XLR Cables

Balanced XLR leads for microphone and line duty, from 0.25m patch stubs to 20m stage runs. Elumen8 assemblies pair genuine Neutrik connectors with flexible mic cable in silver or black jackets, W Audio covers the budget end, and the range includes short female-to-female and male-to-male leads for gender flips, TRS jack to XLR conversions and phono to XLR hybrids for playback sources.

Balance is the whole point of XLR: interference picked up along the run cancels at the destination, so mic and line signals survive long distances and electrically noisy environments. Buy lengths deliberately, short stubs for patching drive racks and stageboxes, 5m to 10m for most stage positions, 20m for crossing a stage in one piece. Mixed jacket colours are worth having because finding one line in a loom mid-show is not a theoretical problem. Phantom power travels on mic lines, so anything inserted in the path, adaptors, splits or turnarounds, must pass all three pins cleanly.

Lighting data belongs on proper 110 ohm cable from the DMX Cables category, however familiar the connectors look.

XLR cable FAQs

Does cable length hurt the signal? Balanced XLR runs of 20 m and well beyond are routine, that is the point of a balanced line. Buy the length the stage needs plus service loop, not the shortest that reaches.

Mic or line, same cable? Yes, a balanced XLR lead carries both; what matters is connector quality and a shield that survives being trodden on. Genuine Neutrik ends are where the money goes.

Why do my cables keep failing? Almost always the coil and the stress at the connector. Our cable care guide covers over-under coiling and strain relief, and audio connectors explained covers every plug on a stage.