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Archive for the ‘mic cables’ Category

Making The Case For An XLR Speaker Cable

Monday, July 7th, 2008

Many years ago when I worked in the Technical Services Dept. at Duke University, we embraced a speaker cable connector standard that seems to have fallen by the wayside. We used the standard XLR3 connector for speaker cables-the same connector that was used on microphone cables.

With my background in pro sound, I was familiar with both the quarter inch standard , and the Canon EP multipin standard. I had never seen the XLR used for speaker cables. I quickly became a convert. Here’s why.

Because speaker cables with XLR connectors have a male connector on one end and a female on the other, its easy to extend the length of a cable without an adapter. Not using an adapter means not losing an adapter. This is a really valuable feature when doing long outdoor speaker cable runs.

Each pin in an XLR3 connector is rated at 15 amps. That’s more than enough current carrying capacity for most practical amplifier outputs.

The flexible strain relief boot on an XLR connector is flexible enough to handle 2 conductor 14 gauge, or even 12 gauge cable.

Each pin makes independent contact with the mating connector, unlike a quarter inch connector where the tip must make contact with the sleeve before it mates with the tip.

Finally the solid, easy to use locking mechanism on the XLR3 means that no additional securing of a connection is necessary when cables are linked together.

A couple of amplifier manufacturers adopted this standard back in the 1980’s, but they let it fall by the wayside when the industry as a whole failed to sign up.

On more than one occasion, I must admit that I used a microphone cable as a temporary speaker cable when I ran out of speaker cables. Try that with a Speakon cable!

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords , OnStage Stand mic stands and quality speaker cables.

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How Many Times Would I Have Liked To Have This?

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Neutrik, the maker of a broad line of audio connectors, has a great new product that every sound person ought to know about. Its a new style of XLR connector called the Convertcon.

How many times have you gotten to the end of a long XLR cable run, only to discover that you had the wrong gender connector in your hand? The Convertcon makes that a thing of the past.

By simply sliding the connector barrel forward or back, a male XLR3 connector can become a female XLR3, or vice versa. No more coiling and rerunning the cable or digging through your tool box for a turn around.

While the cost ($12.00 or more) keeps this connector from being practical to use on all mic cables, those special long run control cables or the ones you use to interface with someone else’s equipment are where this innovative connector shines.

The problem of running a long interface cable “blind” to a remote patch bay, an outboard production truck, or an unknown facility interface just got a whole lot easier.

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, good business ideas, mic cables, microphones & mic stands | No Comments »

Welcome To A New GoodBuyGuy-Speaker Cable Sam

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Today we introduce the newest of our GoodBuyGuys.com website, BuySpeakerCable.com.

BuySpeakerCable.com is hosted by Speaker Cable Sam , the latest addition to the GoodBuyGuys family. Sam is ready to provide lots of valuable information about speaker cables, speaker cable connectors and the proper set up of sound system speakers. Sam draws on 30 years of work in the concert production industry to help you make decisions about purchasing and using the best speaker cables and accessories, no matter what your application.

Buyspeakercable.com features cables from Mitee Cable. Mitee cables use quality connectors and wire to insure that your speaker cables deliver all the sound possible from your amplifier to your speakers. They have tough rubber jackets and copper wire that is durable, easily coilable and ready to stand up to the tough use sound and audio visual pros subject their equipment to every day.

Of particular interest is the in depth information provided about Speakon connectors, the new standard for pro audio speaker cables. Mitee Cables feature Speakon connectors that are fully compatible with the Neutrik NL2 & NL4 series connector, available at a fraction of the Neutrik price. Here, you will find valuable guides about wiring and using Speakon connectors, along with adapters that make Speakon speaker cables compatible with other connector types.

With the addition of BuySpeakerCable.com, you can turn to GoodBuyGuys.com for all of your audio visual and sound system cable needs.

Tags: Pro Sound, speaker cable, speaker cables
Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, extension cords, mic cables, speaker cables | No Comments »

When Is A Speakon Not A Speakon?

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

The addition of buyspeakercable.com to our family of goodbuyguys.com web sites has led to an interesting question regarding Speakon connectors. The Speakon, first introduced by Neutrik (a German company) has become the new standard for professional audio.

As with most popular products based on good design, lots of copies of the original Speakon have made their way into the marketplace. Neutrik has wisely decided to allow these “knock offs” to prolifierate, realizing that the more products on the market built to be compatible with their brand means the more connectors they will sell. This is how they have managed such total market penetration in an industry that always challenges change.

Our line of Speakon speaker cables is designed to mate effortlessly with Neutrik branded connectors and to perform comparably. Mitee Speakon cables use the same quality components as the Neutrik version and can be counted on to deliver the same reliability over a very long life.

Mitee Speakon speaker cables have locking tabs and are designed to latch securely to Neutrik panel mount connectors, whether mounted on a speaker cabinet or on an amplifier. A simple twist insures a solid connection. Strain relief is provided through a spring loaded “press to release” tab.

Just like the Neutrik version, Mitee Speakons are fully shielded so that there is no risk of ever touching an energized contact. All conductors are recessed and the connector body is heavy duty, non-conducting plastic.

