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somexone75 20 March 2010

I am going to be wiring an in wall snake system pretty soon for a small sized freestanding home studio. Since I live in a fairly populated city neighborhood I've been planning, plus have had recommendations to do so, on running Mogami Neglex Quad cable through grounded conduit with metal boxes to a metal face plate. That's the easy part... Now I need to figure out what connectors I should use on the face plates. I know I should go with the nickel plated Neutrik instead of their silver or gold plated connectors because they are just overkill for my situation. It would be nicer if there wern't so many options for something so simple as a chassis connector?

I know there probably isn't much difference in the connectors, but better to be safe... What connectors would y'all recommend?

Just to make it obvious: I will be mostly using the XLR for mostly mic connections, the TS as DI jacks and TRS as the IEM jacks. For the record, it is a 2 room studio + CR.

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djmukilteo Sat, 03/20/2010 - 20:55

Any standard XLR receptacle like Switchcraft or Neutrik are great. You can drill or punch a cutout in any standard size box cover plate. You can get conduit boxes 6x6, 8x8, 12x12 on up or go with a multi-single ganged switch box style. Install using some 4-40 screws and locknuts...solder them up...put some ID numbers on the plate...good to go!
XLR receptacles - Google Product Search

somexone75 Sun, 03/21/2010 - 16:39

Boswell, post: 344342 wrote: The XLR and TRS are fine, as advised, but I would not install TS jacks for DI. For cable length reasons, it's better to use the DI boxes local to the performers in the studio room and run additional XLRs from the boxes back to the CR.

That makes sense, I think I'll end up using the Countrymen 85's so it would take a true idiot to break 'em or mess something up at the box. Once the money comes around to invest in more high end DI's (say the Avalon) I could always run a TS to the room to allow me to have analog style control over the DI during their sessions... To make it even nicer only running the XLR and TRS really cuts down on the amount of cable I'd need.

Now after doing more research I think I'll be running gold plated jacks because of the corrosion factor. I know it will be a larger investment, but it will pay for itself in the long run...

somexone75 Sun, 03/21/2010 - 20:11

TheJackAttack, post: 344382 wrote: Cheap is your enemy and will cause intermittent connections etc. There IS a reason why some connectors cost more than others. Stick with Switchcraft or Neutrik.

Thanks for the reminder. I know that in the audio world you get what you pay for. I've been planning on going Neutriks all the way. I knew those prices were really good for the quality, I was just hoping for a lower price...

djmukilteo Sun, 03/21/2010 - 21:17

Absolutely nothing wrong with Switchcraft jacks at $3, they are about as tried and true as you can find and they will last just as long as any other XLR/TRS plug or receptacle. If you are plugging and unplugging connectors a lot then they all get sloppy at the pins after a while, so paying $7 per jack just means more expense when replacing them in a few years...you can overthink the whole interconnect concept anyway...if you use them a lot they all wear and there really is no perfect connector unless the connections are used less, Many times noisy and failing connectors are from constant overuse. Continual plugging and unplugging of connectors is to blame. Neutrik are great connectors but they won't last any longer with constant use...it's just the nature of the design...

dvdhawk Mon, 03/22/2010 - 08:49

somexone75, post: 344328 wrote: Also, is there a store online that y'all have had experience with that gives you a really good price or a buy in bulk discount?

Check out [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.redco.co…"]Redco[/]="http://www.redco.co…"]Redco[/] for the kind of wall plates and connectors you are talking about - and some you might not have thought possible.

I agree with the good advice on Switchcraft and Neutrik I use a lot of both. The only slight edge in a wall plate with a variety of connectors would go to Neutrik in my estimation. The Neutrik D series connectors use the same mounting hole for males, females, TRS, RCA, cat5, firewire, VGA, you name it. If your needs change and you need a return in place of a mic input, just perform a gender-ectomy into the same connector body.

If you end up doing the fabrication it will be enough of a challenge getting everything perfectly straight - factor in a variety of hole sizes and you're just asking for trouble, unless you're a pro at metal work.

In any case, pick a brand on panel-mount connector and stick with it.

And if you buy pre-punched panels, make sure they are specifically for your brand of connector. The hole size is different and mounting screw holes line up slightly differently, so if you mix and match connectors in a pre-punched panel every connector will be off by a few degrees. The shiny new finished product will look like a pretty girl with Steve Buscemi's teeth.

Good luck.

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