ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.พ. 2015
- Links to products used in the description below.
Learn how to make your own cables like the pros. This is an extended, in depth tutorial - not for those with a short attention span. Set aside some time, sit down with me, and learn the art of making cables... the proper way.
Check out my blog for international links to products (amazon.co.uk/ amazon.de/ aliexpress)
thebrightpixel.net/003%e2%80%...
Cable - amzn.to/2RoxbgB
Heat Shrink - amzn.to/2ydYjX3
XLR Connectors - amzn.to/2IEjaau
TRS Jack - amzn.to/2IGvd7y
Tools
Knipex Cutters - amzn.to/30sFL2D
Hakko FX888D Soldering Iron - amzn.to/2DWninD
Iron Tip - amzn.to/3redfPb
Solder 0.8mm - amzn.to/2IEnNS3
Heat Shrink Gun - amzn.to/2O3xakm
Brother Label Machine - amzn.to/2OAe0Sq
Bench Vice - amzn.to/385BTd4
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This is by far the best soldering tutorial I've come across. I don't prioritize good tools since I don't solder that much, but I still got a lot of good tips from you.
The fact that this 40min tutorial did not feel like 40min shows how well this video was conducted and recorded. Awesome job.
Wow! Just sat through a full soldering video......😂👍
As someone who is mildly obsessed with making cables and has been doing so for nearly 30 years, I once made a little cable-soldering jig using a block of wood with male and female XLR connectors embedded in it to hold the end connectors being soldered. it's a lot easier to clamp down a block of wood than individual connectors. You could simply drill holes in a 2x4 but I like using panel connectors because they provide a positive hold on the connector plus they offer a tiny bit more of a heat buffer if you have a habit of overheating your solder cups.
Hey, Thanks for the tutorial. I don't have an electronics background. I literally fell into hi-end equipment, by accident; and then I got the bug. For more than a year, I've gathered the parts to make my own cables, but was afraid of mistakes, and all of what I don't know. A good instructor uses mistakes to illuminate and clearify. You did a great job. Thanks for leaving that part in. I think a lucid mistake is a two-fer... one, you show the mistake, then two, demonstrate how and why the mistake occured. That's gold. Thanks
Thanks for the great feedback Jack. All the best.
I know this is 8 years old, but those pockets are made so you don't actually have to prefill them. You just tin the wires, put them in the pockets, put a little flux paste or flux wax, and fill with solder. The reason why this is usually better practice too is because you don't have to use a ton of solder and wind up using just enough which keeps the connector overall more clean. Not that big of a deal on XLR connectors, but when working with LEMO connectors and smaller pockets, this helps a ton ensuring there isn't solder spilling over and connecting prongs causing cross talk as filling up the cups can easily accidentally result in that given you're always using more than you really need to (since the cups don't actually have to be completely filled for a solid joint).
If you check Neutrik and other manufacturers, this is their standard of practice and why the cups are designed the way they are. So you can put the wire in, it will stay, and then you make your joints. Just like working with a standard through-hole soldering.
Of course, you are free to make cables however you like. But if you choose to not prefill the buckets with solder, then your cables won't last nearly as long as mine will. For the back of a studio rack, sure fine. For a rental kit cable? Not a chance.
Great video, I’ve built a lot of my own cables over the years and about to do a short multicore from my pedalboard to mixer. I was glad to see I do a lot of this right but learned some cool tips. along the way. I laughed when you said about the shell oh the feeling when you have a beautiful solid job and see the shell sitting on the table but the other side is the joyful celebration the times it happens and as the misery starts to kick in and you suddenly realise it’s the first side of the cable and you can slide it on the other end! Great video and by the way that iron station cost a fortune in the UK!
watched through the whole video.... Very neat job...
The best DIY cables guide on the internet!
Hi! l... I'm a 'prof' doing soldering all my life and teaching electronics.I loved every second to see you working and explaining. AND learned some things as well! It was fun.
Yes, I am officially a nerd. What would you expect? I've also been doing audio electronics for almost 20 years - hi-fi stuff, pro audio stuff, vintage restorations, tube amp building... and it all teaches me you never should grow complacent and have your head stuck up your ass thinking you know it all while you do not. You never do, there's always something new to learn, different points of view to consiuder, so I appreciate new insights and share my own.
