How we Rewired the Studio! We used lots of Caulk!
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- čas přidán 9. 04. 2021
- Following up on those Cat6 audio videos I did a few weeks back... we pulled out the drill & rewired the place. 16 ANALOG audio channels now run over 4 Cat6 network cables. Here's how we did it!
...and the SMG C-Blocker is on Sale at a 25% discount until THURSDAY! Grab it today! spectredigital.com/
About Spectre Sound Studios:
I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
Everything you've wanted to learn about recording Hard Rock & Heavy Metal can be found right here on this channel!
I also respond to your comments & questions: The best make it into the SMG Viewer's Comments series of videos. Loads of fun, lots of laughs.
Thanks for checking out my channel & please subscribe!
For those who are looking for the DB25 RJ45 converters, I found a company called Catherine North electronics. They call it a Quad a twisted pair to DB25
so you used Caulk as a blocker - I see what you did there ;)
That's a lot of caulk.
"The thought of running analog audio over network cable wasn't even thought of back then" ... glen.... gleeeeen... That is 4 line analog telephone wire hijacked into running computer networks. It was designed to run analog audio signals! You are literally using it for what it is designed for!
BOOM! I worked at an audio post house and their ENTIRE interconnection trunking system was run over cat 3 and terminated on 66 blocks!
Only the last few metres of cable was shielded audio cable to XLRs from the patchfields.
yeah, I wasn't gonna say. My deal is that if you are using sources that have significantly different cable length, you're gonna get sync problems, because, analog.
Since we had to isolate not only audio but wireless (I was the New Devices Group at Intel at the time) I just solved all my problems with PoE and fiber converters.
I was finding it a LOT easier to use that cabling to push distributed audio and deskew at the end points via reactive feedback and clock shifts, so if I had to send something to 20 different points in the room and at different spectral densities as well as filtered response desired it worked fairly well and allowed us to work backwards from that setup to embed reflection cancelling technology into the product - we could control everything, but again, this was more from a stimulus/pattern generator point of view, where this is trying to distribute the raw signal under its own energy.
At least with fiber converters if I was running a long stretch I could add a length of doped fiber to boost the signal without doing anything like an amplifier/processor.
I'd have to go check and see the parameters on the fiber converters - we might actually not only find a nice analog solution but one that REALLY cleans things up.
Running copper when I don't have to makes me cringe these days - also if you are going to upgrade power you can get used Starline Busway on ebay for HELLA CHEAP when that shit is VERY EXPENSIVE new. I can't briefly explain what the stuff is but I can say I will NEVER build a lab, shop, studio, etc without it if I have a deciding vote.
Overhead on demand reconfigurable industrial grade power bus is something that once you experience it, you look at wall outlets with literal disgust.
Also cat6e is much better shielded, that's how it gets a better rating; the gauge of wire isn't heavier. Once you get to the stuff that carries 10G/40G/100Gbps it starts feeling closer to hardline.
if you want a thumbnail estimate, your standard twisted pair with standard vinyl sheathing that's in your average RJ45 cable, is about 100 ohms impedance (yes through the length of the wire, NOT per inch), but the thing to understand is there is hysteresis in the line as well as some fundamental limits. I never tried for high fidelity over twisted pair so I can't say if we're losing any harmonic richness off the top end or some of the other resonant points in your lines caused by loops and kinks in the wires.
@@russellzauner are you talking about "group delay" or "lip sync"?
CAT Network cables are spiralled inside (or should be by specification) to reject more noise. But be careful installing them as they are (or again should be by specification) made of annealed copper which bends eailsy, then goes hard and brittle. It really is designed to be installed and left alone. I'd add that its usually a good idea to leave a 4" bend minimum on the cable if you want to guarauntee gigabit performance.
“Don’t get caulky kid, or you’ll be floating home” - Han Solo; rewiring the Falcon.
an updated studio tour is a video i would love to see!
Yes... I have to clean the place up first!
