ClearTone Cables and recording

[jpmaxxy]

Hi guys after reading the old ClearTone cable thread I am wanting to change all my cables to ClearTone and also purchase a recording interface like a Toneport or similar.
I'm unsure about a few things:

1. I am purchasing a SM58 for vocal recording so I'd like a mic cable. Do I need a Mic, JSM/XLRF?

2. I have a VC30 112 which has a Celestion 70/80 in it and want to change the speaker cable like many of you have done. After looking in it I seen one end is soldered to the speaker with a positive and negative wire on one end and an angled jack on the other. I can't see anything similar on the ClearTone site so what will I do?

3. What should I buy for recording vocals, line out / emulated out and in the future using a SM57 or different mic.

Sorry guys I am new to recording so I mightn't be making much sense. I have only onboard sound on my computer aswell....

Thanks ALOT!  :)

[MDV]

The only thing about the toneport is it comes with pod type models. Which, IMO, suck. Get an EMU or similar prosumer interface. Much better pres and dacs

1 - You need XLR to XLR or XLR to jack. You really should use mic pres and therefore XLR to XLR is required.

2 - If your speakers wired up already then you can get a cable with one jack and solder it up on the other end. We that have replaced our speaker cable are using it to connect a head to a cab.

3 - Again, depends on the source. Line outs can be XLR or 1/4 inch jacks.

4 - Alot means to allocate a quantity of something. A lot means a large amount.

Hope this helped :)

[jpmaxxy]

Isn't that allot?  :D

Yea that helped! Cheers MDV

For the Line out cable can you use an instrument cable or should I get a stereo balanced 1/4 inch one?

What is the best interface for laptop use under £300? (I'm assuming a laptop interface would work with a desktop aswell).

[MDV]

Hmmmm, might be. But niether alot or allot are a lot!

Theres no such thing as a balanced 1/4 inch jack. They HAVE to be XLR - reason being that with a normal jack you have a signal and a ground, two contacts; with balanced you have to carry a voltage for the +10db, and you need the 3rd contact of XLR to do that. It doesnt sound any different or have any magical powers or anything: its for maintaining a good signal to noise ratio over really long cable runs.

Ist cable can have either stuck on the end, or both, one on each end, and depending what youre running your line out from and to you might need jack to jack, xlr to xlr, xlr to jack or jack to xlr. Cant say till you know what youre lining to, but its almost certainly gonna be instrument cable in there.

You cant use inst cable for speaker cable. Thats about the only rule you absolutely need to observe. Inst cable is gonna be what you use 90% of the time. (You could use speaker cable for inst cable, but I cant say what it would sound like).

[jpmaxxy]

Ok so for example a Line out from my MicroCube (or Blackstar pedal) which has a 1/4 inch jack into a EMU 1616 would have a balanced signal with an Ins / XLRMale balanced stero cable?

Would you recommend the EMU 1616 or something else for ~£250?

Thanks again!  :D

[MDV]

No, it would be unbalanced.

I would strongly recommend the 1616M. I dont know about the 1616. I have the M though, and its great. Its been rendered obsolete by my fireface 800 now, but in terms of DAC and pre quality its not that far behind the RME! Very, very good bit of kit.

If you get the 1616M (or 1616 for that matter) they can be switched in the software between balanced and unbalanced. I've never once had a need for balanced, and I dread to think the length of cable that would need a balanced output. You'll be using unbalanced all the time.

Youre quite welcome (to what little I know about this - I've only been dabbling in audio engineering for a couple of years, and have barely scratched the surface)

[jpmaxxy]

Are you selling it by any chance?  8)

[MDV]

Was. Not now. It has a use these days. A very small fraction of what its capable of, but its doing it nonetheless.

[jpmaxxy]

Ok matey cheers I'll hopefully update this with good results rather than problems!  :D

[MDV]

Keep us posted.

All puns are intentional.

[noodleplugerine]

Keep us posted.

All puns are intentional.

You sure you don't mean all post is international?

[MDV]

May I be the first to say...

Huh?

[noodleplugerine]

Was another pun :<


... A very bad one.

[MDV]

Ummmm, it wasnt a pun at all.

TAXI FOR NOODLE!

Get yer coat mate ;)

[MDV]

Oh, my Radial X-Amp arrived yesterday, and with it my first requirement for a balanced output (it takes a balanced input).

Gonna have to be carefull with that - must switch off all other stuff on my outputs lest I be deafened or they explode.