DMX512 Lighting Cable with 3-Pin or 5-Pin XLR

Overview

Every lighting fault that looks like a console problem is usually a physical layer problem in
disguise. Fixtures flicker, answer the wrong channel, or vanish from the end of the chain, and the cause is
in the copper and the connectors far more often than in the desk. A DMX512 lighting cable
is specified for that physical layer: an impedance controlled data pair, a screen that holds along the whole
run, and connectors that survive being pulled across a stage floor every night of the tour.

Key Specifications

Three pin or five pin: the argument, and the answer

The control standard is unambiguous. ANSI E1.11, the DMX512-A standard, specifies a five pin XLR for the
data link and prohibits the three pin XLR that the lighting industry had already adopted on budget and DJ
gear. The field is equally unambiguous: three pin is everywhere, on fixtures, on cheap dimmer packs and on
gear that predates the standard.

Decide at the design stage which the house infrastructure will use. Retrofitting a building wired for
three pin later is tedious work, and the argument is usually settled by what the console and dimmer racks
present.

What the standard actually requires

DMX512-A is built on
EIA-485 differential
signaling: 250 kbit/s, in packets of up to 512 channel slots after a start code. That framing is why the
cable matters. Reflections and impedance steps corrupt edges, and corrupted edges become flicker at the far
end of the chain.

Those are the industry definitions. Cabling for portable and permanent installations was separated into
its own project after 2003, one document covering portable DMX cable and a second covering permanent
installation. The figures your assembly is verified to are the ones on your drawing.

What is inside the jacket

• One impedance controlled data pair rather than a generic audio pair
• Foil screen over the pair to hold the characteristic impedance along the run
• Braided screen over the foil for mechanical strength and coverage
• Polyethylene insulation on the pair, which is what the impedance figure depends on
• Color coded jacket so data runs can be told apart from audio at a glance

Standard documents for this class of link describe a nominal characteristic impedance in the 110 to 120
ohm range depending on the document and the cable type. The nominal figure for your build is stated per your
drawing.

Right angle, pancake and weather resistant builds

Where fixtures are packed tightly on a bar or set into a floor, a straight plug does not fit. Right angle
and pancake connectors keep the cable flat against the fixture body and stop the plug being knocked sideways
during load in. For facade and outdoor work we offer an overmolded sealed version with a gasket at the
mating face. The rating for that build is stated per your drawing and pending the test you require.

Planning the chain

Chains are limited by total length and by the number of fixtures hanging off them, and the practical limit
comes sooner on a touring rig with many connectors in the path than on one clean installed run. Plan the
chain rather than letting it grow, terminate the far end, and keep data cable away from dimmer power. For
long installed routes we supply bulk cable with connectors and crimp tooling so the run is terminated to the
measured length on site.

Typical applications for this DMX512 lighting cable

• Fixed installs in theaters, houses of worship and performance halls
• Architectural facade lighting with a permanently exposed run
• Touring rigs struck and rebuilt night after night
• Studio and broadcast lighting grids running alongside our XLR microphone cable
• Stage boxes and portable dimmer racks, where a 1/4 TRS to XLR cable covers the audio side

How to specify your build

1. Connector — 3-pin or 5-pin, and what the venue has standardized on.
2. Ends — male to female as standard; right angle or pancake where needed.
3. Cable construction — data pair gauge and screening.
4. Environment — indoor, touring, or a sealed build for an exposed run.
5. Length — measured, or bulk with crimp tooling for site termination.
6. Quantity, and whether terminators and adapters go in the same order.

Workmanship and testing

Build standard for DMX512 Lighting builds is IPC/WHMA-A-620 Class 3 under ISO 9001, with terminations from 32 to 12 AWG. No DMX512 unit is packed until continuity and pinout check out, and seal checking is quoted whenever an ingress rating is on the drawing.

Every production run can ship with RoHS and REACH declarations and the electrical report agreed at quotation; see certifications and material declarations. UL styles and other named approvals are built to drawing: we source to the style you specify and document it, rather than asserting a listing we do not hold. Termination, molding and verification happen in-house see our assembly lines in Longgang so the process that made your sample is the process that runs the order. Related reading: what stage and studio work demands. Tooling is quoted separately, cut in-house rather than brokered out, and owned by you.

Custom builds and ordering

On DMX512 Lighting builds, prototype lots run from 1 to 50 pcs and leave in 3 working days. Production runs of 500 pcs and up ship 14 working days after approval. Tooling not already held adds around 10 working days. DMX512 builds go out under your part number and labeling, and we provide material certificates and first-article reports when asked.

Related stage and studio assemblies

• XLR Microphone Cable, Balanced Three Pin Male to Female
• 1/4 TRS to XLR Cable 6.35 mm Balanced Lead for Monitors
• Balanced IEM Cable with Detachable Two-Pin and MMCX
• 12G-SDI Coax Cable Assembly, BNC to BNC
• Cat6A Rugged Locking Patch Cord for Stage and AVoIP

Full range: audio and video cable assemblies.

Frequently Asked Questions