Speakon connectors have a unique design that insure they are not switched with XLR, quarter inch, or any other low current audio cables. They are never used on microphones or signal processing equipment, only speaker cables.

Mitee Speakon speaker cables utilize the four pole connector, even though the cables are two conductor. The four pole standard has been adopted by amplifier manufacturers that equip their amps with Speakon connectors so that the amp can be switched internally between mono and biamped. This means that you can be sure that speaker cables from buyspeakercable.com will mate with all popular Speakon equipped amplifiers.

Now featuring speaker cables at BuySpeakerCable.com

Tags: Pro Sound, speaker cable, speaker cables, speakon connectors
Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, mic cables, speaker cables | No Comments »

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

I retired for active involvement in the sound business just at the time when digital mixers were being introduced into the sound reinforcement industry. Consequently, I have observed from the sidelines as this change in technology moved into the live sound world. Sometimes it is easier to be a backseat driver than it is to learn new production skills.

The biggest impediment to having rank and file sound people (not those on the bleeding edge) embrace this technology has been that there were too few knobs capable of doing too many things. Sound people with years of analog mixing experience couldn’t just step up to a new mixer and build a mix. Intuition as to which knob will give the desired result simply didn’t matter anymore.

Digico, long a leader in digital mixers, has introduced a new series of consoles, the SD7 that speak directly to this problem. Instead of embracing the line of thinking that computer processing power would allow the manufacturer to decrease the number of knobs on the mixer (now called “control surface” in digital-speak), Digico is turning this idea on its head.

Decreases in cost and size of computer processing allows the SD7 to have MORE knobs and sliders. The result is that this mixer looks almost like a conventional analog desk. This is the part of the digital puzzle that has been missing, and it is an idea that will lead a whole generation of “over 40 something” sound people to take the digital plunge.

Recognizing that having separate knobs for tone control (eq) and aux busses (monitors and effects) is of more value than making a mixer as small and multi-functional as possible is an idea that is long overdue.

The Digico SD7 is expensive and you shouldn’t expect to see them in churches and schools anytime soon (probably never!). What you will see is some of the more reasonably priced offerings from companies like Yamaha and Mackie following Digico’s lead and using additional processing power to make their lower priced digital mixers something that late adopters will actually recognize.

When that happens, I just might come out of retirement.

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, good business ideas, mic cables, speaker cables | No Comments »

How Much Longer Will We Need This Analog Link?

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

When asked about the invention of the automobile, Henry Ford said “If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a better horse.” Ford realized early on that a potential purchaser of his invention had no way to conceive of what an automobile was. They were thinking about how to make their current reality better.

Digital audio is quickly bringing live sound to the point where Ford stepped beyond his customer’s reality.

Up to now, the design theory behind bringing digital audio to live sound has been to make the sound person’s reality better. Give them more powerful tools while keeping them in charge of deciding how something should sound.

Now that digital mixing consoles have come way down in price and complication, they are being embraced at every level of the live sound industry. It’s common to see them in churches and schools. Digital microphones are next. When this new mic technology is embraced (sooner rather than later) by the live sound community, the digital signal chain will be almost complete.

I say almost, because there is one giant analog bump in what is otherwise soon to be a complete digital signal path. If you mix sound, that bump is YOU!

How far are we away from the digital live sound reality that doesn’t include the sound guy?

Here’s what I’m talking about.

Take the latest Dave Matthews Band album. It’s recorded digitally and everything on the album can be reproduced and analyzed in the digital domain. Stick with me here. I’m not talking about how a song is actually played, but rather the volume, tonal quality and relationship of all the sounds on the album to each other.

If the band wants to closely reproduce the sound of the record (the “mix” if you will) in a live performance, then why not have the person who used to mix the sound be replaced by a computer that knows what the song is supposed to sound like. Every instrument on stage will soon be introduced into the live sound system either by a digital direct box or a digital microphone. Instead of a human moving faders and twisting knobs, the computer doing the mix will maintain the tonal integrity, relative volumes and dozens of other parameters analyzed from the recorded sound. There will be no problem if the arrangement on stage changes from night to night, because the mixing computer doesn’t really care about how the song is played, only about how it sounds.

It wasn’t long ago that most of us believed that cost, reliability and user-complication would keep digital mixers from ever being accepted in the live sound world. We’re over that.

Look for this to happen with spoken word first.

A presenter will simply read a couple of sentences into a digital recorder that interfaces with a digital mixer. When the speaker steps up the podium, the sound system will already know what he or she is supposed to sound like. When this info is combined with the digital analysis of the output of the sound system (we’ve had this software in common use for years) then the true sound of the presenter’s voice can be delivered directly to every seat in the house.

Will the future of live digital sound need us at all? Let me know what you think.

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, Uncategorized, good business ideas, mic cables, microphones & mic stands | No Comments »

So Long, Ebay

Wednesday, February 13th, 2008

After a year of swimming upstream in a effort to sell our products on ebay, we’ve decided to hang it up. Thru an ebay store called buy mic stand, we have been selling microphone stands using their “buy it now” auction process. The actual selling went pretty well, but dealing with constantly changing ebay policies and pricing was just way too complicated. The harder ebay tried to improve their seller interface, the worse things got. Between listing fees, monthly fees, selling fees, relisting fees, and PayPal charges, there was not much left for the seller at the end of the tranasction.

