5-pin XLR cables and connectors for Rhodes Janus Preamp...

Started by sean, June 03, 2017, 12:18:57 AM

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sean



5-pin XLR cables:

For the Rhodes, nothing beats a cable that has a right-angle female connector to plug into the namerail preamp and keeps the cable out of the way of your left hand.

The preamp on the namerail has a 5-pin XLR male connector (so it needs a cable with a female end).
The amp cabinet (or power supply) has a 5-pin XLR female connector (so it needs the other end of the cable, because it has a male end).

You can get a great pre-made short cable with the right-angle female from Vintage Vibe or RetroLinear for $65.00.  They can make you a custom-length cable if you ask.

If you really want to make a DIY cable:

You can buy 5-pin XLR connectors at any electronics supply website, but I can't find a place to buy short lengths of two-pair microphone cable.  But you can buy a pre-made audio or DMX cable, and the cut it to length, and solder on a right-angle female connector.  Buying a pre-made cable with connectors is cheaper than buying 1000' of cable.

5-pin XLR cables are being used in DMX512 lighting control, so some parts are becoming cheaper.  Beware of the various 5-pin DIN connectors, and beware of the new "mini-" XLR connectors.  Beware of all the 5-pin XLR to 3-pin XLR cables available for joining the DMX512 standard and anti-standard universes.

Your local music store might have good 5-pin XLR to 5-pin XLR cables (for DMX512 or for the Rode NT4) that you can inspect before purchase.  Maybe.

I did order a DMX cable with 5-pin XLRs on either end for super-cheap.
The cable insulation is marked with www.ds18.com, but not a cable model number.
The pins ring out correctly, and the cable works fine with my Rhodes Janus Preamp.
The "characteristic impedance" of the cable is unknown.  It may be 120Ω.  So what?

On Amazon.com, I bought the "DS18 MB-5XLR10 XLR Cable 5 Pin Male to Female, 10-Feet" cable for $10.66 with free shipping for Prime.  I also got the 25-footer for $19.33. 

If anybody else has a good source for the appropriate cable, please tell us.  If anybody knows the Belden or Gotham or any other wire manufacturer's model number, that would be great.


Wiring is pretty straightforward.  Pin 1 on both ends gets the drain, shield, wrapper, or ground.  Don't connect the connector housing to pin 1:  leave the connector body "floating" or unconnected.  Then the rest of the pins go straight through: pin 2 to pin 2, pin 3 to pin 3, pin 4 to pin 4, pin 5 to pin 5.  The conductors in your cable may be arranged as two twisted pairs, but I can't believe that there are any significant reasons to worry about crosstalk in such a short cable that carries low-voltage analog audio.  DMX512 cables should be arranged with one pair on pins 2 and 3, and the other pair on pins 4 and 5.  The left and right channels of audio in the 5-pin Rhodes Janus preamp cable are on pins 3 and 4.  (See the bottom of http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/amp-diffs.html.)  Don't worry about it.


Sources for the connectors are simple.  Just check your favorite electronics supply website (DigiKey, Mouser, Farnell, etc.).
Or just put the part numbers below into an internet search engine (DuckDuckGo, Lycos, AltaVista, ;-)


5-pin XLR connectors:

ITT still makes parts using the old Cannon part numbers under the name ITT Cannon LLC.  SwitchCraft and Neutrik make serious top-quality connectors.  Amphenol is still around too, but is not cheaper.  Seetronic, Philmore, and Multicomp are low-cost competitors.  Play around with the part number suffixes, and you can find nickel or black finish, gold or silver contacts.


Cable-end Female 5-pin XLR connectors:
SwitchCraft R5F - right-angle cable-end female 5-pin XLR
SwitchCraft A5F - straight cable-end female 5-pin XLR
Neutrik NC5FRX - right-angle cable-end female 5-pin XLR
Neutrik NC5FXX - straight cable-end female 5-pin XLR
Amphenol AC5FJ or AX5F- straight cable-end female 5-pin XLR
Philmore 44-608 - straight cable-end female 5-pin XLR
Seetronic SC5FXX-B - straight cable-end female 5-pin XLR


Cable-end Male 5-pin XLR connectors:
SwitchCraft A5M - straight cable-end male 5-pin XLR
Neutrik NC5MXX - straight cable-end male 5-pin XLR
Amphenol AC5MJ or AX5M - straight cable-end male 5-pin XLR
Philmore 44-604 - straight cable-end male 5-pin XLR
Seetronic SC5MXX-B - straight cable-end male 5-pin XLR


Panel-Mount Female 5-pin XLR connectors:
SwitchCraft D5F - panel mount female 5-pin XLR            $35 Mouser,  $13.57 at Markertek
SwitchCraft DE5F - panel mount female 5-pin XLR          $11.20 Mouser, $5.86 at Markertek
Neutrik NC5FP-1 - panel mount female 5-pin XLR          $9.20 Mouser,  $7.78 at Markertek
ITT Cannon XLR531 -  panel mount female 5-pin XLR     $28.51 DigiKey
Amphenol AC5FPZ - panel mount female 5-pin XLR       $10.29 Mouser
Philmore 44-626 - panel mount female 5-pin XLR          $8.92 Amazon
Seetronic K5F2C - panel mount female 5-pin XLR          $5.43 Amazon


Panel-Mount Male 5-pin XLR connectors:
SwitchCraft D5M - panel mount male 5-pin XLR (screw holes centered)
Neutrik NC5MP - panel mount male 5-pin XLR (screw holes centered)
ITT Cannon XLR532 - panel mount male 5-pin XLR (screw holes centered)
Amphenol AC5MPNZ - panel mount male 5-pin XLR (screw holes centered)
Amphenol AC5MP - panel mount male 5-pin XLR (screw holes at diagonal corners)
Philmore 44-624 - panel mount male 5-pin XLR (screw holes centered)
Seetronic J5F2C - panel mount male 5-pin XLR (screw holes at diagonal corners)


If you want the mounting screw holes at the diagonal corners, most brands have a "D-style" version that sometimes also has a raised ring.  See Neutrik NC5MD-L-1, Amphenol AC5MDZ, SwitchCraft DE5M, and the Seetronic J5F2C.

I thought I should just park this list here.

Sean


sean



It looks like www.redco.com will sell short lengths of very many types of multi-conductor audio cable.

I haven't given them a call yet, but they have lots of cable by the foot.

Sean