Audio Cables;

General Information
NOTE: The information here relates to semi-professional and professional musical/audio gear
that is used in live performances; Where the gear is set-up for a performance, then later taken
down to be moved somewhere else for another performance. It does not attempt to discuss
cabling and wiring for component and home audio systems that are infrequently moved from
their locations.
12/97 updated 10/03 - Jens Moller http://www.colomar.com/Shavano/audio_cables.html

What is the best cable to buy? This is a loaded question that cannot be answered by simply
mentioning a brand. Like everything else a musician or singer faces, the answer all depends on
what you are doing.
Before we get into any discussions about what makes cables good and what makes them bad, let
me give you a simple fact of life: For every cable you have that is not pre-wired inside of a
cabinet, it will eventually fail. It makes no difference who made it, or how well they put it
together - eventually, you, or someone who is working around it, will do something to cause it to
fail. The problem is that you cannot plan for every possible thing that might happen to you and
build a cable that will not fail somewhere along the line as a result. You can certainly buy or
make cables that will hold up better than others, and there are cables out there that are such
garbage to begin with that using them is asking for trouble.
Let me also mention that there are differing opinions about some of the High-End Audiophile
cables. If you feel that there is a difference in the sound based on your experiences with this type
of cable, and want to use it - please feel free to do so. I have been involved in blind listening
tests, and I couldn't tell the difference between the ultra high end cables and the middle of the
road good quality cables. I personally don't believe the hype that is associated with them. This
article will deal with good quality cables, but at no time will I reccomend these high end cables If you want to use them, go ahead, there is nothing wrong with them - I just don't feel you will
gain much for the extra cost involved.

Sudden Cable Death Syndrome (SCDS)

Its always interesting to evaluate the conditions that your cables can fail under to discover what
you might be able to do to avoid Sudden Cable Death Syndrome (SCDS) - rest assured they will
all eventually need some sort of repair, unless, of course, you never use them.
The following are common SCDS instances that I have experienced:

Stepping on one of the connector covers.

Tripping over wires (tearing wires out of connectors).

Corroded wire junctions (usually where the wire and connector join).

Running the wheels of a heavy case over wires lying on the floor.

Putting something heavy on wires that are laying on the floor, then moving what ever the
other end of the cable is plugged into.

Dropping a heavy case on wires.

Failure of connector.

Eventual internal stretching of cable, breaking one or more wires inside the cable.

What it the lesson here? Its that bad things typically happen to cables that are lying on the floor,
unattended. You can avoid people tripping over them if you use Duct-Tape (or other fabric based
tape at least 2 inches wide) to hold things down to where you want them to be. There is nothing
you can do to prevent people from stepping on the cables or the connectors (you'll even do it
yourself a few times) - but you can use connectors that have metal covers (not plastic) where the
wire junctions are. You can also route bundles of wires behind areas where there is high traffic reduce the opportunity for the damage to occur in the first place. Treat these things with respect,
but realize that cables cannot be protected from everything.
Also, never forget that the jacks that your cables plug into will also eventually fail too - You
might as well become more familiar with where the problems are and how to protect yourself
when SCDS comes knocking on your cable case.

Components and failure points of an audio cable

There are usually only 3 main parts to any cable. The 2 ends, and the wire in between them. I'll
refer to this arrangement as a circuit. Sometimes a number of cables are combined into a larger
collection of cables, called a snake. Snakes are useful because it brings a large group of
connectors over to a given area all at once - If you build a snake, always add a few spare circuits
to allow for the inevitable dead lines that will appear over time.
A Cable may, or may not have the same types of connectors on both ends. For audio work, these
are often 1/4 inch Phone Jacks, XLR connectors and RCA Phono-Jacks. Don't let the names fool
you - These were named a long time ago for the function they served then, and the name remains
even if you are using it for something different. Some speaker cabinets use unique connectors
that limit the type of cable that can be plugged into them - this is good in the sense that you
probably won't hook the wrong things up to the wrong cables, but since connector failure is very
common, you will need to find sources of these connectors for repair purposes and making spare

