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Junior Varsity
How long do your XLR connectors last?
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<blockquote data-quote="Geoff Doane" data-source="post: 73996" data-attributes="member: 1155"><p>Re: How long do your XLR connectors last?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That's not a bad idea, if you're otherwise satisfied with the Neutrik X-series males. The XX seem to have corrected the only complaints I had about the X: the catch receptacle can't be dented in, and the boot fits inside rather than outside the shell, which should make it more resistant to failure by crushing. Very old X-series had boots made of brittle plastic, but I think those would be at least 15 years old now. Even if you can't get only the shells for a reasonable price, it's still less time to replace only the shells, and no soldering is required. I had a bent one get stuck in a PSM-600 transmitter and had to almost destroy the combo jack to get it out. I scored a bucket of male X-series from an installed console that I've been using as spares. </p><p></p><p>This seems like an appropriate time for my Switchcraft rant. About a week before Christmas we did a day's worth of live radio broadcasts (6 am to 6 pm), with live entertainment and our usual talk/current affairs format. The venue was in the same building as the studios, but in a more publicly accessible location, so the technical facilities had to be set up from scratch, with a basic FOH and monitor setup in the room, and the actual broadcast audio being mixed in a remote truck. This isn't that big a deal, although sometimes we wind up scraping the bottom of the barrel for mic cables. One of the "last choice" cables had Switchcraft connectors (which we don't use) and a sticker from the local, big-guy PA company on it, but the cable seemed to be decent. </p><p></p><p>I thought it had worked during soundcheck, but later on, the guy in the truck replaced it with another, and gave it to me. I put a "Suspect Device" tag on it, tied a couple knots in it, and later took it to the shop. On the cable testing jig, I thought at first that it worked, but then I noticed that it was intermittently shorting between pins 2 and 3, and the case wasn't isolated from pin 1. At that point I cut off the Switchcraft AA-series connectors, and opened them up to see what was going on. As you can see from the pictures, it's doubtful this thing ever worked. The quad cable was connected properly at one end, but then the two blue wires (and the whites) were split up at the other. The jacket had been stripped back too far, and the cheesy strain relief was shorting to the shield. This might be acceptable for a 280 plug, but not for a so-called "professional" audio connector. To add insult to injury, the solder was not hot enough to flow properly at one end, although the other end looked OK.</p><p></p><p>GTD</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]151773[/ATTACH][ATTACH]151774[/ATTACH][ATTACH]151775[/ATTACH][ATTACH]151776[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Geoff Doane, post: 73996, member: 1155"] Re: How long do your XLR connectors last? That's not a bad idea, if you're otherwise satisfied with the Neutrik X-series males. The XX seem to have corrected the only complaints I had about the X: the catch receptacle can't be dented in, and the boot fits inside rather than outside the shell, which should make it more resistant to failure by crushing. Very old X-series had boots made of brittle plastic, but I think those would be at least 15 years old now. Even if you can't get only the shells for a reasonable price, it's still less time to replace only the shells, and no soldering is required. I had a bent one get stuck in a PSM-600 transmitter and had to almost destroy the combo jack to get it out. I scored a bucket of male X-series from an installed console that I've been using as spares. This seems like an appropriate time for my Switchcraft rant. About a week before Christmas we did a day's worth of live radio broadcasts (6 am to 6 pm), with live entertainment and our usual talk/current affairs format. The venue was in the same building as the studios, but in a more publicly accessible location, so the technical facilities had to be set up from scratch, with a basic FOH and monitor setup in the room, and the actual broadcast audio being mixed in a remote truck. This isn't that big a deal, although sometimes we wind up scraping the bottom of the barrel for mic cables. One of the "last choice" cables had Switchcraft connectors (which we don't use) and a sticker from the local, big-guy PA company on it, but the cable seemed to be decent. I thought it had worked during soundcheck, but later on, the guy in the truck replaced it with another, and gave it to me. I put a "Suspect Device" tag on it, tied a couple knots in it, and later took it to the shop. On the cable testing jig, I thought at first that it worked, but then I noticed that it was intermittently shorting between pins 2 and 3, and the case wasn't isolated from pin 1. At that point I cut off the Switchcraft AA-series connectors, and opened them up to see what was going on. As you can see from the pictures, it's doubtful this thing ever worked. The quad cable was connected properly at one end, but then the two blue wires (and the whites) were split up at the other. The jacket had been stripped back too far, and the cheesy strain relief was shorting to the shield. This might be acceptable for a 280 plug, but not for a so-called "professional" audio connector. To add insult to injury, the solder was not hot enough to flow properly at one end, although the other end looked OK. GTD [ATTACH=CONFIG]151773.vB5-legacyid=5562[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]151774.vB5-legacyid=5563[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]151775.vB5-legacyid=5564[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]151776.vB5-legacyid=5565[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]
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How long do your XLR connectors last?
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