Cable colors at DVinfo.net

Marco Leavitt · October 6th, 2005, 08:45 AM

I'm in the process of changing out all of our XLR cables to Starquad. I've heard that some people use colors to differentiate lengths. Is there a uniform system for this, or does everybody just come up with their own? Ie. blue cable 100 feet, red cable 50 feet, etc.

Douglas Spotted Eagle · October 6th, 2005, 08:50 AM

If there is a standard, I'm unaware of it. Coding cable length by color is an old trick, but I don't know that anyone has standardized it.

Jay Massengill · October 6th, 2005, 11:59 AM

I haven't heard of a standard either and I code mine from a different perspective. Instead of color code by length, I use color code for keeping up with L and R or other differences. For example you'll likely have two cables the same length going to the same destination for L and R. It wouldn't be helpful if both are the same color, so I use for example bLue for Left and oRange for Right, both of the same length.

A. J. deLange · October 6th, 2005, 12:33 PM

I suppose you could use the standard color code (brown = 1, red = 2, orange = 3 etc.) to indicate that a red cable, for example, is either 20 or 200 feet long. You ought to be able to tell which just by looking at it or you could put a second color band on near the connectors to tell how many zeros (red with black band = 2 feet, red with brown band 20 feet, red with red band i.e. no band 200 feet...).

Mike Cavanaugh · October 11th, 2005, 01:56 PM

Marco
On video cables to my mixer, I just used different colored tapes on each cable and use a sharpie to mark cable length on the piece of tape - works fine.

October 6th, 2005, 08:45 AM	#1
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	Cable colors I'm in the process of changing out all of our XLR cables to Starquad. I've heard that some people use colors to differentiate lengths. Is there a uniform system for this, or does everybody just come up with their own? Ie. blue cable 100 feet, red cable 50 feet, etc.

October 6th, 2005, 08:50 AM	#2
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	If there is a standard, I'm unaware of it. Coding cable length by color is an old trick, but I don't know that anyone has standardized it. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

October 6th, 2005, 11:59 AM	#3
Jay Massengill Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burlington Posts: 1,976	I haven't heard of a standard either and I code mine from a different perspective. Instead of color code by length, I use color code for keeping up with L and R or other differences. For example you'll likely have two cables the same length going to the same destination for L and R. It wouldn't be helpful if both are the same color, so I use for example bLue for Left and oRange for Right, both of the same length.

October 6th, 2005, 12:33 PM	#4
A. J. deLange Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: McLean, VA United States Posts: 749	I suppose you could use the standard color code (brown = 1, red = 2, orange = 3 etc.) to indicate that a red cable, for example, is either 20 or 200 feet long. You ought to be able to tell which just by looking at it or you could put a second color band on near the connectors to tell how many zeros (red with black band = 2 feet, red with brown band 20 feet, red with red band i.e. no band 200 feet...).

October 11th, 2005, 01:56 PM	#5
Mike Cavanaugh Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Albany NY Posts: 311	Marco On video cables to my mixer, I just used different colored tapes on each cable and use a sharpie to mark cable length on the piece of tape - works fine.