GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT CORDS

1. My general advice is don’t buy cheap cords.  They may sound okay, but they don’t last.  They are always breaking at inopportune times, and then you look like an idiot running around on stage trying to find a spare.  Besides, cheap cords end up costing more in the long run because they are always dying and being replaced.

2. Always bring a spare of every type of cord you use, to every gig.  Even with quality cords, something can go wrong. 

3. With any cord or cable, if you will learn the proper way to plug it in, unplug it, and wind it correctly, and take the time to always do so, and not allow other people who don’t know how to do it correctly to touch it, it will last much longer.  This applies to both quality cords and also for cheap cords.  Ask Irv to show you the proper over-under cord winding method, or link here to see a YouTube video explaining how to do the over-under cord winding method:   How to Wind Cables

MIC CORDS AND SNAKES

Most musicians use the cheapest mic cords they can find.  I also did this for decades.  Finally, I got fed up with a mic cable or two breaking every gig, either before or during the performance, and 7 channels out of 24 on the snake going dead over a couple of years.  I got tired of having a pile of mic cords on my desk waiting for me to get out the soldering iron to fix them.  So I threw every single mic cord and the snake into the garbage and bought all-new, quality cords.  I even bought them in custom lengths to reach various parts of the stage, and labeled them.  That was 10 years ago, and I’ve not had a single mic cord or snake channel go bad since.  It’s well worth it.

The cords I recommend are EWI Starline microphone cables (below).  They are excellent, reliable, and reasonably priced.

They are available only from Audiopile:  https://www.audiopile.net/starline-microphone-cables

For excellent, reliable, affordable snakes, I recommend EWI snakes, which are also available only from Audiopile: https://www.audiopile.net/stage-snakes

WIRELESS MIC SYSTEMS

What if you want to be cordless on stage?  What are the best systems to replace mic cords, and what are the tradeoffs?

In the past, cordless mics were horrible.  They had a loud hissing noise, poor frequency response in the high register, terrible signal to noise ratio, and pathetic dynamic range.  In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that the worst corded mic sounded better than the best cordless mic.  However, in just the last few years, huge improvements have been made in digital cordless technology.  Today, there are cordless systems for which the drop in sound quality is low enough that it is hardly noticeable in live performance.  The downside is that those systems are VERY expensive.  Even today, most inexpensive cordless mics sound absolutely horrible.

If you insist on a cordless mic, please LINK HERE and scroll down for a full discussion of cordless mic systems.  To briefly summarize, I do not recommend cordless mics.  Instead, I recommend cordless transmitters that plug into standard mics.  The best affordable transmitter/receiver I'm aware of is the Xvive Audio U3 (below left).  Sweetwater recommends it.  The specs sound good: it has 24 bit processing, excellent frequency response, low noise, low distortion, plenty of channels, and both the transmitter and receiver run off rechargeable batteries that charge with a USB cord, like a smartphone.  You just plug the transmitter into the end of your microphone instead of a cord, and plug the receiver into the snake or the mixer, instead of a cord.  This system sells for $200 at Sweetwater and gets 5 stars on Sweetwater and 4.5 stars Amazon. 

   

A less expensive system is the Joyo (above right), for about half the price of the Xvive.  It gets decent reviews and 4.4 stars on Amazon.  Sorry, I haven't personally tried either the Xvive or the Joyo, so I cant say whether the Joyo is as good as the Xvive.

If you choose to use a cordless system, here is a hard and fast rule that you should never break: Always run a cord from your place on the stage to the mixer or snake (acoustic guitar).  Don't plug it in, but have it there.  If a battery goes dead, or a transmitter or receiver goes bad, or a nearby router or cell phone or other device starts making radio noise on that frequency during the gig, you can plug the cord into the mic and into the PA in 10 seconds and be back in business.  Always remember, even the best wireless systems can have problems during a gig.

GUITAR/BASS/KEYBOARD CORDS

Before you buy any guitar/instrument cord, the first thing you need to understand is the difference between a guitar/instrument cord versus a speaker cord.  All guitar/instrument cords have plugs on the ends that look like this:

These plugs are usually called "quarter inch plugs" because the part that plugs into the jack is exactly .25" (6.35mm) in diameter.  They are also called “TS” plugs (meaning "Tip/Sleeve") because they have a tip (the end of the plug past the black plastic ring) and a sleeve (the long connecting part on the other side of the black plastic ring).  They are also called “phone jacks” because they were invented by the telephone company and were used by telephone operators in the 1920-1950 era.

