DIY Interconnect Advice

[Red_Molly]

I'm planning to use shielded two core twisted microphone cable with RCA plugs for interconnects. Most of the equipment has three core power leads, a couple have ungrounded figure 8 power cords. My confusion is what to do with the braided shield. If I run the red of the twisted pair to 'hot' and the white to 'cold' what should I do with the shield. Most DIY projects suggest connecting the braid to source end connector ground and trimming t'other end back, but a couple of project instructions insist both ends should be soldered/crimped to the connector ground.

Any advice gratefully received.

 

[jaxvon]

Well, usually with an RCA plug, you would use coax cable where the center conductor goes to the center pin and the shield goes to the RCA body, for the ground. I personally would just use coax, but whatever. I'm not really sure what you would do, since that cable is designed to work with XLR plugs.

 

[3beanlimit]

Lot's of companys use a two wire with shield for interconnects. What to do with the shield? Either leave it be or...at the source end, connect it to the outside body of the RCA plug with the white wire. This makes it "directional" in the same way that Monster and several other compaines terminate their ends.

 

[Jagger]

You really need to use that shielding instead of the white conductors. That Shielding is what is gonna keep the signal clean!

 

[Dan Banquer]

Shield

For unbalanced RCA connectors, connect the shield to ground (cold) at both ends of the connector. This gives a very low impedance ground path and a pretty effective shield.
For more info on this go here:
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/bulletproofingsysteminterf.php

d.b.

 

[wesley oh]

I'm planning to use shielded two core twisted microphone cable with RCA plugs for interconnects. Most of the equipment has three core power leads, a couple have ungrounded figure 8 power cords. My confusion is what to do with the braided shield. If I run the red of the twisted pair to 'hot' and the white to 'cold' what should I do with the shield. Most DIY projects suggest connecting the braid to source end connector ground and trimming t'other end back, but a couple of project instructions insist both ends should be soldered/crimped to the connector ground.

Any advice gratefully received.

If your cable run (lenght) is long your idea is good. Make the cable as you have read by diy 'ers. If the intercnnects are short, like 1 meter or less, regular coax style RCA interconnects are fine.