[musicman691]

Having some experience in doing these kinds of things let me say you're going to be doing a lot of small, careful work that may make you wonder why you didn't farm this out to someone with the tools. My explanation is going to go from the point of view that may seem simple and condescending but it's the only way I can make sure to cover everything.

Removing the insulation (what you call covering) is the first hurdle. There are specific tools made to do this called wire strippers but they're not cheap for the good ones. With very careful use you can use an X-acto hobby knife with a sharp blade; what you would do is to go around the cable with the blade to a shallow depth. I say shallow because you do not want to cut what's underneath the insulation. Done to the right depth you should be able to slide the insulation off and the wire or whatever is underneath won't be harmed.

Now's a good time to mention that you should only strip back as little insulation as possible; enough to fit into the cup of the connector and just a hair more.

Now for that ground wire. If you Google the pin out for a DB25 (make sure you look at the right one as there's two different wiring schemes for DB25 audio cables. You want the one for Tascam analog. There are pins for the hot wire, the return wire and ground wire for each channel. 8 channels with 3 wires each for 24 connections with no connection to pin 13. I would sleeve the bare ground wire.

In your second scenario I need a little clarification. What is the exact construction of the snake? Is this 16 separate cables inside a common jacket, two sets of 8 separate cables each in their own jacket or what? Can you give an exact part number and web page for it? Either way around using small jumper wires will create a weak point in the system if it's not done right. And it's not something that someone who doesn't do this on a regular basis should attempt (not if you want a 100% working system).

Speaking of doing it right - how much experience in soldering do you have? What are you using to solder with? I've got the tools to do the job even though it's not my day job anymore and those tools ain't cheap.