1 Basic information 41

Include all the different types of wire in the materials list, and be sure to
buy 15% more than you think you ll need. You can always cut it back, but
splicing in the middle of a harness is difcult.
The same applies for connectors. Add up all the connectors you need,
in all their different types, and then add at least four more of each small
connector type maybe three more of expensive multi-pin connectors.
This is especially true for those of you who live far away from major supply
centers. If you re buying materials mail-order and have to wait for three
connectors to nish the job, you won t be happy.
We ve talked enough (for now) about information you need to nd out and
organize. Let s move on to some basic wiring techniques.
Stripping wire
There are several different types of wire you re likely to encounter, and a
variety of methods for stripping wire. I m going to describe each in some
detail, because the methods needed depend on the type of wire you re
working with.
I talked about these kinds of wire in the beginning, now I want to go into
more depth. This approach of multiple exposures to information will make it
easier to understand, and retain, what I show you.
One of the most common types of wire used in studios has a mylar foil shield
around the inner conductors. The mylar is blue on one side and silver on the
other. The blue side is insulated (that is, it does not pass electricity) and the
silver side is conductive (it does pass electricity).
The silver side is wrapped around the inner
conductors of the wire, including the drain
conductor which has no insulation. Since the silver
side of the foil is conductive, it makes excellent
contact with the drain conductor, thus providing an
effective electrostatic shield for the inner conductors.
Look familiar? The example in Figure 1.40 is of a
typical single-pair wire, but foil is also used as an
outer shield around multi-pair wire. The foil does a
good job as a shield, but it s fragile if you ex the
wire often, the metal on the foil breaks down and
the wire becomes noisy and microphonic. Figure 1.40 Foil-shielded wire.
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Audio Wiring Guide 42
So foil-shielded wire is best suited to xed parts of your installation rather
than use in microphone cables and other wires which are constantly being
moved and exed.
More effective for mic cables is spiral strand shield wire wire that has bare
strands wrapped around the inner conductors ( Figure 1.41 ). This style of
shielding is also used by some wire manufacturers (Gotham and Mogami)
for multi-pair cables. Spiral strand shield wire is more expensive, but also
more effective and durable.
Figure 1.41 Spiral strand shielded wire. Figure 1.42 Braided strand shielded wire.
Braided strand shielded wire ( Figure 1.42 ) is an older type of wire
construction; it s commonly seen in elderly mic cables, guitar cords or cables
for vintage condenser microphones. While it s strong and has a good shield,
its a royal pain to deal with, as it must be carefully unbraided a little at a
time in order to be properly connected. The best way to unbraid it is to use
a small pointy object like a dry-wall screw or a sharply pointed nail, or even
the awl tool on your Swiss army knife.
One of the few advantages to this type of wire is that it will hang straight
down, without twisting useful if you re hanging microphones from a
tall ceiling and for installations in concert halls, where mics are hung
permanently. Otherwise, avoid this type of wire it s so tedious to work with
that you ll lose a lot of time in your wiring.
1 Basic information 43
Figure 1.43 Multi-pair wire.
Multi-pair wire ( Figure 1.43 ) may have either a foil or stranded shield for
each pair. Some types have a secondary foil layer wrapped around all the
pairs for additional noise shielding. Multi-pair wire is commonly used:
1. Where a large number of wire runs are going along the same path, as
from a console patch bay to an outboard equipment rack.
2. For multi-track recorders going to/from consoles.
3. For long microphone snakes going to stage boxes.
No matter what type of wire you re working with, the goal is always the
same: to strip off the outer insulating jacket without harming the delicate
insulation of the inner conductors. There are a couple of ways to go about
this, so let s talk about each one.
Miller-type wire strippers can be used to remove a short length of the outer
jacket. This is best done by adjusting the depth-of-cut on the wire strippers
to go almost through the outer jacket. Then grasp the wire with the jaws of
the strippers at the cutaway point, clamp down the jaws on the wire and use a
rotating, rocking motion to chew most of the way through the outer insulation
jacket. If you ve done this correctly, you now have a deep groove in the outer
jacket, but you have not cut so deeply as to harm the inner conductors.
