Audio Signal Connections

Welcome back everyone!
We now have almost every element needed to create a strong foundation within the development of the at home studio! I have discussed how you will use your studio, different DAWs available on the market, several digital interface options, microphone options, studio monitors, microphone stands, even showing options of how one can take their studio on the road.

The last topic I must cover in order to create the solid foundation for the at home studio are audio signal connections. This is going be a bunch of cables and connectors one will need in order to route audio signal. We have our interface, microphones and monitors, now we need a way to get signal from all these sources and out to the listener or engineer.

XLR

The first type of connection, one of the most common connections, is XLR. This is the standard cable that one would connect to their microphone, and from the mic to the interface. This is what transfers the audio signal from mic (analog), to interface/DAW (digital).

These particular connectors are balanced, meaning the connection has both a send, return, and ground. This makes this connection very stable, and can be found on almost all professional audio gear.

The female end, which is the end that has insert and not prongs to plug into anything, will go into the mic. The male end with the prongs will go into the receiver, whether that be your interface, mixer, snake, compressor, monitors, or other effect processor.

Here is the bottom of a mic, which has the male connection, and the back on of Saffire Pro 40, which has the female inserts.

TRS 1/4"

Standing for Tip, Ring, Sleeve, this connection also is balanced and acts like the XLR. The tip, ring, and sleeve act as the send, return, and ground of the electrical signal. A common use for the connection would be send audio signal from a guitar to an amp, bass to an amp, amp to input on a mixer or interface, or sometimes even microphones.

Another use for this connection would be sending the audio signals coming from your interface to your studio monitors. This is usually done with TRS, but can also be done with XLR. In most situations I've been in, all monitor connections were done by using TRS connections.
When dealing with our interfaces, often times each audio input on the device will have a connection for both XLR and TRS. However, you can not connect both a TRS and XLR at the same time. If the interface you are using has 8 inputs, and you are using 4 TRS connections on 4 inputs, then you are only able to use 4 more XLR connections or 4 more TRS connections, or mixed and matched.

As you can see on the Pro 40, each input is able to take an XLR, as well as plugging a TRS directly into the middle of the input. This is another great feature of the Pro 40.

Here is the back of the KRK Rokit 5 studio monitor. As you can see, there is an input for both TRS and XLR for audio signal. This is how the signal gets transferred from the interface or mixer to the monitors.
Other uses for the TRS would be sending an instrument to a DI box, effect peddle, compressor, delay, reverb unit, and so on.

TS

A TS connection is very similar to TRS, only in this case the TS connection is unbalanced. Meaning this connection runs in mono, only having a send and ground, no return. Since this cable in unbalanced, there may be extra noise and not as clear signal being sent, but this connection will work the same as the TRS connection.

Note: Some devices and processors will not except a TS connection and will require the TRS or XLR connection in order to operate properly.

Another use for TS and TRS connections is here on the patch bay. The patch bay is a routing system that using audio connections to transfer signals from one location to another, just my simply connection the cable from source to destination.

RCA

RCA connections were released through the Radio Corporation of America, and were designed to replace old phono connections. RCA connections are capable of sending both the left audio signal, the right audio signal, as well as a composite video signal. This is a common connection used for those working on audio and video together.

Here is an effect processor that accepts TS, TRS, and RCA connections.

S/PDIF

The S/PDIF connections is a digital audio connection, that only sends digital signal to devices. This is very similar to HDMI, but HDMI also carries digital video signals.

Here is what an S/PDIF connection looks like, as well as the In and Out S/PDIF connection on the back of the Saffire Pro 40. Uses for the connection can be linking up a mixer or interface to the interface you already have, or sending the signals your are working with to a CD player, PA system, or other processing device. This connection may allow you to add more audio channels into your system by connection another interface.

Optical

The optical connection is a used to transfer high quality digital audio signals to other devices or loudspeakers. Again, this may be used to add more input channels to your system by connection more devices to your main interface. It may also be used to send signals to computers, video game systems, live sound systems and so on. This is a very strong connection because the signals are transferred through light, which means they travel extremely fast.

There are all the typical connections one will find in there at home studio. While there are several other connections in the audio field, most of the other connections deal with live sound applications, which is not what we are focused on.

It is my suggestion to stock up on XLR and TRS cables. To have about 10 of these each in stock will make sure you are ready for any recording or monitoring situation. Also if one cable goes bad or the connector breaks, you will have plenty more cables in your collection so there is no delay on the creative process.

Here are some links for purchasing cables:
XLR: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XLR20
TRS: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/1/4in20/

Leave comments and feedback on what you think of these connections. Also, if you feel we should stock up on other cables and connections, please leave this information in the comments section so we can all learn! Stay tuned for my next post where we start to add extra features to our at home studio!


TTYL,
BCEB

*It's not about how fast you can pump something out, it's how efficient you can use your knowledge to create the best available product while delivering a professional experience.*