Hypothetical Ooopsy

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Don't think of a cable as "stereo" or "mono"....or balanced/unbalanced. The cable is just a cable. The actual SIGNAL that passes down it is stereo, mono, balanced or unbalanced.

That's an excellet way to put it, Ben!

And to add just a slightly different light on it, the only signifigant thing about the TRS in this application is that it allows for three seperate conductors, the same way that XLR does.

Those three conductors can be used to carry stereo (like in stereo headphones), or balanced mono (like in this situation), or even unbalanced mono if the third conductor is ignored. In this case, the three conductors just so happen to be used for a balanced mono signal. But it's that third conductor that makes the configuration possible* in this case. You could just as easily run from XLR to TRS and vice versa; they're just two different sized plugs that serve the same purpose; to connect three wires in a cable to another cable or device.

G.

*Purists, don't get on my case for a slight technical inaccuracy in the definition of "balanced" there. Just trying to make a conceptually accurate point there at the ENG101 level, even if there are technical exceptions on the ENG214 level.

 

[ridgeback]

One thing I've heard about TRS however is to be very sure that no phantom power is on while patching. You could be misapplying power when the TRS is on it's way into the jack. You should always have phantom off when patching no matter what but you could damage something more easily with a hot TRS connector.

 

[LeeRosario]

Lets say I've got my AT3035 patched into my ART Pro with phantom applied there then into my ProjectMix I/O. Then lets say someone hits the phantom button on the ProjectMix applying to all 8 inputs. Is something going to blow up? Well, it did.......the ART blew up. I'm trying to figure out if this was a fluke or user error on the part of my partner.

I don't see how that could happen. Are you absolutely sure it was the phantom power and not something else? And does it smell burnt or just not turning on?

I ask, cause you see, you're running parallel voltage there. Two phantom power supply units in the same chain dosn't equal 96 volts, it equals 48 volts. That dosn't change. So it had to be something else.

Maybe a power spike, a bad connection inside the box, maybe a bad vaccum tube (if it was a tube pre)...shit man, he may have just dropped it. It is correct thinking to practice turning phantom power off when you plug anything in. You actually save your preamps some life by doing that.

If you say you have phantom power on the project mix as well, that leads me to beleive it has a built in preamp?

Cause if you're running one preamp straight into another one, well....

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

One thing I've heard about TRS however is to be very sure that no phantom power is on while patching. You could be misapplying power when the TRS is on it's way into the jack. You should always have phantom off when patching no matter what but you could damage something more easily with a hot TRS connector.

It's always a good idea to have phantom power turned off when patching, just to be on the safe side.
As Ben said in another thread - and I LOVE this quote on so many levels - "we're working with electricity here."

Not enough to seriously hurt ourselves, but certainly enough to mess with electronics not designed to take it. So it's always good to keet the extra electricity away until we're sure we are sendig it only to what we want to send it to.

Probably the thing about TRS is based upon the fact that TRS is not a common connector to find dangling off the end of a microphone, which is the only kind of device which should receive phantom power. The vast majority of pro- and pro-sumer level microphones (and mic inputs) are based upon XLR.

However, that's kind of a myopic viewpoint. The other side of that coin is that the larger the studio, the greater the chance you'll find gear other than microphones that are using XLR for their connections, providing even greater chance for mistake if you're not paying attention.

G.

 

[xstatic]

Everyone seems to have missed one giant mistake in this thread.

NEVER use duck tape on equipment. Use Gaff tape

 

[Fletcher]

Its "duct"... as in "heating and air conditioning duct"... not "duck".

The only time I could think anyone would want to put tape on a semi-aquatic animal is if you thought it might rip apart when you fuck it... hence the phrase: "go fuck a duck".

... and now back to our regularly scheduled pogrom...

 

[xstatic]

But Duck just sounds so much better and has 1 fewer syllable. Not to mention the bestial reference which is almost always inspiring in the rock industry

On a side note Fletcher, hopefully I will be placing a nice order with your place in the next couple of weeks. I have been dealing with Zach and he has been great so far

 

[noisewreck]

Make sure to use 1/4" TRS cables not TS cables. TRS are balanced while TS are not.

There are also XLR to TRS cables so no need for adapters.

 

[mattkw80]

Fletcher,

Are we allowed to say f**k in these forums ?


If so.... I'm gonna start lettin' it fly....

Its "duct"... as in "heating and air conditioning duct"... not "duck".

The only time I could think anyone would want to put tape on a semi-aquatic animal is if you thought it might rip apart when you fuck it... hence the phrase: "go fuck a duck".

... and now back to our regularly scheduled pogrom...

 

[bennychico11]

Make sure to use 1/4" TRS cables not TS cables. TRS are balanced while TS are not.

There are also XLR to TRS cables so no need for adapters.

TS cables don't normally SUPPORT balanced connections.
Remember....balanced has to do with the signal coming out of the gear, NOT the cable you use.

 

[Fletcher]

TS cables don't normally SUPPORT balanced connections.
Remember....balanced has to do with the signal coming out of the gear, NOT the cable you use.

Sure they will if you're going into an unbalanced input [or output]... if you're going into a balanced input then it will depend on how the input stage was designed. Many are designed to its OK to short the low side of the signal to the ground... in which case it is perfectly acceptable to use a TS end... some will not support the low side of the signal to ground... that will be when you run into trouble.

 

[bennychico11]

Sure they will if you're going into an unbalanced input [or output]... if you're going into a balanced input then it will depend on how the input stage was designed. Many are designed to its OK to short the low side of the signal to the ground... in which case it is perfectly acceptable to use a TS end... some will not support the low side of the signal to ground... that will be when you run into trouble.

sorry, I get ya. I worded it a little strange.
I was just mainly trying to correct his statement by adding the word SUPPORT so as not to confuse people that the actual TRS or TS connector is what denotes it as balanced or unbalanced. It's just the idea of people calling a cable "balanced" is wrong.

 

[irishfolker]

Fletcher,

Are we allowed to say f**k in these forums ?


If so.... I'm gonna start lettin' it fly....

That's "fuct."

 

[mattkw80]

That's "fuct."

F*ck f*ckity f*ck f*ck f*ck f*ck