The Stereo Bus Blog - Daily Music Production Tips

This post focuses on how to create your own cables using raw connectors and bulk cable.

There are some great advantages to making your own cables: you determine the quality, you choose the length, it’s usually cheaper, and you learn in the process.  Cables are one of the most marked-up categories of things sold in stores.  My first job was cashier at a CompUSA and I was shocked that the USB cables sold there had nearly a 1,000% mark-up.  It’s not much different in the audio world.  Cables are sold with high margins to make up for the low margins on more price competitive, expensive items. I find that I can save between 60-85% by making my own cables, when compared to cables of similar quality in the store.
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This post focuses on what sorts of adaptors or connectors you’ll likely want to have handy in your production studio.

It’s usually cheaper and more flexible to have raw connectors and cable than it is to have a ton of pre-made adaptors.  Tomorrow’s post I’ll go into how to make your own cables.

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This post focuses on the use of piezo sensors and pickups in pro audio applications.

Most people don’t think of piezo technology very often. Basically, piezoelectric sensors involve using mechanical vibrations against the sensor to create a signal. It’s a unique way to generate sound and signal, meaning that it can be used in applications where traditional sound capturing devices don’t work well. In fact, sometimes piezo sensors are called contact microphones. Some common applications include acoustic guitar pickups and drum triggers, but there really is no reason why you couldn’t use piezo sensors anywhere that produces vibration (and therefore, sound).

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