cables. I often need cables with different connectors on each end to allow me to use devices that
happen to have different connectors on them. This can be a royal pain to deal with, but over time,
you will probably accumulate a few adapter type cables to allow you to do this.
The connectors and the wire junction points at the connectors is probably responsible for 90% of
all SCDS failures. Most frequently, these are where the flex points are and the wire breaks right
where it is attached to the connector. From the outside, everything looks just fine, once the
connector cover is removed, then you find one or more broken wires. As long as the connector is
in good shape, and the connector allows for it, this is repairable. Connectors that are molded
together are not repairable - you have to cut the end off and solder in a new connector. People
who tug on the wire to pull the connector out of a jack contribute to wire breaks at the connector
- Never tug on the wire part of a cable to disconnect it. Get hold of the connector and pull it,
not the wire. Stepping on a connector, while it is plugged in, or exerting sideways pull on a cable
can cause the riveted parts of a connector to get loose - this is bad, as it now creates a loose
connection that will eventually become worse over time. When this happens, cut the damaged
connector off and throw it away - replacing it with a new one that is at least as good quality as
the one you removed.
The wire inside the cable needs to retain its original design qualities, otherwise, its use will
become unpredictable. While 90% of cable failures happen at the junction of the connector and
the wire, the rest of the problems often end up somewhere within the wire itself - and in case you
didn't notice, you usually can't see into the wire to find the damage. Wire is designed to have a
specific electrical resistance and a specific capacitance for a given length of wire. The resistance
can change if a wire gets stretched to the point where the wires inside actually start to break. The
capacitance can change as the result of heavy things running over or being dropped onto the
wire. These problems are amplified when you use sub-standard (junk) cabling. You want the
lowest resistance possible as well as the lowest capacitance - you don't want to alter the
characteristics of the wire, otherwise, the sound can change. This is far more an issue with low
level audio cables (those used for microphones and musical instruments) than cables that are
used to drive speaker cabinets, however, if you are paying for quality cables - you want to keep
them functional.

Quality connectors
1/4 inch Phone Connectors:

I prefer Switch-Craft connectors. I have bought connectors from Radio Shack and other
hardware sources, however few connectors can stand up to the abuse that the far more expensive
Switch-Craft can. I'm amazed at how often a cable failure occurs out in the middle of no-where,
and when it happens, your only source of repair parts may be the local Radio Shack. You'll be
thankful to get anything at times, however, you get what you pay for. I purchase these in bulk by
mail order if I know that I am going to spend a quiet weekend with my soldering iron repairing
cables. Even when you buy the good stuff, throw damaged connectors away if you are forced to
remove the connector - don't re-introduce a problem that you solved before. This type of

connector is often referred to as a single wire connector - the ring tip is the signal wire, and the
rest of the connector is the signal ground.
XLR connectors:

These are typically used in microphone circuits, and PA system cabling. Other applications for
them appear, depending on what hardware you are using. The cables that use XLR's at both ends
usually have a Male connector at one end, and a Female Connector at the other. The great benefit
from this is that you can string these together by simply plugging a number of cables together. If
used in Low Impedance settings, this does not cause much in the way of problems - cable length
becomes more of an issue for high impedance circuits. Usually, there are 2 signal wires that
connect to pins in the connector, where the last pin and the rest of the connector is the signal
ground. There are a few different ways to correctly wire this cable, so if you are unsure, you may
want to open up one end of a specific connector and mark down the which pins go to what.
These don't normally see the abuse that 1/4 inch phone connectors do, but a crushed one will not
work (it happens to the best of us).
RCA Phono Connectors:

Of all connectors that are prone to noise problems, this is probably the number one source of bad
connections. These were originally designed to assemble component audio systems (long before
Stereo). At that time, you would connect everything up, then you wouldn't touch anything for
years, maybe even decades. These don't cost very much to make and builders of gear that might
be hooked into an audio system that probably don't have to get re-wired frequently can easily get
away with this form of connector. The problem I have experienced is that I'm often in a position
that I have to use something that has these connectors on it and I will frequently be connecting
and disconnecting everything. You can't solve this problem by using gold plated connectors, the
problem is that a good signal connection depends upon a good friction fit of the connectors over time the plug and the jack stop fitting well and you may be forced to replace the jacks that
are mounted in the gear. This type of connector is usually destroyed if anyone steps on it. On
some of my gear, I have replaced the RCA Phono Jacks with 1/4 inch Phone Jacks, or wired an
RCA Phono Plug into a 1/4 inch Phone Jack, simply so I can use a more reliable connection
method.
Other Connectors: There must be 50 different random audio connectors on the market. I have
quite a collection of odd sized and very uncommon connectors (you should see the one on my
early 1960s Shure Microphone - I defy you to find a replacement - I bought one in a surplus store
in Los Angeles in 1975; they only had one left and I've never seen another for sale anywhere)
The more common ones will be 1/8 inch monophonic and 1/8 inch stereo Phone connectors.
There are smaller ones than this too. You will find that these connectors do not appear on gear
designed for semi-professional or professional musical gear too often, but, never put it past the

