TS or TRS for microphone for Roland PA60 mixer

A

adrian76

New member
Hi, i have just purchased an old (late 1970 )roland PA60 , 6 channel mixer all internal functions working , im in the process of restoring the external parts , im a bit confused about the mike inputs , there are 2 inputs for mikes and can be switched for guitar use with a switch . the inputs are 1/4 jacks , should i use XLR to TS or TRS , i have checked the Manuel but it does not say if i should use balanced or unbalanced and there is no indication on the mixer , it just says mic input , but it says to use low impedance mikes ( 200 to 600 ) could someone please help me as i dont want to purchase the wrong cable
thanks
 
hi everyone , tx for the replys , this means i have to use XLR to TS , since the cable will be unbalanced it should not exceed 15 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters) , please correct me if im wrong , if the mike cable needs to exceed 20 feet can i use XLR to XLR and at the point of connecting to the mixer use a XLR to mono (TS) adapter, will the mike cable be balanced and reject noise from outside,
 
Where did you get the length limit from? Mics are low impedance so cable length is not an issue, unlike high impedance guitars connections. Unbalanced just means you lose the common mode hum rejection, but to be honest, in practical terms, it often doesn't matter. I bought a new cable tester, and went through my van cables. I found three in regular use that had pin 1 shorts, and had been working unbalanced every time. On a dynamic mic I never noticed, and these were 15 and 20m cables. Just buy ordinary balanced mic cable, stick a 3 circuit plug on the end, and if the mixer doesn't like it, just link the ring to the sleeve in the jack.
 
When that mixer amp was new, ¼" inputs were the norm, and they were on amps like this, reel to reel recorders and simple battery mixers. While a few devices back then had balanced inputs on XLR, only specialist PA kit used ¼" 3 circuit connectors, and had balanced operation. The one here was band equipment, and designed for unbalanced mics - like the Shure 515s and similar. Why won't the usual XLR unbalancing to jack adaptor work? If the impedance is the same, linking pin 2 or 3 to 1 in the XLR shell will do the trick, or like I said, the same thing at the other end.
 
adrian76 said:
can i use XLR to XLR and at the point of connecting to the mixer use a XLR to mono (TS) adapter, will the mike cable be balanced and reject noise from outside,
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Well, no. Cables really aren't balanced or unbalanced. It's the system of source through cable to receiver that would be balanced or in your case not. Unless all three (source, cable, receiver) have all three connections, it's just plain not balanced.

Not that any of that much matters.

Yes to 3 prongs! Replacing those caps in the process may well give you more benefit in terms of noise performance than you'll lose in 100 feet of unbalanced cable run. Don't do this yourself unless you actually know for sure what you're doing without having to ask some random people on the Internet. Do get it done now, before you play with it any more.
 
hi , im so sorry i didn't understand some things written as im not to good with sound equipment , i really dont need the mike cable to exceed 15 feet , was just checking on the options available , can i just use it the way the manufacturer recommends ? without modifications XLR to TS , do i need to do this ? " Note to the OP... if not done already, it would be advised to have a 3 wire grounded AC cord retrofitted to the amp for safety reasons " i just want to use the PA system the way it was meant , as its just going to be used at home, will the new mikes available now work ?
 
arcaxis said:
Also to note.... the speakers should be connected with speaker cables and not instrument cables that would be used with a guitar. Speaker cables are of a heavier wire gauge that can support the power through them. Perhaps the PA came with the necessary cables.
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And the two kinds can look practically the same. Usually they're marked either speaker or instrument, but not always. Instrument cables used for speakers will cause unnecessary stress to the amp. Speaker cables used on instruments are less able to block out noise.
 
thanx everyone, i have not purchased a mike as yet, im aware that i need to use a dynamic mike , was thinking of shure sm58 : ), wanted to confirm as the PA is a old model, im also aware of the difference in the instrument and speaker cable, thanx , very much appreciate the info from everyone, with regard to the 3 wire AC cord conversion , does this mean that i need to change the 2 pin plug to a 3 pin at the point of connecting the PA amp to the power ( plug point ) ?
 
adrian76 said:
with regard to the 3 wire AC cord conversion , does this mean that i need to change the 2 pin plug to a 3 pin at the point of connecting the PA amp to the power ( plug point ) ?
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It means you need to have somebody rebuild the power supply to properly incorporate a safety ground and replace the two conductor power cable with a proper three conductor one. If I was there, I might be tempted to snip that current power cord so that nobody could ever plug it in til it's fixed.
 
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