To star-quad or not to star-quad?

[Phil Bambridge]

At what point does using star-quad seem like a good idea to you chaps? Does distance alone come into play, or would you only bother if you suspected a noisy environment? I'm in the market for a cable or two in the 30m range, which may get used for either plant mics, or sound-reinforcement (i.e. mic-to-PA in a club/cabaret set-up).

Thanks.

[Andy Tejral]

For a 100' run, I would definitely go for quad. If it is a EM noisy environment, I'd go with a mic->line amp.

You might be just fine with regular cable but I've had situations where it sounded fine during setup and stuff came up during the shoot. Not good.

Go for overkill.

[Dean Sensui]

I always use Canare Star-Quad from Markertek.

[Gary Nattrass]

Just one note on star quad it is great for mic levels but not so good for line level signals.

[Paul R Johnson]

Star quad is one of those things that is difficult to quantify until you use it to solve a problem. If you use it all the time, you rarely have noise issues but won't know the problem was there. I do lots of work in venues with theatre lighting, and thyristor buzz is a real problem with sound systems. My own way of working is to use the few star quad cables I have when mic level signals have to travel close to dimmer city, or run parallel with lighting cables - especially socapex multicore lighting cables. I've never had a problem with line level circuits, but don't quite understand why there should be any difference in noise reduction. I can't think of any reason not to use starquad on line level circuits if it was the last cable in the trunk?

[Ty Ford]

Originally Posted by Gary Nattrass

Just one note on star quad it is great for mic levels but not so good for line level signals.

How come?

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Jimmy Tuffrey]

I've had an unexplained buzz and swapping the cable for a quad cable sorted it. Normally the un quad stuff is fine though. Don't get hung up about it but have a bit in case and more if you can.

[Marco Leavitt]

It's a question of cost. You can't afford to use it for everything, at least I can't. For me, I ask myself, is this cable going to have to run across power lines? Definitely Star-Quad. After that it gets easier to decide. Some cables coil really nicely (Belden!), even if it isn't Star-Quad, and some pricey Star-Quad cables don't feel all that nice to handle at all. There has also been some discussion in hear about whether Star-Quad cables are more fragile than regular balanced lines because they are more complicated. I don't have any insight on that though. Good cable holds up better than bad cable. That's all I know.

[Andy Tejral]

Originally Posted by Marco Leavitt

There has also been some discussion in hear about whether Star-Quad cables are more fragile than regular balanced lines because they are more complicated.

No doubt about that, quad can be really annoying to solder. And certainly, if the assembler doesn't do a good job, it can be more fragile. The insulation has a much lower melting point than regular cable and getting the individual conductors tinned togther is a hassle. Even with a lot of practice, I might need to cut it off and try again.

It might be worth it to get Switchcraft connectors (heck, make it REALLY hard for the assembler!). They are much beefier than Neutrik.

But, a well made cable should last as long as a regular one.

I've only experienced problems at the connector never in the middle.

[John Willett]

All my mic. cables are BBC spec. star-quad - I wouldn't use anything else.

[Ty Ford]

Gotham GAC-3 works here for me.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[John Peterson]

You have a good recabler in the UK:

Stone Audio

STONEAUDIO UK | hi-fi, home cinema, multi-room, design and installation

Ask them.

John

[Colin Rowe]

Originally Posted by John Willett

All my mic. cables are BBC spec. star-quad - I wouldn't use anything else.

As are mine John, on your reccomendation, excellent.