manufacturers to sneak one in where you would least expect it. Also, I sometimes use gear that
was never intended for pro-audio use; you might find some gear that is musically quite useful for
a recording or use in your music - these frequently have peculiar connectors on them.
Gold Plated Connectors: For the person who frequently plugs and unplugs connectors, the gold
plating will wear off pretty quickly and in my opinion, you are wasting your money. If you are
wiring up an assembly that the wiring never changes in, then you can use them. The benefit is
that Gold does not tarnish and as such does have the potential of giving you a better electrical
contact. I doubt that you will find many semi-pro and pro quality musicians gear that use gold
plated connectors - these more typically appear on high end Audiophile home sound systems that
don't get reconnected frequently. For the working musician, you really don't need Gold plated
connectors for anything.

Wire
The 3 electrical components of wire are:

Resistance

Capacitance

Inductance

High resistance will decrease the audio signal. High capacitance will roll off high frequency
response and high inductance can alter the tones in various ways, depending on the circuit they
are inserted into.
All cable wire will color the signal (ie. alter the tone in some way) and usually this is a result of
the resistance and capacitance of the wire - mostly the capacitance. To give you an analogy, the
tone control of most guitars (ie. those without out an active pre-amp stage) use an variable
resistor (the tone control) and a capacitor. The capacitor shunts (rolls off) high frequency audio
and substantially alters the tone. Your audio cables have the same effect - every cable has some
quantity of capacitance, and will roll off the high end frequencies to some degree. Your goal is to
find wire with the least resistance and the lowest capacitance.
Resistance is typically measured per thousand feet (around 310 meters). Good wire will be under
100 ohms per 1000 feet. Capacitance is typically measured per foot, and the effect is additive as
the cable gets longer. Good cable is typically under 100 pf (picofarads) per foot. Inductance of
the wire will vary depending on how the wire is laying - of you leave it coiled up, the inductance
will be higher than if you uncoil it. For this reason, you should use the appropriate length of wire
for the given job and have different lengths in your cable box. Inductors are used in cross-over
networks to roll off high frequency signals - ie, they are used to throw away high frequency
signals and drive Woofers within thier specified frequency range.
Many semi-pro and professional microphones are low impedance - by that I mean the
microphone is designed to connect to a pre-amp thats impedance runs at under 1000 ohms. High

impedance input stages run from 20,000 ohms and up (usually 50,000 ohms or more). You need
to match impedances with the gear. Low impedance connections tend to be lower noise and can
use fairly long runs of cable (50 to 100 feet are not uncommon). High Impedance (which
includes practically all guitars, electronic keyboards, Synth modules and outboard gear - such as
stomp boxes) should all use the shortest cable runs possible (25 feet or less). I'm a great fan of
wireless systems (I have 2 Nady systems), because they extend my guitar cable length without
the restrictions associated with high impedance wire.

Low impedance cables typically have 2 conductors and a ground (2 central wires and a shield) these are balanced connections.

High impedance cables typically have 1 conductor and a ground (1 central wire and a shield).

Speaker cables typically have 2 conductors and no shield.

The rule of where to use shielded wire and where not to is simple - any audio cable that drives
speakers directly is not shielded. All other audio cables should be shielded.
If you are going to wire up a recording studio, I suggest that you scope out all of your cables and
buy lowest resistance/capacitance you can find, and go out of your way to use the same cable
through-out similar circuits in your system. For the average working musician, its unlikely that
you will be able to afford to do the same thing - again, buy the best wire that you can afford.
Just so you don't think that you have to go broke buying cables, I have quite a few cables made
using midrange shielded cable that originated from Radio Shack. These work fine, just keep in
mind that Radio Shack sells a lot of low end wire products that are not intended for long runs or

the level of abuse most musicians and vocalists will give them. These are fine for the hobbyist
market - You get what you pay for.
For speaker cables, I find that 18, 16 and 14 gauge zip wire (depending on the length of the run
and wattage of the system) works fine for small to midrange systems. I carry different lengths,
trying to match the length to the need. Don't leave big coils of speaker wire anywhere when
using speaker cables - this will reduce your high frequency response.

