DMX Leads / Mic Leads / Speaker Leads

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Hi all,

When I got bought my DB Technology active speakers a couple of years ago I had to make sure that I bought some long XLR to XLR leads for them. They also double up as Mic Leads as I am sure you know. Anyway, when I got my Acme Dynamos shortly after, I got DMX Leads with them (I also bought more) and one day my Mic Lead started mucking up so I used a DMX Lead instead for my mic.

So, the question is.... Are DMX leads like Mic leads, Speaker leads etc? I know that there is some difference but the reason I am asking is that I have loads and want to use them to DMX the new LEDJ Colour Burst lights that I have just bought to save me spending more money getting new ones.

Would they still do the job etc?
I think I know the answer anyway but thought I would ask.
Cheers
G

[Excalibur]

Hi all,

When I got bought my DB Technology active speakers a couple of years ago I had to make sure that I bought some long XLR to XLR leads for them. They also double up as Mic Leads as I am sure you know. Anyway, when I got my Acme Dynamos shortly after, I got DMX Leads with them (I also bought more) and one day my Mic Lead started mucking up so I used a DMX Lead instead for my mic.

So, the question is.... Are DMX leads like Mic leads, Speaker leads etc? I know that there is some difference but the reason I am asking is that I have loads and want to use them to DMX the new LEDJ Colour Burst lights that I have just bought to save me spending more money getting new ones.

Would they still do the job etc?
I think I know the answer anyway but thought I would ask.
Cheers
G

I think the short answer is that a DMX lead is a mic lead, but a mic lead ism't a DMX lead. Ithink it's to do with the way the shielding is wound.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

That's what I thought. I just had a look on a site called SLC Technical Info and they said the same thing. They also said that it's ok for short term but not continued use...I don't mean duration, I mean using them everytime.

[A1DL]

For short runs typically used on mobile discos, decent quality microphone cable will not normally give any problems when used for 3-pin DMX.

Do ensure the DMX line is correctly terminated (at the last head) with a 110r resistor across pins 2&3 of an XLR plug.

[501damian501]

i was on the understanding if you tried to push a dmx signal down a microphone lead the signal would get corrupted.

[kilmeedyman]

A mic lead over a longer distance is not so efficient with a digital signal as a DMX cable.

Therefore logic dictates, a long DMX cable would still be perfectly ok for a mic but not vice-versa.

[Tom]

From what I can gather, if you think a DMX cable as a data cable (i think dmx cables is a date cable???). You are sending data from a controller or a light to another another light. DMX cable is 100 ohms. Coax cable (digital cable) is rated at 75 ohm (as a reference).

I think the lower the ohm the better the data transfer would be.


I'm not 100% but I think this is correct.


:edit - no idea why there is a cool smilie on this post. lol