How to Make You Own Audiophile XLR cables

In this video we learn how to make our own high-end, hi-fi, audiophile XLR balanced cables, with high quality mono-crystal OCC copper and cryo OFC copper connectors.
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Music: "Modern Jazz Samba" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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INGREDIENTS:
- 2 m of monocrystal OCC copper (NeoTech NEI-3004)
- 4 XLR connectors (2 male, 2 female) (NeoTech XLR OFC cryo pack)
- Silver-based soldering wire
- Nylon sleeve and heat shrink sleeves (optional)
TOOLS:
- Soldering iron
- Sponge or piece of cloth
- Heat gun (or strong hairdryer)
- Precision tweezers (optional)
- Electrical isolation tape (optional)
- Teflon film (optional)
- Bench vise or clasp
- Electric scissors
- Cable stripping pliers (optional)
- Cutter (optional)

[@williammilligan8432]

So I'm rather late to the party but I have to comment on this video. Before this however, a bit of context as to where I'm commenting from. I previously worked for a firm specialising in exactly this, building high end custom interconnects and test leads and balancing transformers. Amongst our customers were SSl, Mackie, Revox, Tascam, Studer, ballfinger to name but a few. We also made test leads and probes for some incredibly precise measurement equipment for the likes of Techtronix, Keysight, Rhode & Schwarz, Teledyne and Keithley. Not only are these applications extremely demanding in performance and precision but our products were (and still are) used by the manufacturers who built the recorders that mastered your precious reel-to-reel recordings and furthermore probably used our test leads to test and calibrate those very reel-to-reel decks, not to mention the one you listen on. So, I know a little about this subject and the physics involved in signal retention, degradation interference rejection, inductance etc, etc. So, the video..... Firstly, to the people giving you a hard time, I understand their point of view regarding your soldering skills etc. Probably not the best idea to shoot a video on the subject of building and "audiophile" interconnect before you've really practised your soldering. However you stated that you are not good at it and still had a go at it and I can only commend you for that. I see many people criticising you for this but I don't see them publishing a video on the subject (I might however). As for balanced interconnects, screening is important but that is not why they are superior to unbalanced connections. They do indeed pick up interference (especially on long runs) but you won't hear it because of the balancing process. Signal from your source passes down the hot conductor, at the same time, a 180 degree phase shifted (opposite or mirror image of the hot signal) passes down the cold conductor. This phase shifted signal is produced passively by a balancing transformer (which we used to build) in the source. These two mirrored signals pick up the same interference due to shield leakage, inductance, etc. At the other end, for example, an amplifier, the cold signal is phase shifted back to match the hot and when the two are recombined, the interference spikes on the hot and cold cancel each other out. The effectiveness of this could be influenced very slightly by the arrangement of the conductors in the cable. In testing we found the best was a "starquad" or quadrupole arrangement. When it comes to screening, you cannot beat a solid foil screen but a wrapped foil screen is almost as good. Braided screens don't no nearly as well but they give you the practicality of having a cable that has a reasonable degree of flexibility. I'd also like to dismiss the notion of any kind of directionality or anisotropy in copper conductors or any electrical conductor for that matter. Not one single scientific study has shown that this phenomena exists in single element or indeed alloyed electrical conductors. It has been studied but the effect has never been observed and demonstrates a lack of understanding around how electrical currents actually flow. Furthermore if the theory (and it technically isn't even a theory) had any substance and there were millions of diode like structures forming in your interconnects, all that would do is increase overall resistance resulting in greater signal attenuation. There would be no real impact on quality, just a slight reduction in amplitude. It would also suggest impurities in the copper meaning that any cables that claim to have any form of directionality must be made from inferior material. This is pure marketing nonsense but it sure does help sell lots of expensive cable! Interestingly this property isn't used by the manufacturers who cater to the professional market, probably because if you tried to tell a scientist, transmission engineer or a sound engineer about this amazing feature, they'd probably laugh you out of the building! I recently saw a similar marketing fabrication concocted by a manufacturer of so called audiophile inerconnects claiming that their Rhodium plated connectors exhibited "unparalleled electrical conductivity". A claim that is utterly, utterly false given that Rhodium has an electrical conductivity of 38% IACS which isn't great (Gold is measured at 70% IACS, Copper is actually better at 100% IACS and Silver better still at 105% IACS!). So as for the best possible interconnect with the greatest interference rejection, inductance rejection and signal preservation, you'd use a foil screened starquad cable and a set of Neutrik EMC XLR connectors. The connectors look very nice but I'll guarantee they are electrically inferior to a neutrik connector. The reason I say this is that the sexy black connectors you bought are black because they have a paint electrostatically applied to them and that paint finish is not particularly conductive. If you want the best interference rejection possible from an XLR, you need to also ground the casing of the connector. one way to do this is to solder a link between the ground pin and the case grounding lug (the thin connection that you didn't solder). The other way that the casing of the XLR can be grounded is via the connector on the equipment you are plugging in to. This ground is established by the casing of the connector making contact with the grounded body of the connector in your gear. If the connector is covered in a non conductive paint finish, it cant establish this ground.... Those connectors look really, really nice but they haven't been engineered for peak electrical performance. All XLR's consist of three pins plus a ground lug in a moulded lump of plastic, a plastic strain relief cone, a threaded piece of conductive tube and a threaded nut essentially. Unless the body of those connectors are machined from solid silver or some precious metal, they clearly aren't worth anything like what you paid for them. Incidentally those connectors retail for £59.99 in the UK. As far as the soldering goes, you kind of did it backwards. When I make them I twist up the braid an put a small piece of heatshrink over it to insulate it and prevent any stray strands from contacting the other poles. Then expose about 4mm of the twisted strands of the sleeve (if you measure the handy little cups on the end of the pins, you'll find they're about 4mm deep) and strip the hot and cold wires to the same depth. Apply a tiny dab of flux to the wires and with a small bead of solder on your iron, apply heat. within a second or two the wire will soak up the solder, turning many fine strands into one easily manageable piece. Then take the pre soldered wire and slide it into the handy hole on the end of the pin. All you need to do is hold your soldering iron onto the pin and the solder will flow from the wire and wet the joint, job done. You should always tin the wire, not the connector. It's much easier. Also because I only strip about 4mm of the wire, there is no bare copper exposed inside the connector so the re is no chance of a fault to ground or for the hot and cold to connect. I also never, ever used electrical tape, not ever. You had a nice box of heatshrink tubing, that's what you should have used. There are several other things I could say about the video but I've gone on far too long already, I might just make my own video. Well done for having a go anyway, like someone else commented, most people aren't even aware of balanced connections, what they are, what they're for or how they work so good on you for trying to bring a little more knowledge to the masses.

