In this video I show the process I have come up with to label my XLR microphone cables without having to un-solder all the connectors. The whole goal here is to help identify what goes where in live environments when things are moved or unplugged by people without having to trace the cable from one end of the stage to the other.

My system involves heat shrink tubing over the connectors on each end, with Dymo labels printed and stuck on (underneath the heat-shrink).
The labels, in my case, have the cable length and a ID number printed onto them. Then the printed Dymo labels are different colours depending on length with matching velcro cable tie wraps.

It was important to me to get heatshrink large enough to go over the connector and also shrink onto it without having to undo the conenctors and re-solder everything on every single cable as that would have taken a very long time.

Having the colour code system in addition to the numbering helps choose the appropriate microphone lead length when setting up for a gig and grabbing cables from the cable trunk / flightcase.

This makes it super easy to identify the cable at both ends, the instrument / microphone and stagebox / multicore for live sound use with bands and artists.

These are especially handy to have when doing changeovers between artists and have saved me a LOT of time since I started to use them. The biggest time saving has probably been on multi-act changeovers at festivals, I couldn't go back to un-labeled cables now!

This same system could also be used for studio environments if you wanted to, however there is generally more time in a studio to trace cables and less people likely to unplug things.


Tools used in this video include:
- Dymo Label Manager 160 Handheld Electronic Label Printer
- Compatible / Third Party 12mm Dymo Colour Tape Cassettes
- Unbranded Velcro Cable Tie / Wrap / Tidies
- Clear Heat Shrink Tubing (25mm Diameter, 2:1 Shrink Ratio)
- Heat Gun from Reflow Station (To melt heat-shrink quickly)


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Video recorded using a Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900f).