AudioSpares DMX Cable

[DarkDerp]

Hi all,

First off, I have searched all over the forums for any mention of this company, but couldn't find anything.

I'm after unterminated DMX cable, and so far the cheapest I've found is from AudioSpares. I regularly use them for audio cable and connectors, but would like to know if anyone has used their DMX cable?

Link

Thanks so much for any and all replies,

DarkDerp

[Mrmovinghead]

Hi There Dark Derp, Welcome to the forums!

 

 

Ive used AudioSpares DMX cable for a previous show that we finished just 3 days ago. I sincerly recommend you use them as they are very stable and did not cause any problems for us.

 

 

Hope this helps

[itiba]

Is this going to be for install or is it a special project?

[paulears]

Audiospares do expensive Van Damm and cheap Altai DMX cable - Eagle, who make it don't seem to publish any proper specs - so no idea if it's the correct 110 Ohm impedance, but I expect it is.

 

I rather like Canford DST if you need flexible and tough, but I suspect that most people choose their cable based on what they can get, how much it is, and how tough it turns out to be, for further purchases.

 

Cables that are not stable should be thrown away. Truthfully, I have piles of DMX cable, bought over the years and I have no idea what it is!

 

For me, DMX faults have been down to connectors, failed solder joints and physical damage to the cable - NOT the brand of cable.

 

Audiospares might be a good distributor, but I have to say I'd never heard of them until today, but the cable they're selling isn't really special - just reasonable cost. There are many smaller distributors dotted around, most popular within their local area because they do decent prices and give good service - they don't compare with the Canfords, CPCs, Studiospares type companies who work on a much bigger scale.

 

As you're in a school - much depends on who has a willingness to wait for payment. Local businesses often do, but the big boys don't - when it comes to writing an order, this is often more important in a school or college, because they rarely care about pennies, just convenience.

[Brian]

There is far too much emphasis placed on the cable and termination resistors having the right impedance. It's quite instructive to see just how insensitive the signal is to getting it 'wrong'.

[timsabre]

I agree, Brian.

 

I have seen DMX run quite happily over 2-core bell wire, mains cable, even a single core of wire on one occasion (required common mains earth to work then though) - worked on one club install with 5-pin DMX where the person making the cables had wired 1-2-3 at one end and 3-4-5 at the other end of every cable. It all worked fine until someone severed a cable and I discovered the wiring fault accidentally.

 

Also seen plenty of star-wired DMX and systems with passive y-splits everywhere, installed by electricians with no clue about DMX, which all work perfectly. Funny really when we have these big discussions on here about suitable cable.

[LXbydesign]

Excatly.

 

Ive been using bog standard 3-pin XLR Mic cable for years on DMX and NEVER had any issue. The only time issues have cropped up is with a damaged cable or a broken solder in one of the connections.

 

I might add, I always use a DMX distro as first point of call from the desk to the stage before branching off to fixtures - but other than that . . . never had to use a terminator or indeed the one time I did - it caused me problems.

[Paul J Need]

Agree about the DST - We use this mainly for install work. We mainly use the Sommer binary 234 DMX cable and when combined with neutrik connectors they will never be a £3.00 cable but they will last

[paulears]

Iwhen I'm billing a client for installing DMX cable, having DMX printed on it does to a huge degree justify the expense. I suspect we all use all kinds of cable successfully, but sometimes using the right stuff does make sense - even if we're not talking electrical sense.

[dbuckley]

It's [dmx512] quite instructive to see just how insensitive the signal is to getting it 'wrong'.

 

Indeedy. DMX512 is pretty much like every digital signal in this regard, including digital telly; it works perfectly until it doesn't. And the problem is you never know how close to the edge of "doesn't" one is. So as Tim has noted it is possible to use all sorts of bodges to carry digital signals (and I'm going to up the pot here, and claim Ethernet over a fence), but this is combat data in action, it's not what one wants to do every day. The closer one gets to doing it "right", the easier and more reliable ones life becomes.

[mjriley]

What is peoples opinions on the flexibility of these cables, in the past I have found Van Damme DMX cable to be very stiff and unlike their mic cable.

How does Canford DST and Sommer 234 compare in flexibility??

[paulears]

DST is quite similar to Van Damme - not sure about the Sommer. For cheap and cheerful, I've been using the cheap CPC DMX stuff and it's proven quite tough in the flight case wheels stakes!

[mjriley]

Thanks paulears,

 

I'm using CPC cables at the minute but the last batch I've bought weren't anyway near the usual quality, the cable felt cheaper, the XLR's were far inferior with rubbish cable grips and the soldering job was appalling, far too much wire stripped causing shorts in multiple cables.

[paulears]

Since Chris Beesley left CPC, I've noted a distinct lack of our kind of promotions - so I suspect that he was responsible for CPC being very useful to us. I'm finding that they no longer have quite the same range in my personal need range. Obviously the odds and ends, but my big orders have virtually stopped and gone elsewhere in the past year.

[mjriley]

Without wanting to drift too far off topic I feel the same Paulears. Find they are more expensive than local suppliers for day to day things, permaplug, neutrik connectors etc., and the quality of own brand items isn't always what it used to be.