The Echo Chamber

5:12 PM

Can I ask everybody a question? How do you label your cables? Coloured cable ties? Something more sophisticated? Would it be a valid question for the SD.SE site?

AJ Henderson

5:48 PM

@DoritoStyle oh hey, missed you talking in here entirely

that's unusual for me to miss that, sorry

welcome

@DoritoStyle glad to hear it

we can certainly use more active people helping us figure out exactly what our niche is

@tohecz honestly, the only attempt I ever made was colored electrical tape rings, but I didn't really like how that turned out

didn't stick well enough after a few years, but removing it still left sticky residue

whatever you do, don't do what our idiot TA did in college though

she got the bright idea to spray paint the school cables neon pink to prevent people from stealing them

she apparently failed to realize spray paint doesn't dry properly on rubber

they were all ruined sticky messes after that

and she did them all at once over their entire length

granted, she also "sang" the sketch of two chairs positioned on top of each other by making various grunts and woops. She was a couple nuts loose

oh yeah, and she tried to give me a B in my intro to video production class because "there is always room to improve" never mind I was correcting the professor on things and already doing professional video work at the time.

luckily the professor was kind enough to override her and give me a 4.0 anyway

tohecz

@AJH I think of simply getting these: amazon.co.uk/Am-Tech-Cable-Tie-Set-Pieces/dp/B004W3M4VO/…

AJ Henderson

those can work, but they can also slide around

you are looking at marking for a studio setup?

the best I've found for live stuff tends to actually be either masking tape on the cable ends or color coded velcro wire ties

tohecz

@AJHenderson basically, yes. Like knowing which is L/R

AJ Henderson

I've sometimes seen masking tape or white out pen on connectors as well

for permanent installs, but have never used it myself

I don't do a lot of studio work though and even the sort of studio rig is actually semi-mobile because I do conference work with it

tohecz

@AJHenderson pens always fade away

you meant this thing? amazon.co.uk/Velcro-Stick-Cable-Strip-choose/dp/B00CL5F9N0/…

sorry, gotta go, a meeting starts in minus 3 minutes

cu later

AJ Henderson

6:03 PM

@tohecz not exactly

they make ones that have an opening that it slides through

so that it locks on to the cable on one end better

more like these amazon.co.uk/Tiger-Hook-Loop-Cable-Ties/dp/B005LGBR6E/…

but in colors

DoritoStyle

6:59 PM

I've used stuff like these before: zackelectronics.com/…

We used those to mark cable length by color code and then colored velcro ties to indicate which stage owned which cables.

AJ Henderson

yeah, I've seen those too

@DoritoStyle hey, so I'm not the only live guy around

woot

I'm used to being the primary live guy around a bunch of recording guys

DoritoStyle

Yup! I studied mainly theory & recording while getting started but then learned live the hard way.

AJ Henderson

ah, I started in live and learned the theory along the way with formalized study in college

it was kind of like comparing my live concert lighting experience with the experience all the theater techs had for our college lighting group

very similar kinds of differences there

it's actually interesting because every area has it

sound it is recording vs live

visual it is photo vs video

lighting it is theater vs concert

though concert has become a bit more like theater I suppose

since it is often less run on the fly now than it used to be

but that whole distinction between the fine form where things are refined and technical trying to pursue perfect form where as the other is gritty and live, the technical skills are more around "how do I hack this in to that" and it's all about getting good enough RIGHT NOW

DoritoStyle

Yeah, now I'm in IT and of course there's of Support vs Programming

AJ Henderson

7:17 PM

hmm, never thought about that, but yeah, you are right, that is pretty similar too

(my full time job is a developer)

tohecz

7:33 PM

@DoritoStyle so you really get 100 of these for 60 bucks? oh my!

(btw, finally a conversation topic people are willing so speak about! ;) )

AJ Henderson

@tohecz you can SpeakOn it

DoritoStyle

Labels are something we can all agree on I'm sure

tohecz

@AJHenderson well, I can't, but I can shoot it since my PAs are Cannons :D

@DoritoStyle or fight endlessly. btw, I use vi. I hope there's nobody using emacs here /sarcasm

my point is basically: distinguish L/R for identical cables running from one device to another one. Possibly with adding another label for distinguishing the 3 sets of such cables I use.