@@SpectreSoundStudios i’d love to see your reaction when it comes to cleaning the studio racks 🤣
@@SpectreSoundStudios Then do a video about cleaning up the place!!
All those caulk puns... Oh Glenn, please never murder your inner soul-child
Ahh when I painted houses we just put our caulk in it.
As a musician who has worked in IT for 23 years this gives me wood... (pro tip, you can buy testers for CAT-x cable which can check for EFI and cross talk issues, capacitance)
XLR and cat 4-5-6 are both balanced signal transmission cables. The XLR just has a built in ground, while cat 6 has a common ground. Other wise they are both balanced twisted pair systems. So no surprise the cat 6 works well.
I'm really glad you showed us this. I told you this in VC already but I ended up ditching a 30 meter chinese snake for this setup and it works wonderfully. My room looks cleaner than a mormon woman and I'm no longer tripping over cables. Thank you Glenn!
If I had a studio bigger than a desk I would totally do this. Great info sir and thank you.
my grandma loves the caulk
It’s all over her windows like that scene from happytime murders !
Great video keep them coming.
Yes, it is terrifying to drill holes in the wall of your studio.
Most definitely.
Great vid, love hearing you ad lib and be yourself while its going on.
This is a great solution! I bought a place with a converted garage-studio (not the best build job, and all the wiring and gear was ripped out by the realtor to reduce the sale price) and I think the CAT6 is going to rock. I have found dual RJ-45 to screw-terminal breakout boards well-available, I can wire that to DB25 but it just won't look as clean, but that will be for the back of the rack.
Nice new intro clip! I really like your videos BTW!
I work at a radio station the system we use is wheatstone Wheatnet, it supports AOIP and analog over Ethernet, and from my understanding we did the switch about 10 years ago? When I create these cables that go XLR to male RJ45 it always blows my mind even after 3 years!
In our theatres off nights we standup comedy, as we don't need many channels for it, maybe this could be an alternative to rolling out our snakes
I'm glad you have success! I'm in the process of rewiring our studio with all Whirlwind CatDusa products. The way our studio was designed, the conduit from control room to studio is 80'! We ran 100' Monoprice CAT7 cable and it's perfectly quiet. Our studio is a radio/podcast room. Using Ethernet cable will greatly reduce the clutter.
Is each pair shielded? Or One common shield for the group of 4?
Caulking the wall is my favorite pass-time!
We use them for our live rig, the band has the boxes and only running cat6 across the stage.
Ordered 8 channels worth, going to get 8 more if it works as good as you say. Pretty excited. Have so many extra XLR cables now by extension.
honestly glen, the quality and honesty of your videos is unmatched. i practically worship your opinion (when it applies to my situation). i've been watching you for at least a few years now, to the point where i am fully focused on your videos for (metal) music production at home. i just recently was able to afford financing on home recording studio equipment and am fully satisfied thus far. i have a problem though, and i could really use your fearlessly honest advice. i have a 450 square foot studio apartment and, currently, my recording area is in one corner of it. being that my room is untreated, i REFUSE to trust my ears. i have seen you video on bass traps and plan on using that video to create some treatment. but i am struggling to decided if i should, somehow, close off the corner i am working in with acoustic blankets (then acoustic treat that further), or just invest in an acoustic treatment for my whole studio apartment. im more concerned with quality of hearing my recordings, mixes, and masters purely than anything else. i will rearrange my whole house if that means its the best way to achieve my goal. i dont own amps and am purely using VSTs and amp sims, but i have every plugin and VST available from presonus at my free use. I dont plan on recording drums in my apartment, although i hope to acquire quality bass and guitar amps in the future. my goal in the studio is to be so well versed in the art, that i can generate an income from it. typing to you from Austin TX, hoping i can somehow get your opinion. stay strong and, fuck you glen
Gleeeennnn, this is why you ALWAYS install a conduit for any infrastructure cables, for future use! This is what we do in the professional network/structured cabling world!
That's what we're planning to do for the new place...
