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Post by warrenfirehouse on Jan 14, 2016 10:17:25 GMT -6
So a week ago I am sitting at my desk working on a mix when I hear some crackling coming from my monitors. I check all my connections/gear and everything seems to be right. I then open up uad console to see erratic signal coming in on a bunch of channels. Then it hit me. I run out to my live room to find my 1yr old black lab pup grinning and wagging her tail with shreds of cabling in her mouth and all over the floor. She ate my snake.  Anyway, it was a decent amazon cheapo with neutrik connectors that served me well for a couple of years. Oh well. Any recommendations on a high quality/reasonably priced 50ft 16 channel xlr snake/stage box? |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jan 14, 2016 11:04:02 GMT -6
If the box and connectors are in good shape grab the soldering iron and buy some bulk snake cable from Redco !
Here is the thing more and more affordable snakes use solder less connectors that scare me in the long run.
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Post by dandeurloo on Jan 14, 2016 22:21:29 GMT -6
RicFoxx do you still have that snake for sale?
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Post by svart on Jan 14, 2016 22:36:38 GMT -6
I made my own. I bought used cable and a used box/connectors on Ebay and soldered it together. Cost me less than 40$ for neutrik XLRs, belden snake cable and a switchcraft box/connectors.
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Post by stratboy on Jan 15, 2016 5:31:59 GMT -6
I just bought a short reel, 100 ft, of new Rapco Horizon 54 pr for my studio build. I only need 30 ft. If that 70 ft interests you, PM me. I got a heck of a deal (thanks, ericn!) which I will gladly share.
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Post by RicFoxx on Jan 15, 2016 8:20:55 GMT -6
RicFoxx do you still have that snake for sale? Yes, but it is a 20 ft Mogami box with 8 xlr (4 combi jacks) that fans into 8 trs. Will sell for half of what I paid for it...Ric |
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Post by warrenfirehouse on Jan 15, 2016 8:26:18 GMT -6
Thanks guys. And yes it is clear that diy is the way to go here, and well, just about anywhere in the studio. I unfortunately am completely inept with a soldering iron and my attempts in the past have ended in frustration and failure. Also, in regards to repairing my old one, the one I have is inly 12ch and I need 16 now anyway. I need to change that asap. The more I look into all the great kits around that can be had at fractions of the price of built gear, the more I know its time to nut up and figure out how to swing a damn iron. Unfortunately I have a drum tracking session in two weeks that I need the snake for so I ended up buying this. www.amazon.com/XSPRO-Channel-Audio-Return-16x4x50/dp/B00HCIC8H6Im also going to order a decent iron and in the near future a good beginner diy kit and see if I can make it happen. Thanks for the input fellas! |
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Post by NoFilterChuck on Jan 15, 2016 8:58:48 GMT -6
The best Beginner kit is to build/repair a cable, be it XLR or TRS.
Unscrew the cap, desolder one of the wires, then resolder it back on. That's all you need to do!
Don't be afraid of looking up a youtube video that shows how to solder.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jan 15, 2016 9:21:31 GMT -6
When I started (again) I picked up this kit, just for some cheap practice... buildyourownclone.com/products/confidence-boosterNext build was the DIYRE Colour Palette and some Colours. This build is really, really, well documented and gives you a unique 500 series module. |
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Post by warrenfirehouse on Jan 16, 2016 10:30:32 GMT -6
The best Beginner kit is to build/repair a cable, be it XLR or TRS. Unscrew the cap, desolder one of the wires, then resolder it back on. That's all you need to do! Don't be afraid of looking up a youtube video that shows how to solder. I have repaired cables in the past and got them "working" again, problem is when im done the solder joint looks like a monkey did it! No offense monkeyxx! Definitely a good place to start though! |
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Post by warrenfirehouse on Jan 16, 2016 10:32:09 GMT -6
When I started (again) I picked up this kit, just for some cheap practice... buildyourownclone.com/products/confidence-boosterThis is perfect! Ordered! Next build was the DIYRE Colour Palette and some Colours. This build is really, really, well documented and gives you a unique 500 series module. These look killer also, what are your favorite modules for it? The tube sat looks tempting. |
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Post by swurveman on Jan 16, 2016 11:15:03 GMT -6
I made my own. I bought used cable and a used box/connectors on Ebay and soldered it together. Cost me less than 40$ for neutrik XLRs, belden snake cable and a switchcraft box/connectors. svart, was there a tutorial you used to learn how to connect wires and solder? I really need to learn this basic skill. |
