Speaker Cable Nightmare

[andyj4308]

Hi All,

I'm having an absolute nightmare with finding the right kind of speaker cables for the Mbox 2.

I have tones and tones of cables and non of them have worked, then I found one that worked perfectly...This:

http://b1.s3.quickshareit.com/cable13b90.jpg - Please click it.

Would anybody be able to describe this cable so I would be able to search for cables like this? This is the only cable i've tried that dosen't create a hum when plugged into speakers (Prodipe Pro).

If nobody can describe it, please would somebody be able to link me to where to buy some speakers cables that work with the Mbox 2...I need around a 3m cable x 2. The whole unbalanced/balanced thing is driving me crazy.

On the back of my speakers it says this:

*BALANCED - TRS*

But then i've read that the Mbox is unbalanced and this is where I start loosing the plot!

Thanks in advance - ripping my hair out here!

[andydunham]

The reason why that cable works and your speakers call for TRS Balanced cables is because that is a TRS cable. TRS stands for Tip, Ring, and Sleeve. If you look at your picture, the tip is the top of the cable (pointy point), the ring is one of the black rings (I forget which) and the sleeve is the section of metal between the rings. If I'm not mistaken I believe it's positive (T), negative R), and ground (S). Check out this website for a more detailed description of TRS cables and just do a quick google search on TRS cables, you'll get tons and tons of quality results to help understand better :

http://www.tweakheadz.com/all_about_cables.htm

[andyj4308]

Thanks andy.

[Dave Tosti-Lane]

Actually, the black parts are non-conductive. The metal "ring" between the black parts is the Ring, and the longer metal portion that connects to the shell is the Sleeve.

Tip corresponds to pin 2 on an XLR, Ring to Pin 3, Shield to Pin 1. Shield should be chassis ground on equipment if correctly connected.

Pin 2 on an XLR should have a positive pulse from a microphone when the diaphragm moves in - that is, when it experiences positive pressure pushing it in.

Dave T-L

[albee1952]

And to clear it up a bit more, when using powered speakers, you are actually looking for line level cables and NOT speaker cables. Speaker cables are 2 conductor, usually heavy gauge(like 12 AWG), unshielded and go between an amplifier and the speaker. With powered speakers, the speaker wire is inside the box and you never see it.