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Good quality RCA > XLR cables

starfly

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I'm looking for suggestions for good quality RCA to XLR cables. I know these will by definition be unbalanced, but looking for ones that are wired correctly and use high quality connectors, such as from Neutrik. No snake oil :)
 

Blumlein 88

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I second the March Audio. He uses Amphenol connectors. Neutrik gets all the publicity. I've used cables with both and Amphenol is a darn good connector. When I've made my own cables that is what I use. Neutrik is good don't get me wrong, but so is Amphenol.

I know Switchcraft is another connector mentioned, but I don't like those as much as Neutrik or Amphenol.
 
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starfly

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Make your own to custom length!
Yeah, maybe I should, since I'll also be building my own amp. But then, where can I get good quality wires/cables, that are well shielded?

Ideally with fairy dust so I can hear the angels singing. /s
 

digitalfrost

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https://benchmarkmedia.com/products/benchmark-rca-to-xlrm-adapter-cable

+1 for the DIY option
it’s fun and rewarding.
The soldering iron pays itself on the first pair of cable you make. Mogami et Neutrik for all my cables here.
I spent a lot time making these myself, it was a quite a painful process and I had to start over 2 times. To me, either the March or the Benchmark cables are definitely worth the money.

This is not easy to solder if you're not used to it. Especially the shield to RCA pin, because there's just no space in these plugs.


Used a Focusrite as 3rd hand


End result

 
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PRL

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DIY is an option and it is quite easy to make working cables. However, it’s not so easy to make durable cables, if you don’t have much soldering experience.
 

Xombul

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I agree, China is far... but the value for money of Ghent audio products is excellent. BTW they also sell nice enclosures for class D amplifiers.
 

Linus

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Yeah, maybe I should, since I'll also be building my own amp. But then, where can I get good quality wires/cables, that are well shielded?

Ideally with fairy dust so I can hear the angels singing. /s

Do you have a local pro gear store? Otherwise , you can find everything online. Can’t really go wrong with Mogami. Some people also use Canare or Belden. Don’t forget the fancy sleeve, that’s where all the magic comes from.
I don’t know where you are from, but I get all my stuff from Studio Economik. If I‘m not mistaken, they ship worldwide and it’s in Canadian dollar, so almost nothing if you’re from USA or EU ;)
 

jsm

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if you DIY, pin 2-> RCA "hot"(center of the rca), pin 3 &1 -> RCA"cold"(exterior of the RCA). I use this kind of DIY cable between amp and DAC with neutrik NC3MXX connector and copper silver plated/ptfe wire for years, no troubles at all :). In my case, without any shielding (2 braided independant wires) I just connect the pin 3 to the 1 with an additional wire lenght. But if I do it again now, I will certainly give a try with some Mogami w2549 ;)
 
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starfly

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Do you have a local pro gear store? Otherwise , you can find everything online. Can’t really go wrong with Mogami. Some people also use Canare or Belden. Don’t forget the fancy sleeve, that’s where all the magic comes from.
I don’t know where you are from, but I get all my stuff from Studio Economik. If I‘m not mistaken, they ship worldwide and it’s in Canadian dollar, so almost nothing if you’re from USA or EU ;)

Yeah, I live in the US, so my local Guitarcenter would probably have cables too. But since I did just invest in a good soldering iron (a Hakko) as I'll be doing a DIY amp build, I'll just do a DIY cable build as well.
 

Aldoszx

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When I made the XLR innerconnect cables between my DAC and AMP, I ordered mine from Redco Audio. I spent just under $20 shipped getting 3 foot of Mogami Star Quad and 2 male/female 3 pole XLR connectors. They also sell premade cables it looks like from visiting their site with 2 week lead times. It looks like you have more control over the build quality as you choose the components used and the system quotes you a price. Just throwing some Mogami and Neutrik connectors on, I was quoted $16 for the cable before taxes and shipping, so fairly reasonable prices.
 

Eurasian

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I just bought a pair from Markertek that use Neutric/Canare/and Switchcraft for about $16 each including shipping.
 
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https://www.redco.com/Mogami-W2549.html

That should be a good cable right?
That should work. I also double checked my prior order from Redco and I lied apparently about using Mogami; I used Canare L-4E6S instead. It's 30 cents cheaper a foot than the Mogami and I was pretty happy with the cable. It had good shielding when I stripped it and was pretty flexible. I may end up needing to buy some more and make some longer cables depending on how I rearrange the gear on my desk and if so, I will definitely buy more of the same.
 
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starfly

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That should work. I also double checked my prior order from Redco and I lied apparently about using Mogami; I used Canare L-4E6S instead. It's 30 cents cheaper a foot than the Mogami and I was pretty happy with the cable. It had good shielding when I stripped it and was pretty flexible. I may end up needing to buy some more and make some longer cables depending on how I rearrange the gear on my desk and if so, I will definitely buy more of the same.

Cool. Just ordered a bunch of stuff from them so I can build 3 cables. Also needed the XLR sockets for my amp build, so that worked out that they carry those as well.
 
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