If you are driving an audio system outputting under 500 watts RMS, and your speaker
wire runs are under 100 feet, use 18 gauge zip cord.

If you are under 500 watts RMS and greater than 100 feet, but under 250 feet of wire, use
16 gauge zip cord.

If you are between 500 and 2000 watts RMS and under 100 feet of speaker wire runs, use
16 gauge zip cord.

If you are between 500 and 2000 watts RMS and and greater than 100 feet, but under 250
feet of speaker wire runs, use 14 gauge wire (zip cord or other).

If in excess of 2000 watts, you should refer to the documentation associated with your PA
system power amplifiers and use what they reccomend.

If you are running a 12,000 watt Audio system and don't know what cables to use, you need to
discuss this with whoever you bought or rented your gear from - you may need big wires and
they should be matched to the need. You can always use heavier wire than I reccomend here, but
you shouldn't use lighter wire. Keep in mind that the low-frequency response speakers will be
sucking up the power, not the midrange or high frequency cabinets. If you are biamping (ie.
using a separate audio power amp for the highs and the lows), you can use lighter wire for the
midrange and high frequency speakers. I suggest that you never use less than 18 gauge wire for
speaker wires.

Avoiding Ground Loops

Sometimes you'll have cables that are not fully connected to the connectors. This is done on
purpose - they are specifically assembled to minimize ground loops. Without going into the
details of what a ground loop is, the cable used to avoid it is typically a high impedance cable
where the center wire is connected to the center tap of each connector, but the shield is only
attached at one of the connectors (it doesn't matter which one). These are used on systems where
the system ground is supplied by the power-supply or chassis connections. The cables used for
this purpose are usually 3 feet (approx 1 meter) or less in length. If you have cables of this
nature, make sure that you mark them to differentiate these cables from standard cables - you
cannot use one of these in place of a regular cable if there is only a single connection from the
device (such as a guitar or keyboard - they will appear as open circuits to the input stages of your
amplifier)..

Ground loops cause hum and other objectional noise in the signal path. If you are wiring up a
rack mounted PA system with numerous outboard effects, it is likely that some of these
connections will benefit from these specialized cables. The rule is simple, if you already are
providing a ground connection from one device to another thru a normal cable, the rest of the
cables used between the devices should be of the type where the shield is only connected on one
of the ends. I don't know of any companies who make these up - you will probably have to make
them up yourself.

Less Desirable Audio Cables

What constitutes a bad cable? The following are common problem cables that I have run across.
I find that cables with pre-molded connectors tend to fail with incredible regularity. I tend to use
those that have RCA Phono Plug on them until they fail, then I replace them with a soldered on
RCA Phono Plug. I don't reccomend ever using a cable with molded 1/4 inch Phone Plugs. In
general - Plugs that are have molded ends may look nice, but they normally fail at the junction of
the wire and connector.
Some low end cables use a kind of flimsy copper wire woven in with what looks like cotton or
polyester - these have very poor shields and are very high capacitance - Even worse, they are unrepairable. If you ever encounter one after it has failed (these tend to fail very quickly), throw it
out.
Cables that are self retracting (spiral wound) are often made of with the wire noted above (there
are good quality versions, but these are not commonly available). While the self retracting
quality is very nice to have, very few of them will last very long or have good sonic qualities. If
they have molded ends, you can depend on them to fail quickly - the stress on these junctions is
pretty high and the cable is always attempting to pull itself apart. It will eventually succeed. You
may find quality cables of this nature, but they will be very expensive.
Some cables are not designed for high traffic audio applications - these then to have a shield that
is a single strand of wire with a wrap of what appears to be aluminum foil around it. These don't
handle flexing very well - they were designed to be mounted into a chassis, or stapled inside a
wall - they will not hold up well unless used in an area where they are rarely unplugged or
moved. In general, these also tend to become microphonic - this is where noise is generated
within the cable itself and when it is moved or stepped on, it makes noise. You don't need this
kind of problem.

I'm going to buy my cables, what should I buy?

Many music shops that cater to semi-pro and professional musicians will sell everything from the
low end junk cables to high end cables. I suggest that you try the midrange cables versus the high
end cables and see if you can actually tell any difference in the shop (if you are a guitar or
keyboard player, use the same guitar or Keyboard into the same amplifier with the same settings
- swapping out the cable to see if you can hear anything different as you test the cable.

