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Cat5 cable that's flexible


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Well I'm giving up my dream of buying (and using) a fender hot rod deluxe and I'm still going to rock the pod2.0 for another year or so. It works, I've got it sounding pretty good with an old acoustic powered guitar cab 2x12. I hate the cat5 cable that goes between the pod and the floorboard, HC peoples, point me in the right direction. Is there something similar to a guitar cable jacket that doesn't feel like it'll come apart? Or a cable that will coil nice?

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Beldon makes some cable called Data Tuff (several versions). We have recently had a lot of wiring done using ethrecon connectors (by Neutrik) + Beldon data tuff cable. It looks like this. http://www.amazon.com/EtherCON-Cable-CAT-5e-DataTuff-TecNec/dp/B009S4S5S8

 

Too Bad Line 6 didn't have this option when the pod was designed. They are really well built, cabling for industrial (stage) use.

 

FWIW you might still find a better built CAT5 using one of the varieties of tuff cable. Good luck

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I have some of the belden datatuff with ethercon for connecting an x32 can and x32 rack together. I would not describe what I have as "flexible". It is more like "bendable". It is easy to bend it around corners but it holds that bend and does not lie flat. Perhaps there is more than one "datatuff" but the stuff I have is not much like a guitar cord. I wish it was.

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I'll suggest that "more flexible" cat5 cable would involve stranded conductors... along with "more flexible" insulation and jacketing. I suspect that stranded conductor cat5 cable "doesn't exist". I suspect the reason stranded conductors cat5 cable doesn't exist is due to the 100MHz performance rating... I'm of the understanding that high frequency signals don't play nicely with stranded conductors. Also, I believe Teflon is a common dielectric used in cat5 cable... the dielectric is the insulation in physical contact with the conductor. I believe Teflon is used because of it's low relative permittivity... which is a good thing from the standpoint of keeping the capacitance of the cable low, but Teflon, or foamed Teflon, is "less flexible" than other "more flexible" but higher relative permittivity insulations.

 

I suspect that if there was enough "need" (market) for flexible and robust, but reasonably priced cat5 cable... somebody would figure out a way to make it happen... but I suspect the live audio cat5 market is a drop in the ocean of the total cat5 market.

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I still have the original line6 cable, it's patched between a wireless router and my main computer. Would be fine except the plastic tabs are gone. Yeah, this is just cat5, I'm not dropping a load of money into this. Blue cable that's a little ugly is fine.

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Stranded cable at such high frequencies reduces allowable length. Stranded is available in "patch" lengths however.

 

That's what I was thinking Andy: Maybe cable that isn't cat5 cable could be used for shorter runs... seeing as cat5 rated cable involves meeting specifications to 100 meters. Any-ole 4 twisted pair cable might work fine if the run is short enough and the ends could be physically assembled on the cable.

 

I think I might have some Belden 4 pair RS232 cable... fairly flexible stuff and reasonably durable as I recall... I was thinking of seeing if I could cobble some cat5 ends on about 100ft. of that cable and run it between my X32 boards and see how it works... assuming I still have that roll of cable and I can find where I put it away at.

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I noticed the Beldon data tuff is a bit stiff but it is jacketed & strain relieved very well to take the rigors of the road. I was thinking along the lines of some of the others here. CAT5/6 is all about perfectly even twists to maximize common mode noise rejection. I know in critical applications, you are not supposed to have more than a couple of millimeters of untwisted cable in the connector or it degrades it's S/N ration. Even making tight bends in the solid copper probably does this a bit as well. I'd say as long as the data rate isn't too high and your devices/algorithms have good error correction, you could probably be pretty sloppy with that spec. Don't know about the Line 6 gear but if you have the connectors & the tool, they're cheap enough so why not experiment? Something like a small gauge quad mogami or canari would probably work just fine as long as the run isn't too long. Make sure you try it in a noisy environment like run it next to some computers and/or near some neon and make sure it holds up. Bring a standard one to your gigs for a while just in case :-).

 

Just a thought.

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At high data rates, like on digital snakes, you need to stick with the standards. There are specific twist algorithems used to maintain characteristic impedance as well as minimize crosstalk between pairs and external noise rejection. All of these parameters go hand in hand with the specifications.

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Thie side story here is kinda interesting since a bunch of digital boards also have optional stage boxes w cat5. From what I can tell theres a good amount of cost with the Neutrik ends, about 25% of the cost over the the normal ones. For those of you using stage boxes w your x32 or whatever, what are you using?

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Thie side story here is kinda interesting since a bunch of digital boards also have optional stage boxes w cat5. From what I can tell theres a good amount of cost with the Neutrik ends' date=' about 25% of the cost over the the normal ones. For those of you using stage boxes w your x32 or whatever, what are you using?[/quote']

 

The iLive systems work fine with solid core Duracat.

 

For the X32 - stranded, shielded Proplex with Ethercons. Adding Ethercon shells to a normal shielded cable costs only a few bucks. Here is a 30+ page discussion about cables for the X32 & S16:

 

http://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,143428.0.html

 

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