Canare L-2T2S Kit

Parts in each Kit:

Canare L-2T2S Cable Cardas or Exodus RCAs (4) 3:1 Heatshrink Red (2) 3:1 Heatshrink Black (2) Cardas Solder

Optional Parts: Exodus XLRs Techflex (may be shipped assembled on the cable)

Tools Needed:
1) Soldering Iron 2) Wire cutters/stripper 3) Voltmeter/Ohmmeter 4) Vise (optional but very nice) Pad the jaws with some electrical tape to prevent scarring your plugs. 5) Heat gun (or very good blow dryer). 6) Hot Glue Gun (optional) 7) Needle-nose pliers

Preliminaries
Before you start building cables you should first understand the basics of analog signal transfer. This will help you understand what is connected where and prevent any mistakes in the construction process. This is a VERY abbreviated discussion of the topic. For a better understanding see the excellent RANE technical papers discussing the topic. http://www.rane.com/note110.html There are two types of analog signals that are typically used in the world of audio, balanced and unbalanced signals. Balanced signal cables typically use the XLR connector and they carry the analog signal on two wires. The signal is carried at

opposite polarities on the two wires with one labeled the positive (+) and the other the negative (-). The negative is NOT the ground reference on balanced cables. It is only a reference to the inverted signal so be careful with terminology. Balanced cables also have a dedicated ground wire. The ground is given its own pin on the XLR connector and most XLR connectors have a tab for optionally grounding the body of the XLR connector. All of our Exodus XLRs include this tab. Diagram 1.0 shows the Audio Engineering Society (AES) standard for wiring balanced audio cables.

AES Standard Balanced Audio Cable

Diagram 1.0 Unbalanced audio cables are those typically using an RCA for termination. The RCA has only two electrical contacts, the center pin (hot) and the body of the RCA. The center pin or hot connection is the same on both sides of the cable. The ground termination is a little more complicated. Most analog signal cables are designed with a single twisted pair of signal wires that carry the hot & ground reference. The shield is connected to the ground reference to shunt unwanted noise to ground. This is done on analog cables by attaching the shield to the analog ground reference at ONE END OF THE CABLE ONLY. If the shield is attached at both ends it will act as an antenna receiving RF signals. It is best if the shield is terminated at the source end of the connection. This is the only reason for cable directionality in standard unbalanced audio connections. Balanced cables have no directionality except for that given them by the termination of a given male or female XLR. Diagram 1.1 shows the standard unbalanced audio connection using a twisted pair of wires and a telescoping shield arrangement.

Unbalanced Audio Cable With Telescoping Shield

Diagram 1.1 The third and final possibility is building an adaptor cable to connect an unbalanced source to a balanced load. The issues involved with connecting unbalanced to balanced equipment are beyond the scope of this manual. We recommend reading the Rane technical paper if doing so is your objective. Diagram 1.2 offers a suggested wiring scheme for building an adaptor cable.

Adaptor Cable for Unbalanced

to Balanced Connections

Diagram 1.2

Assembly Procedure RCA Termination

Check through the parts list to confirm nothing is missing. If you find you are short parts, send an email to: info@diycable.com Read through the instructions before starting the assembly process. Measure and cut the cable to the desired length. Strip back one end of the cable to start termination. Use a razor, box knife or other sharp cutting tool to strip of the outer jacket. Strip outer jacket down to the shield.

Unbraid shield and clip filler materials. Prepare the end of the cable so that it looks like the following picture. The white wire will be the center hot connection. It needs to be about longer than the blue & twisted shield for RCA terminations For XLR terminations keep the length of all wires and braided shield the same.

Tin the wires with the soldering iron. This keeps the wire neat and clean during the termination process.

Insert the cable into the RCA body. The center pin of the RCA is the hot connection. The white wire should line up with the center pin without touching any of the surrounding body. Trim the white wire to fit. Solder the center pin first to hold cable in place. Solder the shield and blue wires to the solder strip on the RCA body. It is helpful to solder the wires to the leading edge for the best results. If you wrap the wires up over the top of the solder strip you will not be able to thread the RCA barrel onto the RCA body. Keep solder build-up to a minimum. A large solder joint is not necessary but make sure you

keep the iron tip in place long enough to get the body of the RCA hot using good soldering practices. Both the wire and the RCA body should be at a high enough temperature to melt the solder for a good joint.

Slide both RCA barrels onto the cable at this time. If you are using the TechFlex jacket on your cables now is the time to install it. Once you terminate the opposite end of the cable you will no longer be able to install either the RCA barrels or the TechFlex.

The opposite RCA uses the same termination procedure except that you DO NOT terminate the shield to the RCA body, just the blue wire.

Now is a good time to check continuity with your voltmeter. Check continuity of both the center pin and the RCA barrel. Check to make sure you have no short from the center pin to the barrel.

Using hot glue is optional but it is good practice to strengthen the termination and insure against possible shorting. Keep the glue inside the cavity of the RCA and off the threads otherwise you will have difficulty installing the RCA barrel.

XLR Balanced Termination

Strip and tin the cable as per the RCA termination procedure. When done you should have three wires identical in length.

Both male & female XLRs use the identical termination procedure. Disassemble the XLR paying careful attention to how it goes together. Terminate via the wiring scheme shown in Diagram 1.0. It is helpful to position the cable such that you can get one wire quickly soldered in place. The other wires are easier to position and solder after one wire is holding the others in position. Notice Ive used a female XLR to hold the male XLR in the vice. Positioning your cable during termination is half the battle. Using the opposite sex plug also helps prevent overheating the plug.

Once again, we recommend using hot glue between the pins and wires to protect them from stress and prevent any possible long-term problems. Before applying hot glue check all connections with the VM for continuity. Double-check your work. After the glue is in place it is difficult to remove it to fix a problem. . The opposite termination follows the same procedure. Make sure you slip the rear end of the XLRs into place on the cable before finalizing the last termination.

. The final step is to cover the RCA or XLR with heatshrink. The XLRs technically dont need the added strain relief. The only benefit to using the heatshrink on the XLRs is to mark the right/left channels. The RCAs need the heatshrink for strain relief and for marking right/left channels. They also indicate directionality for the load & source on unbalanced RCA based cables. You may need to stretch the heatshrink slightly with a long-nosed set of needle-nose pliers. It will shrink back into proportion upon heating. If you are using the TechFlex jacket be careful with the heat gun. It will damage the TechFlex if you are not careful. Wrap the TechFlex with masking or electrical tape to prevent damage. After the heatshrink is in place you simply remove the tape.

As one last precaution, measure the cables with the VM to make sure you have everything terminated properly before installing them into a system. Once finished you will have a top-notch set of cables.

ENJOY!

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