DoritoStyle

nano for life

tohecz

@DoritoStyle chuckle /no, I'm not laughing at you. I'm actually sorry for you.

DoritoStyle

7:37 PM

j/k, I don't hate myself that much

tohecz

@DoritoStyle :D

AJ Henderson

@tohecz nah, worse, I'm a visual studio guy

tohecz

@AJHenderson needed to say, I understand that.

AJ Henderson

@tohecz ok, I missed that one

was that trying to reference Canon?

or something else

tohecz

@AJHenderson cannon plug?

XLR connector

The XLR connector is a style of electrical connector, primarily found on professional audio, video, and stage lighting equipment. The connectors are circular in design and have between 3 and 7 pins. They are most commonly associated with balanced audio interconnection, including AES3 digital audio, but are also used for lighting control, low-voltage power supplies, and other applications. XLR connectors are available from a number of manufacturers and are covered by an international standard for dimensions, IEC 61076-2-103. They are superficially similar to the older and smaller DIN connector range...

AJ Henderson

7:50 PM

@tohecz hmm, never heard of them referred to as cannon

there are PA's that use powered signal over XLR?

I'd only ever seen either 1/4" or speakon used

balanced cable + powered signal doesn't make a whole lot of sense

tohecz

@AJHenderson no, I have combo boxes, so it's unpowered

AJ Henderson

ah

gotcha

then yeah, you wouldn't use speakon

DoritoStyle

Possibly it's referring to Phantom power for microphones?

AJ Henderson

but I get where you were going now and I approve

since I'm a Canon shooter

tohecz

@AJHenderson so am I, actually (if you mean DSLR and alike)

AJ Henderson

7:52 PM

ah, nice

yeah, I'm a long time Canon guy. Started with the GL2 for video, have CanoScan scanner, Pixma and SELPHY printers, Canon DSLRs (originally an xTi, then moved up to the 5D Mark iii)

tohecz

@AJHenderson well, I'm not a "big photo/video guy". I have just G15, because I wanted something small and powerful (powerful w.r.t. the size).

AJ Henderson

hey, the best camera is the one you have with you

tohecz

@AJHenderson well, that was the idea when I decided to get it ;)

AJ Henderson

I honestly just use my camera phone unless I know I'm going to be taking photos

then I bring the DSLR

tohecz

@AJHenderson but these are borderline acceptable even for facebook

btw, what do you think of this thingy? amazon.fr/Colorful-num%C3%A9riques-plastique-Marqueurs-gestion/…

AJ Henderson

7:59 PM

@tohecz never tried them

@tohecz I rarely post photos to facebook, I do have a Galaxy S4 though so it has a pretty reasonable camera for the average quick shot

and I don't have to carry anything else with me

tohecz

@AJHenderson yeah, but my camera and my phone together are smaller than your S4 :p

AJ Henderson

well, perhaps smaller around, but probably not thinner

tohecz

@AJHenderson well, yeah

tohecz

8:46 PM

@AJHenderson So I gave it a try and order these: amazon.de/gp/product/…

AJ Henderson

oh wait, I think I have seen those

I didn't recognize them until I saw them from the side

I've actually seen them on patch panels for video stuff at my college back in the day

they used it for numbering cables with multiple together

they seemed to work pretty well as long as the cable was the right size

tohecz

@AJHenderson that's what I'll see, yeah. The problem is, the cheap ones differ from the expensive one by not having the size in the product description :D

since I'll likely need only two of them per cable, I'll be fine with the 100 :)

tohecz

9:09 PM

@AJH Is it bad to get much longer cables than you need? Like 15m instead of 7.5m?

AJ Henderson

@tohecz I wouldn't consider that MUCH longer than you need

and it depends on the cable

and the signal

balanced cables or powered signals don't matter much as induction noise isn't going to be a major concern for either

tohecz

@AJHenderson well, kytary.cz/bespeco-ncsmm900/HN132971 I consider getting a 15m one directly, because it can turn out useful later

AJ Henderson

same goes for digital cables

for unbalanced low power lines, induction noise is a concern as it raises the noise floor

shielding helps, but doesn't prevent issue

tohecz

well, this is symmetric

damn, symmetric or balanced ? or either?

