Safety with Wire Lengths

McShmoopy

Senior Member
Hey all, Ive hit a little problem, Im about to purchase some XLR Wires, now Im torn with 3m and 6m. Heres a few reasons

Im on a bit of a tight budget so 3m would be preferable and my room is quite small, so not much distance between my kit and my computer, about 1.5m? But I also have to consider that the wires will be going straight through my room, if someone walks past and they trip then that cant be good! Its not so much of a problem for me, but my parents are quite old and they already have enough physical problems, would you say its a good idea to get the 6m just so I can wire them across the walls of my room?>

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Gaffer tape is indeed your best friend here.

I've actually found that the ideal solution is to buy a soldering iron and the associated gear and make your own cables. It works out a bit cheaper (in the long run) and means that you can make custom-length cables with a guaranteed level of quality. It's more expensive outlay though, a reasonable soldering iron costs around £20 and it's about £30 if you include a stand, some solder and a clamp.

So, in the short term, it's all about the gaffer tape!
 
Always go with the longer cables, it's much cheaper in the long run. If the cables are too long just coil or gaff them. If for some reason down the road you might need the longer cables because of moving things around a bit, you'll have to get cables to add to the short ones which will just about double your expense. When I measure out cables, I usually add another 50%, depending on the length of the run, so that I'm able to neatly dress the cables. When I'm doing work outside of the studio, audio or video, everything must be dressed and gaffer taped so that no one trips over them.

Dennis
 
Always go with the longer cables, it's much cheaper in the long run. If the cables are too long just coil or gaff them. If for some reason down the road you might need the longer cables because of moving things around a bit, you'll have to get cables to add to the short ones which will just about double your expense. When I measure out cables, I usually add another 50%, depending on the length of the run, so that I'm able to neatly dress the cables. When I'm doing work outside of the studio, audio or video, everything must be dressed and gaffer taped so that no one trips over them.

Dennis

Absolutely agree, if you can stretch to it. It's rare that you won't move your leads sometime in the future and longer leads ensure that'll be possible.
 
Always go with the longer cables, it's much cheaper in the long run. If the cables are too long just coil or gaff them. If for some reason down the road you might need the longer cables because of moving things around a bit, you'll have to get cables to add to the short ones which will just about double your expense. When I measure out cables, I usually add another 50%, depending on the length of the run, so that I'm able to neatly dress the cables. When I'm doing work outside of the studio, audio or video, everything must be dressed and gaffer taped so that no one trips over them.

Dennis

Good insight Dennis, thanks for the advice everyone, I think I will go for 6m!
 
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