The final straw for us came because a change in the ebay policy for posting feedback about customers. There is a lot of scamming going on by ebay buyers, and sellers have been able to use a system for posting feedback about difficult transactions. This lets sellers warn merchants about problem customers. Feedback is one of the most important things keeping ebay transactions on track, as neither sellers nor buyers want negative feedback.

We are mystified about ebay’s decision to stop allowing sellers to post negative feedback about customers who cause problems. It seems like ebay would welcome input from sellers (ebay’s customers) about members of the ebay community that make things more difficult for everybody. Apparently, protecting sellers is of no real interest to ebay. Posting in lots of ebay-oriented forums would seem to indicate that we are not the only merchants jumping ship.

While we were trying to make ebay work for us, our search results for mic stand and microphone stand in major search engines have risen to solid page one returns (thank you, Dale), so ebay doesn’t really fit in with our plans anymore anyway.

Meanwhile, everything we offered in our ebay store (and a lot more) continues to be available at buymicstand.com. See you there!

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, mic cables, microphones & mic stands | No Comments »

Now, That’s One Tough Mic Stand

Monday, January 7th, 2008

We’re considering producing some “how to” videos to add to goodbuyguys.com, so I did a Youtube search to get a sense of what might be out there. Not a lot really, so I am hoping that we can put together some simple, but informative instructional videos for those interested in building their production skills.

I did, however, come across one microphone stand-realted video that you really ought to see.

Blacklie Lawless, the guitar player for W.A.S.P. has a mic stand that might qualify as a state fair ride. Take a look at this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tJbNLu3QDrU

Overall, I’m not a big fan of heavy metal, but you’ve gotta admit that no musical genre does a better job of turning a simple piece of sound equipment into a prop. Something as simple as Jon Bonjovi’s white mic stand or Korn’s female figure stand add a lot of visual interest to the set.

W.A.S.P. ’s combination mic stand, motorcycle & pogo stick somehow manages to make the microphone stand a part of the show. It even takes a bow at the end!

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, mic cables, microphones & mic stands | No Comments »

We Never Saw This One Coming

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

For the last couple of weeks we’ve seen a huge spike in microphone stand sales at buymicstand.com and our ebay store “buy mic stand“. We had no idea why. I should have asked my kids!

It seems the must-have item for this year’s Christmas is an XBox 360 game called Rock Band. Growing on the popularity of Guitar Hero, Harmonix has released a game that includes not only a guitar, but a drum set and a microphone as well. What it doesn’t include is a microphone stand.

Suddenly, every gadget and gift giving blog I come across talks about Rock Band and about the accessories you’ll need to play the game correctly. A mic stand is one of the accessories that the game maker doesn’t offer.

I hadn’t checked our Google search ratings lately, but currently we are number 1 for the search term “microphone stand” and number 2 for the term “mic stand“.

Maybe we’ll sell enough stands for me to be able to put Rock Band under our Christmas Tree.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Count on us to meet your mic stand needs.

Posted in Other News, Pro Sound, Pro lighting, mic cables, microphones & mic stands | No Comments »

Computer Guy, Meet Sound Guy

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

My experience with using personal computers goes back to the early 1980’s, so I’ve had more than my share of opportunities to set up, take down, reconfigure, and generally wander around computer peripheral cabling. The more I handle this stuff, the more mystified I get.

I began my career as a an audio techncian, and spent many years building, setting up, configuring, and repairing concert sound systems. People who design computer peripheral wiring could learn a lot from the audio industry.

While the performance and compatibility of computer peripherals continues to improve, the interconnections between these devices never catches up. I can’t think of a single data-type connector that comes close to matching the performance of the lowly audio XLR connector, a design that is well into its second half-century of use.

I just spent 15 frustrating minutes trying to replace a computer monitor in the office, only to be reminded that there are at least three (if not more) different pin configurations for a D-sub connector, even though they all have the same physical shell. Maybe, it’s just me, but I almost always have to try to plug in a USB connector at least two times, as there is nothing visible on the outside of the connector to indicate which end is up. I guess there are savings involved in making ethernet connectors with with almost useless plastic locking pins, but the savings quickly evaporate when you spend a half-hour trying to pry one out of a computer port after the release tab snaps off. The list goes on and on.

Audio connectors, on the other hand, are designed to be patched in the dark, repaired (when necessary) in the field, and to be common to hundreds and hundreds of different manufacturers equipment. The Shure SM57 microphone ( probably the most popular and common in the world) uses the same connector now as when it came to market in 1965. A 40 year old SM57 works with a brand new Chinese-made microphone cable right out of the box.

We’re depending more and more on computer-based devices all the time, and the portability designed into these items means that they are constantly having to be cabled and uncabled. Hopefully, manufacturers will consider adopting some connector standards that are up to the task.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Count on us to meet your cable needs.

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, extension cords, mic cables, microphones & mic stands | No Comments »

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