[@anadialog]

Hi William, I really want to thank you and praise you for your nice, polite and interesting comment. As I have stated elsewhere I am not a pro and especially for cables I am not expert. Yes, I did know about the phase that eliminates all interference and obviously the conductivity of metals. Yes, I do not know how to solder very well plus, the real difference, in my opinion, comes out with an unbalanced interconnect. Balance connections are much more stable as you have explained much better than me. I don't agree on the connectors, the Neotech are truly amazing, Neutrik is very good, but they don't use OCC copper, which in my opinion really makes a difference.

[@efnerva664]

Thank you for your insightful comment

[@TheRubbberDucky]

Please make a video. Ill subscribe to you right now hoping that you do!

[@anadialog]

What video!?

[@efnerva664]

@@anadialog He was talking about the last paragraph of your essay

[@roberttroxell4006]

Thank you for showing the process in detail. I might even be able to do this! ☺️

[@anadialog]

If you do, send us a pic!

[@michaelforsythe4335]

I got a hold of some of that wire and hooked it up to Xhadow XLR plugs. Wow............. absolutely fantastic sounding and I haven't even burned the wire in yet.

[@harrisedgar]

worderful.... I was looking for these, Thank you.

[@anadialog]

Thank YOU Edgar!

[@sascharoll]

I‘ve been to several (worldwide known) mastering studios and have never seen a) audio signal cables with directions on them and b) that thick cable, especially for such a short length. Same goes by the way for loudspeaker cable - it always amazes me how much efforr „audiophile“ amateurs put into special cables for everything where the real professionals (who btw mixed and recorded the stuff you‘re playing back on your machines) just use ordinary material that technically does the job. I also have worked on world premieres of Hollywood movies in the tech departement where the director / rerecording engineer etc where full of praise for the sound... no magical cables where involved anywhere ;-)

[@anadialog]

I do agree that in some cases there is a lot of exageration and nonsense Sasha, but trust me if I say that a lot of high-fidelity recordibg and remastering does involve high quality cablea. One example for all, Chesky Records who proudly writes also on ita records the use of audiophile cables!

[@Projacked1]

I have yet to see an engineer who can't hear the difference between cables. Engineers who don't care about cables are shit engineers, or are way too busy too listen to the differences/ or do comparisons.

[@kramsniggah4333]

@@Projacked1enlighten us all to your technical and engineering background to back up your claims. I'm quite sure that we will all be staggered by your A/B/X sample testing, metallurgy properties vs signal transmission, skin effect and cable SWR ratings for current and voltage load and how all of these impact on sound quality thus improving our listening. Please, don't be shy as we need educating and brought up to date.

[@cag506]

The thing is in a mastering studio there are a plethora of ways to adjust the sound so perhaps the cable needs to just work across the frequency spectrum in home audio since there are so many variables beyond our control a cable is needed to balance the system

[@TheEchelon]

At least this guy makes his own cables instead of buying it for hundreds if not thousands of dollars. At the end of the day thesf are good cables that look nice too, which is important for those who value aesthetics. It's kind of a hobby too.

[@AriKona]

Rats. I was hoping to see your next video on reel to reel maintenance, but this turned out to be a very interesting video as well. You said it best when you mentioned distance. I have several XLR cables, but only use them for microphones and music equipment. A good friend who deals in high-end audio told me long ago that if you are connecting audio equipment with less than a 2 meter cable, XLR is not likely to give you any better of a signal than a good quality RCA cable. My experience, as well as many laboratory and listening tests, has proven him correct. Soldering is an art. Having built several hard-wired electronic devices in the past, "tinning" the wire, removing less shielding and keeping the connection point smooth (no "cold soldering") makes for the best results. While we have no "ban" on lead (at least not one that prevents someone from finding it), I use both, but agree that silver solder produces a noticeably better electron flow in audio cables. You did an excellent job in pointing out things that most first time cable builders do wrong and end up having to do it twice so this really is a valuable presentation. You provide a very reasonable alternative for those who don't want to spend the money on expensive professionally made cables (which many times is truly a waste). Thank you for making this instructional video and I hope to see many more (including the one on reel-to-reel maintenance ;-).

