Over the weekend I worked with Duraflex and Pro-cable though I initially thought it was Lex I was grabbing off the scrap cable pile. This is three of at least six primary suppliers of my own
DMX cable needs or from one year to another constantly switching brands and seeing what works best for my needs. Tried a lot of cable over the years, find most decent but none yet are perfect for my needs. Most are fine but none yet perfect or in testing best.
The single pair Pro Cable seemed from the outside a lot like that of the Lex single pair in look. Once inside a Lex cable on the other
hand, it’s much more like that of a Duraflex cable - perhaps slightly more tough but if so not by much. Slightly different outer
jacket than that of the Pro Cable’s
jacket. Took three times as long to strip the outer
jacket of the Pro-Cable as opposed to the Lex cable. Stripping the Pro Cable is always a pain to do but also says something about the Pro-Cable itself that makes it a useful rugged cable. This stuff when a barbarian
stage hand decides to strip a
loom of cable with other than a hook blade makes for cable, that in outer
jacket, one which won’t be cut by a careless
utility knife blade slitting both cable and cable under it thus does not come back for repair in having a slit in it. Only new Gepcoflex cable and newer rubber Beldon or Carol cable has a similar if not almost as good resistance to being cut by careless technicians. The Pro-Cable does not matter how new it is in resistance to barbarians. Check out a Stanley #11-961
utility knife hook blade for de-looming purposes otherwise to defeat this problem. Removes the cut cables in for repair by 3/4's this given of them most cuts to cable left are still after that from those not using a hook blade.
Of the three above, they are all decent and good cables. Add to this that TMB in having their very expensive Pro Cable
line has also come out with a less expensive economy grade which is cheaper and solves some of the problems with their premium grade that literally a tank could run over but is not so user friendly to repair (not an easy cable to strip much less the Kevlar filler is hard to cut) much less has a low temperature outer
jacket. The Economy grade of cable from them is a very good type of cable I recommend as something more similar to that of a very balanced in a cost effective but good cable way, the Lex and Creative
Stage Lighting grades of thermoplastic
DMX grade cable most sold today compare with.
This given TMB’s Pro Cable as said, is very indestructible as long as it’s not touching something hot. This I mean in a cable grade that has a really tough outer
jacket and filler much less conductors that rarely break. If you can afford it, there is a reason that Pro Cable amongst most in the industry would agreed to be the more hard core of all
DMX cables - only it’s very expensive cost and potentially outer
jacket melting down in the major problem. (Inner conductors are rated for a higher working temperature than that of the outside conductors meaning it will still work long past looking really bad. Problem is once it looks bad most reject it for being bad. TMB sales reps. note the operating temperature but also stress that it will keep working after the melt down. This is a valid
point that it will work even if tossed aside for being bad due to a at times large melted hole in it.)
Rosco and
High End Systems also sell some decent cable by way of my testing that I would offer are similar in grade to that of the Lex and Creative
Stage Lighting lines of cable. I have a
Rosco play test sample as with a High End
play test cable or two in the inventory that after a few years are yet to come back to see me for repair. Only times I see them is when I get tech people on their toes pulling cable for shows and asking if the cable marked test cable should be sent back to me or just continued to be tested. Both types are yet to fail and have served many tours and shows well. Avoid
Martin cable. While they have lost the press on - non solder connectors, and upgraded the cable some, it’s still not so good cable in a dependable type of way.