Sadly, some speaker cords look exactly like  guitar cords, with quarter inch/TS/phone plugs on both ends, but THEY ARE NOT THE SAME as guitar cords and they are not interchangeable.  The guitar cord is made with a very small, thin wire in the middle and a braided wire shield around it.  The thin wire is actually composed of many extremely thin wires that make it flexible, but even with all those tiny wires together, it is still VERY thin (usually 24 gauge).

In contrast, a speaker cord is made with two thicker wires that are the same gauge as each other, with no shielding.  They are surrounded only by rubber:

The problem is, from the outside, these two very different types of cords look identical.  So just because you have a cord with 1/4" plugs on the end does not mean it is a guitar/instrument cord!  If you try to use a speaker cord for a guitar or instrument, you will hear all sorts of static and noise because the signal is not shielded, and the two unshielded wires act like a radio antenna.  Conversely, you try to use a guitar/instrument cord for an unpowered speaker (running from an amp to a speaker, not from a mixer to a powered speaker), the thin wire is unable to carry enough current and the sound will not be as loud and the dynamic range will be limited.  Worse, the cord will heat up, like an old Christmas Tree extension cord plugged into a 1500W space heater.  So pay attention, and label the cords when you buy them.

Here are my recommendations for guitar/bass/keyboard cords:

Inexpensive guitar/instrument cords

For excellent, reliable, affordable cords that are great for professional use, made by the same company as the mic cords recommended above, I recommend EWI GBNC Premium Series cords with Neutrik straight ends (below).  They sell for $19-21 and are available only at Audiopile:

12’, 15’, 18’    https://audiopile-net.3dcartstores.com/GBNC

The best guitar/instrument cords money can buy

The very best cord is the George L .155.  They are expensive, but for quality and longevity, they are worth the cost.

I have been using George L .155 cords exclusively since 1982, for all my keyboards, basses, guitars, and effects.  I have dozens of these cords; some are 40 years old, some are 20, some are 10, and some I just bought last year, and I can't tell the new ones from the old ones.  They have been gigged and gigged and gigged!  Out of all those cords, I have had only a few go bad in those 40 years... but here's the kicker: I've never had to throw one away.  You can repair them in 60 seconds: just loosen the screw, pull the end off, snip 1/2 inch off the end of the cable, reattach the end, tighten the screw, and it’s as good as new.  George L .155 cables are thin (they are only a little thicker than the bottom string in a 5 string bass!), but they are VERY strong.  Mine have been abused by PA amp cabinet wheels running over them, heavy keyboard stands smashing them, and so on, and they keep working!  The ends are also incredibly strong!  I have never heard of one breaking off while in the jack and someone trips on the cord.  Not many cords can say the same.  They coil well, they are tough, they don't take a lot of space in your gig bag, and they sound better than (or at least as good as) ANY other pro cord because they have excellent shielding, high quality copper core wire, gold plated ends, and extremely low capacitance.  You can make them any length you want.  You just order two ends plus whatever length of cable you want, and assemble it yourself.  It takes 2 minutes to assemble. 

NOTE: I do not recommend the George L. right-angled plugs, except for a pedalboard application.  Nor do I recommend the brass plugs, because they tarnish and that ruins the sound.  The stainless steel plugs are okay, but I recommend that you use only the straight, gold plugs (below):

Buying these cords direct from the manufacturer (georgelsstore.com) is a pain.  They don't offer custom lengths and their prices are ridiculously high.  Sweetwater has some George L kits but does not offer custom lengths nor do they offer gold plated ends.  The best place to buy them that I have found is at vantageguitarshop on Ebay.

Straight Gold Plated Ends (2 plugs per cord, sold in pairs, so order 1 pair per cord) https://www.ebay.com/itm/114728369689

Black .155 Cable (enter as the "quantity" the total length in feet of all the cords you want... you can cut them yourself) https://www.ebay.com/itm/115108438168

These are not cords for students on a budget, but for a gigging musician they are the best way to go.  A 15’ George L cord costs about $19 for the ends plus $33 for the cable, for a total of $52, which is within a few dollars of the price of a d’Addario “American Stage” cord and premium cords from other manufacturers.  George L's have the best sound, are easiest to stow away, are repairable (on stage, without a soldering iron, in seconds, with only a pair of scissors and a small screwdriver), and last the longest of any cord on the market.

