Best way to label XLR, TRS, USB, Firewire cables?

Brother P-Touch. Check Amazon for reviews etc. I love mine, I am much better organized.

You could just pick up some color coded zip ties at a hardware. Get thicker ones if you're wanting to write on them.

I use a brother p-touch and it's great.

One tip that works for me and might work for others is -- don't label cables with their function. At least for me, if I label something "Drum Mic", I guarantee you 2 weeks later that cable's gonna be moved somewhere else, and the label will just confuse me.

So instead I just label my cables with names, like "Franky" and "Johnny", "Zappa", "Norbert", etc. If you're less crazy than me (which is highly likely) you can pick more boring, institutional names like "A3" or "B17". Either way, having names on the cables lets you pick up one end and know which cable it is without permanently tying it to one specific destination or function.

Just a notion. If you never plan to unplug or repatch anything, then obviously you can go ahead and name things more 'permanently'. But where's the fun in that? 🙂

Get a patch bay, call it Dirty Sandra, and let Johnny, Frankie and Norbert abuse all it's inputs.

I like the idea of Frankie and Johnny - but for me the simplest markers are just colored rubber O-rings. You can set combinations at each end of a cable, in order from the connector working in. They stretch around jacks, XLR etc. Works well for me and they're about $10 for hundreds of assorted color rings, but your idea is a lot more entertaining.

ThorTheGodOfBlunder wrote:
Get a patch bay, call it Dirty Sandra, and let Johnny, Frankie and Norbert abuse all it's inputs.

No can do, sorry. Brattney, my current patch bay, would be insanely jealous.

🙂