As Neutrik make it I'd be reliable. What I don't like is it's bigger and heavier. I'd not like to have added bulk hanging off the end of mics. For the times when you really get stuck a few sets of XLR gender benders in the kit solved the problem just as elegantly and no doubt cheaper. Putting those hermaphrodite connectors on both ends of all your cables I'd imagine would add a lot to your costs.

Speaking of gender benders, I've seen a lot of them with male to female going cheap. Did some factory in China stuff up. I was going to buy a few to make into pads but I couldn't see anyway to get them apart.

Bob.

I dunno, i tried using Neutrik XLR connectors for a while and gave up on them. The strain relief had sharp edges that cut right through the cable. I found myself replacing the connectors on half the cables at every gig, sometimes during the gig. I swore them off as completely useless and haven't tried them since.

Have they improved since 10 years ago?

Wasn't using them 10 years ago but not noticed that issue using them now. Their new right angle XLR is a life saver for leads that plug into a camera although Loon have an ultra light weight R.A. XLR for going into a mic on a camera. Need to buy one or two of those kits but they're $35 each.
The Neutrik XLRs can have a color coding ring, nice feature. Neutriks XLRs and Mogami quad core cable, very nice combo.
We've had cheap XLRs get jammed in cameras, not good.

Bob.

At $13 USD each, I would just use them on the really long cables that
would take too much time re-spooling the cable or running out to
truck for MM/FF adapters. This looked like something to try out!

Kelly:
They really do grip the cable so it doesn't twist causing the
wires to pull off the solder cups. I haven't had any real problems
with their older NC3 connectors. The "chuck" could cut or pinch
the cable's outer sheath if it is too large or you tighten the boot
too much. That may have been your problem.

Bob:
I've heard of Loon mic poles not connectors. I could use a really
lightweight right angle for the on camera mic. I always have to
unplug it to store the camera in the travel case.

Go to their accessories page, sorry I can't link to it. Scroll down to the "90 degree Loon Connector Kit". That looks like the same connector they use on their cables but as they don't have a picture might pay to email them first.
They make great kit, better than K-Tek in my opinion. Then again I am using a K-Tek suspension mount with my CS-1, expensive but fits the mic perfectly.

Picture of the whole of my setup here. That's the new Neutrik RA connector in use, the Loon one would be less weight and space.

Bob.

Bob, what kind of mic. are you using in this setup? - it' looks pretty good.

Thanks

/Ulf

It's a Sanken CS-1.
It is very short and has a VERY narrow pickup over the whole audio range. Be warned, that's not some marketing BS. As I found out listening to what I shot yesterday it is exactly as advertised.

Could be the ideal mic if you need to isolate sound source from lots of background noise. Could get you into trouble too, I'd say anymore than 15deg off axis and you'll loose the sound.

Being so short you do need the special K-Tek mount and the right Rycote Softie.

Bob.

bob,

do those right angle connectors swivel to your desired angle or are they fixed?

leslie

Most right angles have stops, once you choose the angle that works best they don't
move from there.

thanks rc, but i have (admittedly 10yr old) r-angle plugs by cannon and they're fixed...

leslie

The new Neutrik ones don't really swivel. You set the angle in 45deg steps. Undo cable clamp, slide out cover, rotate to angle and reverse procedure.
The older design body was too fat to fit two of them into some desks and cameras side by side. Also if you wanted to change the angle you needed a screwdriver to remove the cover.
Any design that truly swivelled would need sliding contacts I guess or you could windup the conductors and snap a wire off.

Bob.

It's a Sanken CS-1.

Thanks Bob.

/Ulf

thanks bob,

i actually did mean adjust - though why they couldn't swivel with rotary contacts inside is....

yeah, i know, why!

leslie

I have tried these for over a year now and would say I'm very pleased.

The connectors have gold pins ad are electrically quiet after who knows how
many reconnections. The only cable I would use these on are long 100+ foot
spools where you could easily unwind the spool the wrong direction and would be
labor/time expensive to swap normal fixed ends.

The large black outer collar is audibly noisy so I would not connect it to a shotgun
mic directly. It rattles when moved side-to-side.
You could remedy this by using a rubber O-ring from your local hardware store.
There is no problem when using an internal boom pole cable, Rolls headset
amplifier, or simply a short cable. Or rap it with some gaffer's tape.

Some chassis sockets will not lock with this connector, I have had no problems
using them on my Sony cameras.

Use outside is not recommended without some tape as there is a large side
opening where dirt or other debris can get into the pin sockets.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but doesn't one "look" and ends of the cable before unrolling to see which end is which? I mean how long does that take? A quarter of a second?

Not being critical, just asking.

"I am also sure we have unrolled a long cable (100 ft or more) to find out we have

Hehe, only once.
A professional theater tech I know is using these and likes them.

To be polite I don't ask or look for the sex of...
but this is a find that helps get the job done easier.
If you ever had to run cables in bleachers or some venue where you
don't have alot of time to run back and forth setting up you might
want to consider these.

Jay, i can't count the number of times i've actually looked at the ends of the cable first, then through distraction, confusion, misdirection, or just plain exhaustion i've still unrolled the wrong end first anyway.

It's *really* sad when you do it with a snake with a stage box and get it wrong! At least then you only have one (very heavy) cable to reverse though.

We wind our long cables into cable buckets. The bucket retains the male end so it's kind of very hard to roll them out the wrong way. Even if you did get it wrong a much simpler solution are good old gender benders, around $10 on eBay.

Bob.