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Post by svart on Jan 16, 2016 11:58:15 GMT -6
I made my own. I bought used cable and a used box/connectors on Ebay and soldered it together. Cost me less than 40$ for neutrik XLRs, belden snake cable and a switchcraft box/connectors. svart, was there a tutorial you used to learn how to connect wires and solder? I really need to learn this basic skill. Nah, I learned back in the 80's as a kid. it was literally my dad handing me a soldering iron and telling me not to burn the house down. Everything else came from trial and error, LOL. A few tricks though: 1. Use a HOT iron and work more quickly. A cooler iron causes the object to heat over longer periods as you wait for it to heat up to melt the solder. This can cause more problems with heatsoaking than a hot iron will. Modern FR4 PCB material will NOT burn, nor will it fall apart with heat. Don't worry about it. Older phenolic PCB material WILL burn though, but it's become very rare unless you work on old Sony equipment.. Biggest problem I always see is that people with solder problems have cold solder joints from not using enough heat. 2. Solder always flows to the heat. You should never need to push/dab solder. If it isn't flowing, add more heat or more flux/rosin until it does. Place the iron so that it touches the pad and the pin you want to bond, and feed the solder into the area between the iron/pad/pin. If you have enough rosin/flux/heat, then it will make a smooth solder joint. If it does not, then add more of those until it does. Again, the biggest problem I always see is cold solder joints from folks who are too afraid they are going to destroy something and end up using too little heat. 3. Flux and rosin are your friends. No-clean solder is a pain in the ass. Rosin and flux can be cleaned up quickly and they make soldering a lot easier. 4. Lead solder is better, and always will be. Lead-free solder is sent by the devil. Everyone in the industry hates it. Use lead solder for your projects and be happy. Besides, if you knew the nasty chemicals they now add to ROHS solder to make it work halfway decently, you'd be asking for your lead solder back. 5. When you strip a wire, tin it quickly. 6. Fill solder cups on things like XLR connectors before you try to attach the wires. Heat the solder filled cup until molten, insert tinned wire end, remove heat, continue holding wire in place until the solder solidifies. The bulk of the work comes from preparation and proper form, rather than the heating/soldering part. Honestly, soldering is more art than science. The basis of it is simply welding two pieces of metal together with some filler. Learning how to get it to do what you want takes some trial and error with the types and amounts of materials you use. It's truly a practice-makes-perfect kind of thing. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jan 16, 2016 18:38:09 GMT -6
svart, was there a tutorial you used to learn how to connect wires and solder? I really need to learn this basic skill. Nah, I learned back in the 80's as a kid. it was literally my dad handing me a soldering iron and telling me not to burn the house down. Everything else came from trial and error, LOL. A few tricks though: 1. Use a HOT iron and work more quickly. A cooler iron causes the object to heat over longer periods as you wait for it to heat up to melt the solder. This can cause more problems with heatsoaking than a hot iron will. Modern FR4 PCB material will NOT burn, nor will it fall apart with heat. Don't worry about it. Older phenolic PCB material WILL burn though, but it's become very rare unless you work on old Sony equipment.. Biggest problem I always see is that people with solder problems have cold solder joints from not using enough heat. 2. Solder always flows to the heat. You should never need to push/dab solder. If it isn't flowing, add more heat or more flux/rosin until it does. Place the iron so that it touches the pad and the pin you want to bond, and feed the solder into the area between the iron/pad/pin. If you have enough rosin/flux/heat, then it will make a smooth solder joint. If it does not, then add more of those until it does. Again, the biggest problem I always see is cold solder joints from folks who are too afraid they are going to destroy something and end up using too little heat. 3. Flux and rosin are your friends. No-clean solder is a pain in the ass. Rosin and flux can be cleaned up quickly and they make soldering a lot easier. 4. Lead solder is better, and always will be. Lead-free solder is sent by the devil. Everyone in the industry hates it. Use lead solder for your projects and be happy. Besides, if you knew the nasty chemicals they now add to ROHS solder to make it work halfway decently, you'd be asking for your lead solder back. 5. When you strip a wire, tin it quickly. 6. Fill solder cups on things like XLR connectors before you try to attach the wires. Heat the solder filled cup until molten, insert tinned wire end, remove heat, continue holding wire in place until the solder solidifies. The bulk of the work comes from preparation and proper form, rather than the heating/soldering part. Honestly, soldering is more art than science. The basis of it is simply welding two pieces of metal together with some filler. Learning how to get it to do what you want takes some trial and error with the types and amounts of materials you use. It's truly a practice-makes-perfect kind of thing. What he said ! Who cares how it looks! It's about do I have a conection? Will it hold? Only way to get better is do it again, doing a snake is a great way to learn, better than a kit because you doing the exact same thing and easy to go back and redo your early work! |