[@anadialog]

Thanks for this nice analysis, it will support me for these dire straits...everytime I do a cable video, the gates of hell open up!

[@barbiegamaestan456]

Appreciate the video. In summary, if you want audiophile XLR cables, buy some cheap neutrik connectors and adequatly shielded cable and spend your money on someone that can solder properly or invest in yourself by learning to do it properly. If cash is still burning a hole in your pocket get a good quality temperature controlled soldering iron.

[@anadialog]

I must admit that I do not share this Neutrik hipe. They are good but not that good. For example recently I have tried a Furutech FP-704...mind-blowing!

[@seanseoltoir]

I've found that a piece of braided 80-lb PE fishing line looped around the cables / wires works pretty good for removing insulation and not damaging the actual wire. Attach one end to something that won't move. Put a loop in the other end and attach it to a finger so that you can pull it tight. Then wrap the center once around the cable / wire that you want to remove the insulation from. Tighten the line by pulling with one hand and with the other hand, move the wire up and down the line. It either abrades the insulation or generates enough heat to melt the insulation. It will feel differently once you are through the insulation. You might need to keep the loop of line around the wire between your thumb and forefinger in order to keep it lined up. I think the smallest wire that I've ever used it on is 16-AWG though...

[@anadialog]

Cool, thanks!

[@the-matrix-has-you]

Hi, I found your video really helpfull thank you so much for sharing. Could you please give a link to buy cables? Thanks so much

[@vinylcity1599]

That was very interesting, signal quality is definitely important!

[@user-sb5uw7vf4u]

What is the best xlr cable for mike aston

[@munlive5130]

how to connect regular speaker cable to 3pin xlr? because usually speaker cable has plus and minius only. not ground.

[@ronbackal]

That’s beautiful! Thanks for sharing this . The only time I saw people making cables was my time in the Israeli army, when some people were making cables - there it was for customization purpose , so you have cables in the right length . And I saw how they just took stripped the stock cables and put it on and it looked like magic

[@SlowMenThinking]

Final step you should always test the work for continuity, polarity, resistance, insulation resistance and reactant impedance.

[@TheRealAudioDidact]

How would the audio quality of this cable compare to an AudioQuest Water?

[@gino3286]

Hi thank you very much for the very valuable video. I have Always had problems during soldering because i stay too much in touch with the pins and the insulation around them melts. I really do not understand why teflon or nylon are not more common as insulation materials sorrounding the pins. Once i had the pleasure to work with RCA panel sockets with teflon insulation. What a joy to work. To end i am looking for nice cables and plugs using teflon as insulation. Are you aware of any ? i understand they are usually very very expensive but maybe products with a nice Q/P ratio are available ? Thanks a lot again for the very nice video and helpful advice. Kind regards, gino

[@anadialog]

Thank you Gino! Check these vids and in particular the video description. I agree, teflon is the best! kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2LGdKiceKdsgLM kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2SogX9sna6SfpY

[@jeremytravis360]

I like your videos but would like to make a couple of comments. Firstly Sliver Solder (usually 56% - 80 % silver content) is used in repairing silver jewellery and has a very high melting point. No something you will solder or braze with a soldering iron. ( UsuallyOxy Acetylene although you can use other torches ) Silver solder is usually used for repairing silver jewellery. Another comment is that I would usually "Tin" the ends of the wire that I am soldering and then cop them back. The other comment is that I am not a member of the "Fast Earth Society" so I don't believe that circuits are bi directional like Marco Lagerwey who makes the same comment. But thanks for the great video about XLR connectors because most people don't even know about they existence and they tend to be used in studios rather than the home.

[@anadialog]

Hi Jeremy, no, there is a whole line of products of silver based solder for audio, notably for example Cardas and WBT. Those are the best, and trust me, when things are done for audiophiles, they are thr best you can get, even better than the jewellery ones. Yes, I know you can put solder on tips, In fact in my other video on interconnects I did than. No law says you can do the opposite. I am happy with my results and try to offer different techniques each time. Cheers!

[@razorback-mark]

What wire or cable would you use to make headphone extension (Focal Celeste 3.5mm) ? Is it just speaker cable?

[@anadialog]

A good microphone cable possibly with OCC would be the best but I never tried...need to be skilled to solder those tiny cables...

[@bobjerome5390]

hi that tape inside will dry up after some time. i used to use it i went over to heat SHRINK tubing to cover the earth wire it's a bit harder to use

[@anadialog]

Yes, you are right. Electrician tape is not a very good solution, I agree. But I wramped it up tight and it should stsy in place and isolate the cable...

