Cheap vs. Expensive XLR Audio Cables: What's The Difference?

In this episode we find out if more expensive audio cables are actually better than cheaper ones. Important points to consider when choosing a cable regardless of price include the actual cabling quality as well as connector build and cable management strategy. Let’s see how it’s done!

Find SoundSpeed's channel and cable-wrapping tutorial here.

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest courses cover Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini and an Intro to Izotope RX.

Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com.

Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:

- Full selection of Mogami XLR cables — B&H

- Full selection of Canare XLR cables — B&H

Some of my other studio gear:

- Sennheiser MKH50 microphone — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon

- Sound Devices MixPre audio recorder — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon

- Impact Turtle-Base C-Stands — B&H, Amazon

- Aputure LS 600x Pro Bicolor LED Light — Aputure, B&H, Amazon

- Aputure Light Dome III Softbox — Aputure, B&H

- Amaran 300c RGBWW Single-Point LED Light — Aputure, B&H, Amazon

- Amaran Spotlight SE — Aputure, B&H, Amazon

- Rosco Prismatic Glass Gobo in Cool Lavender — B&H

- Canon C70 Cinema Camera — B&H

- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 lens — B&H, Amazon

- Panasonic GH5 camera — B&H, Amazon

- Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens — B&H, Amazon

The intro and outro music for this episode is from Musicbed - “Dynamo” by Virgil Arles. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself.

Copyright 2024, Curtis Judd

Sound for Video Session: XLR Audio Cables & Q&A

In this week's Sound for Video Session, we talk a bit about XLR audio cables. First we cover some of the basics on using XLR cables. Also, one of the questions I've been asked many, many, many times is, "Do those expensive Mogami or Canare cables really sound better?" I've also been told, "You're wasting your money on expensive cables, they don't sound any better..." After that, we answer your sound for video questions.​

See Allen Williams's video on how to over/under wrap an audio cable here.

I'd recommend you have custom cables made with Mogami or Canare cabling and Neutrik connectors. I get mine at performanceaudio.com. But many local pro audio shops should be able to supply cables for you. (I do not have any sort of affiliate or sponsorship relationship with Performance Audio, I'm just a customer like everyone else.)

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. We have a course on sound for live-streaming with the ATEM Mini and just added Introduction to Izotope RX for Dialogue Audio.

Gear I often use or that we mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, DVE Store, Waves, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:

- Mogami XLR audio cables — B&H

- Canare XLR audio cables — B&H

- Universal Audio VOLT 276 USB audio interface — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon

- Earthworks SV33 studio vocal microphone — B&H, Sweetwater

- Earthworks ETHOS microphone — B&H, Sweetwater

- Neumann U87 Ai microphone — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon

- Epiphan Pearl Nano live stream encoder — B&H, DVE Store, Amazon

- Sound Devices MixPre II Series Recorders - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon

- Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Amazon

- Canon C70 Camera - B&H

- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8L IS lens - B&H, Amazon

- TA3-M to XLR-F Adapter cable to feed microphones to C70 or Blackmagic Pocket cameras - B&H

- ATEM Mini Extreme & Extreme ISO - B&H, DVE Store, Amazon

- Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon

- Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, pre-amp, EQ, compressor - Sweetwater, B&H

Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself.

Copyright 2022, Curtis Judd

MAONO AU-XLR20 Lavalier: Inexpensive XLR Lavalier Microphone

Are there any decent, low-self-noise, XLR based lavalier microphones you recommend? This question has come up quite often over the last several years. So in this episode, we have a look at and listen to the MAONO AU-XLR20, a very affordable XLR lavalier microphone which can be powered by the microphone input, or provide its own power.

You can access a sample wav file directly from the MAONO AU-XLR20 and Zoom F8n here.

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses at our school including one that focuses on processing dialogue audio!

Links to some of the gear used in this episode:

MAONO AU-XLR20 Lavalier Microphone

Zoom H4n Pro Audio Recorder

Zoom F8n - The audio for this episode was recorded with the F8n

Lupo Superpanel Full Color 30 RGBW LED Light - used for that crazy purple background. Review coming soon!

Panasonic GH5s Camera - my favorite small camera for video

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens - this is the the lens I use more than any other on the GH5s

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd 

Music - Copyright 2018 by Cary Judd, used with permission

Panasonic GH5 XLR Microphone Adapter DMW-XLR1 Review

The Panasonic Lumix GH5 is an incredibly capable little camera for video and filmmaking. It’s imaging capabilities are impressive given its size and price. But one thing it lacks for producing high quality film is inputs for XLR microphones. This is where the DMW-XLR1 audio microphone adapter comes in. The XLR1 allows you to record one or two XLR based microphones or wireless microphone systems directly to your Panasonic GH5. So you won’t need to sync audio in post like you would with a separate audio recorder and the sound quality is very good with shotgun or other boom microphones. Let’s have a listen!