I just opened this video and I haven't watched it yet. If there isn't at least 1 Caulk Blocker pun made, I'm going to be disappointed, Glenn.
Ok, good. Glad you handled this in your typical mature fashion. I expected nothing less of you and hold you in high regard for it. :-D
Man Glenn, just wanted to say that you’re looking good man. Slimmer than ever. I thought Brad Pitt took over the channel for a second. 😁 Good job brother.
Im still waiting for you to get with the Steel Panther guys and make the Supersonic Sex Machine overdrive! Even if its a plugin only, this must be done!
I like punchdown blocks, especially on the back of TT patchbays. They are just so fast to work with and without any fuss. You could just punch down some pigtails with RJ45 female junction boxes and house them any way you want. Not having to solder XLRs except at the last leg is awesome.
Got my smg cockblocker plugin yesterday, works like a charm, it looked like a handy tool to have.
Glad you’re liking it!
awesome!
Those adapters are easy to make yourself! Solder the UTP connector to a D-sub of the same size, with a breadboard or a PCB :).
Hey Glenn, nice caulk!
Sweet!! Thanks for the info on this. I will definitely be using CAT6 when I upgrade my home studio in the next year. It just makes more sense to use CAT6 and reduce what eventually becomes a tangled mess of XLR cables.
Yep! Really cleaned things up around here!
Any tips on choosing Cat6? Getting ready to commit soon...RedCo bulk, or TruCable.... and not sure I need individually shielded or one shield for the group of 4.
Very nice!! Glad that worked out as the promise of ethernet solutions is so elegant!!
the price difference between using xlr and cat6 is an incredible example of what economies of scale can achieve and or how much more people are willing to spend anytime it involves audio
Keystone patch panels are good for mixed use - XLR/RJ45/multimode fibre et al.
One thing to remember with cat-cables is that you want to use S/FTP type, which is individual pairs shielded and the whole cable is shielded. It cuts down your noise and crossfeed between pairs, and avoid for all that's good on earth UTP-cables, unshielded types... they're fine for digital signals, but suck ass for analog.
Keep at it :)
Should be quite easy to replicate these adapters. PCBs are really cheap to make these days, add a bit of soldering, you're done. All you need to know is how the pinout is mapped between these things (which should be easy enough to figure out with a multimeter or tracing the actual wiring on the PCB).
Awesome work at actually running Cat.6 cable for audio - most people will discourage you from it, but I'm convinced they do not pose a big problem.
Those db25 - RJ45 Jacks are genius. Had some guys locally here looking for DB25 extensions, but this is a much cleaner option. Might build a few of those myself.
I really like 'em!
Hey Glenn! I'd love to see a breakdown of your whole video setup.
About the CB plugin, I was like "Oh, no! Payday is Friday. The offer ends up Thursday. What am I gonna do?" Then, I realized you deserve every single penny. Keep the good stuff cummin'! 🙄
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
I have twentyish mics rigged up to record at any time for tracking but only 4 inputs. This for me solved needing a xlr patchbay, needing to have hundreds of feet of XLR cable and cleaned up a messy studio. Plus saves me about an hour of rewiring every Saturday when my boys show up to play.
I did the math and these boxes and the proper cable/ends/tool to make my own Cat6a cables. Still saved $50 over what I would have paid for the same feet of xlr cables. Plus have supplies left for more.
Are you mixing/recording balanced and unbalanced signals w/ no noise?
You’re brave sealing everything before you tested it
This guy's got some big caulk!
That's a great upgrade. And maybe those adapters will resurface the market in 3-6 months since someone bought the entire stock.
you Caulked the hole before testing connections.... Brave
if you have the pinout of those DB25-RJ45 breakouts, it should be super simple to get a local maker to whip up a quick clone in eagle/kicad and get some PCBs made. the only real bottleneck is that with through hole jacks you have to do all the soldering by hand; paying the PCB factory staff to do it for you is cost-prohibitive with order sizes smaller than 10,000 or so.