[@karellen00]

A couple of suggestions: first stay always large with the length of the sleeving: it's designed to accept different cable diameters, but on thicker cables it gets shorter. That means that as an example it may happen that you push 1m of cable in 1m of sleeve, but the latter shrinks to 80-90 cm. Not funny! Another suggestion is that I generally use the least amount of heat shrink, as it adds stiffness right where you don't want, as the cable instead of being able to gently curve it stays in place putting stress on the plugs of your precious equipment. At the end of the day its only purpose is to prevent the sleeving from moving! Last thing i'd like to add is that when you solder "easy" joints, like those XLRs when you can slide the cable in and fill with solder, I prefer not to put some solder before to help. The theory is that you want to bring the signal from the cable to the connector, and the layer of solder that stays between the two adds a little more resistance. The optimal way in my opinion is inserting the cable on the pin, not in the dead middle but pushed to the side so that there is direct contact between the two, and put all the solder once, so that you make one only "crystal" with no flux residues or impurities in the signal path.

[@anadialog]

Thanks for your suggestions!

[@zeusodin581]

@ANA[DIA]LOG, thanks for posting this video. You have received lots of criticism--some deserved and some undeserved. I thank you for posting this as I am about to purchase my first audio video receiver with XLR ports. Please take @William Millgan's and @Andrew Dennis' comments seriously. My limited understanding of EE says that both of their explanations are pitch perfect. Facts. Remember, facts are not necessarily true; facts can either be proved or disproved. If you disagree with either of their posts, attempt to disprove their assertions. My inkling is any such attempt will not be successful. I will go back, re-read, and fill in gaps in my own knowledge. Again, thanks for posting this video. It really made my day!

[@anadialog]

Thank you!

[@1945CCCP]

.... I just solder a 4pin XLR cable for about 15 Euro for oppo pm-2 (one sunday afternoon). The differences with non-balanced are subtle for the first listening... maybe more details with the balanced one.. hmmmm.. maybe not... or maybe I should train my years... (i must say Im not suffering from mis-directionality of the cable so far..). great video anyway.

[@anadialog]

Thanks man! Compared to unbalanced cables the differences with a low quality cable are not huge...

[@1945CCCP]

@@anadialog so, a 'high quality' cable must be above 500Euro or so ?

[@anadialog]

What!?!? Where did you get that notion? Absolutely not. It must have OCC copper or OCC silver, conductors and connectors, with ptfe insulation. Cost? 10€ for 1 meter. Here is the entire story: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2LGdKiceKdsgLM

[@jud-asinsmith-stansell2022]

You need to get yourself and use this rubber like coating that you can brush on naked wires and it seals them electrically from their surrounding. So easy to use in little tight areas you'll never want to use tape again. Search liquid tape

[@anadialog]

Cool! Thanks!

[@ielev8ullc205]

Where did you Source this cable from in the US?? Have a Link?

[@anadialog]

I am Italian and got it on Audiophonics. You can find it bulk on ebay

[@eggysu89]

Hi anadialog, may i know where to purchase Neotech cable? Is it through amazon? Im trying to search through, doesnt have any clue of it

[@anadialog]

I get mine at Audiophonics but I live in Europe...

[@Allottedaaron]

The NeoTech XLR connectors you are using come in 2 different sizes. One accepts cable of up to 9mm and the other of up to 12mm. Which are you using? The cable is 8.5mm which in theory should be ok, but when you add heat shrink and braided nylon sleeve that could get very tight. What size did you buy and was there any issues fitting the retention strain relief plastic cone over the 8.5mm cable? Also when I look at the cable code, it is listed as Interconnect Cable, which is designed to connect devices that use line-level signal, such as connecting an audio interface to studio monitors. According to Hosa, Interconnect cables are not generally a good option for instruments, microphones, and speakers, as they are not adequately shielded and do not have large enough conductors. This means can introduce a lot of noise interference and could potentially damage the equipment. Is your cable specifically designed as an Interconnect cable or is the build quality such that it can also be used for microphones and speakers?

[@anadialog]

I think I got the 9. I prefer to be tight

[@new-kids-on-the-block]

If you go solder tips is make your wire clean after striping them end clean op your wire after solder Take your time 2 heat the solder end then the wire end pre solder wire is a good help 2 it wil flow a lot better I always make my one cabels end the work perfect end do not cost 100 of €s Steel wol makes a nice cean soldering iron

[@FinnishArmy]

You cannot argue to me that the direction of which electrons flow through a cable matter. It’s the same in both directions..

[@anadialog]

I am not arguing, I am reporting.

[@shaun9107]

They have band leaded solder in the UK , we have to use lead free which dose not stick that is the law for you . We normally have an arrow or print on the outer cable for the direction of the current so the sound runs the smoothest , maybe this cable makes no difference ?

[@anadialog]

I know, just look for the silver based one. Same for Italy. Yes, if you watch the entire video at some point I discuss about the direction and indicate it clearly with a picture!

[@shaun9107]

OK all clear

[@asylumlabs6075]

where can we actually BUY the NeoTech stuff? not on Amazon, they dont seem to sell direct....any help?

[@anadialog]

I live in Europe and I use audiophonics and hificollective...in the US it's a little more difficult. Need to hunt some hifi and electronic components shops.

[@jasonkaehler8146]

@@anadialog ok, i'm in US so any help here appreciated!

[@timberwrightsvs480]

I know that trying to help people out can be a pretty thankless job, so I really hate to point this out to you...but the "INGREDIENTS" list you added to this video SEEMS to have a typo in it. You've specified that the monocrystal OCC copper cable that you used herein was made by "NeTech." My research, on the other hand, is indicating that the cable brand is actually "NeoTech," which matches the brand name on the box that contained the XLR connectors you used in this video. If I'm wrong, I humbly apologize. Thanks for taking the time to produce such helpful videos. Have a great day.

