Mono to stereo 1/4" cables ok?

N

nrand

New member
Having obtained a small collection of hardware synth modules for a new project I need quite a lot of cables to hook everything up, and I am trying to keep the costs reasonable. I am running from the modules through a patch bay and then to my mixer and then into an EMU 0404 into Logic.

I notice that some snakes looms are stereo to stereo, presumably balanced, while some run stereo to mono or vice versa depending. I can get a pretty good deal on some used cables that are mono to stereo and I wonder if there is any reason I should not get these by comparison with all stereo?
 
Do you mean stereo or balanced?

Generally, TRS cables used for line outs/line ins are balanced. If you're running stereo, there's usually two cables, each of which is balanced.

Of course, this is not always the case, so tell us a bit more.

When you say mono to stereo, does that mean one jack at one end and two at the other, or just TS to TRS?

I bought 2x250m drums of 'patch cable' years ago and haven't god through it yet.
Every time I need a cable, I buy the connectors on ebay for a few pounds and solder it up myself.
 
They are advertised as 1/4" Mono to 1/4" stereo, I presume that is the same as TS to TRS?
I am not soldering adept, sadly.
 
That's a shame.

I wouldn't mix TS / TRS connections unless there's a reason to.

If your gear has balanced outputs and balanced inputs, then use balanced cables.
 
Thanks I am not certain, but I believe that all the analogue outputs on the modules are mono - Roland XV 5080, Yamaha EX5R and KS Rack.. So balanced cables would still be best? The Ensoniq Keyboard also has mono outs. If I run a stereo Y cable from the units, I know I am getting stereo at the other end with a 1/4" stereo jack, but this would still be unbalanced yes? Everything I read suggest as you do that TRS cables are best, but if the source output is mono then what is the difference? I did post this as a newbie . . . .
 
Just to make sure I understand, because I have a feeling I don't.....

Are you saying these "Stereo to Mono" cables have ONE stereo jack on one end, and ONE mono jack on the other? If so, I've never seen that and it makes no sense to me.
 
Describing a cable as mono or stereo is what makes this confusing.

A electric guitar signal is mono and the amps input is unbalanced.

A modern single channel preamp will be mono, but will have a balanced signal so it uses Tip, Ring and Sleeve.
You're referring to this cable as a stereo cable; See what I mean?

The important thing to find out about your gear is whether the outputs are balanced or not.

Either way I wouldn't mix and match. (TS at one end, TRS at the other).




I wrote a paragraph explained how balanced cables work, but I'm just gonna paste the following from a site cos it's so much more elegant.

"Along the length of the cable, noise can be introduced from external sources such as power cables, RF interference, etc. This noise will be identical on both hot and cold lines. This is known as a common mode signal - a signal which appears equally on both conductors of a two wire line.

So the hot and cold lines carry two signals: A desirable audio signal which has an opposite voltage on each line, and unwanted noise which is the same on both lines.

This is where the trick of balanced audio kicks in. At the input stage when the inverted audio signal is re-inverted to make both desirable audio signals the same, the unwanted noise is inverted. Voila - all the unwanted noise is cancelled out, leaving only the combined original signal."
 
These snake looms are all TS on one end and TRS on the other, 8 of each. It did not make a whole lot of sense to me either. Google is my friend too - small world.
 
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