cabling question: stereo out to separate mono ins

R

rhythm

New member
I'm going to be making or buying a "Y" cable to perform the following connections:

single end: 1/4" stereo output of guitar effects processor
"Y" ends: 1/4" balanced inputs of Audiofire2 recording interface

Please let me know if my following assumptions are correct....

1) I'll use a TRS connector for the stereo output

2) The stereo output is not balanced audio

3) Even though the inputs on the Audiofire are balanced, using TS connectors on the "Y" ends would suffice, since the audio signal they're receiving is not balanced audio to begin with, correct? Or is there a reason to go with TRS all the way around?

Thanks.
 
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1) correct

2) correct

3) correct

You can't go with TRS all the way around because a TRS "Y" cable would be a splitter. (like a cable that would allow you to plug two sets of headphones into one headphone jack) If you did use one, you would just hear the difference between the left and right channel.

You need to go from TRS to TS right and TS left. The input of your interface doesn't care if you send it a balanced signal or not.

Remember, the cable or input are not balanced, the signal is. If you don't have a balanced signal in the first place, the cable or the input is not going to change that.
 
Thank you much, Farview and MOFO Pro. I thought I had a proper understanding of what I needed, but I wanted confirmation anyway. Now I just need to decide if I think the stereo sound out of my effects processor is worth making this kind of a cable, or if I should just use a standard instrument cable that I already have on hand and take a mono output from the processor to just one input of my recording interface. Either way, at least I know what to do.

Thanks again!
 
Yeah, I realized this as I was ordering one with my other cables. Not sure why the lightbulb didn't come on earlier...perhaps it's the application, in that I'm not using it with an actual insert point in a mixer. Whatever the reason...it just didn't "click" when I was first considering what I needed.
 
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