[@anadialog]

No problem! Thanks for signaling that! Now it's correct!

[@timberwrightsvs480]

@@anadialog Thanks for clarifying that for everyone. As sourcing/acquiring raw NeoTech cable is problematic for us, I wondered if you had any thoughts on Mogami W2534 (4-condustor) or the Belden 8402 (2-conductor) raw cable? Neither one appears to be the Ohno Continuous Cast (OCC) type, but I have read good things about both, so your thoughts on using them would be greatly appreciated.

[@anadialog]

I have heard good things about them as well but no direct experience. There are several companies that use OCC copper or similar solutions. They are just miles ahead of everything so I think it is well worth the effort.

[@SlowMenThinking]

In your application the shield brad does not carry the signal it is ground the signal is the hot and the cold

[@StefanoCipo87]

Ciao Guido, hai mai provato i connettori neotech placcati rodio? Io li ho appena presi da montare su un cavo bilanciato abbastanza hiend, costruito da sarath dissanayake. Il cavo era eccellente ma montava connettori neutrik, così ho pensato di fare un upgrade. Alcuni parametri come ampiezza della scena, separazione degli strumenti, e medi (voci in particolare) sono migliorati nettamente. Gli alti però sono molto meno raffinati, a tratti fastidiosi, e riducono complessivamente il nero di fondo. Secondo te sono aspetti dovuti al rodaggio da fare? Uso connettori rodio (furutech) su tutti i cavi di alimentazione e di solito in quei casi avevo sensazioni simili prima di terminare un lungo rodaggio. Però non ho mai provato i neotech e non so se può trattarsi dello stesso problema. Tu hai esperienza in merito? Ora come ora i neutrik sono superiori complessivamente 😢

[@anadialog]

Salve Stefano, con me caschi male sul rodio! :-) È un metallo poco conduttivo rispetto all'argento o all'oro. Viene Impiegato perchè resistente, e quindi utile quando si collega e scollega continuamente i cavi, e non ossida per nulla. In termini sonori semplicemente non il mio preferito. A mio avviso meglio argento o oro 24k. Se possibile è sempre meglio utilizzare lo stesso metallo del conduttore o quello che si avvicina di più visto il problema dell'ossidazione.

[@StefanoCipo87]

@@anadialog capito, io personalmente mi sono trovato benissimo finora con il rodio sulle prese furutech di alimentazione e sulle forcelle Ramm, mai avuto problemi di asprezza sulle alte frequenze ma sempre suono limpido e tonalmente equilibrato (eccetto nella fase lunghissima di rodaggio). Questo però sicuramente dipende dalla sinergia del sistema, il mio ha alcune componenti tendenti al caldo e con me suona benissimo il rodio. Magari su sistemi un po’ più freddini l’oro può aiutare a scaldare un po’, nel mio caso toglie un po’ di dettaglio e trasparenza. I connettori neutrik che avevo prima sul cavo erano placcati argento, non oro. Vero che il rodio è meno conduttivo, ma secondo me in questi casi la differenza di suono la fa più che altro il cambio in risposta in frequenza che determinano i diversi materiali. Se ci pensi la placcatura è spessa solo pochi micron e qualunque differenza di resistenza elettrica sarebbe insignificante. Comunque non dubito la tua esperienza, dipende tutto dalla sinergia del sistema, dalle orecchie diverse, e dai gusti. Quindi sui neotech placcati oro che hai tu nessun rodaggio significativo?

[@StefanoCipo87]

Vero anche che è meglio usare stesso materiale per connettori e spina. Le spine xlr sul pre sono oro, i neutrik erano argento, I neotech sono rodio.

[@StefanoCipo87]

@@anadialog comunque come aggiornamento dopo già una trentina di ore di rodaggio suonano molto molto bene, e credo proprio possano ancora migliorare. Rodio o non rodio il rame OCC neotech dei contatti fa decisamente il suo

[@StefanoCipo87]

@@anadialog un rapido update, dopo una 60ina di ore di rodaggio questi connettori fanno ancora schifo. Medi e voce ottimi ma alti rozzi e fastidiosi, inascoltabili. Mai più rodio su cavi di segnale. Le prese furutech rodiate le adoro invece è suonano calde e trasparenti allo stesso tempo. Ma sul segnale niente rodio! Ho ordinato gli Xhadow reference che sono rame ofc placcato argento, spero sia la soluzione definitiva!

[@jn3750]

New Otari MX5050BII-2 owner here, thanks to your R2R videos. However, Otari has its XLRs configured with pin 3 hot, pin 2 cold and pin 1 ground. What happens if I ignore this and simply connect those XLRs to my preamp's XLRs (Parasound P5, which has pin 2 hot)?

[@anadialog]

Fantastic! Glad to hear that! You got a true beauty, congratulations. Yes, unfortunately there is this issue with older XLR cables. If you use them that way you will have a reversed phase (both having the same phase or absolute phase). You can still use them but I do not recommend that. You can use a phase reverser or, better make your own cables. Here is a link to a DIY XLR cable: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHa7laCqlJxlprM In your case you will connect the hot pole 3 on one side, to the hot pole 2 on the other and respect this change for all three connectors. That way you will have a top notch cable and a correct phasing.

