Are instrument cables that important?

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Posted by Final Call on Mar-14-2011 06:40:

Are instrument cables that important?

Hello all. Have a little question regarding instrument cables and especially microphone cables. For some reason, when i have my mic set up, there tends to be a bunch of noise pickup/bleeding. Before i had a mic floor stand and i figured it was the vibration of the floor (my room set up isn't really acoustically treated)so i bought a table top stand instead. I still get the same "loud" interference. The mic is an Audio-Technica AT2020 and i think i'm using some cheapo XLR cables. When i use a regular dynamic mic, it's not that bad and some of the noise isn't as loud as it is compared to the cardoid. My question here would be how important are cables in order to kill this massive interference. I want to think it'll stop the whole "noise" b/s if i picked up a shockmount for it, but i think i'll be pissed if i spent another 80 or so for a shockmount that is pretty much almost the price of the mic itself; to find out that i'm still getting the same issue. Would it be buying new XLR cables? Shockmount? or would it be just the mic itself?

Posted by BECK on Mar-14-2011 10:36:

i dont know anything about mics but for other sources always use balanced XLR - decent ones like Klotz. And make sure your soundcard is balanced too.

Posted by Final Call on Mar-14-2011 22:36:

quote:
Originally posted by BECK
i dont know anything about mics but for other sources always use balanced XLR - decent ones like Klotz. And make sure your soundcard is balanced too.

hmm, seems like the cable i'm using right now is actually unbalanced.

Posted by BECK on Mar-14-2011 22:41:

i have no idea whether mic-cables exists balanced
i wouldnt know where the ground would come from lol.

Posted by J.L. on Mar-14-2011 22:47:

This has nothing to do with the shockmount. It depends where you are plugging your cables into. It is an impedance mismatch most likely.

Also, it is a good idea to make sure your instrument cables aren't parallel to power cables. Always make them cross perpendicularly.

Take a look at this article:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/all_about_cables.htm

Posted by Final Call on Mar-14-2011 23:03:

quote:
Originally posted by J.L.
This has nothing to do with the shockmount. It depends where you are plugging your cables into. It is an impedance mismatch most likely.

Also, it is a good idea to make sure your instrument cables aren't parallel to power cables. Always make them cross perpendicularly.

Take a look at this article:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/all_about_cables.htm

Hmm, i am using a Focusrite Saffire Pro USB6 and it has a combo jack.

This is the basic cable i'm using directly from the mic to the interface.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Hosa+Te...2&skuId=1126341

Posted by BECK on Mar-14-2011 23:07:

maybe you need to enable phantom power on the soundcard input somehow? i dont know that soundcard but mine has something like that. never tried it though, but i guess that would be right to do on mics and guitars? not even sure what phantom power means but i guess its just an amplify of the signal, like a phono amp for turntables on a dj mixer.

Posted by Final Call on Mar-14-2011 23:11:

quote:
Originally posted by BECK
maybe you need to enable phantom power on the soundcard input somehow? i dont know that soundcard but mine has something like that. never tried it though, but i guess that would be right to do on mics and guitars? not even sure what phantom power means but i guess its just an amplify of the signal, like a phono amp for turntables on a dj mixer.

still really get the same issue. idk. when i use a dynamic mic (some shure mic) it wasn't as "noisy". when i had a usb samson mic, it wasn't as bad as the noise is compared to the AT2020. maybe i'm just being lame and can't accept that my room space has horrible acoustics and sound leaks in from everywhere.

Posted by skyhunter on Mar-15-2011 04:05:

I know from playing guitar cables can be important. It's usually because the cable is frayed or has a notch in it, or the jack plate is loose. Usually I can go from a "noisy" cable to a new one and the noise gets cut back noticeably.

But hey, I'm not a recording engineer. :/

Posted by jupiterone on Mar-15-2011 04:35:

Posted by derail on Mar-15-2011 05:35:

quote:
Originally posted by jupiterone
don't suggest something if you don't know what it does. especially phantom power on mics

Exactly. Phantom power supplies the power to microphones which require it. Some microphones have internal batteries and won't need phantom power.

wikipedia - phantom power

Posted by BECK on Mar-15-2011 19:18:

i was just brainstorming. sorry.