question about XLR cables

[QueBert]

I asked on a producer/engineer forum I frequent and got mixed answers. Looking to get a 25' XLR cable for a microphone I'm ordering. I would like to think the advice from a dude who's been a professional engineer for 25 years is good but I don't know. One's telling me little to no difference in brand outside of durability. Another's saying you need shielded and higher quality cables with have much better impedance and give you noticeably better sound. And they talk about how dead silent the higher quality cables are when you're recording vocals.

I'm ordering a middle of the line M-Audio Luna condenser mic, I don't know squat about XLR cables, I don't want to just assume they're like HDMI or others where a cable's a cable. The other forum's suggestions included Mogami Neglex Star-Quad, Monster and a few others. Oddly enough the Monster was way cheaper than the others mentioned. The Mogami was $100 for a 5 foot cable.

Does anything outside of how well made the cable is matter at all? I'm seeing 25 footers for $20 bucks and wondering if I should just go with one of those and call it a day.

 

[Drako]

My wife does a lot of audio work for films - she is an audio engineer.

She has several XLR cables that use Canare StarQuad cable. She usually buys her stuff from Trew Audio.

http://www.trewaudio.com/store/product.php?productid=215&cat=28&page=2

Edit - oops here's a 25 footer.
http://www.trewaudio.com/store/product.php?productid=213&cat=0&page=1

 

[Howard]

Workmanship counts for a lot. Blue Jeans Cable is great bang for the buck.

 

[Drako]

Workmanship counts for a lot. Blue Jeans Cable is great bang for the buck.

I don't think Blue Jeans sells XLR cables, do they?

 

[s44]

You know, Monoprice has these...

Blue Jeans suggests either Belden 1800F or Canare Star Quad -- they want about $50, though, which is more than the place linked above.

 

[QueBert]

Thanks for the replies guys, I just read about solderless XLR cables, I always thought you had to solder them if you wanted to make your own. It looks stupidly this way so I'll probably go that route. The famed uber quality StarQuad cable's pretty cheap by the foot when you buy it in a DIY kit.

 

[Auric]

For your consideration:

http://best-tronics.com/guitar-cable/microphone/

 

[Howard]

I don't think Blue Jeans sells XLR cables, do they?

It's in the balanced cables section.

 

[Drako]

It's in the balanced cables section.

Cool, thanks!

 

[Drako]

Hey QueBert, where are you buying the DIY kit? I might want to check these out as well.

 

[QueBert]

Hey QueBert, where are you buying the DIY kit? I might want to check these out as well.

I think from Redco.com, I shouldn't have said kit, they just sale all the parts you need. I gotta call them tomorrow and find out what mount I need. I almost placed an order not thinking the mount in my cart has to be soldered and I'm going for solderless. Markertek is another place to look up, I don't have any experience with either, but they both get favorable reviews from studio heads.

 

[AlienCraft]

Cheap-o commercially available cables go microphonic sooner than ones with better shielding, hence higher cost. This is the noise made while moving or handling the cable, crackles or thumps.
You get what you pay for. Although all cables will deteriorate over time and with use. Constant coiling and uncoiling, rolling cases over them, that sort of thing.
One thing to check is that the actual case of the connector is not connected to the shield.
Whirlwind makes a decent cable. Star-Quad wiring makes a noticeable difference, as does combination foil / braid for shielding.