Next, look at the connectors and see if they are flimsy or if they appear to be solid and heavy
duty. Reject any that do not use all metal covers. Many will have heat-shrink tubing applied to
reduce the stress on the connector/wire junctions. The wire should be reasonably heavy (as much
as 1/4 inch thick for high impedance cables, sometimes a little thinner for low impedance cables
with XLR connectors. Some of these cables have warenttees - this may be justification enough
for buying a specific cable; if it breaks they will replace it. Does the cost justify this? You have to
decide what its worth to you. High end cables are sold with the expectation that they will
experience some rough handling, also the wire resistance and capacitance will be as low as
possible.

I'm going make some of my cables, what should I buy?

Look for quality connectors and buy quality wire. I've listed a number of guidelines (above)
concerning the resistance and capacitance of the wire itself. Also, I've listed some guidelines
about selecting the proper gauges of speaker wire (Zip Cord). You'll need to learn how to solder
and not damage connectors and wire as you assemble or repair the cable.
The most difficult part seems to be stripping the wire and dealing with woven/braided shielding.
There isn't space in this article to cover the joys of wire stripping, however once proficient, you
can make cables that match exactly what you need. This is very useful if you need many short
cables or specialty cables.
Always remember to slide the cover onto the end of the wire before you solder the connections;
otherwise, you'll have to remove the connector to add the cover, then re-solder it again (I still do
this occasionally - its quite irritating). Also verify that you slid the cover on the right way.
You should always use electrical tape around the wires that attach to the center taps of the
connectors; avoiding short circuits in your cabling. Think about any stress points in the cable use tape to provide additional connector/wire support where appropriate.

Simple guidelines
Low impedance balenced sheilded wiring needs only lightweight cable (20 or 22 gauge is
plenty). These cables are often 25 feet to 200 feet long - unbalenced low impedance devices can
use very long cables with very few noise problems. Most audio snakes depend on this.
20 or 22 gauge works well for most single conductor sheilded low level signals (guitar or
keyboard cables). Long runs of single conductor cable (more than 25 feet), can be a problem for
low level signals like a guitar, but is not a problem for line level devices, like the output of a
mixer (being connected to a power amp). Quality cable (for example, the brand Beldon is good,
provided you get Audio cabling, and not cable for digital applications) makes a huge difference.

Any cable being used for speakers should not be sheilded, but rather be 2 or
more conductors that are 18 guage wire or thicker. Thicker is better to a
point, however its better to move the power amps closer to the speakers than
to run longer speaker cables with heavy wires. If the speaker wiring is built
into a wall (ie, not moveable), you can use solid wire (as used for house
electrical wiring). In all other cases, it should be flexable/stranded wire.
If you are using 14 gauge or heavier wire, you should not be using 1/4 inch
jacks (they can only handle about 500 watts) - look at Speakons (these can
handle 2000 watts) instead.

Speakons

General thoughts
If you have a cable that you depend on, and you only have one of them, rest assured, it will fail
when you need it most (probably when a talent scout for a record company came just to hear you
and is in the audience). I suggest that you have a spare for every type of cable that you have in
your cable case. For a large PA system, you might need to carry as many as 100 cables. Even if
you only play guitar or keyboards, it is a good idea to carry at least one spare cable for every
cable you normally use.
I like to mark my cables with colored tape at the ends - this allows me to uniquely identify my
cables - it also helps keep people from swiping your cables, or maybe swapping their bad one
with your good one.
I have a bag that I throw dead cables in when I find them. This helps me track them after a
practice or show and allows me to get them fixed. I usually have at least 50 audio cables with me
at any one time - they all really look pretty much the same when you stare into your case trying
to remember which grey or black cable was not working last Friday night.
A cheap ohm-meter is a valuable investment when it comes to tracing down problems in your
cabling. It can be used to find short circuits and open circuits. Its also good to help figure out
which wires go to a given set of pins on an XLR connector or a special connector that you may
need to make a duplicate spare cable of.
Lastly, cables can turn out to be a substantial investment. I get real touchy about people not
treating them well. You should too. Its easy to invest several hundred dollars in cables that can all
be ruined by poor handling or lack of protection during transit. Its your money - take care of
them.