yes solder the pins of an xlr cable out of phase.

Polarity, not phase. Swap the wires going to pins 2 and 3 on one end of an XLR cable (mark the cable). Or click the polarity button on the channel controls of your DAW.

Right, polarity, not phase. I need the cable because I don't have enough tracks for what I want to do, and the polarity needs to be switched before going in the box.

I tend to recommend using standard cables and a [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.fullcomp…"]polarity change adaptor[/]="http://www.fullcomp…"]polarity change adaptor[/]. That way, you know all your cables are the same.

PS I promise not to comment on the description of the item in that link.

Boswell, post: 385300 wrote: I tend to recommend using standard cables and a [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.fullcomp…"]polarity change adaptor[/]="http://www.fullcomp…"]polarity change adaptor[/]. That way, you know all your cables are the same.

PS I promise not to comment on the description of the item in that link.

I like the ones with a switch so I can quickly compare the results.

Just last night before reading this thread I recorded a kit with a 421 under the snare and just the overheads getting the top. I time aligned the snare to the overheads as well as inverting polarity for a much fatter sound. The difference in arrival times between top and bottom snare mics is much less and probably not enough to worry about. The sound from the top and bottom of the snare is so different that it may not be coherent enough for polarity to make a big difference, especially if you high pass the bottom mic.