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Post by swurveman on Jan 17, 2016 8:55:23 GMT -6
svart, was there a tutorial you used to learn how to connect wires and solder? I really need to learn this basic skill. Nah, I learned back in the 80's as a kid. it was literally my dad handing me a soldering iron and telling me not to burn the house down. Everything else came from trial and error, LOL. A few tricks though: 1. Use a HOT iron and work more quickly. A cooler iron causes the object to heat over longer periods as you wait for it to heat up to melt the solder. This can cause more problems with heatsoaking than a hot iron will. Modern FR4 PCB material will NOT burn, nor will it fall apart with heat. Don't worry about it. Older phenolic PCB material WILL burn though, but it's become very rare unless you work on old Sony equipment.. Biggest problem I always see is that people with solder problems have cold solder joints from not using enough heat. 2. Solder always flows to the heat. You should never need to push/dab solder. If it isn't flowing, add more heat or more flux/rosin until it does. Place the iron so that it touches the pad and the pin you want to bond, and feed the solder into the area between the iron/pad/pin. If you have enough rosin/flux/heat, then it will make a smooth solder joint. If it does not, then add more of those until it does. Again, the biggest problem I always see is cold solder joints from folks who are too afraid they are going to destroy something and end up using too little heat. 3. Flux and rosin are your friends. No-clean solder is a pain in the ass. Rosin and flux can be cleaned up quickly and they make soldering a lot easier. 4. Lead solder is better, and always will be. Lead-free solder is sent by the devil. Everyone in the industry hates it. Use lead solder for your projects and be happy. Besides, if you knew the nasty chemicals they now add to ROHS solder to make it work halfway decently, you'd be asking for your lead solder back. 5. When you strip a wire, tin it quickly. 6. Fill solder cups on things like XLR connectors before you try to attach the wires. Heat the solder filled cup until molten, insert tinned wire end, remove heat, continue holding wire in place until the solder solidifies. The bulk of the work comes from preparation and proper form, rather than the heating/soldering part. Honestly, soldering is more art than science. The basis of it is simply welding two pieces of metal together with some filler. Learning how to get it to do what you want takes some trial and error with the types and amounts of materials you use. It's truly a practice-makes-perfect kind of thing. Thank you. Much appreciated! |
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Post by forgotteng on Jan 17, 2016 19:08:42 GMT -6
Soldering is good therapy. I enjoy it and something about the satisfaction of making/repairing your own cables is pleasing. Have fun with it.
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Post by Ward on Jan 17, 2016 20:42:54 GMT -6
The only issue I have with building cables is DB25 and ELco ends. Everything else I can handle. I got at those multipoint connectors and come away with blisters and burns EVERY time.
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Post by svart on Jan 17, 2016 21:22:56 GMT -6
The only issue I have with building cables is DB25 and ELco ends. Everything else I can handle. I got at those multipoint connectors and come away with blisters and burns EVERY time. It's all in the technique. As I mentioned, tin the wire and fill the solder cup separately. Melt the solder in the cup, and insert the wire. Remove heat, let the solder solidify, then let wire go. Most people who melt wire insulation, or burn themselves try to heat the wire and the solder cup at the same time with low wattage irons. This heatsinks the iron enough to cause you to have to hold the iron to the joint for a lot longer.. And since the wire's insulation will melt at a lower temp, it starts to burn and melt.. All while you hold the wire in place waiting for the solder to melt.. Aaaaand you end up with burnt fingers. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jan 17, 2016 21:25:39 GMT -6
The only issue I have with building cables is DB25 and ELco ends. Everything else I can handle. I got at those multipoint connectors and come away with blisters and burns EVERY time. Burn them enough and you don't feel it any more! What Chris plus heat shrink is your best friend on D sub ! Keeps those small bits of cable from shorting. |
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