Also worked with some Wirlwind
microphone cable over the weekend. This crap of specific class (because they do in fact make some decent
DMX cable) twisted non-tinned thus defiant
microphone cable I worked with which is
throw away cable for me except when doing sound type jumpersv - not so frequently. Only reason I was doing Wirwind cable was I was doing some form of 3-Pin
XLR to Balanced 1/4"
Phone plug. Something about the Radio Shack balanced jumpers I bought, once one end was cut off so as to attach to the
XLR turned out to be not so “balanced” and instead of only one
conductor and a
shield with (+) and (-) sharing the same
conductor. Instead I had to make jumpers and trash the Radio Shack crap. I will have not assumed that something listed as balanced on the package will have not been but that’s the extent they offered in this case only a 1/8 to 1/4"
adaptor/
jumper. There was no 1/4" to 1/4" jumpers available - this as minor detail in another five bucks wasted in buying a second “balanced cable” which was
mono instead of stereo as reality. If I have time on Monday, perhaps I will become the pissed off customer in returning the cable even if it’s already cut in half. Not that it would change a corporate world or do any form of good no matter how much I might complain. Hey, you work for X place, we would love to sell you batteries and
cell phones... Perhaps I’ll just go in as a joke, ask for a balanced cable, take out my knife, cut it in half and ask them to explain the lack of second
conductor. This given time to wasted and some in the past concept of changing the world to suite one’s needs or at least out of necessity to be honest.
Wirlwind cable is not Radio Shack, in fact their 61 pin
plug I prefer over that of other companies type of it - especially that over a
Socapex brand for a
DMX snake cable. Were not most of the Wirlwind I see not all twisted instead of braided and tinned copper
shield, I might use more of it. I like it’s outer
jacket covering in it’s bond to the
shield wire and in general it’s inner conductors and filler by way of cable makeup. One of these days I will try the
DMX version of it and possibly specify it. For plugs themselves, while similar but not, the Wirlwind
plug I like over that of the male version of the
Neutrik. I’m yet to see a Wirlwind failed male
strain relief notch that as opposed to a
Neutrik male shell I replace by the hundreds per year. Amphonlol and
Switchcraft are better yet on the male, but in Wirlwind being very similar to that of the
Neutrik shell, it must be using a better grade of metal in not bending than breaking. For the cable itself, I think the rubberized cable of a Wirlwind cable to be very user serviceable and rugged enough as long as
DMX grade is the same as that of
microphone grade. In many ways, out of repairing much older Belden
DMX cable and the Wirlwind coming across my work table, it’s almost similar in the man difference being Belden cable I’m repairing it rubber and Wirlwind is synthetic rubber. Ok adhesion to
shield wire and not much movement in inner conductors by way of decent fillers and materials of the inner
conductor jackets not able to move about. Wirlwind
DMX cable again is for me at least within consideration as a cable.
Add to the above Carol Cable which is an alternate though less theater based supplier of digital grade or
DMX grade cable but just as good if not in
jacket better than that of Beldon. I mostly work with older - much older Beldon grade cable in it’s 10+ year failing. That said, the Carol cable now 7+ years I was buying is now also failing. Perhaps not as good but this given not much Beldon left in the inventory. Both were rubberized and tend to dry rot with time. This in addition to both
shield wire and inner conductors in time oxidizing thus not liking to take soldering/re-soldering. This in a way the above Creative/Lex and especially TMB versions at times just as old don’t seem to oxidize due to thermoplastic
jacket material in keeping out the humidity, potentially the water, and salt water if not the DF-50 fluid in the air. I love a natural rubber outer
jacket over my cables, just have problems seven years later with them in dry rotting, inner conductors green sticking, and during repair conductors not taking solder even if they did readily while fresh. Such cable from what I have seen has a specific shelf life and while very rugged - Carol cable having the best adhesion to
shield, they dry rot and allow inner conductors to oxidize with time. Thermoset and thermoplastic cables don’t as readily.
While I love a rubber jacketed cable and think at times nothing better - you won’t find any SJE cable in my active cable spools, for data cable in my usage, it seems to have around a seven to ten year lifespan. Darned if I don’t specifically remember making most of the Carol cable in the inventory now coming back to see me in having conductors that break often three inches short of the
plug, or in the case of the 10 year old Belden cable dry rotting along it’s length, I’m done buying natural rubber types of data cable. This given hard usage and being bought for the ability for someone to slam a door on it and the cable being just find in abrasion and abuse resistance. This much less especially heat resistance. Hopefully another 40 more years to go as a tech person, I don’t want to see and remember specifying the cable I use on a rotating basis. This given the Pro Cable for the most part while more dull ten years later still is very rugged as long as someone does not let it touch say a
Leko.
