The needle electrode is inserted into the cross-linked polyethylene(XLPE) which is the ultra high voltage cable for electric power. By changing the tilt of the needle electrode, we investigated how the void and the thickness of the insulating layer influence the partial discharge(PD) characteristics and the insulating breakdown. In order to investigate the PD characteristics, The XLPE cable was used to the specimens and the tungsten electrode was used with the needle electrode. And the inner semi-conductive layer material of XLPE cable was used with the negative electrode by bonding with the use of conduction tape. The size of the specimens was manufactured to be $16{ imes}40{ imes}30[mm^3]$. We confirmed the effect on changing the PD characteristics according to the changing voltage and the tilt of the electrode after applying the voltage on the electrode from 1[kV] to 40[kV] at room temperature. In the PD characteristics, it was confirmed that the PD current of air void specimens with tilt was unstable more than that of no void specimens with tilt. It was also confirmed that the breakdown voltage was decreased because the effect of air void is more active than the change of the needle electrode tilt in the specimen with air void inside the insulation.