Members jnordyke Posted May 13, 2008 Members Share Posted May 13, 2008 I just got my "bug catcher" from Audiopile, and decided to use it first to wade through the 100+ mic cables stashed here and there...I appear to have three flavors of xlr cables, and hoping someone will tell me "why" and which are "correct" if that is an appropriate term....batch #1 - pin 1 is grounded, on the male side batch #2 - pin 1 is grounded, on the female sidebatch #3 - no pin is reported as grounded What's up with these differences, and which if any of them should I discard out-of-hand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gregidon Posted May 13, 2008 Members Share Posted May 13, 2008 I assume by grounded you mean to the shell of the XLR connector. Don't throw them away, fix it. Open up the end of the connectors and remove the wire that is connected from pin one to the shell. This should help you get rip of ground loops more easily in your setups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 13, 2008 Members Share Posted May 13, 2008 No connections should be made to the shell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jnordyke Posted May 13, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 13, 2008 Thanks. These are all off-the-shelf cables, not home-made goobers, so I was wondering why the pin 1 to shell - since this is an 'extra effort' when making the cables, why did some company make them wrong in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 13, 2008 Members Share Posted May 13, 2008 Because some companies do not understand thoroughly the proper industry protocol for balanced signal interconnections. This is most commonly seen on Asian contract assembly cables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted May 14, 2008 Members Share Posted May 14, 2008 No connections should be made to the shell. I've had experience with a particular gear manufacturer that, in addition to the standard XLR inputs on the rear of the equipment, places an XLR-1/4" combo input on the front. Something about the wiring of these combo jacks requires that, in order for them to pass phantom power, the cable shell must be connected to (IIRC) pin 1. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 14, 2008 Members Share Posted May 14, 2008 Might be an input on an acoustic amp that doesn't conform to any standard. That's a bastard interface and the standard should not be compromised excpet with a specific cable to that device only. The grounded shell can cause unintended and uncorrectable ground loops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ear Abuser Posted May 14, 2008 Members Share Posted May 14, 2008 This is most commonly seen on Asian contract assembly cables Yep- virtually every one I've ever checked. Maybe it's some misapplied Asian standard. Just another reason to buy your cables from Audiopile- affordable, and wired correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 6Imzadi Posted May 14, 2008 Members Share Posted May 14, 2008 Yep- virtually every one I've ever checked. Maybe it's some misapplied Asian standard. Just another reason to buy your cables from Audiopile- affordable, and wired correctly. Those are made in Korea. Last I checked, Korea is in Asia. So, it's not where you're from, it's what you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 14, 2008 Members Share Posted May 14, 2008 Mark and his suppliers know the business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members asklouis Posted May 15, 2008 Members Share Posted May 15, 2008 Mark and his suppliers know the business. And Mark and Liz are great at customer service too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted May 15, 2008 Members Share Posted May 15, 2008 Maybe it's some misapplied Asian standard. I'm of the belief it's a mis-applied thought. I believe an EU requirement calls for earth grounded metal on all electrical products. Strapping pin 1 to the D ring satisfies the letter of the requirement, but is a mis-applied substitute for satisfying the spirit of the intent. To properly earth ground the shell of an XLR cable dictates the need for a seperate & dedicated earth gound conductor in the cabling. Adding 2mm of 24ga. jumper wire between pin 1 and the D ring does the same job if only considering the letter of the requirement. The Star Trek episode: "The Squire of Gothoes", I believe fairly well explains the situation. Sometimes conventions get started... and remain intact for quite a few regenerations without someone pointing out that the emporor is not wearing any clothes. FWIW: I have some horn flair examples here... I have examples of the pre xerox copies and some post xerox copies. Judging by what I know to be the shrinkage of cast aluminum... I've guesstimated that the post xerox samples were regenerated somewhere around 4 or 5 inbread times off the origional (copies of copies of copies of copies possibly copied). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Art Flood Posted August 19, 2013 Members Share Posted August 19, 2013 Its probably just a coincidence, but I've had a few cable issues recently and when I've checked the connectors they've all had had pin 1 connected to the case. Two cables had developed a fault that produced a high pass filter effect - I assume this is an open circuit somewhere and it probably had little to do with the pin 1 connection.But it got me wondering what the impact of having pin 1 connected to the case would be on the sound of say a microphone. Is it just more likely to have ground hum issues or is there something more?Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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