Are Sennheiser wireless cables compatible with Line 6 X2 XDS?

[clubdude]

Searched this forum first, but didn't see any mention of this.

I have one of the later model Line 6 X2's, which I love btw, and the cable seems to be not as flimsy as some I have seen. Maybe they upgraded it..?

Nonetheless, I always carry spare just about everythings, and I want a backup 1/8 to 1/4 cable. From the photos of the Sennheiser, and the Mogami site, they look identical, but looks can be deceiving.

Does anyone know if the Sennheiser and the X2 are interchangeable? Something about buying a 2' cable for $45-50 from Line 6, even if it does say it's heavy-duty, bothers me. It may not be any different than the ones they sold with the late-model X2 XDS.

My apologies if this has been beat to death previously.
Thanks in advance.
CD

[tom once dead]

My original X2 Cable lasted about 6 months, died when I was on tour of course.
From memory the wiring of the X2 Cable is far from a standard 1/8 to 1/4 cable. I did an ebay search and got a custom cable made up. If you search Line 6 X2 cable into ebay you should get good results. I think it set me back around $60 (inc postage to Australia) for it and it is really good quality.

[clubdude]

Originally Posted by tom once dead

My original X2 Cable lasted about 6 months, died when I was on tour of course.
From memory the wiring of the X2 Cable is far from a standard 1/8 to 1/4 cable. I did an ebay search and got a custom cable made up. If you search Line 6 X2 cable into ebay you should get good results. I think it set me back around $60 (inc postage to Australia) for it and it is really good quality.

Thanks Tom. I saw some of them. And Line 6 has the hd ones, too. But there are many more choices for the Sennheiser cable. Ditto on it not being a standard balanced cable. I think it has a cap in it.

[steveksux]

The sennheiser cable will work.

X2 has the capability of different wiring to either get fullrange sound, or the effect of the capacitance of a cable. I forget which option you'll get with the sennheiser cable, but it will work as a spare.

Randy

[clubdude]

Originally Posted by steveksux

The sennheiser cable will work.

X2 has the capability of different wiring to either get fullrange sound, or the effect of the capacitance of a cable. I forget which option you'll get with the sennheiser cable, but it will work as a spare.

Randy

Thanks Randy.
This is my first wireless sytem, so please bear with me. Please explain a little more, if you don't mind. I'm not getting that "fullrange" vs "effect of the capcitance of the cable" options. My X2 was pretty much plug and play, so I would be looking for something virtually identical. Seems everyone would want the "fullrange" option, just thinking logically (not electronic-technically).
Thanks again,
CD

[chrisp2u]

Originally Posted by clubdude

Searched this forum first, but didn't see any mention of this.

I have one of the later model Line 6 X2's, which I love btw, and the cable seems to be not as flimsy as some I have seen. Maybe they upgraded it..?

Nonetheless, I always carry spare just about everythings, and I want a backup 1/8 to 1/4 cable. From the photos of the Sennheiser, and the Mogami site, they look identical, but looks can be deceiving.

Does anyone know if the Sennheiser and the X2 are interchangeable? Something about buying a 2' cable for $45-50 from Line 6, even if it does say it's heavy-duty, bothers me. It may not be any different than the ones they sold with the late-model X2 XDS.

My apologies if this has been beat to death previously.
Thanks in advance.
CD

I had purchased a couple of these from this place...
Best-Tronics Mfg., Inc.: XC3R-XX

Excellent quality. The ones I have use the "silent" Neutrik plugs... supposedly allow you to unplug without the "pop". Never actually tried it though out of fear that it may not actually work and blow up my cab. They seem to have stopped using the "silent" ends since. Still not cheap, but they're world's better than the line6 cable that came with my xds-plus... which only lasted a few weeks.

EDIT: Looks like the "silent" ends are actually an upgrade option now.
---
c

[chrisp2u]

BTW, I don't think it matters what cable you use... the "cable" mode is a filter function of the receiver I believe, that simulates different capacitance... essentially cutting the freq range to something like 10hz-12khz.

Fullrange XDS+ mode goes from something like 10hz-20khz. To change mode, I think you hold down one of the buttons while turning it on. By default I believe it's in XDS+ (fullrange) mode.