I believe that Glasgow University Student Television (GUST) was running balanced audio signals over Cat5 about 20 years ago.
Huh, I hadn't considered this! I've got two old school snakes I use now, but they are huge and hard to re-route. I've been wanting to get a few extra 4-mic lines in various places in my house (stairs, piano room, etc) and this would be a far cleaner method than other snakes or just running long XLR!
Years ago, my best friend's then-fiancee (now ex-wife) accompanied him on a trip to the local Home Lowenards to buy some caulk. So the first thing she does when she gets in the building is find the nearest employee, a teenaged boy, and promptly tell him "I NEED CAULK!"
Hey, instead of "C-blocker," you should call it "Caulk-blocker" in your thumbnails.
I love these types of videos where you upgrade change and show the bones of the studios and how everything came together. A shame you can't show a video once a month of you upgrading some part of the studio. Be cable management, acoustic treatment, isolation, practical changes or gear upgrades
Glenn, your 1RU panel w/ the neutrik’s would look way better if they were rear mounted. It also means you can completely remove a connector from the panel without any bullshit. Thanks for the videos!
Hey Glen, nice caulk
Last time I was in a studio, I noticed the recording room was not very well isolated. So I offered the owner my caulk, and said I would pump his holes full of the white stuff.
I'm not allowed there anymore.
Cat 6 as 4 channel audio cable is actually a great idea.
I thought this was the old video haha so I clicked off it then saw the notification then im like oh shit so im back glenn dont u worry
Hi Glenn, loving the videos. Will you ever do a video on the woods of Ypres record you did? It would be interesting to see how you go about getting a raw tone without having it sound bad since there is a fine line between the two.
I could be wrong so I'm sure Glenn will correct me but I believe he was looking at doing something with the stems such as letting us have them for our own to mix/practice/play with/tutorial purposes.
The main issue arises from the label side of things. I believe at present the label still holds the rights to the music so Glenn can't really do much with it unless he wants a team of lawyers kicking his door down.
I'm sure he'd release all that Woods of Ypres stuff if he could but there's a lot moving parts that need to be considered first.
@@markuskerloch Working on it....
So glad I’m out of the business services and don’t have to find routes thru other people’s walls to run cabling. Remember to always wipe your caulk off on the back of the hole before you pull out, ya don’t wanna drip on the carpet.
Hey Glenn!! I would just ripped off all the extra cabling! I bet you won't use that any more, now that you have those sweet sweet rj45 cables. On those weird connectors, you can probably contact your local electronic guy to make those for you, as there is no electronics involved, is just pin-to-pin soldering (which still needs some soldering skills). If you could make the c-block, you can probably get away with some soldering :P
This reminds me of the Zimmer's Hole song '1000 miles of caulk'.
I wouldn't rip the old cable out anytime soon Glen. It's always handy to keep redundancies and backup systems in place.
Been thinking about using cat for my live looping rig to cut down on amount of cables I have to plug and unplug
For those who don’t know you should make a video in how to make your own cat 5/6 cables because it’s so much cheaper
I'm the LEAST QUALIFIED PERSON ON EARTH to make that video! :)
@@SpectreSoundStudios look if idiots like me can do it then anyone can do it man 😂
What's the ip-adress for the kick-drum? ;-)
Glenn are you running into any noise issues with network cables?
I really need to do this to my space. So many XLRs everywhere haha.
Glenn, that DB 25 connector board. Doers it have more electronics on there or is it just the connectors soldered onto a PCB? If you're feeling adventurous, you can replicate that PCB and have someone print it for you. I've seen ads about small batch PCB printing.
Always make sure there's Caulk in the house. I just ordered myself 6 big ass tubes last week. Alright Glenn, you really milked the hell out of this one ... :-D
Hey Glenn, L-Com has those adapters, even have a metal case around them. Looks like they're $35 a piece.
What are those adaptors for the db25 to ethernet? I’ve been looking everywhere for something like this, but can’t find them
...