BALANCED VS UNBALANCED CORDS

Guitar and instrument cords are "unbalanced."  In an unbalanced cord, the inner wire is the hot, and the surrounding braided shield is both the cold and the ground.  In other words, the inner wire and the shield wire are both conductors that carry the signal.  Thus, the shield serves a dual purpose: to carry the signal AND to shield the hot signal wire.  This is fine for running short distances, but this design is not good for going more than 20 feet or so.  Most guitar cords are 15 feet long, and you don't want to go much farther than that with an unbalanced cord.  If you do, there will be a noticeable loss of volume, especially in the treble, and the instrument will sound muddy.

For longer distances, it is necessary to use a "balanced" cord.  Microphone cords are "balanced."  The inside of a balanced cord looks a lot like a guitar cord, but instead of one thin wire in the middle, there are two thin wires in the middle, one for hot and one for cold.  Both are surrounded by a shield, which is connected to ground, that serves ONLY as a radio frequency shield, and does not carry the signal.  Balanced cords can go hundreds of feet without signal loss.

There is one more thing that needs to be said about balanced cords: they can have two different kinds of plugs on the ends.  Most balanced cords have XLR plugs on the ends.  These are the ends used on microphone cords, and they look like this:

On an XLR plug, pin 1 is ground (shield), pin 2 is hot, and pin 3 is cold.

The other kind of plug that can be on a balanced cord is another type of quarter inch plug, called a "TRS", which stands for Tip / Ring / Sleeve.  They look like this:

On a TRS plug, the tip is hot, the middle section (called the "ring") is cold, and the sleeve (the section closest to the rubber) is ground (shield).

(NOTE: These are exactly the same plugs that are used on professional headphones, but headphones are not shielded.  In that usage, the tip is left +, the ring is right +, and the sleeve is - for both left and right.  They are also used for "insert jacks" on mixers.  In that case, the tip is send +, the ring is return +, and the sleeve is three things: send -, return -, and shield.)

DI BOXES

To convert a signal from unbalanced to balanced is the job of a "DI", which stands for Direct Input.  The DI is a small box with a 1/4" jack on one side and a male XLR jack on the other side.  You plug your guitar cord into the 1/4" jack, then plug a mic cord into the other side, and run the mic cord to the snake or the mixer.  Inside the DI box is a transformer that converts the signal to a balanced format.

There are a lot of different DI boxes with a wide variety of prices.  The higher priced "active" DI's have all sorts of fancy features, but they do not do the job of converting from unbalanced to balanced any better than a good quality "passive" DI, which is much less expensive.  Since converting from unbalanced to balanced is the only job required of a DI, the active DI's are pretty much a waste of money for most applications.

For an excellent, reliable, affordable DI box, made by the same company as the mic cords recommended above, I recommend EWI FDB-101 One Channel Passive Direct Input Box.  It has every feature you need, and none you don't, and it's a better quality than many DI's at double its price.

It sells for about $30, and is available only from Audiopile https://audiopile-net.3dcartstores.com/FDB-101

On the other end of the price spectrum, the LR Baggs Venue DI that I use for my acoustic guitars has 5 band equalization, a mute switch, a boost switch, a notch filter, and a phase reverse switch, in addition to an excellent quality DI transformer, and sells for $300. 

There are many other DI boxes available between these two price and quality points, but I don't think they sound any better than the EWI.

If you play an acoustic guitar, you should always have a DI with you, wherever you go to gig.  If a professional sound company is doing the sound, they should have a half dozen DI boxes available for the band to use, but it never hurts to have your own, just in case.  With your DI, you can also patch into any mic jack in the chapel to perform at church.

If you play a keyboard, and there are no XLR output jacks, there are probably two 1/4" outputs (one for left channel or mono, and the other for right channel).  If those outputs are unbalanced, a regular 1/4" TS guitar cord is what you will use to connect to the PA, and you have the same situation as with a guitar: if you are more than 20' away from the mixer, you should purchase at least one DI (to run mono) to convert from a guitar cord to a balanced mic cord. 

But if your keyboard's 1/4" outputs are balanced, you don't need a DI.  There is no way to know if your outputs are balanced or unbalanced without reading the specifications at the back of the owner's manual for you keyboard.  Balanced and unbalanced jacks look the same.  You need to read the owner's manual to find out if those outputs are balanced or unbalanced.  If you have 1/4" balanced outputs, you should purchase a pair of 1/4" TRS male to XLR male adapter cords, so you can plug mic cords into them.