Neutrik is made in Liechtenstein, though they also have some of cheaper products made in China, still branded as Neutrik. They also have a lower-end brand named Rean.
I once did a little comparison of 1/4" TRS plugs th-cam.com/video/Cp_uZo47paI/w-d-xo.html
China-made 1/4" plugs have a plastic insert and Liechtenstein-made ones have phenolic which won't melt in soldering temperatures.
Breaking the cable making into simpler steps and doing it on many cables, then moving on to the next step, is also how I do it. Learned it back in my campus radio days where I did electronics maintenance, made cables especially before major gigs. It's a good opportunity to learn.
Leaving the backshell... OH MY. I don't know how many times I made that mistake, especially when I was distracted!
It's sometimes useful to make yourself a jig for holding the connectors rather than putting them in a vise. Crappy old sockets can be used for that.
I strip the outer sheath with a knife, of course gotta be careful not to cut the shield or conductors. Yes, it's possible :D
Pull test is indeed important. Just like Obi-Wan said, use the Force... but not too much or else you'll damage the cable itself. And not too soon - give some time for solder to solidify fully, or else you'll have a cold joint. And BTW, pull tests are MIGHTY important when doing AC wiring - the last thing you want is fire, and loose contact is a common cause, so always test your job and try as hard as you can to pull that wire out!
Heat capacity is important, but you can always help yourself by turning the temperature up a bit on jobs that require a lot of heat. Sometimes all the way up, for e.g. ground busbars in tube amps.
I never used Hakko, sometimes used Weller "Magnastat" where the tip itself controls the temperature thanks to the Curie effect and magnetic reed switch, but my favorite station for over ten years was Solomon SL-20. Who knows, maybe Hakko is better, gotta try it... waiting for that package, if it comes, I will do a review on my channel, haha!
Ugly lead vocalists, oh well... How about a band where a lead vocalist is ugly but a lead guitarist is sexy as hell? :)
Labels under heatshrink are good and easy to do, but labels printed on heatshrinks with a portable label printer (Dymo, Brother etc.) are even better, they look real deal pro and if you've got a capable printer, do it. Yours seems like a good pro grade stuff that could handle the job, and it's only a matter of getting a heatshrink label cartridge. BTW I like the "BS" label slapped on one of the buttons.
One tech tip from me: use medical forceps to hold the shield when soldering. First it's steady, second the forceps suck away the heat that would otherwise go all the way up to the place where the shield touches the connectors, melting their insulation and making the cable dodgy.
I always practice looping the conductors, keeping shield the shortest. If strain relief fails, it'll take the load and it can take much more force than the conductors.
Your cable tester looks pretty advanced. I see it can show you which pin on the output corresponds to each one on the input, like the ethernet cable testers. I wonder what other functionality it has, and if it can detect leakage, cracking (intermittent open circuit) etc.
I never put the heatshrink over the contacts; if I did it, it'd make visual inspection of a suspicious cable harder as you have to cut the heatshrink to look if the connections are okay.
Nice and tight... I do it tighter than Ethel Granger's laces, but hand only - no pliers.
As for the glue, I don't like the stuff but sometimes use it for fragile connectors like USB or 1/8" plugs. Usually a teeny tiny dab of hot glue that will melt as the heatshrink tube shrinks.
I sometimes call heatgun an industrial hairdryer :)
Never get bored watching your videos bro...!
keep it up
Best connector soldering tutorial I have seen on a TH-cam!
EXCELLENT Tutorial...
I've always preferred making my own cables. I had to teach myself how to solder and then I took it from there. Your tutorial clearly showed me what I already knew, and, what i didn't know. After what I've learned here, I now have a new level of standards and practices with which to work from. Your coverage of the material was excellent. Showing the mistakes that were made was a great idea. It validates the need for inspecting your work and demonstrates that ANYONE can make a mistake. Fill my empty brain with knowledge... Ha ha...
Thanks very much, I enjoyed the video.
nice video and great advice..
