Audio question- RJ-45 extenders/baluns

How long a hop is he looking for? I Use Neumann and Canare mic cables. Maybe I should put them all in sequence for a 350' hop as a test but I routinely use 100' at mic level and have never had a problem.

G=B2

Not much. The best option is to use shielded twisted pair microphone cable all the way. I don't see the need for baluns either unless the cable length is several km/miles.

What about using CAT5 (4 twisted pairs) to carry 4 microphones?

I've asked what the max length he's interested in. For now, I'd guess

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

I wouldn't go that route. Microphone signals are very weak. 20dB amplification is often required to get to line level. A single shielded cat5 cable for each microphone probably works.

For length, 50-250 feet, with 100 feet as the nominal is about right.

Do you think they actually have transformers at each end? If so, $300 is reasonable for 8 high quality audio transformers, connectors etc. I think he'd be p*ssed off if he got them and there was nothing inside.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Microphones are already balanced, and so are mic pre-amps, so baluns are quite inappropriate..Dynamic mics are 2 wire devices, so connect right onto the Cat5e. Condenser mics are another thing, and need a return path for the phantom power (perhaps the overall screen, or dedicate a pair to ground?). I have actually used multiple dynamic mics over a single Cat5e with no problems of any kind, although I did keep the cable away from nasty interference sources; I seem to remember that the mic screens were all grounded at the box at the mic end of the Cat5e. And there might be a case for adding a few small caps across the receiver end to drain the RF energy from the antennae. Tony