If you have a less expensive keyboard that has no output jacks but only a headphone jack, there are ways to get that into the PA but it's a little more involved.  My students can talk to me and I'll help you figure out how to do it.  Others reading this, you're on your own.

NOTE: most bands that have their own PA system run mono, but when you play for bigger events where a professional sound company is running the sound, they almost always run stereo.  Modern digital keyboards always have stereo capability, and they sound better to the audience in stereo.  If your keyboard has two XLR outputs, just tell the sound guy the keyboard has stereo XLR outputs.  He will plug two mic cords into them and pan those channels on the mixer to left and right in the PA.  If you have balanced 1/4" TRS jacks, plug your adapters into your keyboard and have the sound guy plug mic cords into the XLR ends of them.  If you have unbalanced 1/4" TS jacks, plug guitar cords into them and tell the sound guy you need two DI boxes to run stereo.

WIRELESS INSTRUMENT SYSTEMS

What if you want to be cordless on stage?  What are the best systems to replace guitar cords, and what are the tradeoffs?

In the past, nearly all professional guitar players chose cords.  That was because cordless systems had a loud hissing noise, poor frequency response in the high register, terrible signal to noise ratio, and pathetic dynamic range.  They destroyed the musicality of what was played.  In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that the worst cord sounded better than the best cordless.

However, in just the last few years, huge improvements have been made in digital cordless technology.  Today, there are cordless systems for which the drop in sound quality is low enough that it is hardly noticeable in live performance.

Guitar/Bass Wireless Systems

For acoustic sets, when every bit of tone matters, and I don't need to move around on the stage, I still use my George L. cords for my guitars.  But for rock sets, there are a couple of affordable wireless systems that are so good that I don't notice the difference at a gig, and I love to use them because of the freedom to move around on the stage without tripping on the cord.

The Xvive Audio U2 (below) is an excellent sounding cordless system for electric guitar, bass guitar, and most acoustic guitars.  You just plug the transmitter into your guitar, plug the receiver into your amp or the mixer or snake, and turn them both on.  They have internal lithium batteries that are recharged with USB. 

The system is priced at under $160 and is available at Sweetwater. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/U2Blk--xvive-audio-u2-digital-wireless-guitar-system-black

There is also another brand that I think sounds as good as the Xvive for half the price: the Getaria GWS-X3 Pro (below).  Its specs on frequency response, dynamic range, and signal to noise ratio are equal to or better than the Xvive.  It is available at Amazon for about $85.  For practicing in your house, the Getaria is fine, but I can't recommend it for live performance.  That's because the receiver automatically shuts off after 10 minutes of not receiving a signal.  That's REALLY bad news if you play multiple instruments.  You don't want to pick up your guitar, strum a chord, and hear nothing because the dumb receiver decided to turn itself off during a band break or after a couple of keyboard songs.  For that reason, I recommend the Xvive for live performance.

If you choose to use a cordless system, here is a hard and fast rule that you should never break: Always run a cord from your place on the stage to your amp (electric guitar) or to the mixer or snake (acoustic guitar).  Don't plug it in, but have it there.  If a battery goes dead, or a transmitter or receiver goes bad, or a nearby router or cell phone or other device starts making radio noise on that frequency during the gig, you can plug in the cord in 10 seconds and be back in business.  Always remember, even the best wireless systems can have problems during a gig.

Wireless In-Ear Monitor Systems

Many professional artists are protecting their ears from damage by converting from using monitors and amps on stage to using in-ear headsets.  In-ear headsets can be custom molded to your ears so that they block out the loud stage volume and, if you get a good sound tech to set up your monitor mix well, you'll hear exactly what you want to hear, and nothing else.  Drummers can do this with an inexpensive corded headphone amp, but singers and guitar players need a cordless system.

The Xvive U4X (below) is the best inexpensive transmitter and receiver for your in-ear headset.  The transmitter plugs into the mixer or snake return and the receiver has a strong belt clip to clip onto your clothing.  The receiver also has a volume knob so you can control the volume yourself without trying to get the attention of the sound tech.  Like other Xvive applications, the U4 has rechargeable internal lithium batteries that you recharge with USB.