Along these lines of a seven to ten year old cable in the inventory is that from the original AC lighting
PVC cable. Ten years later and it’s still in the inventory, much less in building rack components, and
fitting a
DMX grade cable into a
strain relief, it’s still at times chosen out of my scrap pile. Problem with the AC cable was that it is while very good and rarely failing due to conductors, so thin it more or most commonly fails due to not able to be coiled or in bending/cutting fractures of it. This in their old cable also as a cable that was a defiant challenge to
mark as to who owns it. Stuff in
XLR single pair cable last for ever but in only about 1/8" OD was easily cut by way of knife or bending around a sharp corner very easily. Cable more in the at least 3/16" thick to 1/4" thick size is much easier to
mark and or breaks and cuts easier. This and is easier to coil up. AC Lighting as a company has changed their cable to an upgraded version I’m yet to sample. I am told it is much better and given while small it did last well, I would believe it to be a very good grade of cable. Other than the size of the original cable, there was nothing wrong with it and ten years later, it’s still in the inventory often working just fine.
This as opposed to some of the newer cable Lex, Creative and most especially something from
ETC (blue lettering) though not
ETC the lighting company by brand supplies that while industry standard the older cables did not have problems with. Got a bunce of
ETC cable at one
point that works fine only they in supplying us for three pin
XLR used two pair cable. Some suppliers in doing this and even in Pro-Cable doing
XLR they also have four wires,
point being all four conductors are soldered to a pin of the
conductor. It’s only once the
conductor breaks loose that it causes gremlins in your
system by way of floater
conductor when twisted in a specific way that touches an opposing pin, yet during testing does not. Yep, a floater cable within a
plug is a wee problem. For
XLR cable, having four conductors does not in any way ensure that should one
conductor break your show will work as per TMB’s thoughts at one
point in going blue/white double conductors. Instead it ensures should one
conductor break, a cable that one will find very tricky to catch once a
conductor becomes a floater in touching but not all the time - this while at other times still seeming to work. What I got from
ETC and later
thru Gepco by way of two pair cable with three pin
XLR was even more problematic in that both had for conductors, all four were even stripped, in the latter, only two conductors while equal in length were attached, the other two conductors just floated about within the
plug. That’s a bad thing and even cutting back the not used conductors did not help because years later as the cable un-twists, those cut back conductors at times later grew longer and started touching again in crossing pins. That’s a problem however with two pair
DMX cable used for a
XLR/
DMX use. The ECT cable was decent cable, and the Gepco was excellent cable, just a wee problem with using it for shows still not solved in being out there in the inventory.
ETC cable reimids me much of the Crative
Stage Lighting DuraFlex or that of the High End cable all of which are within a certain class of cable.
Gepco cable on the other
hand was and is a really good and recommended outer
jacket to a cable type. It’s as if a thick foam were sprayed over that of the conductors. Good adhesion to the
shield wire and decent compression to that on the inner conductors in preventing them from flattening out from twisting thus becoming longer or shorter on a
conductor by
conductor basis. Gepflex cable is darned good
DMX cable and potentially is worth their more expensive price for it over that of more Duriflex types if by way of resistance to abrasion alone. The Gepco Flex cable is nice cable, only the slight problem with the above extra wires floating about which would be an easy fix, not being able to make do my choice of
plug to my standards in doing so and price at one
point stood in the way of the next year’s contract. This and lack of response to requesting help. Hate having to keep reminding vendors, those hungry get most of my attention in at least having the courtousy to reply when they get a message. Gepco we get most of our RJ-45 cable from, good cable type in addition to overall good
DMX cable.