@21:25 find a way to stabilize the hand / wires so there's no movement while the solder cools down. it's extremely important. cold joints can and will develop when there's movement (between being liquid and solid, solder has a plastic phase, movement during this phase compromises/weaken the joint strength. 63/37 solder is an exception)..
having a hot enough CLEAN iron tip that takes solder is MUCH more important than what soldering iron/brand you use. a 30W 'cheap' iron will work for this kind of job if you follow the instructions in this video..
depending on how many cables you want/need to make, i have two suggestions:
1. thermal wire strippers (fast, consistent, no damage to the wires; it can even be built as a 'special' soldering iron tip, or soldering gun tip)
2. extra soldering flux (decreases the wire tinning time / heat damage to the insulation considerably, especially as a 'beginner'; it's INVALUABLE when FIXING cables as those are partially oxidized. get good quality, no-clean, non-acidic flux)
This video explains in excruciating detail how every step of my process is so very wrong! Thanks a lot looking forward to putting this new knowledge into action!
I watched this video again for the first time in years the other day, just to check it, and even I changed it to 1.25x speed hahahaha
Labor of Love. I secretly enjoy the task and I'm virtually convinced the cables made with my hands sound better than those paid for by my hands. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Hahaha, so true.
EXCELLENT...!!! Very well explained. Good job. Thank you.
9:18 I genuinely loughed out loud! Despite the number of cables I've made, of many types, my ability to forget the part that must go on first is still huge. Nowadays, I put the first bit over the cable before I settle down to checking the connectors and setting out the rest of my method.
13:43 Guilty as charged!
This video shows pretty much how I make cables. So relieved to see I am not the only one who thinks this way.
I couldn't stop watching. I wanted to stop at one point, but I couldn't. Good work!
Your recommending EEVblog easily earned a thumbs up. Your cable making methodology, my kind of stuff. Thanks sir.
started transposing hot and cold ! Yes! I was ASTONISHED! Thanks for keeping it in the video. I've done it dozens of times but usually with the hot and ground.
Cable making virgin here looking to save money on a pedal board set-up. Glad I watched this first. Helpful tutorial loaded with great tips and laughs. Thank you.
WOW most of the other videos on TH-cam were so short, and I'm just learning. When he said he was going to do a long video and show people how to solder the right way, I knew I would learn from him, and I did. THANKS for taking your time to make this video
i thought i'd get bored, totally didn't. I'm glad I've watched a 45 min video on soldering audio cables! thanks heaps.
I watched the whole thing reading this
"I missed my manicure appointment last week" lol... this is the best soldering tutorial ever... give him an Oscar!
Hi dude, thanks for taking all the effort to make this video.
BUT, looks like none of you guys noticed the 1st female xlr (abt 20.16) is wired red wire to pin 2, and the rest white wire to pin 2. Oops.
Best video on the internet about making cables.
This is a really super walkthrough of assembling XLRs, and thank you for your wisdom and patience!
I use this very same method and it's flawless every single time , for not only audio but also network , Dmx ,virtually any cable (solder or crimp) housekeeping is the number one key to doing the job rite.
Good video, thank you! I just made some rca cables. Used Mogami 2552 low noise wire and Amphenol ACPR-SRD male plugs. Was surprised how thin the signal wire was in the Mogami cable but they work just fine. Nice to do away with overly long and stiff cables from the store.
What a breath of fresh air. I wish everybody, including me, had coworkers such as you. 100% TRUST of getting the job done PROPERLY and ZERO worries. Respect 👌😎👍
P.S.: You know you see skill when the tip of the soldering iron is shiny and doesn't look like an old rusty nail.
Nice prep work! I learned something from you about how to properly prep and arrange your materials. Your assembly line technique is very efficient and it certainly is a great way to check and make sure you have everything ready to go. I also liked how you double checked for the placement of pin 1, and how you add the heat shrink for strain relief and label your cables with the clear heat shrink tubing over a label. Very professional looking!