The Xvive U4X is available from Sweetwater https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/U4Set--xvive-audio-u4-wireless-in-ear-monitoring-system

SPEAKER CORDS

Speaker cords connect unpowered speakers and monitors to the power amplifiers.  They are designed to carry significant watts of power, and thus have fairly high gauge wires.

(NOTE: “Powered Speakers” do not need speaker cords, because the amplifier is built into the same box as the speaker.  Instead of a single speaker cord, powered speakers need two cords: a 110V AC power cord, and a balanced mic cord or a guitar cord to receive the musical signal from the mixer.)

Sadly, there are several different types of plug ends that have been used on speaker cords that have been used over the years.  None of them are perfect, and they all have some problems, but some are better than others.  One of the worst was "RCA" or "phono" (short for phonograph -- not to be confused with "phone" which is short for telephone) cords, like this:

Cords with RCS/phono ends also were not used much in professional settings.  They were mostly used to connect old record players, cassette tape decks, TVs, and speakers to home entertainment systems.  With luck, you'll never see that kind of cord in your life.  They are horrible for speakers, and not that great for anything else.

Speakers used in permanent applications such as buildings and cars often have "bare wire" connectors, like these:

Bare wire connectors are very good at carrying electrical current to speakers, but very inconvenient for use in portable PA systems.

The most common type of ends on speaker cords for the last 50 years has been 1/4" phone jacks.  The 1/4" jacks were an unfortunate choice.  We have already discussed above the problem of confusion between 1/4" speaker cords and 1/4" guitar/instrument cords.  But even without that confusion, 1/4" jacks are terrible connectors for speaker cords because of the tiny connection point of the tip of the jack with the spade in the plug, which acts like a kink in a garden hose that restricts the current flow.  The jacks were designed by the telephone company for shielded audio cords for very low voltage applications, not for high wattage applications such as speaker cords!  Unfortunately, amps and speakers using 1/4" jacks are still commonly used.

Another type you might run into, that was much better than 1/4" plugs, was called "banana plugs."  They were used on high quality amps and speakers through the 1980s, 1990s and into the 2000s.  They looked like this:

Banana plugs were better at carrying high voltage current.  The problem was, they could be plugged in backwards, which would put the speaker out of phase.

Today, the preferred jacks and plugs for professional PA systems are "speakON" types.  These connectors are capable of handling far more voltage and carrying far more current than other jacks and plugs, and they can't be plugged in backwards.  They also have the advantage that they lock into place and can’t fall out during a performance.  This is what they look like:

Even though they are the best option, speakON jacks and plugs are not perfect.  Unfortunately, they have a couple of different wiring patterns, which means not all speakON cables will fit all speakON jacks.  You have to make sure the speakON cable you buy is compatible with your amp and speaker.  A full discussion of that problem is beyond the scope of this article.  Without going into such detail, you need to carefully look at the photos of the ends of the connectors of a cord and compare that to the inside of the jacks on your speaker and amp to make sure they will fit.  Look carefully at the location and size of the plastic pins.  Also read the description carefully: for most band applications, you are looking for "2 conductor" types.

These cables are often identified with a fraction such as 11/2 or 13/4.  The denominator is the number of wires in the cable and the number of connections in the plug.  (Since speakers only need 2 conductors, this numeral should be 2.)  The numerator is the gauge of the wires in the cable.  The lower the number, the thicker the wire and the more current it can carry (i.e., smaller numbers are better.)  For small PA systems (500W or less per speaker) and for monitors, a number of 16 (meaning 16 gauge wire) will work, but I recommend a numerator of 14 or 13.   For larger PA systems, I recommend a numerator of 14 or 13  (meaning 14 or 13 gauge or thicker) for mains and 12 or 11 (meaning 12 or 11 gauge or thicker) for subs.

Sometimes instead of a fraction, the gauge is stated as “AWG” (for example, 12AWG is 12 gauge).

For excellent, reliable, affordable speaker cables (speakON and 1/4" only; they don’t carry banana), I recommend EWI (available only at Audiopile): https://www.audiopile.net/speaker-cables

110V POWER CORDS

Sound equipment requires significant power.  Vintage PA ampifiers (prior to 1970) that used vacuum tubes used tons of electrical power to produce only moderate amounts of volume.  Although tube electric guitar amps sound fantastic, tube amps are not good for PA applications.