Now release the jaws of the stripper and move them slightly toward the
end of the wire. Clamp down again, a little less tightly, and bend the wire
back and forth at the cut you just made; then nish breaking away the outer
jacket. Finally, pull rmly with the stripper s jaws toward the end of the wire,
to pull away the section of outer jacket you want to remove.
Audio Wiring Guide 44
Caution here: The intuitive thing to do is to make the rotating cut and
then pull, taking off the outer jacket at the wire s end. But I m asking
you to do this in two steps. Why not just
pull with the jaws of the stripper inside the
cut made in the outer jacket? Because the
stripper jaws could then gouge the insulation
of the inner conductors. My way is a little
slower, but a lot safer! Practice this several
times with a 1-inch (2.54 cm) strip-back
each time.
If you ve done this operation correctly, you
should now have an exposed section of the
inner shield, with no nicks or gouges in it.
The examples in Figures 1.44, 1.45 and 1.46
show this being done to wire with a mylar foil
shield, but the procedure is the same for wire
with a spiral or braided shield.
Figure 1.44 Cutting outer jacket.
There s an easier and faster way to do this strip off of the outer jacket you
can combine the small vise you bought with a single-edge razor blade to
create a highly effective stripping tool. Mount the razor blade in the vise so
that a very small amount of the blade s sharp edge is exposed along the top
of the vise. Typically you ll leave about {1/64} inch (0.0397 cm) to roughly
{1/32} inch (0.0794 cm) of the blade exposed.
Figure 1.45 Removing cut section 1.
Figure 1.46 Removing cut section 2.
1 Basic information 45
Note in Figure 1.47 that I ve taped the end of my nger so I can touch
the edge of the blade safely, without cutting myself. I can now safely and
repeatably adjust the height of the blade until it s correct for the particular
type of wire I m stripping. Please be careful when creating and using
these special tools. Razor blades will cut you even better than they will cut
insulation, so use them carefully! Further, you use them at your own risk. If
you are injured, killed or bleed all over your equipment, the authors and
publisher will disavow your actions.
Figure 1.48 Cutting outer jacket with blade in vise.
Figure 1.47 Mounting blade in vise.
Press the wire down onto the exposed edge of the razor blade and carefully
roll it back and forth ( Figure 1.48 ). Keep the downward pressure constant
and keep your ngers away from the edge of the blade! Also, keep the wire
exactly at a 90-degree angle to the edge of the blade, so as to avoid making a
spiraling cut. This will (if properly done) create a perfectly smooth and accurate
cut in the outer jacket far cleaner than is possible with any other method!
Audio Wiring Guide 46
Now pull the wire (and your ngers) away from the blade/vise combination
( Figure 1.49 ). Flex the wire at the cut point to nish breaking away the outer
jacket. Finally, pull the cut section off the end of the wire with your ngers
( Figure 1.50 ). If the depth-of-cut on the razor blade is correct, this can be
done with minimal effort. With a little practice you can do this operation
three or four times faster and far more neatly than someone stripping
the outer jacket off with regular wire strippers.
Once the outer jacket is removed from the end of the wire, you will see either
the mylar foil shield, a spiral wrap stranded shield or a braided strand shield.
With mylar foil, to cut away the foil pull down on the outer jacket
toward the middle of the wire to expose a little more of the foil than is now
visible say, {1/8} inch (0.317 cm) more exposed foil. Holding the outer
jacket in place with one hand, nick the foil with a pair of wire cutters or
another razor blade ( Figure 1.51 ).
Figure 1.50 Removing cut section 2. Figure 1.49 Removing cut section 1.
Figure 1.51 Nicking foil shield. Figure 1.52 Tearing off mylar foil.
Now tear away the foil at the point you nicked ( Figure 1.52 ). If done
correctly, the foil will come away cleanly and the outer jacket will push
slightly back toward the end of the wire, covering the point at which you
removed the foil. This will provide insulation and strain relief inside the
connector you will later attach to the wire.