Here’s a very useful post for the travelling audio person.
In BukasPalad, whenever we have performances we usually are dependent on whatever soundsystem the venue has. Knowing how 3rd-world countries work, most of these soundsystems’ equipment and technicians are far from professional. But we’re broke so we just have to live with it I guess.
Aside from worrying about what microphones we have available, the next most important thing was always to make sure their system can play our minus-ones (if need be). This usually meant we had to conenct our iPods (cuz were high tech hahahaha joke) to the PA – and that’s were everything can get lost in translation. I remember the trouble we had in finding the correct plugs and jacks to connect whatever we had, to whatever they had. There were times I would say “yung malaki” (the big one) when I referred to the 1/4″ plug, or “pang-headphones” (for headphones) when referring to a 2.5mm plug; just so I could make them understand the type of adaptor I wanted.
So with that, I’ve taken the liberty of distilling the long text from wikipedia articles and explain what you need to know to communicate what you need to whichever venue sound-technician you talk to. There are a lot of alternative names for these common audio interconnects, and I will attempt to consolidate in one post, the different names used – which I’ve come across over time.
So we’re on the same page
Before I begin, I’ll just assume some stuff so we don’t get confused.
- Plugs or Pins are male – whenever you see any protruding stuff, that’s male.
- Jacks, slots, sockets are female – obviously anything with a crevice is female.
While fairly obvious, I mention this because the more proper term “plug” is not often used anymore – like when talking about a 1/4″ jack (which is male, so essentially it’s a plug). While such interchangeablitily of terminology is forgivable, for the purposes of this post, when I say jack I mean the hole (jack) where the plug… er… plugs in (or jacks-in).
Also, I will be limiting this to the really common connectors (no specialized cables here)
XLR
Technically this can already be considered as a specialized type of interconnect, since you rarely see these in a home environment. Still, it’s worth mentioning because once you go to a public place (or start a studio), and want to connect stuff into the mixer, you definitely will have to deal with these plugs/jacks eventually
The good thing about XLR interconnects is that its moniker is universally known; rarely will you find technicians that call XLR interconnects as anything else. Maybe once in a blue moon they will refer them as microphone cables; which can be misleading, but understandable since most [serious] mics indeed use the XLR connectors.
The etymology of the term XLR comes from the fact that the design was based on the original Cannon X connector. Where later versions added a latch (thusly called Cannon XL), then a Rubber compound surrounding the contacts. Voila XLR
Jack Plugs
This is probably the most common and most confusing type of plug/jack of all, since not only do we have alternative names for the jack plug, but we also have different sized variations of it. I guess the easiest way relate the name to the different subsets it has is it’s purpose in history:
It was initially used by operators to literally to “jack-in” connections on telephone switchboards. So as far as purpose is concerned we have something that plugs in and out easily of a hole… hence all sizes/variations are still similar in the sense that insulator rings aside, they all can be described as a single conductive plug.
Types of jack plugs
The largest is the (Tele)phone plug, which obviously is the [original] size used in the historal example given above. Other names used to describe Jack Plugs of this size (that I’ve come across) are:
- 1/4″ – The most common name for it
- 6.35mm
- Instrument plug – Actually this is normally used in reference to the cable type. An “instrument cable” usually employs a 1/4″ plug.
- PL – I actually can’t find this in the internet, but here in the Philippines, it’s used a lot to describe this plug.
Next would be the Miniature plug, which is commonly used nowadays for consumer headphones – or anything that needs to plug into jacks on a constrained space (e.g. Laptops, portable players, computer sound cards, etc.) Other names used to describe Jack Plugs of this size (that I’ve come across) are:
- 1/8″
- 3.5mm
- Headphone plug
- Mini plug – I’m guessing this is the most common name for it.
- Mini-PL – Again, I hear this a lot in the country.
Lastly, we have the Sub-miniature plug, which I rarely see, but whever I see it, it’s usually for cell-phone hands-free sets. Other names used to describe Jack Plugs of this size (that I’ve come across) are:
- 3/32″
- 2.5mm
- Micro plug – I’m guessing this is the most common name for it.
- Micro-PL – Again, I hear this a lot in the country.
TRS
The term TRS means Tip-Ring-Sleeve, and is applicable to any jack plug size (as seen in the picture). All it means is that the metal contacts are divided into 3 sections. The tip, the ring and the sleeve (duh). These types of connectors are used for stereo or balanced applications.
The tip and the ring is either used for left and right channel audio (for stereo), or the primary and differential signals (for monaural balanced output). The sleeve is used for the ground.
There can be more divisions in the metal contact depending on how many currents/signals you want to be able to transmit. A four conductor version is becoming a de facto standard output connector for compact camcorders, providing stereo sound plus a video signal.
RCA
Another extremely common plug. Commonly used in pairs (L/R) for consumer audio electronics as well as for video players (has a third connector). Incidentally, these cables can be used as connectors for S/PDIF jacks, which transmit digital signals.
- RCA – Most common name for it
- Phono plug
- Cinch
- A/V plug – Because a lot of video systems use these types of connectors for both audio (L/R) and video (composite)
- Coaxial – Usually only when talking about the S/PDIF interface. I advise against this since it can be misconstrued as the similarly named coaxial TV cables.
To wrap up, after knowing that all those names you’ve been hearing are practically describing the same thing, you don’t have to be afraid anymore. Also, you’ll now know why plug/jack converters/adapters work the way they do. They don’t have special magical circtuitry in them to work, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to rout the current from which contact to where.
XLRs are usually for balanced circuitry, but similarly, the same 3 pins of an XLR interconnenct can easily be routed/converted to the 3 contacts of a balanced jack plug. Or how a balanced jack plug can probably be converted into a pair of RCA adaptors, etc. etc. Now you know why that videocam of yours has that mini plug that suddenly bursts into 3 RCA connectors for the audio and video – and when in a pinch, you probably can create one yourself (if you have the materials).
I hope you found this helpful. As usual, this can be considered a work-in-progress, so feel free to correct, clarify or add information as you see fit.