Planet Waves: Swivel Mic Cable

Pete Weiss touched on these cables in his review of the Planet Waves line in Tape Op # 39, but I recently picked up a few of the cables after seeing them at the recent NAMM show, and thought they were deserving of their own mention. Most of the new products in the audio industry, especially in the things we take for granted like cables, are just slight improvements over previous products, and it's pretty rare to see something that really improves on and reinvents the mousetrap, so to speak. These really are the best mousetraps I've ever seen as far mic cables go-probably the coolest innovation in cabling and connectors since the Neutrik combo jack. The XLR connectors themselves swivel at angles of up to 90 degrees, making for strain relief and greatly improved mic placement opportunities when mic'ing drums. No more compromising the angle of a drum mic because of low cymbals or high hats. Another great feature on these cables is an integral little bungee attachment to keep the cable together when coiled. Very cool! The cables themselves are very high-quality, oxygen-free copper cabling and are guaranteed for life. At $57.99 MSRP for a 25-foot cable, these aren't cheap but considering the quality and usefulness most studios should pick up at least three or four of them and use them for drums and critical overdubs. (www. planet-waves.com)