Welcome To The Nightmare: Cable Management Suffering & Their Solutions

[la szum]

Didn't know where to put this, as cable management is a lifelong concern and issue
whether on the stage, at home, or in the studio.

So what are some tips and tricks? Have any cool solutions? Any cool products that
can tame the Hydra of snaking cables everywhere.... sucking the life and comfort
out of our existence??

I spent this Winter emptying out my music space, and am in the process of putting
it all back together. But these fucking cables!!??!!!


My first option is going to be drilling holes in floors and running cables in the crawlspace/
sub-floor. But I need it to warm up a bit before I can do that.

I am also thinking about running some cabling above.... along the ceiling... or behind some trim
I can remove and reapply. I just want to be free of the cables on the floor.

Open to any and all suggestions----apart from burning it all down and starting over.


Thanks!

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Amazon.co.uk

this stuff rules. You can usually make use of rack shelves, drawers, clips, cable ties and label makers to organise gear. It’s a never ending battle and sometimes you have to burn it down and redo to find what works and what is annoying.

Having powered USB cables and extenders and various hubs can help optimise where cables and power supplies go.

Etsy is full of little 3D printed stands and mounts for things which can help.

 

[Whizzinby]

I keep everything running into patchbays from three areas: amp shelf, rack and desk. I just use cable sleeves for the open areas between those areas. Seeing one sleeve hugging the baseboard versus 9 individuals cables pacifies my OCD.

I keep spare sleeves, zip ties and dual lock in the closet ready for action.

The back of my rack looks like a wild science experiment (even with semi appropriately sized wiring) but the front is as clean and calm as a summer day. (Which is all that matters lol)

 

[Sleezy E]

Maybe run a few cat5 lines in the crawlspace for some of these?

https://a.co/d/0bgOzM6T

 

[la szum]

Cool! Was hoping you'd all chime in. Really want a tidy and neat setup.

I. Am. So. Excited.

 

[la szum]

I keep everything running into patchbays from three areas: amp shelf, rack and desk. I just use cable sleeves for the open areas between those areas. Seeing one sleeve hugging the baseboard versus 9 individuals cables pacifies my OCD.

I keep spare sleeves, zip ties and dual lock in the closet ready for action.

The back of my rack looks like a wild science experiment (even with semi appropriately sized wiring) but the front is as clean and calm as a summer day. (Which is all that matters lol)

Haha! I feel you and the sweet Sound Of Music.


I am not going back to the maddening morass I had. Likely the last home I will own/live in
so I am going to go all in on drilling and filling.



Anyone care to share thoughts on snakes versus patchbays? Or is that a both/and scenario?

 

[la szum]

Maybe run a few cat5 lines in the crawlspace for some of these?

View attachment 59807

https://a.co/d/0bgOzM6T

Nice. Didn't even know these were a thing. My wheels are turning now.

 

[Whizzinby]

Haha! I feel you and the sweet Sound Of Music.


I am not going back to the maddening morass I had. Likely the last home I will own/live in
so I am going to go all in on drilling and filling.

Congrats on the new place dude?!

 

[la szum]

Congrats on the new place dude?!

Oh no. It'll be 10 years this Summer. Just finally getting around to setting it up
how I want it now that the last of the offspring is married and out adulting.

Daddy gets to rule the roost.... and that roost.... and that one..... and that roost, too.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Shit man when my little chicks fly the coop I'm gonna be snaking cables in my crawlspace into every room. We've already encapsulated our crawlspace underneath the house and I've been slowly reconstructing our attic space into a storage area and finding out how everything is wired and routed.

In my room I have a snake connected to the rear of my interface and the box is just down next to my studio monitor stand so I can easily connect XLRs for recording. Everything else I've actually learned to not tie down because Im always moving things, experimenting and can't leave well enough alone. Most of the main important stuff is tucked away and tied up so I can easily move my desk out and get to my PC, subwoofer, power plugs, and NAS device.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Anyone care to share thoughts on snakes versus patchbays? Or is that a both/and scenario?

they’re serving different purposes.