[@jn3750]

@@anadialog A lot of people recommend that I correct the Otari by swapping the two pins (2 and 3) on the OTARI input/output jacks, NOT doing anything with the new cables or my pre-amp as they already have the modern XLR jacks (pin 2 hot, pin 3 cold, and pin 1 ground). Who is right here (**)?

[@rakshas1340]

bro what is that soldering iron

[@anadialog]

😆

[@alcraig1]

What's the point of the nylon sleeve? And, BTW, there are situations where you should not connect the shield at both ends. It has to do with preventing ground loops, but that's a another whole discussion.

[@anadialog]

The sleeve is for beauty since the cable is so ugly. Not in balanced cables, no ground loops. What you are describing is when you are using unbalanced connections with rca connectors.

[@alcraig1]

@@anadialog Ground loops can occur when two pieces of electronic gear are connected via an XLR cable (with the shield connected) and each piece of gear is also grounded via their respective power points. One must draw a schematic of the ground paths in any system and eliminate any loops. Removing the ground pin on the power connector is not advisable. Wiring your power points using star grounding methods and a unique ground stake away from your house's ground is a good place to start. But, determining the central point of any system as "ground central" and then chopping the shield cable from terminal gear is best practice.

[@anadialog]

@@alcraig1 you are reporting stuff off the web. Otherwise you wouldn't have stated that the ground must be connected at both sides with an xlr cable.

[@alcraig1]

@@anadialog No, I am reporting stuff learned from 47 years as an audio engineer. If you connect 2 pieces of gear using an XLR cable, and if those two pieces of gear are plugged into separate power points, you will have created a ground loop. The greater the distance between the power points, the more likely you will hear the ground loop as hum. Cutting the shield off one end eliminates the loop.

[@anadialog]

@@alcraig1 ok, now I get it. I read again the og comment. You were talking about the shield, not the ground, and yes I agree. I always make my cables with only one side connected and that is why several cables are directional. I mention this in several videos. I thought you were talking about the ground itself which is clearly always present on both sides in balanced connections. Sorry about that. My bad.

[@C0wb0yh3nk]

Please stop it with that nonsense of copper cable having a "direction". I know we are not all engineers but we do have brains or do we? You understand that a signal lets say a sine wave of 1 kHz is a signal that continuosly changes direction. The poles of a balanced cable are equally "hot" as you say thats the reason it's balanced. I say do a double blind test and see if you can hear the direction of you cable. I'll bet everything i own you won't be able to tell the difference since there is no difference. It's all marketing wank to sell cable worth 0,25 cents for 10 euro per meter. But hey i do love your channel, love the analog audio stuff. I just couldn't take it anymore i'm so frustrated by people selling high-end BS. For instance i work with high-end equipment like oscilloscopes of more that 100K Euro's probes of +20k why is there not a High-end audio grade power cable on that thing? why are the probes not cryogenicaly treated and so on. Because cabling in audio is the biggest bullshit on this planet. I use cheap high end cables just for the way they look not for their sound.

[@anadialog]

...and though high quality cables changed radically my system. I don't answer anymore to agry hating-cable people but it seems that you have seen other vidgmgis of mine. So maybe, by claimimg this, you might slightly believe me. I agree that I will never hear the difference of direction but since it is reported I think it is my duty to tell people.

[@C0wb0yh3nk]

I'm not trying to be an angry cable hater, and i'm not blaming you. I actually like that you make your own cable, and I'm not saying use bad cables. I agree totally that you should use good build cables but, because they should give as less loss as possible not because they "improve" the sound quality. What i am saying is that if a cable says it has a direction and pixie dust to improve sound quality then you are being screwed because there's no such thing. I agree that you think your system changed from different (more expensive) cable but have you actually done tests, like I have, to see if they improved the quality. I have done a test with stax headphones and srm006t amp feeding the same source into both inputs with a cheap copper cable and an expensive silver cable and then swith back and forth. I was not able to detect any difference, I tried for over an hour to listen to the diffent details and textures and layers in the music but absolutly nothing!!! In my oppinion if you can hear the cable, you have a very bad cable which probably has a lot of capacitance and/or inductance!!!

[@anadialog]

Actually, I did the same. I did not notice any difference with headphones. Where I did notice a difference is when I finally decided to insert a pair of Nordost Heimdall for my cd player against the stock cable (that was about 15 years ago or more). Even more impressive was the change from a stock piwer cable for my amp with a high wuslity powercord...wow!

[@karellen00]

On a pair of static headphones the quality of the cable is less important, as the signal has an extremely high voltage, so the actual current is very low. The same trick of having a signal at high voltage is used on sound installations on big buildings, where you have a lot of cabling and you don't want to have too thick cables or to loose a lot of signal (you don't need audiophile grade sound on those systems, but otherwise you wouldn't be even able to understand what the voice says!) Back to the direction of the cable, it only works when you use the outer layer as shielding, as you have to ground it only on one of the terminations, because connecting the ground of two devices would lead to ground loop.

