Who makes quality XLR cables?

[geeqner]

My rig is not a Balanced one (yet) - But I HAVE purchased cables for commercial applications.
I would either look for a non-esoteric brand cable that uses QUALITY connectors and shielded cable - like Mogami Link / Gold Series or Canare.
(I believe that this is essentially what Blue Jeans Cables does.)

If you need a bunch and want to make your own in custom lengths - (Sounds like you probably know how to solder?)
I would just order a spool of Canare cable and then order Neutrik or Switchcraft commercial-grade connectors with the mostly metal bodies and gold-plated pins.
(The ones with the BLACK shells also LOOK nice...)  Both of them also can provide marking / color-code banding accessories for ease of tracing / double-checking
connections that get moved-around a lot like yours

www.neutrik.us/en-us/xlr/xlr-cable-connectors/
sss.switchcraft.com/Category.aspx?Parent=802

(I've assembled a few of their connectors and used other types that they make on Demo Units.  They are solid / quality throughout - the pins won't shift on you when you apply the heat like they do on cheapos, plus they usually incorporate solid strain-relief securing points within them - You can order via Credit Card on Digi-Key and Mouser.)

[Boomzilla]

All of which brings up another question, gents:

What's with using 75-ohm "digital" cable for analog interconnects? I fail to see why this would or could be beneficial. Please enlighten me.

Boom

[Casey Leedom]

Are you talking about S/PDIF or AES3 over Coaxial Cable?

Casey

[mercury]

I use XLR Mogami Gold from CD transport >DAC>Preamp>Power amp. Quality cables & connectors.

[Boomzilla]

Dec 7, 2018 19:05:49 GMT -5 Casey Leedom said:

Are you talking about S/PDIF or AES3 over Coaxial Cable?

Casey

Neither, Casey Leedom - It appears that many XLR and some RCA ANALOG cables are being sold that utilize 75-ohm "digital" wire. WTF?

"Note that they (Grimm Audio) also make and sell a lot of Mogami cables, and they're actually the ones who suggested the Mogami 3173 to me, when I went looking for an AES XLR cable (the 3173 is 110 ohm, and it is their best recommended AES model, which also happens to work well for XLR analog interconnects."

And I also found this:

"Cable impedance is only relevant at high frequencies where the cable length becomes comparable with the wavelength of the signal. In the case of digital audio, the frequency of the stream is in excess of 1.4MHz, so RF conditions apply if the cable length gets over a couple of hundred metres. Nevertheless, it is good practice that for digital audio, the cable be 75 ohms impedance, as that's the sending and terminating impedance.

For analogue audio, impedance is completely irrelevant until cable lengths get in the many hundreds of metres. Originally, professional audio used 600 ohms as a standard impedance, as this was taken from telephony, which sent analogue signal over hundreds of kilometers, so impedance was important. For domestic audio use, or even professional use these days, cable impedance is irrelevant.

75 ohms unbalanced cables can be used equally for digital or analogue audio, as can 110ohm balanced cables. In fact, it is sensible for all cables to be either 75 ohms or 110 ohms, as then they can be used equally for analogue or digital, over any distance."

So what's the actual science? Any potential harm to analog from using 75 or 110 ohm cables?

[geeqner]

Not sure why - probably more "Marketing B.S." (To those lacking sufficient technical knowledge - Using "digital" as a "Buzz Word" almost always makes it sound more attractive, sort of like making things from Carbon Fiber and putting "Digital Motors" into Vacuum Cleaners...)

"Digital" cables probably means designed for high-speed Digital Data or digital modulated FSK type signals - which would mean that they probably have lower Capacitance. The benefit of this would be less "Impedance" characteristics as in greater Capacitance usually means more attenuation at higher frequencies. However, this is usually applicable to RADIO Frequencies. I cannot see how this would be relevant at AUDIO frequencies.

If it were ME - I would be sticking with sturdy, well-shielded cables, that are MADE specifically for Audio frequencies.

[donh50]

RG-6 is used for cable TV installations "everywhere" so it is cheaper for vendors to stock and sell on cable instead of different flavors. It is 75 ohm impedance but the impedance for RF signals does not matter at audio frequencies. It is just decent shielded coax, widely available at low cost. There is no problem using it at audio frequencies. For audio the cables I tend to avoid are the thin little coaxes with lousy molded connectors, and I can't afford (and do not believe in) the ridiculously (to me) high-priced audiophile stuff.

AES specifies 110 ohms for balanced (XLR) runs but there is also a 75-ohm version, and S/PDIF uses 75 ohms as well. But those are digital links running at a few MHz, not audio at 20 kHz. That said, most decent XLR mic or line cables will handle AES or low-frequency analog just fine.

For XLRs I use Pro-Co from Sweetwater most of the time as it is fairly cheap for good-quality cable. I also have used a lot of Mogami and Canare, the latter mainly star-quad for long runs and/or high-noise environments. I have had poor experience with Hosa and almost none with Monoprice -- I bought some of their cheaper cables long ago and the connectors were poor so I simply haven't tried again. As others mentioned above I also prefer Amphenol, Neutrik, and Switchcraft connectors with a slight preference for the first two.

For homes, the biggest advantage of XLR is the ability to break a ground loop by lifting the shield at one end. Assuming the transmitter and receiver are properly designed (not all XLR inputs/outputs are the same, ranging from fully differential to various flavors of quasi-differential to just glorified single-ended with a more expensive connector). The cable retention (locking connector) is useful if you have kids or pets prone to yanking out the cables unexpectedly (I intentionally left out plugs yanked by big feet and hands fumbling around the back of the rack by the owner as I hate to admit when I screw up ).

FWIWFM - Don