Many sound cable suppliers that can also supply a
DMX grade cable. While I would love to be making all the cable we use, given a six year backlog of projects, I just don’t have time these days to fix gear and
build new. Normally the company I shop from gets it’s cable these days or this year from Lex Products. For the cable spools I buy on the other
hand, I buy them from Creative
Stage Lighting for their DuraFlex cable. That’s of course this past year, next year perhaps I’ll go with with Coast (main supplier of Beldon cable) has to offer or perhaps one of many companies including doing the economy
line of TMB. Pehaps
Rosco or High End or even Wirlwind as a supplier, all cables have merits and most major suppliers have some good product on the market to compare and price match with what they have to offer.
Something to consider is floater wires verses cable memory. All data cables will be used and abused as per a
wire rope at times, only a 24ga
wire is not so strong. Going with a cable that offers a up to 20ga
conductor can spell the difference between a cable that fails due to conductors especially at times breaking somewhere within the length of cable if not at the
plug terminal, verses something at least as strong as a
zip cord in withstanding some abuse. After
DMX protocol, there is various
DMX cables on the market with different
AWG’s of
wire out there. 22ga
wire might be a really good cost effective grade that will last a wee
bit longer than the 24ga norm.
Floater conductors verses cable memory also is a factor. Creative
Stage Lighting in DuraFlex while a very good
DMX cable has a only loose tension on the inner conductors of the cable. This means a cable that will always coil up nicely in not having a memory of how it was abused in twisting last time but also inner conductors that move about a
bit more in at times one end of the cable having a
conductor or conductors bunched up on one end and it breaking loose on the other end. This as opposed to say a old Belden grade where the rubber did not move within the
jacket and broke conductors instead of moving or a ProPlex that has cable memory and after time perhaps won’t coil up as nice but also does not move about in inner
conductor at times being half an inch shorter on one end.
As said however, I do buy the Duraflex cable and have been using it for a few years now without other than normal problems. In DuraFlex only a few others have, I especially like the foil
shield, with drain
wire and braided
shield combination. Very easy to
heat shrink a drain
wire and cut away the braided
shield. This as opposed to twist up a braided
shield wire and fit it into pin one of a five pin
DMX plug. This cable failing over that of another is not the case, it’s a good and decent cable. I use it as a bench
mark to compare others to simply. At one
point last year I was having a huge amount of cable built. The sound company I was having solder the plugs was taking what cable I was supplying instead of selling me their’s and just charging me for labor in getting the cable ready. Clark it would seem later in studying the DuraFlex also sold that exact cable, only it did not have the name to it or was specificied to be
DMX protocol cable. Instead it was their best
microphone cable. The sales person upon noting the cable assured me it was the exact same cable he was also buying. Could be possible that DuraFlex cable in a sort of standard is more a generic type that is in general available on the market. This is not known for sure but very possible after seeing a sample of a non-Dura Flex cable that was in all ways the same. Clark, Gepco and other sound based
wire companies I expect have access to the same
wire, in addition to what they are offering in their own specification grade. Those sound based
wire companies are also keeping up with the TMB, Lex and Creative suppliers for RJ-45 based
ethernet cable in heavy
stage rugged jackets. Defiantly some companies to watch or get samples from. This in additon to say AC Lighting, Coast and the
fixture manufacturers. It’s possible at some
point that if
Rosco has a decent grade of
DMX cable on the market, even American DJ might also at some
point if they offer a pro grade of it.
My advice is to get a sample of each brand/type. Cut it, pull it, burn it, soak it in salt water and dip it in DF-50 fluid. Most will hold up just fine, other’s wont. After that it’s just a judgement
call in what held up and or seems beyond this best for you in being the best between cost effective and rugged. Since you will be applying the plugs to the cable, most likely warranty on the cable won’t be an option to worry about. I is if one has time to wait for your cable to visit it’s manufacturer however given they did the work. Most will have limited warranties, ProCable is lifetime warranty. Good as a concept until one considers shipping costs and time with it gone - this verses time it otherwise would take to just repair the cable. Sure, you buy a
pallet of cables and half of them for this large order look like the whole shop made them for you including the receptionist, you will both have been better off making your own and they did you no favors in providing cable. All a question of time in building your own verses what others can do for you.
Not a standard or in any way advice on what specific brand to buy. Only some extent of study into the subject of cables if it helps.