I've used the old milk crate style storage solution for a while but I feel its very inefficient when trying to find specific cables. I'm more of a Junior Varsity type and don't have a huge amount of cables but am gathering more and more every month. I know peg-board with hooks has been fairly common but I was hoping for a solution that could use a rolling case. Labels for the different cables would be nice since I'm not the only one grabbing or re-hooking cables. This is mostly Audio cables and DMX cables, but I do have quite a few small extensions and power strips that need homes too.
Cable Holders/Organizers
- Thread starter Jordan Lahr
- Start date
Re: Cable Holders/Organizers
Put the milk crates in a trunk style road case.
Each crate has one size or type of cable in it.
Put the milk crates in a trunk style road case.
Each crate has one size or type of cable in it.
Silas Pradetto
Graduate Student
Re: Cable Holders/Organizers
Use the resistor color code and colored electrical tape to mark lengths. If you are using Neutrik XLRs, you can also get colored boots to match the color code.
As Phil said, put only one type of cable per milk crate, and put all the milk crates in a road case. Alternatively, just get some trunks from Audiopile and the dividers for them.
Look at my thread in this forum right below this one for some more ideas.
Use the resistor color code and colored electrical tape to mark lengths. If you are using Neutrik XLRs, you can also get colored boots to match the color code.
As Phil said, put only one type of cable per milk crate, and put all the milk crates in a road case. Alternatively, just get some trunks from Audiopile and the dividers for them.
Look at my thread in this forum right below this one for some more ideas.
Re: Cable Holders/Organizers
Lately I've been using the cable colour itself to make that distintion. 25 ft of long is black. 15 -10 ft is blue, under 5 is green
DMX is purple, or purple heatshrink.
I electrical tape my soca and 30 amp twist, but I've been using my own coding, but considering switching to what the other local sound co's use here - which is what silas suggested . Here is what the large lighting house uses...
Lately I've been using the cable colour itself to make that distintion. 25 ft of long is black. 15 -10 ft is blue, under 5 is green
DMX is purple, or purple heatshrink.
I electrical tape my soca and 30 amp twist, but I've been using my own coding, but considering switching to what the other local sound co's use here - which is what silas suggested . Here is what the large lighting house uses...
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Silas Pradetto
Graduate Student
Re: Cable Holders/Organizers
I used to order my cables in colors, but lately I'm thinking that my bright blue mic cables are a bit too obvious, especially for more look-critical shows like corporate. I'm sticking to colored boots on the XLRs from now on. For mic cable, colored boot refers to the length, and for DMX cable, colored boot is either orange or green to show 3 or 5 pin, and the cable is length taped.
I used to order my cables in colors, but lately I'm thinking that my bright blue mic cables are a bit too obvious, especially for more look-critical shows like corporate. I'm sticking to colored boots on the XLRs from now on. For mic cable, colored boot refers to the length, and for DMX cable, colored boot is either orange or green to show 3 or 5 pin, and the cable is length taped.
Re: Cable Holders/Organizers
I'm trying to move away from the milk crate style since I've been noticing damage due to some "intelligent" people that decide it takes too long to wrap cables correctly. I was thinking more like the bike hook style used in garages to use as loops to hold the cables.
I also didn't mean labeling the cables themselves ( I have heat shrink labels on all my male ends) but rather labeling the individual hooks.
I'm trying to move away from the milk crate style since I've been noticing damage due to some "intelligent" people that decide it takes too long to wrap cables correctly. I was thinking more like the bike hook style used in garages to use as loops to hold the cables.
I also didn't mean labeling the cables themselves ( I have heat shrink labels on all my male ends) but rather labeling the individual hooks.
Silas Pradetto
Graduate Student
Re: Cable Holders/Organizers
First rule of cable longevity: if people can't coil over-under, they don't touch my cables. Ever. One time wrapping a cable wrong is all it takes to twist all the internal conductors up and the cable will never be the same again.
I'm not sure how coiling and storing are related? If they're labeled, coiled, and tied, throw them in a bin and call it a day? I'm not aware of anyone in the industry that doesn't transport their cables in a trunk of some sort. I can see hooks working fine at the shop for organizing cables, especially cables that will be picked individually to be sent on rentals, but all the production cables just sit in trunks in a pile.
First rule of cable longevity: if people can't coil over-under, they don't touch my cables. Ever. One time wrapping a cable wrong is all it takes to twist all the internal conductors up and the cable will never be the same again.
I'm not sure how coiling and storing are related? If they're labeled, coiled, and tied, throw them in a bin and call it a day? I'm not aware of anyone in the industry that doesn't transport their cables in a trunk of some sort. I can see hooks working fine at the shop for organizing cables, especially cables that will be picked individually to be sent on rentals, but all the production cables just sit in trunks in a pile.
Re: Cable Holders/Organizers
Good to hear, So as far as shop storage then... Since at this point i live in a small one room apt. and wall space is a premium... 12x 14 room with unfortunately too much gear...
Good to hear, So as far as shop storage then... Since at this point i live in a small one room apt. and wall space is a premium... 12x 14 room with unfortunately too much gear...
Re: Cable Holders/Organizers
So I used to wonder how I would keep all my mic cable lengths straight. Then I said "Fuck this" and bought ALL 25 foot cables, now no labeling problem. NL4 length labeling? That was easy, you are 15 feet or you are 50 feet. If you need labels for that, you need to be out of the business. The DMX i have has black Neutrix boots on both ends, so it looks like a regular cable. All of my audio XLR have grey boots on the male end. I don't like "intelligent" labeling systems, I don't believe they work. And the resistor color code? If it works for you, awesome. I overhire a lot of guys, and I'm sure they (well, maybe Bennett...) don't know the color code, but they sure know the difference between 50 and 15.
So I used to wonder how I would keep all my mic cable lengths straight. Then I said "Fuck this" and bought ALL 25 foot cables, now no labeling problem. NL4 length labeling? That was easy, you are 15 feet or you are 50 feet. If you need labels for that, you need to be out of the business. The DMX i have has black Neutrix boots on both ends, so it looks like a regular cable. All of my audio XLR have grey boots on the male end. I don't like "intelligent" labeling systems, I don't believe they work. And the resistor color code? If it works for you, awesome. I overhire a lot of guys, and I'm sure they (well, maybe Bennett...) don't know the color code, but they sure know the difference between 50 and 15.
I was thinking Like lengths from 25-100 foot cables yeah a 25 is going to look smaller than a 100 but with the guys I've worked with on calls the can't plug an xlr in correctly without asking how first... I'm attempting to speed up the calls by idiot proofing cable storage.
Sent from my ADR6300
Sent from my ADR6300
Re: Cable Holders/Organizers
The EWI M040 mic case with 3 compartments. One compartment holds shorts, one mediums, and one longs. Easily holds everything I need for patching a stage. This summer I have been carrying two, one with cables and one with mics.
It probably never came up in designing the things, but I am not really concerned with truck pack sizes, but they are perfect Yaris pack sized.
The EWI M040 mic case with 3 compartments. One compartment holds shorts, one mediums, and one longs. Easily holds everything I need for patching a stage. This summer I have been carrying two, one with cables and one with mics.
It probably never came up in designing the things, but I am not really concerned with truck pack sizes, but they are perfect Yaris pack sized.