Professional “Class A” or “Class B” or “Class AB” solid state amplifiers (1970-2010) that use large transformers, huge capacitors, and banks of power transistors, also require huge amounts of power.  The difference between tubes and pro solid state amps isn’t how much power they use, it is what they do with that power.  Professional amplifiers of these types make tons of volume with huge headroom and almost no distortion.  These are still the best sounding amplifiers for high volume venues.  The disadvantages are they are heavy, they are expensive, and they get hot and need fans to keep them from overheating.

Newer systems with “Class D” amplifiers (2010 to the present) use far less electricity to produce musical volume than do older amps.  They are also very lightweight.  But there is a disadvantage, and it is a big one: they have no large capacitors that store energy.  So they rely solely on power that is coming from the 110V power lines, every millisecond that they are in use.  This means that when the drummer kicks the kick drum, or the guitar plays a power chord, or the bass player plays a loud low note, there is no reserve power to support that transient peak in volume.  So even though Class D amplifiers use less overall power, they require just as much -- or more -- amperage capacity from the 110V system as older amps do.  If they can’t get it, they just sound crappy.

For these reasons, no matter what type of amplifiers they are using, rock, pop, and country bands need huge-amperage 110V power sources from the venue.  And unfortunately, they usually don’t get them.  Too often, a band with a nice PA system ends up plugging into a single 15a plug, and sounds horrible the entire set.  Or worse, they are sometimes stuck on an electrical generator, which barely produces enough watts for a moderate volume, and has ZERO reserve for musical transient peak volumes.

In my experience, for a medium sized gig at medium volume, no matter what class of amplifiers they are using, a band needs AT LEAST two dedicated, non-shared 15a circuits, connected to utility-provided power, on different circuit breakers from each other, preferably on opposite sides of the circuit breaker box (meaning they are on different wires of the 220V from the power company).  One circuit should be used to power everything on stage (guitar amps, bass amp, electronics, etc.) and the other should be dedicated to power the PA system (up to 3,000 Watts).  If running such a system outdoors or at capacity, at least two 20a circuits are needed.  This does NOT include stage lighting and visual effects.  Those must be on power circuits completely separate from the sound system.  When I write my band contracts when people hire us, I include a paragraph specifying this power requirement.

Every band should bring with them to every gig at least two 100-foot, 12 gauge extension cords.  (NOTE: Extension cords that go to your power strip must be 12 gauge.  Do not use 14 gauge -- or worse, 16 gauge -- extension cords!!!!  They cannot carry the power you need, the sound will sag, and they can even be dangerous!)

You can buy 50’ 12g power cord at Lowe’s or Home Depot.  The ones at Harbor Freight are a little stiffer, but they work just as well and are a little less expensive.

NOTE: Bands that gig frequently with their own sound system, if it is a fairly robust sound system, should consider buying or building several 220V to 2x20a-110V adapters that fit various kinds of 220V outlets, including 50a RV outlets and clothes dryer outlets.  Such outlets are usually wired better than ordinary 110V outlets.

110 VOLT POWER STRIPS

The important thing with powerstrips is to make sure you don’t exceed the rated amps (or watts) of the power strip.  For small accessories and so on the Harbor Freight strips work fine (cheap beige ones or yellow ones with the longer cord that cost a little more).  For larger electrical loads, any industrial power strip will work.  The ones for building contractors are usually heavy duty.  Most of them handle up to 15amps.  My favorite is the Furman (below) SS6B because it has surge protection and also because it is black and doesn't look stupid on stage:

https://www.amazon.com/Furman-SS6B-Power-Conditioner/dp/B0002D017M

For rack mounted PA systems, there are many Furman power conditioner and spike protection models available in various price ranges.

CORD TIES

One of the best investments you can make is cord ties.  After you wind your cords correctly, you need something to keep them wound that way and to prevent them from getting mixed up with other cords.  There are various ways to tie cords, but the easiest and best are Velcro style hook and loop fasteners that permanently loop around one end of the cord, and then loop around the entire cord after it has been wound.

The Rip-Tie ties I used for many years that I was very happy with were expensive and are now hard to find, but I recently purchased a set of very inexpensive no-name brand cord ties on Amazon (below) that are identical in shape and very similar in construction and feel.  The package includes two sizes; one for ordinary mic and guitar cords, and a longer one for thicker cords.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H8J3MC1/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_4?smid=A1C0IOTTFIXH1G&psc=1

Another option is the Velcro 6” x ½” OneWrap thin reusable ties available at Lowe’s and Home Depot.  They are thinner, and a little more annoying, but they work well and come on a long roll.