# Where to buy balanced XLR to RCA cable?



## Trekari

I'm going to be sending a web-order tomorrow for the Behringer FBQ2496, however I'm completely unable to find a site that has the appropriate cables for connecting the receiver and subwoofer via either 1/4" TRS plugs or balanced XLR cables.

Can someone who has purchased these types of cables to hook up their own Behringer please direct me to a site that has such cables?

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-HOS-CPR201.html

The above is currently what I have in my shopping cart, but I'm not convinced that they are appropriate for use with the FBQ.

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=2029&sku=40046

This is the closest I've found, but I'd like to think a 3' cable for this application can be purchased somewhere else for far less than $18!

**EDIT**

Also, is it safe to place my FBQ on the bottom shelf of an audio rack (made of wood) without mounting it as you would in a live-audio environment inside a rack?


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## tonyvdb

You can easily make your own XLR to 1/4' or RCA cables just do not use pin 1 on the XLR connector pin 2 is the + and pin 3 is the -.


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## Trekari

Thanks for the reply - I'm not electrically skilled however, and would prefer pre-made cables. I did however find my answer in the BFD forums, but I can't delete this thread.


If a mod would like to delete this thread, please feel free to do so.


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## eugovector

Adapters and cheap 5' cables here: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?page=1&N=100001&Ntk=All&Ntt=xlr+rca&Nty=1&Ns=P_Price|0


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## imbeaujp

Trekari said:


> I'm not electrically skilled however, and would prefer pre-made cables.


Hello, this is a nice project to start !!



JP


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## bonehead848

imbeaujp said:


> Hello, this is a nice project to start !!
> 
> 
> 
> JP


Any suggestions on reading material on how to do this? I have never done my own cables either but I am in need of the same cables as the op and would love to learn how to make my own.


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## Anthony

http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/connection/xlr-rca-1.html

It's not hard, just tedious because of the small tabs you need to solder to.

A simpler solution is to get a mono 1/4" (tip-sleeve) to rca plug adapter and then just use RCA cables.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i.../4"&kw=rca+adapter+mono+1/4&parentPage=search

I have run BFD units both ways and they work just fine.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.


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## eugovector

Anthony said:


> [url]http://www.radioshack.com/pr.../4"&kw=rca+adapter+mono+1/4&parentPage=search
> 
> I have run BFD units both ways and they work just fine.
> 
> Good luck and let us know how it turns out.


Yes, but don't buy them from Radio Shack unless you need them today. Inexplicably, monoprice doesn't carry these, but even with $6 shipping, these are a couple cents cheaper at Musician's Friend.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...gies-14-Male-to-RCA-Female-Adapter?sku=339508

I'd buy them from MF on principle alone, even better if you're in the market for anything else from there.


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## Anthony

Since I got my installer discount at Parts Express, I'm starting to notice how much things are severely marked up by Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc.

I only linked to Radio Shack because that's a place most everyone has close to them. Parts Express sells a similar parts, as does Musician's Friend. I get most of my stuff from PE but I have purchased from MF years ago and they were pretty nice to deal with.


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## bonehead848

so should I buy gold or nickel plated? I have read that it is much better to match the metal types and because my ep2500 has nickel connectors I should use that right?


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## eugovector

It will not make any difference. What little science there is behind the metal type translates into an inaudible difference.


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## tonyjover

tonyvdb said:


> You can easily make your own XLR to 1/4' or RCA cables just do not use pin 1 on the XLR connector pin 2 is the + and pin 3 is the -.


Hmmm... perhaps this advice is specific to the Behringer? I don't own one and I don't know how their inputs and outputs are configured, but the usual way to unbalance an XLR when putting a Jack or RCA connector (or anything else that's unbalanced) on the other end is to link Pins 1 and 3 on the XLR.

XLR: Pin1 Screen/Earth/Common, Pin2 Hot, Pin3 Cold.

Only using Pins 2 and 3 will give you an unscreened connection, as the 'earth' connection (Pin 1) is unused. It can be useful sometimes to leave Pin 1 disconnected to avoid hum loops, but it shouldn't be considered 'standard practice'.

What I do personally is to always use twin screened high quality microphone cable on anything that has an XLR at one end. Red goes to Pin 2, Black goes to Pin 3 and screen goes to Pin 1. At the other end I link black and screen if going unbalanced. This means that if I ever change the unbalanced end for a balanced connector it's easy to do so.

Of course, as with all things, not everyone conforms to the XLR 'standard', and some companies use Pin 3 Hot and Pin 2 Cold. As long as your wiring is consistent in all cables though, then this won't matter, although you've now inverted the phase of the audio signal.

Regards,
Tony


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## Guest

Anthony said:


> Since I got my installer discount at Parts Express, I'm starting to notice how much things are severely marked up by Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc.
> 
> I only linked to Radio Shack because that's a place most everyone has close to them. Parts Express sells a similar parts, as does Musician's Friend. I get most of my stuff from PE but I have purchased from MF years ago and they were pretty nice to deal with.


This is the absolute truth. As a former employee for one of the above, I can attest that our greatest discount (percentage wise) was on any "accessory". That includes cables, furniture and install items. Obviously, depending on the brand (better recognition resulted in higher mark-up) the percentage differed. As an example though, interconnects from Monster would sticker for $50, but employee price could be as low as $15. This sort of ratio did not change, but might be increased depending on how high the price might go. 

Consequently, I've become a big fan of looking for "off brand" items, private manufacturers and even used equipment because of these high margins.


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## Guest

I followed a link on AVS Forum to this PDF. 

The poster said most commercial cables aren't wired correctly and that putting together a cable as shown in Figure 2.1 would reduce hum and a multitude of evils. 

Now, if I only got this attached right onder:


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## tonyjover

Brian Hinther said:


> I followed a link on AVS Forum to this PDF.
> 
> The poster said most commercial cables aren't wired correctly and that putting together a cable as shown in Figure 2.1 would reduce hum and a multitude of evils.
> 
> Now, if I only got this attached right onder:


Indeed - Fig 2.1 on that document shows the 'correct' wiring of an unbalanced to balanced connector as I described in my previous post (02/02).

The rest of that pdf tells you why you should go out and buy a Jensen transformer. There are many makes of line level balancing transformers out there if you want to go that route.

Regards,
Tony


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