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I'm needing to buy a Mic cable tomorrow yet I know jack about what I should look for in one; except that I need it to be the 3 pin/hole plug-in at one side for the mic, and a general, run of the mill guitar-like jack on the other.

Can I get some quickfire hints on what to get and/or what to avoid; brand experiences etc.

Danke Schoen folks

I've got all ProCo or LiveWire Wires. Just tell them you need an XLR to 1/4" and they should be able to hook you up. Don't let them talk you in to those over inflated monster cables. Not worth it.

monsters are great if you can afford them as i have some that are over 10 years old that function the same as they did the day i bought them. . . and if they ever fail, i get to replace them free, no questions asked.

that said, just get a decent brand, and you'll be fine with most applications.

Boab wrote:I need it to be the 3 pin/hole plug-in at one side for the mic, and a general, run of the mill guitar-like jack on the other.

what kind of mic are you using and what are you plugging it into? most things with 1/4" jacks aren't the correct impedance for a microphone.

lank81 wrote:I've got all ProCo or LiveWire Wires. Just tell them you need an XLR to 1/4" and they should be able to hook you up. Don't let them talk you in to those over inflated monster cables. Not worth it.

Do you mean a Livewire like this? Livewire Cable. Procos look sort of expensive from websites I found.

mage wrote:what kind of mic are you using and what are you plugging it into? most things with 1/4" jacks aren't the correct impedance for a microphone.

I don't know anything about the mic really, my pal just told me he needed an XLR cable, and I believe he's just gonna be plugging it into a guitar amp. I know it'll sound crap, but it's just for practicing.

Do I need to know anything about the male/female differences in cables?

xlr - 1/4jack, i just use random ones not too picky about cables for mics though i do like klotz cables for instruments, they seem to last a lifetime.

HoOOOoooOOOO HOSA!

Boab wrote:Do I need to know anything about the male/female differences in cables?

yeah, you need to get the right one that fits into the mic. I think it's the "female" one that you want (the "male" one, with the pins, is on the mic). but I mix up male and female on XLRs all the time because they like both have parts that go into each other.

female xlr goes into mic.

so you need female xlr > 1/4"

one of these'uns

Most mikes with an XLR connector in the base are "low-impedance balanced" types designed to run into 600 ohm balanced inputs. A cable that takes the balanced signal conductors, takes one to earth and one to the guitar input will generally result in a much lower output level. To work properly, you need a matching transformer, and you can get one built into an XLR-to-1/4" jack adaptor from >>Maplin<< for £7.99.

(Then you need a straight-through male-to-female XLR microphone cable)

get whatever, learn to solder the ends when they fuck up, and most of all learn to coil it right and you will have it for a very long time.