Snake is essentially to get a load of inputs (and sometimes outputs) from one place to another (say between rooms or from one end of a room to another. It saves you having to have lots of separate cables all running long distances, and you can also have the sockets in an accessible place (rather than having to go behind your rack).

A patchbay is for routing your signals and mixing and matching bits of gear together, or rerouting signals to different places.

You wouldn’t want to have mics going through your patchbay - 48V can cause problems for your gear, so you always keep mics seperate to the patchbay.

Typically you might have a snake or XLR patchbay for your mics to go to your preamp inputs. And your preamps (and all other gear) would be on your patchbay.

Not sure how useful a snake box is unless you’re recording lots of channels or sending out headphone mixes to a headphone amp. If it’s just a handful of channels, one of those ethernet converter things is probably simpler. I wouldn’t skimp on a cheap snake box either, the budget ones use pretty horrible connectors and get noisy/inconsistent quickly. They can get expensive quite quickly too.

Patchbay is well worth it, and I’ve never had any issues with cheaper TRS units. A pro studio probably wants something that is a bit higher spec, but for simple/basic use TRS is fine.

 

[la szum]

Shit man when my little chicks fly the coop I'm gonna be snaking cables in my crawlspace into every room. We've already encapsulated our crawlspace underneath the house and I've been slowly reconstructing our attic space into a storage area and finding out how everything is wired and routed.

In my room I have a snake connected to the rear of my interface and the box is just down next to my studio monitor stand so I can easily connect XLRs for recording. Everything else I've actually learned to not tie down because Im always moving things, experimenting and can't leave well enough alone. Most of the main important stuff is tucked away and tied up so I can easily move my desk out and get to my PC, subwoofer, power plugs, and NAS device.

Now we are talking?


It goes by so fast. One day it is the first day of Kindergarten. The next they are getting
married and looking at your face in the rear-view mirror.

It is SO bittersweet!


But yeah, I saw that Rig Rundown for Buddy Miller and it got me thinking about utilizing
more of the space in the house (different rooms, closets for isolation) for making/recording
music. I have gotten a great start, and am now in the infrastructure phase for cabling and
connections.... and only want to do this once.

So here we go!

 

[DrewJD82]

For a fixed situation I’d go with a patchbay and some cable sleeves. I mean, wrap the cable sleeve up tight enough and you pretty much got yourself a snake anyway.

FWIW- If you buy the cable sleeve material you can size it pretty much to the exact amount of 1/4” cables going in it. I figured I’d need a little extra space so I ordered mine 1.5 inches thick and the cables are just flopping around in there. A 1” would have been perfect for the 4 cables.

 

[la szum]

Maybe run a few cat5 lines in the crawlspace for some of these?

View attachment 59807

https://a.co/d/0bgOzM6T

Have you used these, E? It just seems like a better solution than running multiple XLR Cables. CAT5
is super cheap by comparison, and easier to work with. Could run one of these breakout boxes in
each room (theoretically) and then making micing up cabs, acoustics, vocals, and other instruments
super easy.

 

[Sleezy E]

Have you used these, E? It just seems like a better solution than running multiple XLR Cables. CAT5
is super cheap by comparison, and easier to work with. Could run one of these breakout boxes in
each room (theoretically) and then making micing up cabs, acoustics, vocals, and other instruments
super easy.

I honestly don't know.. I've had my eye on them for a while for the same reason as you.

Seemed like a cost effective/unintrusive way to turn a couple bedrooms into makeshift isolation rooms for recording. Just a cat5 wall panel.. plug the rest in when you need it.

Maybe someone can chime in with some experience. They've been around for several years now.. someone here is bound to have few

I was gonna put something like this in the "control room" and single panels in the rooms they go to..

My folks place has cat5 that was pre-wired all over the house when it was built