Gear used to record and featured in this episode:

Panasonic GH5 Camera (talking head shots)

Panasonic DMW-XLR1 Microphone Audio Adapter - All audio in this episode recorded to the GH5 with this adapter

Sanken CSS-50 Stereo Shotgun Microphone - Used to record talking head and voiceover audio for this episode

Blackmagicdesign Ursa Mini Pro Digital Film Camera - all product shots made with this

Audio Technica AT4053b Hyper Cardioid Boom Microphone - my go-to microphone for recording indoor dialogue

RODE NTG4+ Shotgun Microphone

Zoom F8 Audio Recorder

Tascam DR-60DmkII Audio Recorder - Good budget recorder with XLR inputs. The XLR preamps are impressive, the 3.5mm input is not

Sound Devices 633 Audio Mixer/Recorder - with automix

Aputure Light Storm COB120t LED Light - Key light for all the shots in this episode

Aputure Light Dome Soft Box - Makes the COB120t key light very soft. Great type of light for talking head/interview

Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 Lens - My most versatile lens for the Panasonic GH5

Ursa Mini Pro XLR Inputs & Sound Features

The Blackmagicdesign Ursa Mini Pro camera has 2 XLR inputs. Are they good enough to use for your main production audio recording? Or do you still need a separate audio recorder to record your sound?

Let’s have a listen and do some tests.

Spoiler alert: The inputs are decent for camera inputs and usable with high quality microphones. They're not nearly as clean as most high quality audio recorders with XLR inputs, but can still be very usable depending on your mic choice and sound quality expectations.

I'm still learning my way around the Ursa Mini Pro. This is my new main camera for most of the type of work I do but I still very much rely on my Panasonic GH4 (and hopefully soon, GH5) as second camera and when I need to get a gimbal shot.

I'll still probably do most of my sound recording to my Zoom F4, F8, or Sound Devices 633 but will experiment with sending a stereo mix from the Zoom or SD to the Ursa.

Gear used to film or mentioned in this episode:

Blackmagicdesign Ursa Mini Pro Digital Film Camera

Shure SM58 Dynamic Microphone

DPA 4017B Shotgun Microphone

Sennheiser EW100 G3 Wireless Lavalier Kit

Aputure Light Storm COB120t LED Light (Key Light)

Aputure Light Dome Soft Box (for COB120t key light)

Panasonic GH4 4K Camera

Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 Lens

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

Sound for Video Session: USB vs XLR Microphones, Timecode Modes, Wireless Frequencies

In this episode, we covered several sound for video questions:

• What’s the quality difference between USB and XLR based microphones?
• Recommended XLR cable brands?
• What are the different types of timecode?
• When buying wireless transmitters and receivers, which blocks should I get for my area?
• What can I do to reduce pickup of reverb and street noise when shooting in a parking garage?
• Which digital audio workstation app is best?

US FCC wireless information

Remote Audio XLR Cables

Cables at Sweetwater

Explanation of different types of timecode modes (Matt Price)

Hair wraps to hold external cable in place on a boom pole

Audio Technica AT2005 USB/XLR Microphone

Blue Yeti Pro USB/XLR Microphone

(some of these are affiliate links)

VideoDevices PIX-E 4K Recorders and PIX-LR XLR Audio Inputs

At NAB 2016, we talked with Jon Tatooles of VideoDevices about their PIX-E series of 4K recorders and their new PIX-LR Audio Mixer which integrates with the PIX-E recorders. The PIX-LR looks especially interesting to me and runs only $399 USD for a dual XLR input/dual XLR output audio mixer with the legendary quality Sound Devices preamplifiers, analogue limiters, high pass filters, and build quality of SoundDevices mixers and recorders.

Special thanks to Scott Vanderbilt who was kind enough to bring his brand new Sony FS5 camera to film this series.

Pricing for those interested:

PIX-E5H 5 inch 4K Recorder

DVeStore: VideoDevices PIX-E5H (5 inch HDMI 4K Recorder)

B&H Photo: VideoDevices PIX-E5H (5 inch HDMI 4k recorder)

PIX-E5 5 inch SDI/HDMI 4K Recorder

DVeStore: PIX E5 5 inch SDI/HDMI 4K Recorder

B&H Photo: PIX E5 5 inch SDI/HDMI 4K Recorder

VideoDevices PIX-E7 (7 inch SDI/HDMI 4K Recorder)

DVeStore: VideoDevices PIX E7 (7 inch SDI/HDMI 4K Recorder)

B&H Photo: VideoDevices PIX E7 (7 inch SDI/HDMI 4K Recorder)

VideoDevices PIX-LR (dual XLR input audio add-on for PIX-E recorders)

B&H Photo: VideoDevices PIX LR (dual XLR input audio add-on for PIX-E recorders)

Tascam DR-701D Audio Recorder Review

If you like to capture the best sound for your video and film projects and you’re a solo or small crew operation, you might find the Tascam DR-701D to be a nice piece of gear. The recorder has 4 XLR/TRS inputs as well as a 3.5mm stereo mini jack input and can record 4 tracks plus a stereo mix at the same time. The build quality is a very nice step up from Tascam’s previous recorders with its magnesium alloy body. It also has some really useful and unique features like the ability to receive timecode from DSLR and mirrorless cameras via HDMI input and the ability to start recording when you press record on your camera.

We also spend several minutes comparing the DR-701D to the Zoom F8, another recorder targeted at independent and small crew filmmakers. One thing I ran out of time to include in the video is that the Tascam does not appear to have the ability to solo an input/track so that's another consideration if that feature is important to you.

Overall, this is a great little recorder for solo and small crew film and video making crews.