AES patch cables

Justice C. Bigler

Justice C. Bigler

Senior
Jan 11, 2011
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Tulsa, OK
www.justicebigler.com
I've got a show coming up where I have to patch into my console via AES (those of you who have been following some of my recent posts on the LAB and Theatre Sound List know what this show is). We have a video and audio playback unit that outputs multi track AES audio. I have the Yamaha MY16-AES card and the Yamaha AES-XLR to DB25 break out cables. As of right now, I believe the multi track to be all of 9 tracks, so I should be fine on channel count.

At the risk of sounding like a rube, do I need special AES audio cables to get from the playback unit to the break out cables at the console? Or can I use normal XLR audio cable our standard dry line patch set up?

I've not used AES before, so I'm unsure of the specifics.
 
Re: AES patch cables

AES cabling *should* be 110 ohm cable. Can you get away with standard XLR cable for a few feet? Probably. But I wouldn't want to rely on it for mission-critical applications.
 
Re: AES patch cables

Tim McCulloch said:
You can use DMX cables or even the twisted pairs in CAT5e. Both have a nominal impedance of 110 ohms.
Click to expand...

Can you explain how to use the Cat5e in this application? How would I have to wire the connectors, or do I need to get an interface of some kind (I also have an Ethersound card if that makes it easier). The a/v server is going to be located in our center production booth, the console out in the house, about a 65-ish foot cable run. Getting 9 or 10 runs of AES cable looks to be prohibitively expensive.
 
Re: AES patch cables

Justice C. Bigler said:
Can you explain how to use the Cat5e in this application? How would I have to wire the connectors, or do I need to get an interface of some kind (I also have an Ethersound card if that makes it easier). The a/v server is going to be located in our center production booth, the console out in the house, about a 65-ish foot cable run. Getting 9 or 10 runs of AES cable looks to be prohibitively expensive.
Click to expand...
Cat5(/e)/6 cable is just 4 unshielded 110 ohm pairs. White/Blue = AES 1 +, Blue/White = AES 1 -, White/Orange = AES 2 + ,... 3 Cat cables and you've got 12 AES runs (24 audio channels).

I'd suspect 65' might be a bit long for an unshielded run. I'm not sure.

We aware of course of the possibllity of unbalanced AES out's (on BNC).
 
Re: AES patch cables

So, an XLR AES cable carries two channels of audio, correct? Which is why my AES DB25 to XLR break outs only have four XLR connectors of each sex, and they still carry 8 channels of audio.

I know that the a/v sever that we are getting has AES DB25 connectors. But being that it is sending out 9 audio channels, I would still need a two of the DB25 cables. Looks like a 25 foot AES cable runs about $260 ish from Full Compass. I would need 6 of these to make my cable run. :cry:

I think I need to explore alternatives to our production set up.
 
Re: AES patch cables

Justice C. Bigler said:
So, an XLR AES cable carries two channels of audio, correct? Which is why my AES DB25 to XLR break outs only have four XLR connectors of each sex, and they still carry 8 channels of audio.

I know that the a/v sever that we are getting has AES DB25 connectors. But being that it is sending out 9 audio channels, I would still need a two of the DB25 cables. Looks like a 25 foot AES cable runs about $260 ish from Full Compass. I would need 6 of these to make my cable run. :cry:

I think I need to explore alternatives to our production set up.
Click to expand...

CBI can make you exactly what you need (DB25 snake using 110 ohm cable for AES) any length you want, and I doubt it will be much more than the off-the-shelf one FC sells. Feel free to contact me for info...

I have had no success running AES over regular mic cable for distances over about 10 feet, at least not when clocked at 96k. At 48k things are more forgiving. I'm not sure what the specifics of your application are.

I use AES digital for my entire network of Itech HD amplifiers. It's wonderful.
 
Re: AES patch cables

a couple years ago , I had Ramtech make up an AES 12pr with cpc connectors and cpc to xlr fanouts. For 25ft it was around $600 complete. I beleive the 12pr cable is Gepco but I would have to dig deep into some emails to confirm this.
This might be worth getting a quote from them for the longer length.
 
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