Using extension cord as XLR cable substitute?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:13 am

Here is the deal I am in a pinch and need a 100feet worth of XLR to run a mic to capture audience noise. All my cables are already going to be used so I needed a quick solution. If I took a regular 9 gauge 100feet of extension cord and used the neutral, hot and ground would I be able to successfully have a balanced cable? I have heard it being done for speaker wire but no sure if it will give me problems running a mic. I am guessing I should place a pre amp at the mics end then run it into the board via a balanced line? Thanks!

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:57 pm

i hope your joking mic cable is shielded so you dont have a problem with radio frequency interference and noise. an orange extension cable isnt shielded. you will do good to mic the audience from the stage. if you point a cardioid or gigure 8 pattern mic from the stage at the audeince you will get a better sound than from a mic 100 feet away

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:07 pm

In a pinch...you gotta do what ya gotta do. But it seems like you have time before the gig...so I'd recommend you buy the right cable.

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:57 pm

Unless you live in the Australian outback or outer Mongolia, I can't imagine not having access to some way of getting 100' of two conductor sheilded wire.

The orange AC cable is a recipie for disaster; someone somewhere is going to come along and think its an AC cable sooner or later. Not pretty.

Hell, I think I even have an old spool of raw mic cable here I haven't used in ages......where are you located?

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:04 pm

I’m glad I asked about this then. I was just hoping to be able to use it as balanced cable but I totally forgot about the whole shielding issue. I figured if I could place a mic in the back of the audience I wouldn’t get a feedback from the monitors. I can buy the right cable but I didn’t really want to if I didn’t have to as I am doing this work for my friend’s band and didn’t want to take any cash out of pocket. I am located in Ohio. Thanks a lot for the replies

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 12:21 am

Make it easy. Hire a radio mic.

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 4:16 am

If you're going to end up using all your mic cables, you've got another recipie for disaster... what if one of your cables goes bad the day of the gig?

I NEVER go to a session/gig w/o at LEAST a half dozen extra cables... At 48 tracks, I have to carry about 72 mic cables just to cover all the length scenereos.

You need some spares anyway. If nothing else, get a half dozen good quality 25 footers... Whirlwind, Canare, Mogami... You'ld be better off putting 4 of em' together than using an extension cord!

Better yet, get yourself 2-100's, 4-50's and 6-25's. Sure it's out of pocket, but the investment, (If you're really serious about recording), will be well worth it! If you're buying these at one time, bust the vendor's nad's about doing something with the pricing! Better yet, if you have the time and skill, just order up a 500' spool of bulk cable and roll your own. You won't regret it!

Have fun and good luck with the session... Just DON't use that extension cord crap! Remember, the heart of the recording process is your interconnect... get as good of mic cable as you can afford.

X

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 12:14 pm

I hear you! Just 7 or 8 tracks I will be using. All my cables are 50 footers and I pray to god nothing goes wrong but hey call me crazy but thats what I like. That last second problem that has you rushing around for a work around solution. And no I am erasing that whole hack extension idea right from me head. Thanks guys. Wink

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:30 pm

One last bit of advice regarding cables;

I may be superstitious, but I try to never gaff-tape anything down until we've done a line check. Most of my cables are in good shape, but it's always the gods of audio that will punish you if you act rashly, tape everything down, assume it all works, and then: Bam! Find out there's a bum line in the bunch, and then you have to run another, either taping over your previous work, or ripping it up and doing it again.

Continuing the "superstition," we rarely have failures when we wait a few more minutes to gaff - until the line check is done.

YMMV, of course. Wink

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