[sdiy] Building audio cables...

[Happy Harry]

For grounding wire... it might be better to parallel
many strands of small gauge insulated wire... like 7 - 22ga
wires. This forms a pseudo- Litz wire... where the inductance
of the wire is cut because the separate wires are in parallel.

It will cut HF noise better.

I just insulate all the chassis from the racks, then use
the audio cables to establish the ground reference. SOME
say this is unsafe, but I'd argue that even a 28ga wire can
carry several hundred amps peak...

H^) harry


>From: Tim Ressel <madhun2001 at yahoo.com>
>To: Rainer Buchty <buchty at cs.tum.edu>, synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>Subject: Re: [sdiy] Building audio cables...
>Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 09:18:54 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Yo Rainer,
>
>Okay, here we go: First concern is the type of
>shielding on the coax. The best is foil with braid;
>gives 100% coverage. Braid alone gives less than 100%
>coverage, and therefore leaves gaps that can let crap
>in.
>
>Second, Are the plugs shielded? It is defeating to use
>$10/foot cable with a plastic plug, so for max
>performance get metal plugs.
>
>Third is: Ground loops. Any potenial difference
>between the chassis, ac or dc, will turn into current
>flowing down the shield. And any current flowing in
>the shield couples directly into the center conductor
>as noise.
>
>Here is how to fix:
>1. Convert all you gear to balanced i/o
>2. Go to the hardware store, but the biggest copper
>wire you can find. They usually carry large bare
>grounding wire, 8 ga or so. Now ground the chassis of
>each piece of gear to the copper, and tie the copper
>to good earth ground. Now when you make the cables,
>leave the shield unattached at one end. That way
>current cannot flow thru the shield, but the return
>path is maintained thru the copper wire. I have done
>this with studios and my own gear. It works well.
>
>--TR
>--- Rainer Buchty <buchty at cs.tum.edu> wrote:
> > Ok, this might be the most stupid question ever
> > asked in here, but I just
> > have to:
> >
> > Assuming, I have a two-wire shielded cable (shield
> > is common to both
> > wires), what's the best way to create an audio cable
> > which does not
> > collect each and every hiss and buzz coming from
> > nearby monitors,
> > transformers etc.?
> >
> > I thought that taking one wire for GND, the other
> > for signal plus
> > connecting the shield at least on one side of the
> > cable to GND of a 6.3mm
> > plug would be the best way to go. However, what I
> > built seems to
> > behave more like an antenna, especially for the
> > noise of my good
> > old Atari SM124 monitor and each and every
> > transformer it meets on its way
> > between mixer and audio device.
> >
> > Any advice?
> >
> > Rainer
> >
> > --
> >
> > Rainer Buchty, LRR, Technical University of Munich
> > Phone: +49 89 289-28401, Fax +49 89 289-28232, Room
> > S3240
> >
>
>
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