Bigger monitors for DAW

[Dave Labrecque]

CAT6, that's it?

Yes. At the time of the running of the wires (2012), for twelve years I'd been using a Furman headphone mix distribution system that worked by daisy-chaining headphone stations along dual runs of CAT5. CAT6 was the up-and-coming thing in 2012 (to me, anyway), so that's what I ran, thinking I could continue using the same system or maybe even upgrade to something newer. But that's all the thought I put into it at the time. The Furman system (HDS-6 head unit/HR-6 headphone stations) uses two (unshielded) CAT5 lines to run six channels of (unbalanced) audio and plus/minus 22 volts for amplifiers. Seemed to work fine. Never had an issue with noise or crosstalk, though, admittedly, the spec requirements for headphone cue mixes can't be too demanding.

Having several isolated rooms in my Tucson studio setup, I actually did a star configuration, splitting the two RJ-45 outputs from the head unit four ways using a punch-down block; each of the four rooms could then daisy-chain multiple stations as needed from its RJ-45 jack pair. Typically, though, it was only the "big" room that had a need for more than a single station***8212;the other "rooms" being tight spaces like isolation booths and control room.

I figure these days I could continue with that same system or even move up to an actual digital system like the Behringer or Midas, offering 16 and 48 channels, respectively, over AES50 and requiring***8212;that's right***8212;CAT5e. But, really, who needs more than four mono sends plus a stereo mix going out to the musicians in a recording studio? And how often is it even a good idea to give them that much to play with?

So, what do you see as the potential problem with CAT6, jmh?

[jmh]

So, what do you see as the potential problem with CAT6, jmh?

Nothing whatsoever. It was coincidence that we happen to be working with this now. Our cat8 install is probably overkill - that said, some of our runs are pushing the 100M spec, and I've seen a lot of weird things with network cabling over the years. But I can envision a scenario where it could get used for audio - and that extra shielding might come in handy - as the global shield and drain wire that is often in cat 6 could work for you. In either case, it may (or not) work as good as 4 microphone cables...

[Dave Labrecque]

Nothing whatsoever. It was coincidence that we happen to be working with this now. Our cat8 install is probably overkill - that said, some of our runs are pushing the 100M spec, and I've seen a lot of weird things with network cabling over the years. But I can envision a scenario where it could get used for audio - and that extra shielding might come in handy - as the global shield and drain wire that is often in cat 6 could work for you. In either case, it may (or not) work as good as 4 microphone cables...

Better overkill than underkill, right?

Geeze, I should check my cable. I don't even recall whether or not it has any shielding. Not that it's essential, but it would be nice. Apparently, the spec doesn't require shielding at this level.

Amazing to me, though, how well the twisting, alone, does the noise rejection thing to the extent that you can run audio over it for pretty good distances. No, I don't imagine it's as good as shielded, balanced cables. But it meets a need. I'd be interested to see the side-by-side testing results, though.

Just checked my CAT6. No shield. D'oh! They're fairly straight, vertical runs. I guess I could always try pulling new stuff through. If needed.

[jmh]

My day job is predominantly maintaining a telephone system and network in a school district. During periodic meetings we ocassionally have to to do presentations. For mine I began collecting macro photographs of all of the network failures I encountered. I had realized that power-over-ethernet increases the likelihood of network failures for many reasons - but mostly for voltages accelerating corrosion. By the time I got to present it I had done a ton of research on the design and properties of CAT5 and RJ45 connectors including hundreds of beautiful close up photos like gold plated fangs impaling 24 gauge wires that were to be shown on our 8' display. It was kind of like Andy Warhol exploring a Campbell's soup can. I got an ovation after droning on for the better of an hour; if you can believe that. My finest professional moment.

[Dave Labrecque]

Bravo!