dastrick
huh???
I would love to know how to DIY an Insert to Direct Out cable. I found premade ones online for $10 for a 6" cable. That's just TOO much.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Farview
Well-known member
Take a TRS connector, solder the tip and sleave together.
Now solder the sleeve to the shield of the cable and the tip to the conductor.
Solder a TS connector on to the other end of the cable. Tip to conductor, sleeve to shield.
Now solder the sleeve to the shield of the cable and the tip to the conductor.
Solder a TS connector on to the other end of the cable. Tip to conductor, sleeve to shield.
dastrick
huh???
thanks
I appreciate it.
I appreciate it.
Farview
Well-known member
It gets a little more complicated if you want to still have the ability to use the insert as an insert as well as a direct out, you would need a switching jack to make that happen.
mshilarious
Banned
mshilarious
Banned
You could do a pigtail cable too:
Insert side:
Tip (send)
Ring (return)
Sleeve (ground)
Direct out (pre-insert):
Tip: from Insert Tip
Sleeve: ground
Send: TRS or dual TS cable, according to what you need.
You could also have a post-insert direct out if you wire the direct out connector to insert ring rather than sleeve.
Anyway, you end up with a 1x2 or 1x3 cable (or 1x4 if you want to go crazy with pre- and post-insert direct outs), depending on what you need.
dgatwood
is out. Leave a message.
mshilarious
Banned
Or just insert a standard TS cable to the first click.
Given the OP's question I presume that is not what he wants to do.
dastrick
huh???
tried it...
I can do that, but it stops the signal from going to the rest of the board.
Sorry, but I'm confused.
I think I'm going to try to find a diagram. That will clear it up for me. I'm not worried about having the insert still act as an insert. I just want it to act like a DO.
I can do that, but it stops the signal from going to the rest of the board.
Sorry, but I'm confused.
I think I'm going to try to find a diagram. That will clear it up for me. I'm not worried about having the insert still act as an insert. I just want it to act like a DO.
dastrick
huh???
I think I've got it
After about the 30th time of reading it, I think I understand it. (working nights makes my brain slow)
After about the 30th time of reading it, I think I understand it. (working nights makes my brain slow)
mshilarious
Banned
No, that's inserted all the way. First click doesn't break the normalled tip to ring connection.
You see, an insert jack is a switched jack, like this one:
It doesn't show too well in the picture, but there are six leads off that. When you insert a plug, the three tabs on top lift and only make contact with the plug. When the plug is removed, the tabs touch the lead on the other side of the jack.
The tip is wired from the switched lead to the unswitched side of the ring, which is the return. The send is the unswitched side of the tip. When there is no plug, the tip tab sends signal to the ring. When a plug is fully inserted, the tip tab only goes to the plug.
If you insert a plug to "first click", the tip of the plug touches the ring of the jack. The jack tip is still normalled, so the send signal flows to ring.
The reason why people want an insert cable rather than the first click trick is they don't want to risk a cable getting bumped all the way in and cutting off the channel. From my point of view, I make all my cables, so there is no reason for me to use a TS connector and first click when a TRS connector is only a few pennies more and does the job more securely. Also, some mixers don't have nice rigid clicks.
I don't own a mixer anymore myself . . .
suprstar
It aint ez being green
An insert cable is a TRS on one end, and 2 TS's on the other. The TS's are 'in' and 'out'. A board doesn't need an insert to return the signal, right? So the 'out' TS is technically a direct out isn't it? Why do you have to short the T and R? Can't you just take the T (send) and S (ground), and wire em to the TS connector?
mshilarious
Banned
Because the ring on the insert plug breaks the internal send-return path on the mixer, so you would have no signal from that channel to the rest of the mixer (see my last post above).
suprstar
It aint ez being green
So a mixer DOES need the insert to return? I must be missing something cuz I swear I have insert cables plugged in and not connected to anything. That should mean no signal then? I will have to double check that and experiment.
Farview
Well-known member
When there is nothing plugged into the insert jack, the preamp is connected to the rest of the channel strip. When you plug an insert cable into the insert jack, that internal connection is broken and the send is sent to one of the 1/4 ends of the cable. IF that is not connected to the return, no signal will be seen to the rest of the channel strip.
If it were any other way, a noise gate wouldn't work on an insert. Neither would a compressor, EQ, or anything else that needs the signal to go through it and not parallel to it.
suprstar
It aint ez being green
Yeah, that makes sense, seems obvious now that I think about it now. And what was throwing me off is I just discovered my patchbay connects the rear jacks if nothing is plugged into the front.. I thought they were disconnected. Now I know why the patchbay diagram I followed works the way it does, seems very insightful and clever now that I understand it,
suprstar
It aint ez being green
If you took a standard insert cable, shorted T and R, then BOTH the send and return TS connections become direct outs, correct?
dgatwood
is out. Leave a message.
It shouldn't. Normalled insert jacks are generally configured so that the signal doesn't drop out until you plug it in all the way.
dastrick
huh???
You are right. If I take the TS cable and plug it in to the first click, it acts as a direct out. However, there is a channel on my mixer that breaks the signal if I do it. I guess it's a bad insert jack.