[@BwanaJesuasifiwe]

​@@karellen00 your statement is misleading. only the headphone cable is high voltage, but this makes no electrical change to the phono cables, interconnects and power cables which are being tested. the only cable which scientifically (reality) makes a difference, is the phono cable due to very low voltage. and this can be easily solved by shortening the cable length and not by snake oil.

[@marklowe7431]

I'm not sure what an audiophile cable is but in the million dollar pro studio the cable costs no more than about 5 bucks a metre and the connectors about 7. The connectors and cable is about the best you can buy and it's used in almost every studio in the world. If it's good enough to record a million dollar album it should be good enough for you at home.

[@anadialog]

That is a very wrong assumption, that pro automatically means quality. It means reliability but not necessarily top performance. For example, mastering engineers never get the best of the best headphones or speakers etc. Just good quality, but not amazing quality. Plus the whole thing drops, if you think there are audiophile labels that do use quality gear and cables throughout their productions. Ever heard a Sheffield lab recording? Or are we talking only Lady Gaga?

[@peppim.9633]

dop...afterwards...... he, he, are you italian or american or both? Good video anyway, ha ha

[@anadialog]

Both! Mainly italian...

[@peppim.9633]

@@anadialog OK. i see, well i'm german born italian & i know that words often mixes up in my way of thinking before talking!!!!!

[@theklipschcave5593]

Choose Anti-cables interconnects instead. Without plastic jackets and nylon covers and thick shielding which creates reduced sound quality. It will cost you a lot more, but you will never reach the right quality level doing it yourself.

[@indyginc]

NEUTRIK connectors will do same but cost much less

[@anadialog]

They are excellent of course but not the best, OCC copper is monocrystal so it has the best transmission, second only to occ silver but I agree too expensive in the end.

[@gegal6178]

Pls pre tin the wires... it will be much easier

[@anadialog]

Doing that in the newer videos 😎

[@gegal6178]

@@anadialog liked it when you use quality materials, it is more satisfying... Given that you will be using it. Never settle for less specially when budget is not an issue.

[@almondao]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4axmJdsoL-KZtU - A bit long but much better technique. This is the proper technique to make XLR interconnect cables. Pre-tin your wires, use good Eutectic solder to reduce heat needed and allows proper flow of solder. Clean neat and strong XLR connects. No comment on XLR connectors, and cables. Use what you believe will work. As the other poster mentioned your soldering technique is "..... negating much of any good conductive and impedance matching advantages of a good cable."

[@dhudson369]

Its called heat shrink. Not a bad job but could be better.

[@anadialog]

Yes, you are right. Thanks. I am Italian so I make some mistakes like that...

[@kleejunkleelee3147]

nice video but you are wrong about the direction of current. It is EE 101. Electron in copper will flow from low to high voltage. So don't waste your money on so called hi-end "directional" cable. that's snake oil.

[@anadialog]

Thanks! It also depends by the way its twisted, its geometry...according to the manufacturers...

[@typ237]

Electrical current takes the path of least resistance, very basic physics, current doesn’t follow the arrows drawn on the cable. The screen wire is as directional as clouds are

[@LoveUSA7]

If your concerned about your wires touching like this guy then you should cut them shorter where there is no way they can touch

[@amdenis]

I am an electrical engineer of almost 35 years, and I do fairly advanced research and development (corporate, military, etc) in traditional and quantum computing and related engineering. I know you are doing your best without a EE background, but some of the assertions you make are just wrong on virtually every level. A group of continuous sine waves are not directional macroscopically, electronically or on a quantum level. You should make a go of doing your own research to understand this better, as this is too involved to write up in a YT comment. Also, PLEASE look up and practice proper soldering. You are creating mostly BAD solder joints, which we would have been forced to redo in engineering courses, or would have been fired in the work world for repeatedly doing. You are negating much of any good conductive and impedance matching advantages of a good cable.

[@anadialog]

Andrew, I fully support the observation that I do not solder well...never claimed the opposet...

[@amdenis]

ana[dia]log - I know. It just takes practice. Not an insult, only an observation. I only mention it because others may take your video as a how-to style of instruction, and may follow your specific example- including the soldering. There are lots of good online videos showing proper soldering methods. Maybe use them to help, and just practice a little. Typically 20-30 solder joints followed closely will get you doing good joints.

[@arrakian]

Andrew, would you give links to proper soldering videos? I want to learn how, but the BEST and correct way.

[@amdenis]

arrakian - Sure. Here’s one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKaWhYx4qJtofK8

[@arrakian]

Andrew Denis Thanks, Andrew.

[@leon9021]

You know, I already use custom made cables worth about 150$ a pair done by a long time professional, but I dont really buy into the notion of cables making a difference.

[@musicman8270]

Ditto with the direction nonsense. This might be a fun project but it won't save any money. I bought an 18in pair (two) for about ten bucks a pair, pretty high quality, from Mono price, about the best money saver in audio is their web address. UNLESS you just absolutley need "special" copper.

[@SlowMenThinking]

Lurn How to solder your skills are worse than the screw type. Back in the day when I was trained 35+ years ago your attempt was a fail and go back and start again. A bad solder joint does bad things to the signal. the joints you made will not last too well. as for the cable you used the XLR had hot cold ground and shield terminals, In a balanced system ground should not be confused for shield. In a balanced system it is the common mode rejection that makes the signal to noise so good the shield is not that important and in some cases it can set up ground loops.