I do have one small critique with your soldering, so before I go further, let me establish my credentials and where this critique is coming from:
I am a retired Marine who learned soldering while attending Navy Avionics schools. After getting to the fleet, I attended an advanced soldering school, which got into microminiature repair. The Navy and Marine Corps want their equipment to be reliable and they don't want planes going down for maintenance... or going down for real because someone didn't do their job right repairing a piece of equipment and a wire broke or failed due to a bad solder joint, shorted something out and caused a fire. So, needless to say, they were very picky about our work; we had to do it to their specifications to pass the school. Comparing the Navy's techniques for soldering with what people learn off the street is like comparing submarine welding to general construction welding. A guy who welds on submarines has his welds subjected to X-Ray inspection to look for defects. On a construction site, the standards aren't as extreme; they just don't want your welds coming apart. You can take a Navy welder and put him on a construction site and he'll do fine. Not so with the construction welder on a submarine. So if you don't mind, I'm just going to pass on some of that knowledge. Obviously what you are doing works as you've been doing it for years, but if you want to take your game to the next level... here are some pointers:
On a properly tinned wire, you should be able to still see the individual strands of the wire. You had a few that looked good and a few that were a bit globby. Some folks think that the bigger the glob the better the job, but that's actually not true. If you pull off the soldering iron and you get a piece of solder that sticks out like a thorn, you probably have a cold solder joint. Cold solder joints affect the transmission characteristics and while it may ohm well on a multimeter, it may exhibit more impedance at higher frequencies. We're dealing with audio here so it's probably not as critical. But again, we want to do the best work, right?
Keep a drop of solder on the tip of the iron for better heat transfer when you touch it to the connector you are soldering. The solder on the tip of the iron transfers the heat from your iron to the piece, much better than the tip by itself. Also noticed you wiggled a little bit while holding the wire and you want to keep it perfectly still until it changes color and you see that it has cooled. Don't blow on it to get it to cool faster. Wiggling the wire, and/or blowing on a solder joint can also result in a cold solder joint. You want to get in with a good amount of heat and as soon as the solder melts you make your connection and then remove the heat while holding everything still. Solder is an okay conductor, but you get a better connection when you have physical contact between the copper wire and the connector pin and your solder is like the glue draped over, holding the wire in place. On a perfect solder joint with stranded wire, you will still see the strands of the wire and it will form a filet where it is pressed up against the connector. Sometimes, when it comes to soldering, less is more.
I want to end on a positive note. I liked your technique for making indestructible wires and learned something there too about using the excess silicone RTV in the threads. Am glad you stressed checking your solder connections after making them.
I don't know how I missed this awesome comment. Damn TH-cam notifications seem to be hit and miss. The day I stop learning is the day I die, and you give some good theory and tips here. Next big batch I make up, I'll keep this in mind. I had zero formal training. Just developed these methods over many years of doing it and then working out why things failed and refining the method. Thanks again.
I knew the 'audiofool' conversation would be brought up, wasn't disappointed.
The best soldering video ever. I would love to get some real-world hands-on training. And I LOVE the attention to detail!
Thanks Mick. Stay safe buddy
Amazing video. I always thought making cables was some sort of Wizardry. Glad to finally know the process to make my own cables! Would love another on terminating network cables!
Thanks. Maybe I will make a quick network one. I'm sure some people could find it useful.
just came across this and its really good in every way. when i got to the labelmaker part here's what i do: type a bunch of labels with just 1-2 spaces between them, print them all (either how many you are going to print, or the max memory of the device which ever comes first), then cut them. much less wasted tape :)
I'm not only cheap but creative. I print a sheet of labels on a colour printer using a template, then cut them using a guillotine. This way I can add fonts (like property of in small letters) colours (for length, reds at 4M Blue at 6M etc) and a number. I usually put a label at each end of longer cables so the numbers have to match.. good thing for festivals etc where time is on the essence. Clear wrap, slide in label, heat and eat..
EXCELLENT VIDEO ,,PROFESSONAL WAY TO MAKE CABLE WHICH LONG LAST
Perfect tutorial. Thanks a lot! Although as a german I have to say that Neutrik is based in Liechtenstein, which is not Germany ;) Its not even Swiss or Austria, it is an independent microstate!
This is a best tip to make audio cable
excellent educational material. never learned this at school - and they say always stay in school? i think we need more of this.
