Whirlwind CT-M Cat5e to 4 XLRM Ethercon Snake Cable

The Whirlwind CT-M is a 1.5-foot breakout cable engineered for the stage end of a Cat5e analog audio distribution system. One locking Ethercon connector receives the single Cat5e run from front-of-house or a stage box, and four XLRM connectors fan out to feed preamps, direct inputs, or any XLR-input device at the performer or source position. The signal path is entirely analog — no A/D conversion, no network protocol, no latency. You're using the twisted pairs inside Cat5e cable to carry four channels of balanced audio, which means the noise floor and signal integrity you hear are a direct function of your cable quality and electrical environment, not a digital processing chain. In practice, a quality Cat5e run in a reasonably clean electrical environment is indistinguishable from a traditional XLR snake in terms of what you hear at the console.

Whirlwind built the CT-M for working professionals, not for install-and-forget facility wiring. The Ethercon locking housing is the critical detail here — it provides the pull-retention needed on a live stage where a cable gets stepped on, tugged, and repositioned multiple times per show. The XLRM connectors terminate cleanly and seat firmly into preamp inputs and stage box channels without wobble. At 1.5 feet, this cable is the final link in a Cat5e snake topology — pair it with a corresponding CT-F (Ethercon to XLRF) breakout at the console or stage box end and you have a complete four-channel snake that fits inside a single Cat5e run. For broadcast trucks, theater installs, or touring rigs where cable management is a recurring challenge, the CT-M is a clean, professional solution with Whirlwind's durability track record behind it.