Rock out with your caulk out!
On every test we did until now we had so much crosstalk and or interference between the channels. Line level or headphone return next to a quiet ribbon mic channel, we were not able to get it to work..
3 1/2 inches of internal wall ID full of mineral wool,, what am I missing ?
Hey Glenn, I'm in the process of rewiring my studio. One question, are your headphone lines over Cat6 also and if did you go the Cranbourne route ? Thanks, Steve
I don't think I'll be running that many cables, anytime soon, but dammit, do I love cable management & minimization!
Hey Glenn, What are your thoughts on playing a guitar through an octave pedal as a substitute for bass? thanks.
Any links for those RJ45 to DB25
Looks pretty good. The only thing I'd would have altered in the install was test the bays before caulking or putting the panels back. I know Glenn was paying a guy and needed to save time, beer and pizza. He may have actually done it that way of camera. We didn't see the testing ,so IDK.
Good job Glen! Would it be better to use Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) cable vs. Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) for better shielding from external noise. I thought the twists in the pairs prevent crosstalk for digital signals. Do the twists have noise canceling effect on analog signals?
Yes. You need STP for phantom power, anyway
Is the background music an Intervals cover band?
Always get a very firm grip on your caulk.
Glenn, I’m not sure if you have done video on this or not, but could you do a video explaining how to use a hardware compressor with a usb audio interface?
I can, in brief: Hook up the source to channel A, setup one of your outputs to carry that signal only (amplified), so that's output A. Run a cable from that output A to your compressor and the output of said compressor to input B. Route the signal of input B however you need to.
So source - interface - compressor - interface
I've seen many designs of sound isolated way of running cables so that one can easily open the wall up, replace or install cables and seal it back in. I would have thought that someone on the studio design forum would have shown at least one of them to use? :o
Glenn said," LOW HANGING!".... 🤪
Been usin signal cable for years
What do you do if your caulk gets hard?
Please bring back the Caulk Blocker Noise Gate pedal!
(7:45) Glenn, get some college kid to make the circuit board layout in eagle and then send the whole thing to PCway to get the printer circuit boards fabbed. Then source and solder the three connectors onto the PCB. Should only take a few days to design and make... Then you can sell them for fun and profit! :P
I might even have a couple people in mind that could make them for you...
Dust bunnies and guitar picks. Yep, exactly what to expect behind the console. lol
I sleep very well knowing I don't have to cable manage that many cables.
I’m assuming you kept some xlr for phantom, or are you using phantom boxes in the room?
Shielded cat 6 carries phantom
I forgot to turn off the 1.5 speed, and maaan! All that info to my brain in no TIME! Im strting to watch everything in 1.5 from now on! Life´s too short for bullshit.
eventually you can speed up to watching most everything at 2x speed. Your brain can take in words far faster than people can speak them. then when its on 1x speed everything seems S L O W.
Million dollar idea: Calk Blocker guitar pedal and DAW VST effect!!!
Talk Blocker Hidden Headphones. (your spelling caused that)
Caulk is the same as putty right? In Swedish it's called "kitt". That K is pronounced "Sh".
Product links would have been SUPER nice!
Hmm...I used to do computer network cabling 25 years ago and we had db to rj45 converters readily available to us even then and we wired them easily. I did the wiring for a building this way.
I'd bet a decent computer geek would be able to fill the gap of the now-defunct company and wire this in their sleep.
New retirement goal for me??
CAULKle-doodle-doooooo
Someone had to do it.....
If someone know how to solder cables DB25 connectors are cheap and eazy to make.
Cat Cables would solder in like any other cables if you want to do direct or get 2 fem RJ45 connectors. it will give you the same result as the Wardbeck adapters.
its an eazy job if you're DIY
Yeah, sounds like it would take hours... NO THANK YOU!
Glenn called a guy to his studio to fill his holes full of caulk.
Are you using a Dante System for the Cat5/6 audio Networking?
It’s analog