Being making cables for a home studio, pedalboards, that kind of thing and have made every mistake known to man. Should have watched this first :) thanks man
I made some XLR cables with a friend back in the late 1990s. He showed me how to do it and this is pretty much the exact process we used (minus the vice!)
Loved it. I'm definitely, _annoyed_ - (not irritated, but a tech head from the Bronx) !
The glue method for extra durability is an extra step I discovered myself, and I can vouch it really works.
I didn't think anyone else did it since all of the cables I opened up only had heat shrink with no glue. Good to know there are others who really put care and thought into making these cables.
Great video!!! And thanks for giving us 45 minutes because I feel that all the details I needed to build a cable have been covered!
James! I love your videos. You are making me want to get back to longer more in depth vids!
Thanks Christian
I was at the least apprehensive about building some cables for myself and my music partner but having watched this I feel more comfortable with the process thank you saved and subscribed
Amazing! Just follow the steps. And don't expect the first solder joints to be perfect. Will take a couple of tries to really get it down. The rest is easy.
The Bright Pixel Hi. Can this job be done with a good soldering iron like Ersa PTC 70 (0710CD) ?
After watching your video I decided to try to make cables for my studio monitors, turntable and stereo pair of microphones by myself! I have already bought Neutrik gold plated connectors and will order Gotham GAC 4/1 quad microphone cable soon.
I liked Ersa PTC 70 because of decent and not fake (it is a problem in Russia with Hakka tips) soldering tips and that I can put this iron to my tool case and use both at home and on the go.
+1 for showing your silicone glue application
Man, all Im gonna say is you're phenomenal and Im glad I found your channel. Hats off to you my friend.
The audible gasp I let out as you so confidently soldered kept soldering them with the wrong polarity!
Really nice job and appreciate the attention to details.
I learned a lot of solding tips and workflow tips from this. Thank you! Well done
This is the best cable making video I've seen on TH-cam. Really appreciate it. Thanks.
Haha, I'm one of the girls! Wonderful video, and I did sit and watch the whole thing---with my cats, don't you know. Thank you!
Wendy S
Best video on topic i've seen so far! Very detailed! Amazing job! Keep going!
Awesome video! Thank you another day at TH-cam university I started a business doing this 2 years ago and I do all types of cases and cables etc… this is the video I learned with during covid I sharpened my skills will various types. Love this video
Excellent craftsmanship, and 10 out of 10 tutorial. Thank you for your dedication to perfection :)
Thanks for making this video, your attention to detail is astonishing, keep up the good work
Jbl company should adopt you brother.
Very good work!!
Great technique. looking forward to applying this.
I've learned a lot through this video, thanks. Now I know how to make bulletproof cable
I just made my first xlr cable while watching this video and I was able to get it right inanely like 3 hours, now that I've figured it out I should be able to do it much quicker. Thank you so much for the great video! Its gonna save me a lot of time and money
hey man, cheers this video was extremely helpful. A real proper tutorial here, I love how in depth you go and keep it entertains and fun :)
Excellent instructional video Thanks
This video is great! Thank you soo much, this is gonna save me so much on cables that I can trust!
Great Video!! I am confident I can successfully make my own cables now. Thank you so very much!!
Excellent video! I especially appreciate that you included your mistakes and corrections. The organizational aspect is super important, particularly if you're doing a lot of cables in one sitting. Even if you're only doing one cable, it's still good to develop the habit of being organized. Thanks for posting this!
Thanks Dave. Stay safe.
Great video man!
Good thing that you teach the way things should be done the right way.
Still would like to see more video's from you, specially about the VJ gig tech stuff!
Keep it up! ;)
Thanx for taking the time to make this! I really liked that you showed everything and didn't edit out. I'm off now to order the bits and give it a lash!!! 😎
Best of luck!
I like to know that I am not alone in the world when I make a point of saying that one of the best bets that can be made is precisely in the connections of all the equipment that is used. Without a properly manufactured cabling I don't trust success and prefer to work with cables made by me. I totally agree with everything in this video, except for the 6.5mm jack plugs. If you use Neutrik for XLR why not use Neutrik for Jacks?
As you said - and you said it very well - Neutrik is the best choice for professionals.
Greetings from Portugal.