[@pmAdministrator]

Ok, boomer.

[@highhat5229]

Slow Men Thinking do you think something like this cable will be okay? www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MF2dot5slash3.html?source=adwords&ad_position=&ad_id=415703895078&placement=&kw=&network=u&matchtype=&ad_type=&product_id=MF2.5%2F3&product_partition_id=934892185560&campaign=shopping_cable_accessories&version=finalurl_v3&gclid=Cj0KCQiAifz-BRDjARIsAEElyGJ5YlJQxClFNb4pEBaIDmZgFC_vOCSPpNh702yH4-3yNJtXy87Hms0aAlXmEALw_wcB

[@cloudbase7799]

And...voilà! A $500 cable. 😋🤪

[@anadialog]

Here you will find the bang for the buck: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2bLkISXa6Znf7csi=XHKkxE_QaD8TdjSq

[@LoveUSA7]

Would be nice when your filming that you do the work where the camera can see, otherwise it’s just an audio demo

[@anadialog]

It is like that! Maybe a few seconds were out of the picture...sorry about that.

[@fusik23]

masakra te luty

[@John.Smithing.lvl100]

Gold is less conductive than copper. Just look up on Wikipedia or something. I Don't understand why these audio products favor so much gold when in reality the only thing more conductive than copper is silver lol

[@anadialog]

Josè, you did not listen carefully. With an entire channel dedicated to audio maybe I know what is more conductive or not, what do you think? In any case, gold is the best choice because it is not CORROSIVE. it is called a noble metal for this characterist. If you use copper it will oxidize, just like silver. So gold is the lesser evil, and, therefore, the best connector (not conductor).

[@John.Smithing.lvl100]

@@anadialog you are great

[@GFSwinger1693]

The background music just makes litstening to what you are saying tiring to focus on. Just saying. Additionally, the arrows on the cable have nothing to do with the direction of the braid but instead the direction of the twist in the StarQuad cable. The same is true for Eathernet cables using StarQuad. The direction needs to be continuous. The risk is messing that up at any in-line disconnect.

[@anadialog]

Background music can’t be removed. In my new videos there is none. I have asked several manufactures and I can affirm that direction is added to cables to signal where the braid is connected to the ground. Some designs don’t connect both to avoid hum problems.

[@jerryseigle2538]

Instead of tape use hot glue to keep wires from touching. Hot glue is none conductive

[@anadialog]

Thanks for that. I agree that tape is the worse choice, but easy.

[@basztunearte8196]

when you make this kind of cable your studiomixer soundproducer studioengineer is going to be crazy he doesn''t know what to do anymore also the guitarplayer is going crazy

[@florin604]

If balanced... All you need is pure copper And you did it wrong.... You solder the wire first and then to the plug

[@peppim.9633]

Pez...piece of ...... , ha ha

[@thesimulations8900]

A ton of your shots are out of frame!😕

[@fazilkathree1767]

Lousy soldering you must tin the wires

[@danacrooker1282]

Can't see what you're doing much of the time!

[@mikepiontek1550]

This video is very bad on so many levels. The sad thing is that people with even less knowledge are going to try this.

[@happysoul941]

This video is an excellent example of how to stretch a 2 minutes video to half an hour.

[@mauriziomauricone]

And 50% out of shot !! OMG

[@dukestin5104]

Entire video could have been done in 5 minutes. Sheesh .......

[@anadialog]

No fun at that point! 😉

[@johngordon1175]

There is an”l” in solder I don’t think you are American who has issues with pronunciation !

[@anadialog]

Yes, I am Italian so I mispronounce several words. Sorry about that.

[@georgealeong8188]

Title should be how not to make You Own Audiophile XLR cables

[@Sixalienasa]

This has got to be the worst video on Cables I have seen.

[@anadialog]

Thanks Aidan for your direct comment. Can I ask you why?

[@abecoulter8550]

NO SUCH THING AS AUDIOPHILE XLR CABLES

[@anadialog]

Which ones have you tried?

[@abecoulter8550]

@@anadialog i just use neutrik connectors and canare cable, canare has the best sheilding on the market, i use it for micrphone line audio DMX and AES3

[@cloudbase7799]

Audio _pile_ ! 💩

[@jeffreybilbro3292]

Talk less

[@anadialog]

Write more

[@basztunearte8196]

this is not a true story it is for someone who has bad ears this one is pretty deaf

[@COLMWALSH07]

This is such a waste of money. Standard Neutrik XLRs are used in every stage and level of professional productions. No need for this expense.

[@anadialog]

That is a common misconception that pro, is automatically best. In audio, pro is functional with decent quality, not high quality. Don't look only at cables, just take a look at what amps and preamps they use. Normal stuff. In any case, which quality XLR have you tried?

[@pto314]

You talked to much. Worse than that, your soldering skill was way below minimum requirement. You have ruined one of the best XLR connectors. The quality of the cable you made was worse than a $10 balanced cable. To the viewers, if you don't have any experience in making cables, do not follow this instruction.

[@anadialog]

C'mon! It ain't that bad...the sound of my cable is mind blowing!

[@andreaslorunser4112]

this could probably be the worst soldering I have seen in my life. Sorry.

[@anadialog]

Never said the opposite, actually I always say that I am not good at it. Fortunately the video is on another topic.