Any type of "recommended limit" on axe to audio device cable length?

Stratman68

Axe-Master
Most of my quality cables for recording the axexfx are 10 to 15 feet long.

So.............see title. I mean like midi has a "recommended max length, stuff like that.
Thanks
 
Hundreds of feet for XLR, 20 feet for 1/4" instrument.

20 will still is still quite a length of cable and it acts as a capacitor and will bleed of some highs. The shorter the cable the better. 20 feet wont be huge amount of signal degradation but if you wanna be really anal about it you can run a 5 foot cable to buffer pedal and then run 20 or longer foot cable without bleeding away high frequencies.
 
High Impedance "unbalanced" for = shorter 10-20 ' guitar signal 1/4" jack standard cable stuff....
Low Impedance "balanced" for = XLR mic cables, 100'+ audio mixer snake stuff...
Hi Imp input is used on the 1/4" jack "guitar in" connection on most amps.
 
10' to 15' cables will work fine for recording between the axe and audio device. axe is line level so if there was not any interference you could run a lot of cable with out loosing any noticeable amount of signal. on the axe input though as others have stated the shorter the better, but my hearing cant tell the difference between a 10' cable or a 20' but I have tried connecting multiple long cables together(just for kicks) and then it was very noticeable!
 
Hundreds of feet for XLR, 20 feet for 1/4" instrument.
For that matter, hundreds of feet of 1/4" cable if it's carrying line-level signal (and as long as it's well-shielded). Cable length only gets important for high-impedance sources like passive guitar pickups.
 
I normally record with Cables between 10ft and 15ft, I can hear a difference if it's over 20ft, I know other can too and some can't but I am a picky, so....
 
I must be anal, because I swear I can hear the difference between a 5' guitar cable and a 10'.
I prefer the ten.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but it's food for thought.
 
I must be anal, because I swear I can hear the difference between a 5' guitar cable and a 10'. I prefer the ten. Maybe I'm just crazy, but it's food for thought.
The inductance of the guitar pickups combined with the capacitance of the cable actually forms a resonant circuit, and varying the length of the cable will change the centre frequency. It's possible that you have a situation in which the longer cable is setting the peak to a particular frequency that is more pleasing to your ear.

Also worth noting - with active pickups, the capacitance of guitar cable should have much less effect on the sound than with passive pickups. However, it will ultimately depend on the particular circuitry used in the active pickups.
 
Am I the only one in the universe who likes the high-end roll off from cable length capacitance between my guitar and amp/buffer? I roll off my tone knob to get my tone anyway, especially for lead.

I'd rather have 25ft to work with than have a 4 foot cable from my guitar to my pedalboard and be stuck in one spot on stage.
 
Slightly off topic but years ago I fell into the bad habit of moving around the stage and always turning to the left... at the end of a set my 20' guitar lead was about 4' long and tangled like nobody's business :shock
 
Am I the only one in the universe who likes the high-end roll off from cable length capacitance between my guitar and amp/buffer? I roll off my tone knob to get my tone anyway, especially for lead.

I'd rather have 25ft to work with than have a 4 foot cable from my guitar to my pedalboard and be stuck in one spot on stage.

I agree with you.
 
Bear in mind the original post in this thread is asking about the length of cable from the axe to an audio device, not the length of guitar to axe.... pretty different things (though I'm sure some folks probably swear by using a certain length coily cable going from their Axe into the board LOL)
 
Thank you lqdsnddist -

Axe to EchoLayla3G (or Roland Octacapture for my laptop) I have 2 Mogami xlr to trs for output 1 to Audio Interface. They are 10" long and that's my main record signal output 1 XLR out of axe to trs in to audio interface..

I have the 15" humbuster cables and that's what I was hoping to use for Output 2 - TS out to Echolayle3G TRS in to Echo. Echo or Roland will take 1/4" jacks but since they both are built to accept TRS or XLR I want to stay with that.

I guess if the humbusters are too long I can just make some other cables trs to TS from my zillion trs to trs cables I have.

I also use Lava Blue Demon cables for my guitar to axe. Not the greatest but good cables that let the highs thru nicely. Very good quality cable and plugs.'
I drfinitely heard a diference with all my guitars when I switched to the Blue Demons. I had planet wave, the ones with the "supposedly" special shielded end (not for guitar end?
 
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Hundreds of feet for XLR, 20 feet for 1/4" instrument.

Probably negligible. It's still there but I won't be super worried about 20's. More than than and it can get worse just like pedal board suck with too many pedals sucking out your guitar tone. The shortest cable possible is best but as long as you aren't crossing your 20ft cable with a bunch of other cables and electrical cables you probably won't notice. I haven't actually tried to calculate it. I just know theoretically it will bleed some highs. Don't mistake a 20 ft cable for 50 ft or more of unbalanced cable. The deal is you always wanna start with the best signal, least SNR ratio. So if possible do the most you can to obtain this. If you are really anal retentive you can get a good DI box or the like. Just make sure you get the right one. Its excessive, but if you really really care about something you probably wont notice let alone anyone else there are options.
 
Maybe I'm crazy, but I use 2 75 foot 1/4" instrument cables for my talk box in the loop of my XL. Never had any interference issues, and still get compliments from sound guys.

For recording I'd keep them shorter, for obvious reasons. I'm not tracking guitars across the house!
 
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