Macedo Pinto
Nice video! I've soldered my own cables for a long time, but I still learned a few nice tips. Cheers!
Outstanding, comprehensive tutorial. Thanks for creating and posting!
Thanks for the kind words
Love it, was about to buy some pre-fab cables but after watching this "stuff that" I'm off to get me some heat shrink.
it is impossible to make that small printer which wouldn't print that waste, because tape has to be guided to work correctly. BUT every label printer have different modes for single print, in example: a) no cuting at all b) cutting 2 times (cutting off the waste, and after print done) c) cutting only once after print is done.
Just select option c) and no more tape waste! one thing to remember is to change from option c) to b) before printing the last one. This option should be at the top of the menu.
Other ways to avoid waste is to use plug printer by usb to computer and use dedicated software (with more than 10 labels it is so much faster to prepare every label in computer.
some printers also give you option to print whole series of labels, in that case everyvething you must do is to find that option.
Sometimes is easier to "read the fakin' manual" that complain all the time :D
This was solved in a much better way by a previous commenter a long time ago. The printer has an option to print multiple labels and cut them as you go, with zero waste. Sometimes it's easier to read the comments rather than complain all the time :D
Amazing video, best I've seen on the subject. Thanks for taking the time to make and post this.
Holy shit! I made it to the end of the video! Thought u might have been rambling too much but damn you are the master and I listen to every bits and learn so much from you. I dont think I would making professional cables like u did, but I'm sure the all the steps are gold and that definitely helps me on my keyboard cables soldering process. Well done mate! Cheers!
Great video! This is exactly the process we use at Boston Light & Sound!
I like the prep, and very neat and great work. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice, thanks for this! Definitely will follow this method going forward!
Bro, I love your channel Keep doing this, there is just an Elite sharing this kind of info...
Prep and process build definitely the way to go. 30 years TV truck, studio builds.
I miss that work. I did my share of OB vans and cinemas in Australia many years ago. Super satisfying work.
Thanks for sharing your expertise!
21:27 Pin 2 (+) was red and Pin 3 (-) was white. All the connectors after that were done with white in pin 2 and red in pin 3.
I noticed that as well!
Dave Winter me to?
Best video on soldering xlr cable I have seen. Thank you very much. Well done!
Thanks buddy. Good luck with your cable making.
Love your videos man! gunna watch the rest of yours! Mad love from Canada!
That was a beautiful masterclass... Thank you!
very professional work
3:52 FYI, Neutrik is not a German company. They’re based in Liechtenstein, and like so much stuff today, much of it is manufactured in China. Still top quality at a reasonable price. (Kudos for pronouncing Neutrik correctly, also!)
What a great vid. I did learn a few things from you. I need to make a couple of them. Thanks for sharing
Love it. Rather than silicone, I like to use hot glue to fill the connectors (which is repairable with your heatgun.) My label maker prints directly to heat shrink, so that's helpful. I use a different color of heat shrink for cable lengths, you could use colored electrical tape under your clear - this way a quick glance and you see the color for your lengths. For a while I was doing shows in a venue that had a bad case of the cable legs (where you cables grow legs and jump into someone elses cable box. I ended up using an engraver on my connector shells since many times the connector legs syndrome also causes the label to fall right off, who would have thought. Nice video, again!
Great video. And with the home isolation going on at the moment I gladly soaked up the 45 minutes worth :)
Nicely presented video. You add just the right amount of entertainment for it not to start getting irritating. Great tip (ahem) regarding leaving a little slack in the wire going to the tip of the jack plug - I thought you had made the wire too long, but now see why it was done like that on purpose.
Thanks!
I know this is an old video, but really awesome job man, thanks for sharing in such detail!
Hey Ben, thanks for the kind words. Until the industry moves on from using XLR, the content will remain relevant ;)
I learnt so much watching this. Thank you mate.
Great video, Cant wait to make my own cables!
really great work man, im the kind of guy that love do things the way you do, keep uploading vids please! :D
great video very very helpful thxs from melbourne australia
How on earth could there be 19 thumbs down for this video? I wish I'd seen it a hundred years ago!
Awesome tutorial! Thanks a mill for this. Very helpful.