AJ Henderson

I've only ever heard balanced

tohecz

9:12 PM

@AJHenderson ok, will remember that.

so: this is balanced :D

damn, what is "balanced" vs "impedance balanced"?

AJ Henderson

@tohecz I'm guessing that would be impedance matched

tohecz

which means that the impedance on both hot and cold is the same, right?

AJ Henderson

or that the impedance on both ends is the same

ie, you aren't using 16 ohm headphones on an 8ohm source

because then you have impedence mismatch

tohecz

@AJHenderson ok. This is a characteristic of a mixer output

@AJHenderson I've never understood this impedance thingy :D

AJ Henderson

I will be honest, my understanding of impedance is borderline as well

I know it has to do with resistance and that you don't want them to be mismatched

practically, it just means match the numbers on the output and the input

or bad things happen

bad things generally being quality loss, but sometimes explosions

tohecz

9:24 PM

@AJHenderson well, it's not really a resistance, that's the problem. FWIW, it's the impedance of the coils in the element. Coils are everywhere: amplifiers, microphones, the "impedance seperation" (or how's it called) are coils etc.

AJ Henderson

@tohecz oh, gotcha

that is something else

I have a box that does that

that's a type of ground isolation

tohecz

@AJHenderson yep, it's just a transformator that transforms with a ratio 1:1

AJ Henderson

induce the signal across grounds. Can also be used to change impedance by using different coils

tohecz

@AJHenderson exactly

AJ Henderson

it's one of my trouble shoot devices for hooking in my H4n when doing remote shoots where I need an audio dump from an unknown system

tohecz

9:26 PM

the basic problem is that if your impedances don't match, that your singal levels measured in dBu or dBV don't match

@AJHenderson to protect the $400 the H4n is worth?

AJ Henderson

@tohecz not so much to protect it as it is to ensure best sound quality

H4n is durable enough it isn't going to fry I don't think, but it could certainly be a buzzy, noisy, clipping mess

tohecz

@AJHenderson ok, because the input of H4n probably has some low impedance like 16, whereas standard apparatus has like 75-150

AJ Henderson

I actually use it to translate 1/4" input in to the XLR inputs

because it also allows me to transition to a balanced line

tohecz

@AJHenderson yeah, again this balancedness...

AJ Henderson

but I can do it passively. I could have gotten a double sided direct box as well

but for some reason at the time I didn't want to

I forget what exactly the reason was

I remember I had a reason, might have been better ground isolation, I forget

might have also just been a cheaper option given my needs

tohecz

9:30 PM

@AJHenderson well, I'll use an attenuator for the recordings :-/

damn, why is the good stuff so expensive?!

AJ Henderson

@tohecz copper is expensive

tohecz

@AJHenderson sorry, not speaking about cables just now

AJ Henderson

the trick is to figure out what is the expensive good stuff and what is the expensive crap

@tohecz oh, in that case, because the bartender has to reach further

tohecz

@AJHenderson lol

►

AJ Henderson

ah talking about keyboards

yeah

those are expensive too

because weighted keys take more material, velocity sensors are more complicated and good instrumentation requires lots of sampling and memory

tohecz

9:42 PM

@AJHenderson I've got one, it's sooo good, but it weighs 22 kilos and has the full 140cm of length. This KROME73 has only 8 kilos

AJ Henderson

I don't play keys sadly

tohecz

@AJHenderson it's fun

AJ Henderson

guess they have gotten smaller. My friend in high school had a Phantom x8

beautiful piece of gear

tohecz

but you always face this problem: a HQ full grand will have no less than 20 kg

AJ Henderson

yeah, the x8 is a beast

over 29 kilos

tohecz

9:47 PM

well, as I say, my quite new CP50 has 22 kilos, and that one is quite lightweight (really well-done stage piano)

btw, the guy in the vid has got the most piano hands I've ever seen likely.

AJ Henderson

10:05 PM

yeah, it almost looks like the video is distorted

tohecz

11:34 PM

@AJHenderson the new one is fine. The previous one was obviously badly processed at some stage, there's a lot of clipping.

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