Microphone Cables

These days, you'd be hard pushed to find any remotely decent mic (regardless of price) that doesn't utilize the XLR connection. Some cables are available with an XLR jack on one end and a 1/4" jack on the other though, so you can plug mics into amps that only have standard jack inputs. The reason that microphones use XLR connectors is that the cable itself will be 'balanced'. That means there are actually three cables within it: one each for positive and negative polarities and the third for ground. Separating these gets rid of a lot of noise and hiss, making balanced signals both louder in signal and quieter in terms of unwanted noise.

No, any standard XLR cable of decent quality will be fine to use with a phantom power mic. Do I lose volume in my signal if my mic cable is really long? You do lose a little bit, yes. However, if you have vocal FX or if you go through a mixing desk with a compressor built in, you may find that you won't really notice the loss. If your cables are 20ft or less, you should do fine.