Patchbay & mixer cabling - optimal vs flexible cable lengths

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

I am about to splurge on cables to add rack patchbays to my home studio.

I have hard time deciding on the length of cables to connect the mixer and patchbays.

Should I get:

  • 1 or 1,5 meter individual basic patch cables which is what I need to connect them in current configuration
  • 1 or 1,5 meter individual quality cables which is what I need to connect them in current configuration
  • 5 or 8 meter quality multi-core cables, which would additionally give me all the necessary flexibility for possibly placing mixer and rack in two different locations and not having to keep them together in the future

Any thoughts?

#2

Ive made the mistake of having too short and too long. Ive gone for somewhere in the middle for a little flexibility in the event I rearrange or move my home studio.

Too short has resulted in stress when tight. Too long is a mess of cables. I lade these mistakes with expensive Dsubs haha

1 Like
#3

buy both sets of long and short, it wouldn’t hurt to have

2 Likes
#4

This is where being able to solder your own cables comes in real handy! One of the best things I did for my cable management was buy a soldering iron, some mogami cable, and some neutrik connectors.

3 Likes
#5

Haha I tried that a few times - I am bloody useless and made a right mess

2 Likes
#6

For mixer<->PB, I’m inclined towards a multicore myself, just to reduce the cable management requirements - you’re wrapping the middle bit to a single thicker cable.

Length - not sure why this is variable depending on cable solution type.
If you’re not moving around much/not going too far then cheaper options are more feasible.

#7

Thanks everyone, I’ve decided for the second option, which makes most sense to me right now and seems to be best for any possible future circumstances.