I have been a cable junkie as long as I can remember. In my world, turning up to a gig either short on cables or without the right cables is a massive failure. The only thing worse is turning up with broken or faulty cables. But they were all working on the last gig or session, right? Well, I have discovered an inexpensive gadget that has already made its way into my live toolbox that is going to save me time and stress when trying to track down that elusive faulty cable in a rig. The Studiospares Ultimate Cable Tester (UCT100) is an amazing bit of kit but is it truly the Ultimate in cable testing?

Studiospares Ultimate Cable Tester

The Studiospares Ultimate Cable Tester (UCT) is a 9v PP3 (included) battery-powered device that will allow you to quickly check the status of most of the cables you are going to find in the average studio or stage environment.

Build Quality

The UCT is built like a tank. Its steel chassis which a bit smaller than a VHS video cassette is rock solid and has good chunky rubber feet on the bottom. This thing is built for the road. Actually, I think if you dropped it, it would dent most roads.

What Can It Test

The UCT can test the following plug types.

• 3-Pin XLR Male & Female

• 5-pin XLR Male & Female

• 3.5mm TRS Jack Connector

• 6.3mm TRS Jack Connector

• Phono / RCA Connector

• 3-Pin, 5-Pin, 7-Pin & 8-Pin MIDI / DIN Connector

• NL2, NL4 & NL8 Speakon Connectors

• RJ45 Network Connector

However, what makes it really handy is that the UCT can also test gender-changing cables, XLR to TRS Jack for example or 3 to 5 pin XLR. 5 pin XLR is normally used for DMX (lighting MIDI) so even the lampies out there will have a use for this thing.

Down the left or input side of the unit we find 1/4 inch TRS Jack, Phono, Din, 5 and 3 pin XLR and 2 and 4 pole Speakon parts

On the right side of the unit we find the output ports.

Along the top of the UCT we find the I/O for 8 pole Speakon, 3.5mm TRS mini-jack and RJ45 network ports. Here we also find the only control on the unit the main pin selector. Testing a cable is very simple.

Firstly connect the cable to be tested to the left and right side of the UCT. Turn the main rotary switch to Battery Check to make sure the battery is live. The battery check LED will light up bright green.

Let’s say we are testing a 3 pin XLR. Turn the rotary back to 1 and you will see (if the cable is working as it should) both the green and yellow LEDs around the number 1 light up.

If no LEDs light up then there is no connection and the left side contact (pin 1) is floating or is open in the cable. Set the rotary to 2 to set pin 2 and so on.

If the Ground (GND) LED light-up then there is a connection between the contact and the cassis.

What’s Missing

Giving something the title Ultimate can be quite brave because it indicates that you are going to want for nothing after buying it to do a job and while the UCT is indeed fully-featured there are a couple of minor omissions that I think could so easily have been included. Having Cat5 RJ45 plug testers is great but the Ethercon connector format is being used a lot more in studios these days as audio over IP becomes a very cost-effective way of routing audio. Many of these AoIP devices have Ethercon style ports rather than basic RJ45 terminals. Yes I know you can unscrew the case and poke the connector block from an Ethercon into a normal RJ45 socket but it’s far from an elegant solution.

I would also have liked to see a Bantam pair for testing. Again this is a more hi-end request but studios are still wired using Bantam patch bays. I don’t think there is a need these days for GPO or A-Gauge connectors but Bantam would have been very handy.

However, all is not lost as the UCT does come with a pair of banana plug inputs and probe cables so you can easily check for continuity between one end of a cable with exposed pins and the other using the external probes. I think that covers all bases.

Verdict

The Studiospares Ultimate Cable Tester is a great bit of kit. Every live and studio engineer should have one in their box of tricks ready to save the day. It’s easy to use and gives a clear yes/no answer in seconds and the very best thing is that the UCT is just £24.99 UK pounds. What's not to love?

You can find out more about the Studiospares Ultimate Cable Tester from the Studiospares website or from the video below.