!

[Aural Reject]

Shockmounts are easy. You only have to remember one word: Rycote.

CC

Edited to add PS: OK, Rycote shockmounts aren't cheap either but they're not expensive when you compare them to some (I might mention Neumann here ...) and they jolly well work.

They’re the badgers

When I bought my TLM170Rs a few years ago my only really option were the EA170s that went with them...and at the time I also got some EA2124A for my KM series mics.

I’ve subsequently started using Rycotes for everything they’ll fit...and despite the money I’ve spent, saved myself a fortune vs manufacturer’s own....

[Sam Spoons]

I hope you don't take up flying or sailing as a new hobby!

You *really* have to be careful if you take up sailing.

Remember - Red and Green - Red = left and Green = right.

In the UK, Europe (and most of the world I believe) harbour beacons are marked red on the left when ENTERING the harbour.

In the USA beacons are marked red on the left when LEAVING the harbour - the opposite.

If you are unaware you could be on the rocks.

All of the Americas and most of Southeast Asia are in IALA (International Association of Lighthouse Authorities) Region B so, as you note, buoys are marked red on the left when LEAVING the harbour. I use the mnemonic "Red right returning" (from the sea). I assume the IALA regions have different marking schemes to help people who are like Columbus to avoid repeating his mistake. As the Tom Lewis sings in his great shanty Marching Inland:
"Columbus he set-sail to find out if the world was round,
He kept on sailing to the West until he ran aground,
He thought he'd found The Indies but he'd found the U.S.A.,
I know some navigators who can still do that today."

A perfect example of a system designed by a committee.....

[n o i s e f l e ur]

IMHO £40 a pair is a little pricey but not madly so.

Making these cables properly to genuine professional standards is very fiddly work.

The SOS ones use a surface-mount resistor and capacitor and are built uniquely for us by the Neutrik UK distributor to ensure they are of the highest quality and reliability.

Although this type of cable doesn't seem to be available from any mainstream commercial suppliers, some of the bespoke cable-makers will do them to order, although few build them correctly in my experience... If you're handy with a soldering iron they can be done DIY, but it's a real challenge to get both the capacitor and resistor in there!

Oh... and bear in mind that pseudo-balanced cables are only of use with synths that have grounded power supplies. If used with synths that have double-insulated supplies (most of those with wall-warts) it will usually make unwanted noises worse!

Having thougt about this a bit more, it occurs to me to ask if you guys intend to restock your own PB-cables in the near future?

Further to my earlier comments about US/JPN equipment, I think I really only have a couple of pieces that may cause issues - one is a Euro rackmount that's been converted to JPN at some point and has the power cable attached internally to whatever assembly they bolted to the back of the unit terminating in a 2-prong US/JPN mains plug. The other uses a wallwart (which itself accepts 110/220v (120/240v).

These would currently be connected to an RME UCX (balanced inputs) - the rackmount with the 2-prong gets its power from the Bronson stepdown transformer, don't know what that does from this perspective.

Like I said, I'm not currently (haha!) experiencing any issues re: hum / ground loops . . . but would like to have a few PB cables in the locker to (hopefully!) address any issues that may arise when I scale up my I/O and get everything hooked up properly.