You could prob find the manual on the line6 site (if you don't have it) which explains it all better than I have.
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c

[clubdude]

Originally Posted by chrisp2u

I had purchased a couple of these from this place...
Best-Tronics Mfg., Inc.: XC3R-XX

Excellent quality. The ones I have use the "silent" Neutrik plugs... supposedly allow you to unplug without the "pop". Never actually tried it though out of fear that it may not actually work and blow up my cab. They seem to have stopped using the "silent" ends since. Still not cheap, but they're world's better than the line6 cable that came with my xds-plus... which only lasted a few weeks.

EDIT: Looks like the "silent" ends are actually an upgrade option now.
---
c

Thanks, Chris.
The price at Best-tronics is actually better than at Line 6, and has gold plugs. Don't know how they compare in thickness w/o seeing them side-by-side. One has Mogami cable and the other has Evidence Audio Melody cable. I bookmarked it.

The burning question (still) is... Are the X2 cables & the Sennheiser Cl-1 cables identical (interchangeable)?

Good info, Chris.
Thanks, again.
CD

[steveksux]

Originally Posted by clubdude

Thanks Randy.
This is my first wireless sytem, so please bear with me. Please explain a little more, if you don't mind. I'm not getting that "fullrange" vs "effect of the capcitance of the cable" options. My X2 was pretty much plug and play, so I would be looking for something virtually identical. Seems everyone would want the "fullrange" option, just thinking logically (not electronic-technically).
Thanks again,
CD

A normal guitar cable has a bit of capacitance, so it rolls off a little bit of high end off the bass tone. Better cables have less, and the effect is more noticeable on passive basses. Its a function of the cable and its length, can't be eliminated.

The shorter cable like you'd use with the x2 has much less capacitance because of its length, so to compensate the x2 adds a little bit of capacitance, otherwise it could sound brighter on passive basses than a cord. They're trying to get it to sound identical to a cord essentially.

The 1/8th in end of the cable is 3 conductor, the 1/4 in end that goes into the guitar is 2 conductor.

If you use the tip of the 3 conductor 1/8th you get the extra capacitance that simulates a normal cord. That's the normal x2 cable, and the sennheiser cable.

You can wire up a cable that uses the ring of the 1/8th in connector to the tip of the 1/4 " guitar connector, it does not use the capacitor, you get "full range" response.

So the sennheiser cable is the same as the stock x2 cable, simulates the response of a regular guitar cable.

Having said that, with an active bass you probably won't hear the difference.

Randy

[clubdude]

Originally Posted by steveksux

A normal guitar cable has a bit of capacitance, so it rolls off a little bit of high end off the bass tone. Better cables have less, and the effect is more noticeable on passive basses. Its a function of the cable and its length, can't be eliminated.

The shorter cable like you'd use with the x2 has much less capacitance because of its length, so to compensate the x2 adds a little bit of capacitance, otherwise it could sound brighter on passive basses than a cord. They're trying to get it to sound identical to a cord essentially.

The 1/8th in end of the cable is 3 conductor, the 1/4 in end that goes into the guitar is 2 conductor.

If you use the tip of the 3 conductor 1/8th you get the extra capacitance that simulates a normal cord. That's the normal x2 cable, and the sennheiser cable.

You can wire up a cable that uses the ring of the 1/8th in connector to the tip of the 1/4 " guitar connector, it does not use the capacitor, you get "full range" response.

So the sennheiser cable is the same as the stock x2 cable, simulates the response of a regular guitar cable.

Having said that, with an active bass you probably won't hear the difference.

Randy

Thanks for the clear explanation.
Both of my stage basses are active, even though I play them almost totally flat.

I've found a source for really h-d sennheiser cables at a fair price. The only thing left to do is try one. Then I can report any differences (or lack of) back here. I run a Performance 500 Monster cable from my M13 to the amp, and with that pedal inline, I imagine that would help in not hearing any differences. I run a very short h-d patch cable from the receiver to the M13 pedal. Receiver sits right on top of M13. So, in other words, my basic setup is not exactly like comparing a short bass, or other h-d cable, plugged directly into the amp, to begin with.

Thanks again. I think I will just get the Sennheiser for, if no other reason, my own curiosity.
CD