1/4" audio cable types

[TechBoyJK]

I'm trying to figure out all the different types of 1/4" cables.

So far I have

Connectors

TS - Single Wire + Ground, Mono
TRS - Dual Wires + Ground, Mono/balanced or Stereo/Unbalanced

Cables

Un-Balanced - Single Wire + Ground, TS Connector - MONO
Instrument - Unbalanced, TS connector *can you just say instrument=unbalanced? - MONO
Balanced - dual wires + ground, TRS connector, noise canceling - MONO
Stereo - dual wires + ground, TRS connector, NO noise cancellation - Stereo

Anything else? Are there Stereo Balanced 1/4 cables? How would that work with only a TRS tip? Wouldn't stereo balanced require 4 wires + ground?

 

[TechBoyJK]

hmmm sorry this probably should have went into audio/video

 

[Possessed Freak]

I know of no stereo balanced cable. You would have to run a left and right channel TRS to achieve balanced stereo (assuming the equipment supports left/right balanced). What cable needs to run long distances and is stereo in nature anyway?

In my experience any TRS cable is a balanced cable is a stereo cable.

 

[TechBoyJK]

I know of no stereo balanced cable. You would have to run a left and right channel TRS to achieve balanced stereo (assuming the equipment supports left/right balanced). What cable needs to run long distances and is stereo in nature anyway?

In my experience any TRS cable is a balanced cable is a stereo cable.

Can you clarify that last statement? I agree, I don't know of any stereo, balanced cables. Physically, it would need a different tip than TRS..

 

[Possessed Freak]

Can you clarify that last statement? I agree, I don't know of any stereo, balanced cables. Physically, it would need a different tip than TRS..

All I am saying is that a TRS cable will provide a stereo signal or a balanced mono signal. I do not subscribe to paying a price premium for a "balanced" TRS cable.

 

[TechBoyJK]

All I am saying is that a TRS cable will provide a stereo signal or a balanced mono signal. I do not subscribe to paying a price premium for a "balanced" TRS cable.

Hmmm.. Are they the same? TRS Stereo or TRS balanced Mono? I read something earlier that even though they may have the same tip, technically, they are wired differently since the point of a balanced mono is that the 2nd wire's polarity is reversed to provide noise cancelation. A TRS stereo doesn't have the polarity reversed.

 

[Lithium381]

Are these "regular" cables or custom type you're trying to figure out the wiring scheme?

 

[darkswordsman17]

What exactly are you trying to figure out?

I believe, typically, balanced TRS cables would be the same as a regular one, only it would handle just a single channel per cable. So, you'd typically use two mono cables. It'd be dependent on the setup if each cable was "mono" or "stereo" (have two points or three).

It would be possible to make a single balanced TRS (you'd just need an extra split on the tip, so that there would be 4 different parts instead of 2 or 3), but I don't know of any equipment that supports that. XLR would be more common.

There's actually a lot of ways to do balanced, and there's been quite a few make their own proprietary ones. Using individual TRS cables for each channel and XLR seem to be the most widespread. There's also quite a few variations of XLR. Some are a single cable with a 4 pin connector, some are dual 3 pin connectors, etc.

 

[Rubycon]

In pro audio there really is no stereo. Stereo is used in the home to play back recordings.

TRS refers to a 1/4" plug for a balanced single channel line. Power amps typically use XLR inputs that latch and cannot be pulled out. On the speaker side Speakon connectors for the same reason. TRS is found on both as well for compatibility. On speakers with powerful bass drivers the backpressure can actually pop a TRS connector out of the cabinet! Definitely something you don't want happening during a performance.