combo cable for wired in ears?

topper

topper

May 22, 2005
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Charlottesville, VA
#1
Does anyone know of a combo cable with both a 1/4 guitar cable and an XLR cable bundled into one?

My band is talking about switching to wired in-ear monitors using the Behringer P2. It's a beltpack that takes an XLR input from the board and powers your in-ear monitors.

I'm trying to picture what it's going to be like on stage with my guitar cable and a monitor cable. Seems like it'll be a mess.

I could run the monitor send from the mixer to where my pedal board sits. Then it'd be great to have a 2-in-1 cable with XLR jacks to connect to the belt pack monitor and 1/4 inch cable to plug into my bass.

I know it's a bit of a specialty situation, but plenty of people are running wired in-ears. So I was surprised I can't find a cable to fix this.
 
#4
topper said:
I wondered about that too.

I looked at some cables to DIY it. There are some 4 conductor plus shield cables that aren't much thicker than a mic cable.
Click to expand...

These 4-conductor cables would make the idea possible, but terminating and dressing the ends could get messy.

You’ll need to separate the conductors for each duty with heat shrink on each end of the cable. Not impossible. The heat shrink might be kinda stiff.

I hope someone with deeper electronic knowledge than me can advise on using the same shield for both a balanced and unbalanced duty.
 
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#10
#13
I just bought a P2 and used it on Saturday. Sounded great and having the two cables didn’t bother me on that gig. I am plotting to get a dual cable or somehow join two together though, like the OP. That techflex looks good, or I’ll get something purpose made by a pro.
Best wishes!
 
#15
topper said:
I have a wireless guitar system. But wireless in ear monitors are expensive.
Click to expand...

Keep using the wireless guitar system. Run the XLR down your pants leg for the monitors. Tuck it in your shoe when not in use. Done.

When I run wired in-ears (only on small stages) I just lay a small mixer on the floor. Then I run a long 1/8" plug cable down my pants leg.
 
#16
Chipit said:
This... IXM Setup - Jump Audio - In Ear Monitor Systems
Click to expand...

That looks pretty awesome. $200 seems like a lot for what it is though.

A Behringer P2 is like $40-50. Plus a cable.

IDK, we've been practicing with earbuds (short runs pulled directly off a headphone dist amp) and the cable management is driving everyone nuts. I'm sure we can work it out, I'm just not sure it's worth the hassle live.
 
#17
topper said:
... and the cable management is driving everyone nuts. I'm sure we can work it out, I'm just not sure it's worth the hassle live.
Click to expand...

For an event band's core quintet, we've been using one of these 6x2 mini-snakes to cover guitar, keys, and vocals. That just puts one cable across the stage to their shared zone. (Drummer/vocalist is on his own snake.)

We use it to send 5 stage inputs to the band's splitter/mixer/IEM rack. We also use it to return 3 stereo IEM mixes to guitarist, keyboards, and lead vox. (Two IEM feeds via the snake's TRS returns. The third IEM feed is carried on the snake's 6th XLR, using a TRS-to-XLR adapter on the headphone amp end.)

Very clean stage. Very quick set and strike.

StageSnake.jpg

That band's about to switch to an X32 rack w/ CAT5 stage boxes, but the principle's the same.
 
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